Chapter 25: Chapter 25

After Ian's departure, Ria stepped forward, insisting that she would take Tiel back to her room.

However, Ferdi blocked her path.

"I’ll take her. She doesn’t seem too shy around me."

Ferdi took Tiel back to her room.

Ludian, having abandoned his academy assignments the moment he heard Ian was gone, had also rushed over.

"That bastard—he didn’t do anything weird to Tiel, did he?"

"Oh, he did."

Ferdi smiled mischievously as he answered.

Hearing that, Tiel, who had been fiddling with the black leopard plushie Ian had given her, stiffened slightly and sneaked a glance at Ludian.

"What? He did?"

"Yeah. I need to make sure they don’t meet as much as—"

Ferdi trailed off mid-sentence when he caught Tiel’s gaze. He reached out his hand toward her.

"Tiel, come here."

"Hey! You’ve been hogging her this whole time! Tiel, come here. Come to me!"

Not to be outdone, Ludian spread his arms wide.

Tiel hesitated, fidgeting with the hem of her dress as she deliberated which of her brothers to go to.

In the end, she chose Ferdi.

Since she had only met Ludian properly once, Ferdi felt more familiar to her.

"Tiel!"

"I knew it."

The contrast in their reactions was stark—Ludian pouted in disappointment, while Ferdi smirked triumphantly.

However, Ludian quickly accepted her choice and plopped down beside her, gazing at his little sister with curiosity.

He ruffled her fluffy hair and even squeezed her small hand.

"She’s really tiny."

Muttering in awe, Ludian suddenly remembered something and turned to Ferdi.

"By the way, when are the paternity test results supposed to come out?"

"Not sure. It’s taking longer than expected. We should’ve gotten them before we even arrived."

"Why’s it taking so long? Do you know how much Asterian has donated to the temple?"

Ludian grumbled as he poked Tiel’s plump, fluffy cheek.

Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, his eyes gleamed mischievously.

"Anyway, I heard she really awakened the Light Ability."

"Huh? Y-Yes, Lord Karsus said—"

"That’s still uncertain."

Ferdi interrupted before Tiel could finish.

Tiel widened her eyes and looked up at him.

His face had gone cold.

A slight shiver ran down her small shoulders.

"Father doesn’t fully understand the Light Ability either."

But then, in the next instant, Ferdi’s smile returned as if the chilling moment had never happened. He playfully tickled Tiel’s palm.

"But if Father said so, then it must be true."

His previously frigid expression had vanished without a trace, leaving behind only the bright and cheerful young man.

Tiel tilted her head in confusion and let him hold her hand.

Meanwhile, Ludian was staring at Ferdi with a look of utter disdain.

***

"The paternity test results, you say?"

Alpheus, having just finished chewing a large piece of steak, wiped his mouth thoroughly with a napkin before responding.

Ludian nodded.

"They should have come out a long time ago, but we still haven’t received them."

Ludian was right. Since the Asterians had sent the request as a priority, the results should have been completed within a week of submitting Tiel’s hair sample.

Considering the donations Asterian had given to the temple—an amount greater than several years’ worth of the empire’s budget—it was only natural that their request should have been processed first.

"Indeed, that is strange."

Karsus nodded as he carefully cut the steak on Tiel’s plate into bite-sized pieces.

He then speared a piece with his fork and gently placed it in Tiel’s small mouth.

Her tiny lips chewed diligently, her now-plump cheeks puffing adorably as she ate. Her large, round black leopard eyes focused on the steak while her silky white snow leopard hair was neatly braided down her back.

In recent history, the only Black Leopard and Snow Leopard union to produce a child was Karsus and Lena.

There was almost no doubt that a child carrying the traits of both bloodlines could belong to anyone else.

Thus, the paternity test was just a formality, something they hadn’t really been concerned about.

But it really is taking an unusual amount of time.

Could Nestian have interfered with the temple?

It was a reasonable suspicion.

If they manipulated the test results to show no match, Nestian could escape blame for abusing Karsus’ daughter—and worse, they might even try to take Tiel back.

It was something that needed to be investigated.

Karsus gazed at his daughter as if she were the most precious thing in the world. Then, gently wiping the sauce off her cheek, he spoke.

"I’ll press the temple for an answer. They need to send the test results immediately."

"Yes, that would be best. That way, we can officially announce that the youngest daughter of the Asterian family is alive."

