The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

Thiel was a mongrel.
A crossbreed between the most noble of the leopard clans, the Snow Leopard clan and the Black Leopard clan. 

Unlike Rowen (Thiel’s cousin), who was born with silver hair, a symbol of nobility, Thiel’s hair was a faded white. 

“This useless thing!” 

These were the words Thiel had heard the most since she was born. Because Thiel was a ‘mongrel’ who couldn’t use her abilities. 

The Snow Leopard family, Nestian.

Snow leopards of the Nestian family were born with the ability to freeze anything. Thiel’s mother, Lena Nestian, had a strong freeze ability. She was to become the head of the Nestian family, succeeding Thiel’s maternal grandfather and the current head of the house, Zender Nestian.

….

If Thiel hadn’t been born. 

Lena Nestian fell in love with Cassius Asterian, the head of a hostile family. Despite her family’s opposition, she gave birth to a child with Cassius, and lost her life in the process. Thiel was born that way. 

Zender Nestian lost his most powerful heir, and his most beloved daughter all in an instant. 

“Thiel, because of that mongrel!” 

How good it would have been if a child with strong abilities had been born.
Contrary to Zender’s expectation that she would manifest her superpowers later, Thiel still had not manifested her superpowers at seven years of age. 

Considering that normal children developed their abilities after one year of life, it was safe to say that Thiel would not be able to do so in the future as she had not yet manifested them. 

So Zender abandoned Thiel in the attic. If it weren’t for the maids who looked in there from time to time, Thiel would have died. Zender abused the child savagely, and everyone in Nestian were bystanders. The child barely survived. 

However, Zender abused Thiel constantly.
The fact that Thiel was born with gold eyes, the symbol of the Black Leopard clan, was also a reason for the abuse. 

It was the same on that day. 

“Don’t you know what your problem is? This stupid thing!” 

Zender yelled.
Thiel trembled and took a step back, crouching. 

The little child rolled up in terror and nodded. Thiel was so hungry that she only stole a piece of hard bread and ate it. What the child stole was hard, black bread.
Bread so hard that one couldn’t even bite into it unless it was soaked in soup. Thiel found and ate what someone had put out to throw away. 

To live. 

However, even that was not allowed for Thiel, and Zender, knowing that, cornered Thiel. 

Her clothes were torn in places, showing old scars wherever her skin was exposed. It was the spots where sharp ice shards had pierced her flesh in the past.
However, the child kept her lips tightly closed as if she was not in pain.

The black bread that Thiel had been chewing on just before fell at Zender’s feet.

Gulp. 

Thiel saw the bread and swallowed. The child’s mouth was trembling. Her stomach growled incessantly, and she felt sick to her stomach, probably from starving for so long. She couldn’t even remember the last time she ate proper food. 

As Thiel glanced at the bread, the furious Zender raised his voice. 

“You’re still acting crazy!” 

Thiel quickly lowered his head at Zender’s angry voice.
The child trembled and crawled into a corner.
“I’m sorry, I was wrong.” 

To Zender, Thiel was a mongrel that was difficult to get rid of.
It was nothing more and nothing less. He looked down at his granddaughter with a slow, cold gaze, then grabbed her and dragged her to the balcony of the office. 

A blizzard raged outside, and Thiel was kicked out onto the balcony with no shoes, only wearing old, worn-out pyjamas. 

“You are the shame of Nestian.” 

Zender’s cold eyes made Thiel feel choked up. 

The little child hurriedly knelt down and prayed for forgiveness. 

“No, I was wrong, I was wrong, Grandpa please…”

It’s too cold here. 

Please forgive me.

The words that she couldn’t bear to say scattered from her parched lips. 

Thiel knocked hard on the locked door.
However, the tightly closed door would not open. Her hands were red and swollen from the cold, and snow continued to accumulate on her body. However, Zender completely ignored his granddaughter. 

Left alone in the brutal cold, Thiel could do nothing but shiver. Zender’s sharp gaze hurt more than her red, swollen feet. 

But the most painful and sad thing to her was- 

The door to the office opened, and Cornelia Nestian, Thiel’s aunt and now Nestian’s heir, walked in.
She was a beautiful woman with shiny silver hair and, unlike Thiel, had blue eyes. 

“Hey, aunt.” 

Thiel called to her in a trembling voice.
But Cornelia didn’t stop Zender.
She shrieked. 

“Can’t you be quiet! Who is your aunt?!” 

Thiel was startled and her shoulders shook.
Cornelia had said that she may not hate her more than Zender hated her, but she never hated her less.