The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 22

The Black Lion Family’s Strongest Daughter-in-Law (22)

#22.

I couldn’t hide my bewilderment and blinked. I had my doubts, but he really was unpredictable.

I can’t understand Zerachiel’s psychology of liking to be hit.

Following behind, Ivan lamented with a face of shattered admiration.

“Was that it? You should have told me sooner. I almost pledged my loyalty for life!”

“Everyone, get out.”

Zerachiel ordered as if he had no intention of putting up with Ivan’s grumbling. Ivan sighed deeply and gestured to me.

“Let’s go, Chichi.”

I was about to follow him out absentmindedly when Zerachiel smiled slyly and warned.

“Chichi stays.”

“But now that you’ve humanized, using a room together is too… perfect. It’ll be more comfortable for Chichi too. Right? That’s what I hear.”

Ivan, playing both roles in the conversation himself, led Merina and quickly headed for the door.

Hey, what about my opinion?

* * *

Once the noisy Ivan disappeared, Zerachiel was finally able to have Chichi all to himself.

He stared silently at the hand he was holding, lost in thought. Skin as white as hair caught his eye.

‘It looks like it would break if I put any strength into it.’

The soft, slender wrist was as thin and delicate as when she was a ferret.

Somehow, even though her body had grown, she still looked like she needed protection.

From Chichi, who had succeeded in humanizing, I could feel a more stable pheromone than before.

The sweet pheromone that had made me feel hazy, as if drunk, just a few hours ago, had long since disappeared like a skilled beast [a beast who is skilled at hiding their presence]. Instead, only a subtle sweetness remained.

It was the first time I had ever felt like I was soaked in someone else’s pheromones. And to think it was a power that could instantly neutralize the allure, which is said to be at the top of the closed pheromone system.

I didn’t know if it was fortunate or unfortunate that it hadn’t fully manifested yet. If someone were to find out about this power, they would surely target her.

Perhaps because of the incomplete humanization, there was a phenomenon where pheromones would suddenly burst out. If things continued like this, it would only be a matter of time before other beastkins noticed.

What should I do?

Zerachiel impulsively brought her wrist to his nose. A faint sweetness emanated from the skin where his pheromones were smeared.

If he couldn’t hide the pheromones, he needed to take measures to prevent others from attacking her outright. No matter what anyone said, Chichi was his.

At that moment, Chichi asked with a wary face.

“What are you doing…?”

“You smell sweet.”

“What?”

“So I’m wondering what to do.”

Zerachiel smiled languidly and pressed down on her wrist. The pheromones flinched at the spot he pressed firmly, as if marking his territory.

It was a weak reaction that was hard to believe was the pheromone that had swallowed me up last night. It was so pathetic that I was confused as to what her real self was.

Nevertheless, I wanted to feel that feeling from yesterday again. It was that attractive of a pheromone.

No, maybe it’s Chichi who’s attractive.

Zerachiel couldn’t tell whether the instinct he was feeling was appetite, possessiveness, or just simple curiosity.

It was already yesterday that he felt that his actions toward Chichi were excessive, just because of the pheromones.

He should have just left her alone, whether it hurt or not. There was no need to go to such lengths to relieve her pain, even at the risk.

It was Chichi’s fault for wandering around Hebel without fear in the first place. If she died, it would have been unavoidable.

For some reason, seeing Chichi in pain made me anxious and I had no choice but to do something. This feeling was a truly unfamiliar emotion that I had never experienced before.

It was a companionship that started out of simple curiosity. I only raised her because I wanted to. But the closer I got, the more strangely attached Zerachiel became.

It was because he couldn’t get the feeling that he had Chichi in his hands. On the contrary, he felt like he was caught in Chichi’s grasp. The most interesting point was that it wasn’t all that bad.

The moment he thought of Heathcliff rolling around in the grass with Chichi, he felt very depressed. It was no exaggeration to say that the most threatening person to him right now was Heathcliff. It was even more so because Chichi seemed to be comfortable with him.

“Don’t you have something to say to me?”

At Zerachiel’s questioning words with his eyes lowered, Chichi avoided his gaze. Her face showed that she knew what he was talking about right away.

“I, I was just going out for a while. I even left a note.”

“Ah, so you went on a date with a hyena with such dignity?”

“I, I didn’t know you were following me!”

Chichi protested as if she was wronged. Of course, that made me feel bad in its own way.

Who was he to be following Chichi?

Zerachiel didn’t know what to do with the unpleasant feeling that was rising from within. He buried his lips on Chichi’s wrist and asked as if to confirm.

“So, did that guy bite you too?”

The atmosphere was such that someone would go up to heaven depending on the answer.

Chichi was sweating as she looked at Zerachiel, who had become fierce.

I don’t know what he doesn’t like about it, but it was clear that this answer was important.

“…He didn’t bite me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! You told me not to bite just anyone. You told me to only bite you!”

Zerachiel was the only one who whined at me to bite him from the beginning. Ivan was a man of quick reflexes who quickly dodged before he could even get hit.

What on earth is going on in that guy’s head?

I’d like to open up that pretty head if I get the chance.

At that moment, Zerachiel smiled brightly. Golden eyes with a sweet color like melting honey sparkled.

“Okay. You have to bite only me from now on.”

And without warning, he bit her wrist. It was an act of leaving a clear bite mark as if he had intended to do so from the beginning, marking her as his own.

* * *

Before long, all the families representing the East, West, South, and North had arrived in Hebel.

Originally, it would have been difficult to gather these people in one place, but after the territorial dispute that caused the Great Chaos in the past, they gathered together every quarter as a place to strengthen each other’s alliances and friendships.

The meeting was always held in Hebel in preparation for any possible bloodshed. This was because Hebel was a neutral area and did not take sides with anyone.

Devon, the head of the Page family representing the North, greeted Zakari, the representative of the South.

“It’s been a while.”

“Were we close enough to greet each other?”

Zakari shrugged his shoulders at the annoying face.

“Isn’t that the case in Hebel for now?”

But not outside of Hebel.

Zakari chuckled at Devon’s muttered words. It was ridiculous that he was subtly revealing his true intentions.

It was a place for friendship, but in reality, it was a place for surveillance and espionage. Jabishi, who was born with strong pheromones, was always the number one target of other families.

In particular, his relationship with the Page family, which was adjacent to him, was the worst. In the first place, the South and the North were the regions where territorial disputes were most severe.

As Zakari hardened his expression, Devon muttered with a slippery face.

“Don’t think too badly of it. If you keep doing that, you might be misunderstood as trying to repeat the past, don’t you think?”

Zakari raised an eyebrow at the blatant provocation, revealing his displeasure.

It was even more so because he knew that Jabishi was the culprit behind the Great Chaos.

The Great Chaos was caused by the fact that Jabishi’s direct line was unable to subdue the head of Jabishi, who had gone berserk due to madness. Due to the rampage that occurred at an unexpected time, the cause of the early rampage at that time has not yet been revealed.

Zakari sent a cold gaze to gauge Devon’s intentions. Judging from his expression, it didn’t seem like he knew what he was doing. If he knew the secret of Jabishi, he wouldn’t be so calm.

In fact, the Jabishi family had a garden that only direct descendants could enter. The place, known as the Secret Garden, hid a terrible legacy that had been passed down from generation to generation.

There was a flower called the Madness Flower, where you could know the time of madness. The flower bloomed like poison to all Jabishi and ate away at their lives. The very eerie and beautiful flower that followed from generation to generation was the cause of Jabishi’s madness.