The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

"...She was alive."

Etienne murmured in disbelief. Her faint voice now sounded almost like a sob.

Stefano didn't try to console her with words. He simply held her trembling hand, offering silent support.

Etienne had been close to Lena. No, to be more precise, everyone in the Asterian family had loved Lena.

And before her marriage, Etienne had been part of that family too.

Of course, she had loved Lena as well. But...

"Dead?"

...

"That’s impossible! There’s no way Lena is dead! Have you all forgotten how powerful her ability was!?"

Etienne could never forget that day—the day the entire Asterian family seemed to be swallowed by darkness.

The day they had to hold Lena’s funeral with an empty coffin, without even a body to bury...

But now, Lena’s child—Karsus’s child—her niece was alive.

Her heart pounded wildly.

Truthfully, when Olivia had lost patience and rushed straight to the Asterian mansion, Etienne had wanted to go too.

She wanted to go and... meet the niece she had believed dead all this time.

To look into eyes that resembled Lena’s, to run her fingers through hair just like Lena’s.

But...

She was the mistress of the Wolfgang family. There were too many matters to settle before she could leave for Asterian.

After sending Olivia ahead, Etienne and Stefano hurriedly took care of affairs in Wolfgang and set out for Asterian as fast as they could.

The Wolfgangs, wielders of the wind ability.

Their ability was so incredible that people often said Wolfgang children could run to the ends of the earth.

And it wasn’t an exaggeration.

Hiiiiiing!

The horses let out a long cry. Their legs, infused with the power of the wind, struck the ground and propelled them forward like a storm.

Yet, the carriage barely swayed. Naturally—it was Stefano himself who controlled the wind ability.

He couldn’t ease his wife’s sorrow, but he could get her to where she needed to be faster than anyone else.

"Let’s hurry."

As if responding to his thoughts, the coachman drove the horses even harder. The carriage roared as it raced ahead.

***

"So... my aunt?"

Tiel narrowed her eyes slightly and asked cautiously.

Karsus and Alpheus nodded.

"My mom and dad are coming! They’re probably almost here! The speed of the Wolfgangs is beyond imagination!"

Olivia said proudly.

Tiel remained silent for a moment.

She didn’t dislike the idea of meeting her aunt and uncle. It was just...

"You useless thing! Ugh, why did Lena even bother giving birth to you? You should’ve just died with her!"

The voice of Cornelia, who had spat such cruel words at her daily, resurfaced in her mind.

But just as quickly, Cornelia disappeared from her thoughts.

Neither Cornelia, nor Rowen, nor her grandfather could take hold of her mind for long anymore.

"Tiel."

Because now, she had a loving family.

The cruelty she had endured in the Nestian household was nothing compared to the overwhelming warmth she had received here.

"And..."

Tiel turned to look at Olivia.

Olivia’s cheeks were flushed with excitement. It made sense—she was about to reunite with her parents after a long time.

"Olivia unnie is a good person."

Tiel felt completely at ease around Olivia.

As Olivia had said, "A girl needs another girl in her life!"

There were delicate things that men just couldn’t take care of, and Olivia was perfect when it came to handling them.

She was the first to notice when Tiel felt too hot.

She was the one who had taken Tiel outside for fresh air when she was restless.

Tiel could say with confidence—Olivia was truly a good person.

So...

"Then, my aunt and uncle must be good people too."

Since Olivia unnie was a good person, surely they would be as well.

Tiel’s golden eyes regained their brightness. She looked up at Karsus with a sparkle in her gaze.

"Then... should I wear something pretty? Since I’m meeting them for the first time?"

"You can stay just as you are. They will love you exactly as you are."

Karsus lifted Tiel into his arms as he spoke. His voice carried certainty, a conviction that settled the child’s heart in an instant.

And just then—

The mansion grounds grew a little noisy.

"They must have arrived."

Still holding Tiel, Karsus moved toward the window.

Through the glass, they could see the Wolfgang carriage and knights coming to a sharp halt at the front gate.

"Shall we go down? Your aunt must be eager to see you."

"Yes! Daddy, you’ll stay with me, right?"

"Don’t worry."

As soon as those words left his lips, Olivia kicked the door open with a dramatic bang!

As a result, the same door that had been partially destroyed before was now completely wrecked, hanging off its hinges.

