The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

Tiel and Ferdie arrived at the imperial palace shortly after. Recognizing the young head of the Asterian family, the palace attendants quickly left to fetch Lord Ian.

Tiel and Ferdie waited in the drawing room for Ian Dross. After a short while, the door to the drawing room opened.

And Ian walked in.

"Lord Ian Dross!"

Tiel turned around joyfully at the sound of his name but gasped in shock. Ian's face, which she hadn't seen in a while, had become terribly gaunt.

His complexion was pale, and dark circles had formed under his eyes.

"Lord Ian, you look unwell..."

Tiel furrowed her brows, her voice filled with concern. Ferdie, observing Ian from the side, joined in.

"Why do you look like that? You look like someone who hasn't slept for a week."

"I actually haven't slept for a week."

Ian greeted Tiel and then flopped down onto the sofa in the drawing room.

"Why? Because of 'that' matter?"

"Yes, exactly."

Ian Dross replied as he took a sip of tea. Ferdie and Tiel nodded, as they had expected this answer.

Certainly, the incident that day was no ordinary matter.

The possibility of someone else entering Ian's subspace was in itself an alarming issue, but more so, they were clueless about who could have intruded and for what purpose.

Moreover,

Tiel bit her lip with a serious expression as she recalled the face she had briefly seen in Ian’s subspace that day.

"It looked... similar to you, Lord Ian."

Similar. Not just in appearance.

There was something more deeply akin. Who could it be? A hidden scion of the royal family?

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

Noticing Tiel's grave expression, Ian offered her a cookie to lighten the mood.

Chomp.

Tiel reflexively bit into the cookie. Her furrowed brow relaxed. Ian stroked her hair a few times and then spoke.

"I found records in the royal archives about a princess who used the subspace."

"That... princess."

Unable to commit lese-majeste in front of the crown prince - though Ferdie had done so countless times before - he stumbled over his words, but Ian Dross responded.

"Yes, the one known as the mad princess."

"I never said that much."

"But isn’t that the truth?"

"If Your Highness says so."

"Anyway, I found her records. And..."

Ian appeared to be about to say more but then clamped his mouth shut.

"No, I'll talk about it more when things are more certain."

Tiel and Ferdie didn't press further. Tiel, munching on the candies and cookies Ian kept feeding her, watched him from the corner of her eye.

Ian looked alright despite Tiel’s worries. He didn't appear unstable.

Since Tiel and Ian were bonded, Tiel could feel his condition.

'That's a relief.'

Tiel thought that their half-bond was quite convenient, even though a full bond might have been more so.

"Tiel."

Startled from her reverie by her name, Tiel looked up to find Ian and Ferdie watching her.

"Yes?"

"I’ve been meaning to tell you... There’s been some odd movement from the Nestians. I thought you should know."

"The Nestians?"

"Rowen Nestian, the granddaughter, has disappeared."

"Rowen?"

"Not only that, there have been actions suggesting they're hiding something. I suspect what your family has been searching for might be within the Nestians."

Ian Dross turned to Ferdie, who raised an eyebrow.

"The one who escaped?"

"Yes, Oshian Russell's accomplice. Honestly, how many places could they hide from the royal and Asterian eyes within this empire?"

"Aha, so you mean to say that the Nestians might be involved in the whole affair with Oshian Russell."

"It’s just a theory for now."

It seemed Ian had done a lot of investigating while Tiel had been unable to contact him. ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) He looked at Ferdie again.

"It's unlikely Oshian Russell acted alone. There's definitely someone behind him, and I suspect it’s either Icker or the Nestians."

"I was thinking the same, but we can’t just raid the Nestians without more solid evidence." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Can't we use your ability?"

"Salamander’s flames weaken too far from us. If we send it into Nestian territory, even the flames that were alive will likely die out."

Ferdie replied.

Ferdie, Ian, and Tiel discussed much more, but Ian kept the details about the princess to himself until the end.

Why? Perhaps because, as he said, things were still uncertain?

Their conversation ended as the day began to fade.

"Go on then, you both need some rest."

"I was thinking the same."

Ignoring Ferdie's quip, Ian Dross turned to Tiel.

"I apologize for not being in touch. I'll send a reply as soon as possible."

"That’s alright, I didn’t want to rush you. I’m just glad to see you’re okay. And..."

Tiel gestured for Ian to come closer, and he bent down to hear her whisper.

"I haven’t told anyone about the cushion."

"!"

"So, don’t be embarrassed."

***

"He died?"

Alpheus dropped his monocle as he asked.

The dungeon guards who had come to report nodded.

"He suddenly screamed, so we called the doctor, but he was already dead when we showed him."

"Cause of death?"

"It seems he died of fright."

"Died of fright?"

Alpheus stood up, perplexed. How does one die of fright, especially in a dungeon where nothing is visible beyond a few inches?

Thinking the guards were blaming themselves, they trembled and bowed deeply.

"It’s our fault!"

"Explain properly."

"When we found him, he was on the ground foaming at the mouth, his eyes wide open. That's all I remember. We immediately called the doctor, but by the time we brought him, he was already dead."

Alpheus sighed.

They hadn't caught the fugitive accomplice, and now the one they had caught was dead. And from fright? It all seemed too strange.

Not just with Oshian Russell’s case, but all these events had something off about them.

Eventually, Alpheus decided to examine Oshian Russell’s body himself.

Now that Tiel and Ferdie were out, it was a good time.

Though Tiel might not have insisted, Ferdie would have probably demanded they cut open the body if he knew of the uncertain cause of death.

Alpheus walked past the kneeling guards and said,

"I'll go and inspect it myself. For now, don’t tell Ludian..."

Just then, the door to Alpheus's office burst open. The guards flinched.

Without turning around, the guards knew that the person who had just slammed open the door was Ludian Asterian, the very person Alpheus had just mentioned not to alert.

With Ferdie and Karsus out, only Ludian would dare to barge into Alpheus's office like that.

Alpheus looked coldly at his grandson who had just burst through the door.

And that "grandson" brazenly met Alpheus's gaze and retorted,

"What shouldn’t you tell me?"