The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

Episode 81

“Ah!”

Thiel hugged Ian tightly, her eyes squeezed shut. She could feel a powerful force pulling both of them endlessly forward. Her grip on Ian tightened as if afraid she might lose him.

‘I won’t let go.’

She couldn’t let go. Ian clearly didn’t understand the state he was in right now.

So, she had to make him understand.

At that moment—

Thud!

“Ahhh—!”

Their bodies, which had been falling endlessly, suddenly hit something and rolled over and over.

However, Thiel was unharmed. Ian had cradled her head protectively, holding her close as they fell.

“Ugh…”

Dazed from the impact, Thiel blinked her eyes and looked at Ian, who was lying motionless nearby. She pressed her hands against his chest.

“Ian!”

There was no response.

She shook him several times, calling his name, but he didn’t wake. Reluctantly, Thiel gave up trying to rouse him and looked around.

This place…

“…Where am I?”

She stood up cautiously and surveyed her surroundings.

It was a drawing room. Modest and undecorated, it seemed to have been designed to reflect its owner’s taste.

Curious, Thiel reached out to touch a vase nearby.

Since this was Ian’s spatial dimension, she wondered if, like before, the objects would vanish when touched.

But instead—

Tap.

‘It didn’t disappear…’

In Ian’s dimension, objects usually dissolved when touched. But strangely, the objects in this room remained intact even when she handled them.

Then—

“Leave, Your Majesty.”

A stranger’s voice made Thiel whip her head around.

Sitting at the center of the room, a man gazed quietly at the table before him.

Thiel didn’t recognize him.

And yet—

“…He feels familiar somehow.”

Golden hair that gleamed like sunlight and emerald eyes that shone beneath long lashes.

Then it struck her.

‘Ah, he looks like Ian.’

It wasn’t just a passing resemblance—it was uncanny. He looked exactly like Ian.

The man seemed unaware of her presence as he spoke again, his voice calm.

“Ian is not an option.”

“Don’t be foolish. Have you not read every record in the imperial archives?”

A second voice interrupted, and another figure appeared across the table. Thiel’s eyes widened.

She recognized this man.

‘It’s the Emperor!’

He was younger than the Wilhelm she knew, but there was no doubt about his identity.

What was happening? Thiel glanced at Ian’s unconscious form, hoping he’d wake up to explain things.

But Ian showed no sign of stirring, and neither man seemed to notice her. All Thiel could do was stand and watch.

“I’ve read them all,” the first man said, smiling softly.

The Emperor’s face turned pale, then flushed red with anger, cycling between the two extremes. He looked ready to explode.

After a tense silence, the Emperor abruptly stood and stormed toward the door without another word.

“Safe travels, Father,” the first man said.

“…Tch!”

The Emperor left the room, and the man, now alone, raised a teacup to his lips.

Thiel watched, captivated. Even the way he gently swirled the tea and sipped it reminded her of Ian.

‘Is he Ian’s father?’

She briefly wished Ian were awake. Surely, he’d be glad to see his father again, even in this mysterious way.

Just then, the drawing room distorted unnaturally.

The man vanished without a trace, leaving only his teacup, which rolled on the floor, spilling tea.

Walls folded, floors rose, and the space twisted. Thiel’s vision wavered.

“Ahhh!”

She quickly ran to Ian and hugged him tightly. If they were separated, it would be the end.

Moments later, the scene shifted violently again, and they found themselves at the entrance of a massive mansion.

It was a grand estate, unfamiliar to Thiel.

Still holding Ian, Thiel hesitantly lifted her head to look around. She tilted her head in confusion.

‘Why does this place feel familiar…?’

Just as the man had felt vaguely familiar, this mansion felt like a place she’d been to before.

As she tried to stand and explore further—

“No!”

A piercing scream rang out from somewhere.

Startled, Thiel clamped her hands over Ian’s ears and turned toward the source of the voice.

The screamer was a stunningly beautiful woman.

Her soft features suggested she was usually gentle and composed, but now she stood at the mansion’s entrance, crying and screaming.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she glared fiercely at something beyond the gates.

“No, absolutely not. I won’t let this happen,” the woman said, her voice breaking intermittently. Thiel couldn’t hear all of her words clearly.

But one thing was clear.

‘She’s fighting to protect something.’

The woman was desperately guarding something inside the mansion from whatever was outside.

Thiel felt overwhelmed.

What was this place?

The man earlier resembled Ian, and now this woman seemed to be protecting something with all her might.

‘Is she Ian’s mother?’

Thiel looked down at Ian again, her thoughts spinning.

‘I wonder what’s happening, Ian…’

“Where in the world have you brought me?”

Thiel clung tightly to Ian’s hand as she stared at the tear-streaked face of the woman standing before her.

The woman’s face appeared blurred, as though shrouded in mist, occasionally coming into focus before fading again. It was difficult to clearly make out her features.

After standing protectively for a long moment, the woman flinched at a sound from behind her.

She hastily wiped her tears with her sleeve and rushed toward someone, crouching down to gently wipe away their tears.

Judging by the height at which the woman bent and raised her arm, the person she was comforting seemed to be a child, perhaps around Thiel’s height or slightly taller.

“Don’t cry, it’s alright. Mommy is here…”

The woman’s voice was soft and gentle, like a lullaby. Thiel thought it sounded as though she were singing a soothing melody.

“We can’t have another child, Your Majesty,” the woman whispered as she caressed the child’s cheek.

“So, we made the best choice we could…”

Soon, the man Thiel had seen earlier appeared beside the woman.

He stood close, carefully wrapping his arms around her small, delicate shoulders.

Thiel thought the expressions on both their faces looked unbearably sad.

So sorrowful that it seemed as though their grief would follow her, haunting her dreams.

Yet, despite the tragedy in their faces, they held each other gently and turned to look at the entrance of the mansion.

Who could be standing there?

Thiel followed their gaze toward the mansion’s entrance but saw nothing.

At that moment—

Boom!

A deafening roar erupted, and black smoke engulfed the mansion.

‘This smoke… it’s familiar.’

It was the same ominous smoke Ian had unleashed in the square. Realizing this, Thiel quickly turned to look behind the woman.

The child she had just been comforting.

The one she had whispered to, telling them not to cry… Could it be?

Before Thiel could finish the thought, an enormous rift tore through the space, revealing what looked more like a black hole than a spatial dimension.

It began consuming everything in the mansion.

Walls crumbled, furniture was destroyed, and everything inside the mansion was sucked into the void.

The man and woman stood precariously close to the edge of the rift, yet it did not pull them in.

And then…

“Goodbye, my darling,” the woman said with a soft smile.

She stepped forward.

Thiel instinctively reached out to grab them, her hand stretching desperately. But she couldn’t reach them.

The man and woman disappeared into the rift, swallowed whole by the endless darkness.