"Hahaha, this child..."

Alpheus gazed fondly at his granddaughter as she tore through the entrance.

It was the very same door he himself had broken not too long ago.

Ah... the joy.

At that moment, a loud crash echoed from the stair landing below.

The noise was so jarring that whatever had broken must have completely shattered.

"Hahaha, that kid..."

Another bang followed, shaking the house once more.

Alpheus wasn’t laughing anymore. His eyes widened in alarm.

If they had one more family reunion like this, the entire Asterian mansion would be reduced to rubble.

Alpheus hurriedly strode forward.

"Olivia! Can’t you walk like a normal person!?"

But everyone already knew that Alpheus’s scolding wouldn’t reach Olivia at this point.

Well... even if it had, she wouldn’t have listened.

Tiel thought quietly to herself.

She had finally begun adjusting to the Asterian family and to her older siblings.

From what she had observed, Olivia wrecking the mansion was a daily occurrence. It happened just as frequently as Ferdi calling Ludian an idiot or a moron.

"And yet, Grandpa still hasn’t given up..."

At this point, one would think he’d have learned to just accept it—just like how Tiel had given up on ever stopping Ferdi and Ludian from fighting.

If it had been the old Tiel, the one who had just arrived in Asterian, she wouldn’t have even thought of such things.

But now? She could even shake her head in exasperation.

She was completely a part of this leopard family now.

Karsus watched his daughter with quiet pride.

CRASH—!!

"Hey, you little—!!!"

Alpheus yelled as he quickened his pace. Ferdi and Ludian followed right behind him.

And Karsus? He strolled leisurely at a distance, as if simply observing the chaos.

"He looks like he’s embarrassed... Wait. No way. There’s no way Dad would be embarrassed."

...Tiel had pretty sharp intuition.

She turned her gaze toward the wreckage Olivia had caused.

The once-grand spiral staircase now dangled precariously, half-destroyed.

The marble flooring? Cracked in multiple places—as if someone had somehow managed to shatter solid stone.

Olivia had really been excited, huh?

And then—

"...Aga."

A woman at the bottom of the stairs hesitantly stepped forward, her voice trembling with disbelief.

Hair as black as ebony.

Golden eyes that shone like the sun.

Tiel knew without being told.

This was her aunt—Etienne.

Karsus’s younger sister.

Tiel squirmed lightly in Karsus’s arms, signaling that she wanted to be let down.

Without hesitation, Karsus set her on the floor.

Etienne did not move closer.

She looked as if she were about to cry.

So—

"I should go to her."

Tiel hurried forward, stopping right in front of Etienne.

She didn’t hesitate.

She didn’t shy away.

Etienne’s wavering gaze met the small girl standing before her.

A child with soft, white curls—the signature fur of a Snow Leopard.

A child with luminous, golden eyes—the mark of a Black Leopard.

And then, Tiel smiled brightly and bowed.

"Hello, Auntie!"

"...Aga."

"I’m Tiel."

And with that, she introduced herself—clearly and confidently.

For Tiel, this was a huge step forward.

Etienne, unable to believe what she was seeing, pulled Tiel into her arms.

Her shoulders trembled.

Lena had been a Snow Leopard.

But to the Asterians, she had been their light.

She had done more than just bring interest into a household where Black Leopards never cared for one another—she had changed the entire atmosphere of their once-cold, desolate mansion.

And this was Lena’s child.

Etienne remembered how overjoyed Lena had been when she found out she was pregnant.

"This child will bring even more joy to Asterian."

But then, they said Lena had died.

During childbirth.

And never—never—had they imagined that the child had survived.

Tiel looked at her aunt’s trembling shoulders.

She knew exactly what that meant.

Because she had cried like that before.

Because she had held back tears like that before.

So she didn’t say anything.

Instead, she gently wrapped her small arms around Etienne’s body.

Two small fish, glowing faintly with golden light, swam out from Tiel’s embrace and began circling around Etienne.

Tiel hugged her tightly.

And then—

Words she felt like she had to say came to her mind.

Words she felt she needed to say to Etienne.

Words she felt she should have said to a mother she had never even met.

And—

Words she felt she should tell herself, the child who had died once and come back to life.

Don’t cry.

I’m here... I’m alive.