Ferdi smiled faintly as he nodded.

At the word announce, Tiel's gaze shifted toward him.

Announce… that the youngest daughter is alive…

But… what does announce mean?

Tiel was only seven years old and had never received any proper education. She didn’t understand difficult words.

As she rolled her eyes in curiosity and looked at Ferdi, he tilted his head slightly, still maintaining his usual gentle smile.

"It means letting everyone know that you're our sister."

"Ah…"@@novelbin@@

"You’ll officially become part of the Asterian family. Do you understand, Tiel?"

"Yes, I understand!"

Tiel nodded enthusiastically.

For a brief moment, Ferdi's lips tightened—but the expression vanished as quickly as it appeared, unnoticed by anyone.

Ludian, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, suddenly lifted his fork with a large piece of steak speared onto it and turned to Tiel.

"Once we announce that the youngest daughter of Asterian is alive, you’ll start receiving all sorts of gifts! Of course, compared to what the Asterians can give you, they’ll all be useless junk, but still—when you see mountains of presents piling up, it’ll feel pretty great."

This time, she didn’t seem overwhelmed by the idea of a mountain of gifts.

She had already heard about it from Ian once. Instead, her round eyes sparkled briefly with anticipation.

Ferdi caught the gleam of excitement in her eyes and smoothly continued the conversation.

"And if you want, you’ll be able to attend banquets as well. Or, you could invite friends your age to the mansion for tea parties."

But this time, her eyes didn’t shine.

Instead, there was a flicker of fear.

If she had been in her snow leopard form, her ears and tail would have drooped.

Ferdi, who had expected a different reaction, blinked in mild surprise.

"…You don’t like the idea?"

"I told you, our little sister is shy. She might seem comfortable around us, but she’s still not ready to meet strangers."

Karsus placed his large hand atop Tiel’s soft hair.

Feeling the warmth from above, Tiel tilted her head up.

"There’s no need to be so scared, Tiel. If you don’t want to, we can delay the announcement. You don’t have to meet strangers, either."

"Yes—Karsus-nim."

"Good. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. If something makes you uncomfortable, just say no. That will be enough."

"……."

"You’re still young, so it’s perfectly fine."

***

After the meal, both Ferdi and Ludian, who now considered themselves slightly closer to Tiel, volunteered to take care of her.

Karsus naturally intended to refuse.

"That’s alright."

"Yes, it’s fine. My older brothers are kind to me."

But when Tiel said that with such certainty, Karsus had no real reason to deny them.

In the end, he allowed them to watch over her.

And now—

"How about this, Tiel? I’ll give you a piggyback ride! You can ride on my shoulders, and I’ll run around the Asterian mansion with you. Sounds fun, right?"

"Fun? Stop talking nonsense. Tiel, come here. I’ll read you a fairy tale."

Ferdi patted the spot beside him.

Tiel hesitated between the two choices—riding on Ludian’s shoulders or listening to Ferdi read a story.

"……!"

After some thought, she carefully sat beside Ferdi.

A piggyback ride sounded fun, but she liked fairy tales more.

Since coming to the Asterian mansion, Ria had read her a bedtime story every night before she slept. Tiel loved that time of day.

At the Nestian estate, fairy tales had belonged to Rowen and the other children.

But Tiel loved them.

In those magical worlds, she could eat delicious food and sleep in warm places.

So, on days when she was allowed out of the attic, she would sit quietly outside Rowen’s door and listen to the faint sound of someone reading a fairy tale from inside.

But now… I don’t have to do that anymore.

A faint blush spread across Tiel’s cheeks.

Now, she didn’t have to secretly eavesdrop on bedtime stories.

Ria read to her every night.

And—

"A long time ago, there was a great lion…"

She had a kind older brother who read to her, too.

Ferdi’s gentle voice tickled her ears.

Tiel nestled beside him and focused on the story.

At that moment, Ludian, feeling increasingly left out, pouted and squeezed into the space between them.

"What’s so fun about this? Seeing it in real life is way better."

Ludian pointed at the page of the book with his finger.

The illustration depicted a massive lion wielding a supernatural ability.

Ferdi’s face twisted in frustration—he could already predict what his twin was about to do.

Running a hand through his hair, he sighed.

"Don’t tell me…"

"Watch closely, Tiel."

With a triumphant grin, Ludian waved his hand in the air.