The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

"This is awful!"

Rowen tossed the dress onto the bed. The maid standing beside her hurriedly gathered the dress into her arms.

Rowen pushed her silvery hair behind her ear and lightly touched the other dresses with her fingers.

"I don’t like this one, and I don’t like that one! I hate them! They don’t shine like hers!"

Rowen spoke with irritation, throwing another dress onto the floor.

Some of the maids, unsure of what to do, tried to attend to her, while others, seemingly used to this behavior, simply lowered their heads in silence.

Rowen suddenly lifted her head.

A woman who resembled both Chender and Cornelia, Rowen had grown into one of the most beautiful women in Nestian, a beauty that would not be easily contested.

However, her personality, much like Chender and Cornelia’s, made it hard for anyone to serve her without eventually breaking under the strain. Many maids had left the estate, unable to tolerate her temper.

Despite this, Rowen was Chender and Cornelia’s precious daughter, the jewel of Nestian, and no one dared to oppose her.

"Why couldn’t you get me a dress exactly like hers!?"

Rowen snapped at the maid standing beside her.

"That dress can only be obtained by the royalty..."

"I didn’t ask for that kind of answer!"

Rowen threw the dress in frustration. The thin silk fabric got caught on her sharp nails and ripped, but no one paid any attention to the dress being torn.

Since Rowen was a child, she had torn a dress every day, unable to control her temper, and now the maids had grown completely accustomed to it.

"Enough! I don’t want to see any of this anymore, so just leave!"

Rowen huffed, and the maids hurriedly left the room before she could call them back.

Thud.

Rowen’s door closed.

A maid, holding the torn dress, spoke with a tired expression.

"Why is she back already?"

"I don’t know, maybe her training ended early."

"She was supposed to be gone for a month!"

"Maybe the head of the family called her back early?"

It was a well-known fact at the Nestian estate that Rowen had been receiving special training in abilities from a private tutor secretly brought in by Chender.

Rowen often left the estate for training, sometimes for as long as two months or as short as one week. This time, she had planned to be gone for two months, but something must have happened for her to return after only a month, and now she was throwing another tantrum!

The maids, as they went to repair the dress, fervently hoped that Rowen would leave again soon to continue her training.

"By the way, why isn’t Rowen getting married? She’s had so many proposals!"

Nestian was one of the five great families, second only to Asterian, and there were certainly many beastkin who wanted to marry Rowen, who had reached a marriageable age.

However, Chender had rejected all the marriage proposals. Both Rowen and Cornelia had done the same.

Tiel Asterian had a fiancé already, and while they couldn’t marry immediately due to the circumstances, what about our lady?

Rowen didn’t have a fiancé. Even though her marriageable age had passed, as the only heir to Nestian, there were still those among the beastkin who wanted to marry her...

"Have you ever seen Rowen use her abilities?"

A maid, who had placed Rowen’s dress down, suddenly turned her head and asked.

"No? Why?"

"I secretly saw it the other day. But... something seemed off."

"Off? Every beastkin uses their abilities differently, right?"

"It didn’t feel like that! I’ve seen Chender-nim and Cornelia-nim use their abilities, and I’ve seen Rowen use her abilities when she was very young..."

The maid lowered her voice. The other maid, who had been listening closely, also whispered in response.

"So?"

"Chender-nim and Cornelia-nim both use ’frost abilities,’ right? Their abilities are truly frost! But Rowen’s abilities... they’re different. It’s not frost, it’s like..."

"Like? Come on, don’t stop, tell me!"

"I’ve never been to the capital, so I’ve never seen ’light abilities,’ but if light abilities exist, it felt exactly like that..."

The maid’s voice raised in surprise, and she quickly asked.

"What are you saying? Rowen’s abilities are frost! Are you saying Rowen is using light abilities?"

"Shh, shh! Don’t say it out loud! I never said she’s using light abilities. I’m just saying... it felt like that. It wasn’t light abilities. But I saw ice crystals... And those ice crystals..."

The maid blinked, recalling the memory.

She had seen Rowen’s abilities through the crack in the door.

Rowen had clasped her hands in front of her chest and used her abilities.

Then, small ice shards gathered and piled up on top of each other.

They continued to pile up, and as they formed a circular shape, the ice shards suddenly gathered and emitted light.

The maid had never seen anything like that before, and she had never told anyone about it.

Moreover, Rowen had strictly prohibited anyone from seeing her use her abilities, so if it was discovered that the maid had seen that, it would surely cause a huge uproar.

She tilted her head in confusion.

"What kind of ability training is she receiving? It’s clear she’s getting stronger, but why do I feel this ominous feeling?"

"Hmm, I think you might be mistaken. Ice reflects light, so maybe that’s why it felt like that... Rowen couldn’t possibly be using light abilities. I’ve never heard of two people in a single generation using light abilities!"

"I guess so. I must have been mistaken?"

The maid nodded, reassured by her friend’s words.

"Anyway! You can’t tell anyone about what I just said, right?"

"Where would I even say something like that?"

The tension and curiosity seemed to have been eased, and the maids laughed quietly as they left the room.

***

Rowen’s room.

Rowen closed her eyes, focusing as she attempted to use her abilities.

Originally, Rowen didn’t close her eyes when using her abilities.

The way Rowen had always used her abilities was by sharpening ice crystals and throwing them like daggers.

However, ’Jay’ had made it impossible for her to use her abilities like that.

She had to close her eyes and concentrate...

Rowen, who was usually obedient when it came to Jay’s instructions, followed his advice without protest, using her abilities as he had told her.

Ice crystals gathered in her hands.

Rowen was getting frustrated again, wanting to grab a handful of the ice shards and throw them away.

If it had been her grandfather or mother, they wouldn’t have made these tiny ice shards; they would have created large, strong ice spears or swords.

But Rowen’s abilities were far too weak compared to theirs, and all she could produce were these ice crystals.

Jay had been very disappointed by this.

’You may not have been born with talent.’

Rowen remembered Jay’s words. Had she heard that normally, she would have overturned the table in anger. However, the following sweet words had kept her from doing so.

’I can make you more outstanding than someone born with talent...’

Jay had said this while feeding Rowen a series of beads.

Rowen didn’t even know what those beads were, but she had taken them and trained for ten years, learning to use her abilities according to Jay’s instructions.

And as a result,

A tiny light glimmered from the ice crystals gathered in Rowen’s hands.

When she concentrated a little more, the lights sparkled wildly, surrounding the ice crystals.

It was a crude and faint light.

But it was definitely light.

A smile appeared on Rowen’s lips.