The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

Episode 65

* * *

Ian sat on the grand sofa in the reception room, tilting his teacup.

The boy’s face was weighted with solemnity. He gently pressed his temple with his fingertips, rubbing it.

“Your Highness, are you feeling tired?”

Ian’s aide, Cedric, cautiously asked with a concerned tone.

Ian shook his head.

“No need to worry, just a slight headache.”

“I will call for the court physician as soon as we return to the palace.”

“No need to bother.”

Ian replied irritably. Cedric retreated without further words, knowing from years of experience that it was best not to engage the boy any further.

Ianthros Crassion was currently in a very sensitive state.

Crash!

As if to prove this fact, Ian’s teaspoon fell to the floor.

Without picking up the teaspoon, Ian stared at his teacup with furrowed brows.

Cedric fervently hoped his lord wouldn’t explode here.

“Damn crown princess…”

Ian muttered under his breath.

For the past month, he had been agonizing over the matter of the crown princess’s betrothal.

He had managed to dodge it skillfully until now, but the emperor had finally ordered him to choose a bride for the crown princess immediately after the end of the Luminary.

Thanks to that, Ian, who suddenly found himself forced into marriage as soon as the festival ended, was feeling extremely unhappy right now.

And besides.

‘What’s going on again?’

Ian quietly observed the dark energy swirling at his fingertips.

He attempted to retract his power, but it was in vain. His abilities had stopped obeying him at some point.

Instead of struggling to retract his power, Ian decided to use it slowly.

As Ian’s fingertips touched the air, it split open, revealing a new rift.

Ian’s ability: spatial manipulation.

At first glance, everything seemed fine, but anyone who had ever seen Ian use his power would know that his current state was far from normal.

Normally, when Ian opened a rift, it emitted a bright light.

But now, his rift not only emitted a black light, but it also ominously flickered as if it would devour everything in its path.

If Ian lost focus, it would surely shatter into pieces, much like a glass on the verge of breaking.

Frustrated with his unstable ability, Ian retracted it with an irritated expression.

The unstable rift, which had been wavering in the air, disappeared in an instant with Ian’s gesture.

The boy closed and opened his eyes.

‘Why is this happening?’

Just a few days ago, everything had been fine. He was sure of it. A few days ago, when he entered his rift, it hadn’t been like this.

But at some point, his ability stopped obeying him.

It felt like his power was reacting to something, continually slipping out of his control.

It felt like his ability was raging inside him. Ian lifted the teacup to his lips.

‘Not good.’

The feeling continued to drag the boy deeper into a cold, dark abyss.

Then, there was a knock at the door.

A light and cheerful knock echoed through the room. Ian straightened up from the sofa where he had been leaning. Cedric also looked eagerly at the door.

Creak—

The door opened, revealing a small and lovely girl.

“Ian?”

The youngest Lady of Asterian, whom Ian and Cedric had been eagerly awaiting, appeared before them.

As soon as Thiel appeared, it felt as if the room instantly brightened.

The petite girl, who had the ability to illuminate her surroundings, also possessed a special ability to brighten the moods of those around her.

“Thiel, come here.”

Ian, whose face had been shadowed just moments ago, now gestured to Thiel with a clean sweep of his hand.

All the things that had weighed on the boy just moments before disappeared from his mind as soon as Thiel appeared.

* * *

“Ian!”

Thiel ran over and sat next to Ian. Now, sitting beside Ian felt as natural as if it were her rightful place.

It was the first time they had met since celebrating Ian’s birthday at the mansion.

Since meeting Ian, Thiel had never been separated from him for so long, so she was delighted to see him again after such a long time.

But…

‘What’s wrong?’

A shadow seemed to hang over Ian’s face, which Thiel hadn’t seen in a long time.

Thiel blinked her large round eyes and looked at Ian.

Ian, like Perdi, was adept at hiding and erasing his emotions, but he couldn’t deceive Thiel’s eyes.

Due to the abuse and mistreatment she endured in Nestian for a long time, Thiel was accustomed to sensing others’ emotions.

Therefore, it wasn’t difficult for Thiel to sense that Ian wasn’t feeling very good.

However, she felt like she shouldn’t ask him directly what was wrong, so instead, she chose a different approach.

“Ian! Have you opened the gift I gave you?”

Thiel’s golden smile shone like a jewel. Her round eyes were full of anticipation as she looked at Ian.

Thiel had been eagerly waiting to ask if he liked the gift or not, but she refrained from asking directly.

Ian seemed to notice Thiel’s feelings and smirked slightly.

“Of course, I opened it, and I liked it.”

“Really? You’re not lying because you’re afraid of hurting my feelings, right?”

“Why would I do that? I don’t say things I don’t mean.”

Ian replied bluntly.

“I’m glad you liked it. I was really worried. Somehow, I felt like you already had everything!”

Of course, Iandros Krasion was the prince of the Krasion Empire. Finding something he didn’t have would probably be as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

Fortunately, after much deliberation, Thiel managed to find that needle in the haystack!

“What you gave me is incomparable to anything else. Did you infuse your ability into it?”

Ian looked at Thiel’s gentle, round face. Thiel nodded enthusiastically. Her braided hair swayed up and down.

“I learned how to infuse my ability! I thought if I infused my ability, the light might last a little longer…”

As Ian suspected, Thiel instinctively realized that light couldn’t survive in Ian’s pocket dimension.

That’s why she had infused her power into the gift. She hoped the light would last a bit longer in Ian’s pocket dimension.

Thiel wanted to give Ian a fish, but she couldn’t because the fish were like fragments of herself and couldn’t be given to others.

Disappointed, Thiel infused her ability into the relic, and judging by Ian’s reaction, her attempt seemed successful!

“How is it? Did the pocket dimension get a bit brighter?”

Thiel asked with anticipation. Ian responded by playfully making a pincer gesture with his thumb and index finger.

“Eh, just a little.”

However, Thiel’s reaction was unexpected.

“Thank goodness…”

Thiel was happy to hear that it got a little brighter, not disappointed that it was only a little brighter.

Seeing her reaction, Ian couldn’t help but smile. Thiel always seemed to defy his expectations.

“I’m just teasing, Thiel. Thanks to your gift, the pocket dimension has become much brighter.”

Finally giving up on teasing Thiel, Ian rested his chin on his hand, looking at her round, small head.

“Thank you, sincerely.”

Thiel smiled back at Ian.

“I’ve received much more from you, Ian! Both materially and otherwise.”

What Ian had given Thiel was invaluable, each item holding immeasurable worth.

It wasn’t just limited to physical items.

Acts of kindness, such as rescuing Thiel from the Nestian mansion and ensuring her safe return to her father, or his constant visits to check on her well-being after she had trouble adapting at the Astarian mansion.

So, compared to what Ian had done for her, these gifts fell short.

“Next time, when I’m better at handling my ability, I’ll give you a relic that emits an even brighter light!”

“I’ll be looking forward to it, Thiel.”

Ian chuckled softly, and Thiel nodded confidently.