The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 11

#11.

Dumbfounded, I looked back and forth between Jerarkiel and the woman. Strictly speaking, I’m not a mouse, but seeing her so afraid of animals smaller than herself, she must have had some trauma related to them when she was young.

She couldn’t easily approach and was trembling, seemingly genuinely scared. Just as I was wondering what to do, Jerarkiel said,

“It’s not a mouse, it’s a ferret. And a Beastman.”

“Ah, a Beastman?”

The woman’s face brightened at the word ‘Beastman,’ and she quickly stepped forward.

“Oh, you’re right. It really is a Beastman.”

The woman belatedly sighed in relief and smiled brightly. Her pale face turned peaceful in an instant, which felt strange.

What’s so scary about such a cute ferret…….

Feeling awkward, I stuck close to Jerarkiel’s hand, and the woman greeted me.

“Hello? I’m Marina. I’m a doctor.”

She even readily extended her hand, so Beastmen must be okay. When I awkwardly brought my paw forward, Marina grasped it and shook it.

“But what brings you to me? If it’s for Javiss, he should have his own personal physician.”

Judging by her words, Marina didn’t seem to belong to the Javiss family.

“It’s because you’re a cat Beastman who was late to transform. I heard you help Beastmen who have failed to transform.”

“Ah……. So this person here is…….”

Marina looked at me with strange eyes, trailing off at the end of her sentence.

I blinked at Marina’s words that she was also late to transform. She seemed as skilled at transforming as any other Beastman now.

Knowing that she had experienced the same difficulties made her seem more trustworthy. Also, I had a gut feeling that the reason she was afraid of small animals was no trivial matter.

“Yes. Chi Chi hasn’t transformed yet.”

“Excuse me for a moment.”

With a determined face, Marina gently moved me from Jerarkiel’s hand to the table. It was warm on the soft cushion, but I felt nervous because she was a doctor.

“Relax your body.”

Following Marina’s guidance, I lay down on the cushion and relaxed. Marina placed one finger on my stomach.

At that moment, her fingertip became warm. It was as warm as a hot pack, making me feel drowsy. It was after Marina had been examining me for a while.

“That’s strange.”

Marina tilted her head, then rubbed my stomach for a long time. I couldn’t help but worry as time passed.

Could it be that there’s no hope?

Well, I guess I’m just not destined for family, even in this life. When I opened my eyes in this world, I was an abandoned, dim-witted Beastman. If my family abandoned me, that says it all.

I couldn’t shake off the feeling of gloom. It was because memories of my past life suddenly came to mind.

‘I heard that child’s mother died holding her? How hard must it be for her to have seen her parents die?’

‘Still, it’s a great relief. She’s the only one who survived that big accident.’

‘I feel so bad for her. So, who’s going to take her in?’

‘That’s the problem.’

What was I thinking as I guarded the funeral hall after losing my parents early in a traffic accident? I realized for the first time then that losing a cozy shelter meant facing the harsh reality with my bare body.

All my relatives were reluctant to take me in, and eventually, my grandmother reached out to me.

But even that shelter disappeared when I turned twenty. My grandmother passed away from an illness. I was alone again. After that, I only remembered working whatever jobs came my way.

‘It’s okay. I’m used to being alone anyway.’

Not having what everyone else has was more upsetting than I thought.

In my past life, I didn’t have parents, and in this life, I was a dim-witted Beastman who couldn’t even transform, which everyone else could do. Not to mention parents.

I was trying to harden my heart when I felt a familiar touch on my face. Surprised, I looked up and saw Jerarkiel frowning.

“Why are you crying?”

“Oh my, are you crying? Did it hurt somewhere?”

Marina stopped examining me and checked my complexion. She looked anxious, wondering if it was because of her.

I quickly shook off the memories of my past life and shook my head. Relieved, Marina continued her examination.

“It’s all done now.”

Soon after, Marina patted me and withdrew her hand. She said to Jerarkiel,

“I don’t think you need to worry too much.”

“You don’t need to worry?”

“Has Chi Chi been exposed to pheromones recently?”

Recently, Jerarkiel had used pheromones to catch me. I had fallen asleep from the strong, alluring pheromones I felt for the first time.

Even now, I gritted my teeth just thinking about Ivan covering me up to my head with the blanket back then.

“She was affected by my pheromones.”

“That must have been the catalyst. I can feel the pheromones that were dormant in her body are just starting to awaken. However, there’s a problem…….”

Marina glanced at me and Jerarkiel, hesitating to continue.

“The reason why Beastmen can’t transform is simple. It’s often because they weren’t exposed to enough pheromones while in the egg or their mother’s womb, so they’re born premature. In this case, it just takes a long time, but they will transform someday. To speed up the transformation, you can expose them to the pheromones of their own kind.”

“But usually, they’re abandoned for being weak. That’s the law of the Beastman world.”

Marina nodded at Ivan’s reply, who had been waiting beside her all along.

“That’s right. It’s cruel, but that’s the law of the Beastmen. But Chi Chi’s case seems a little different.”

“Different?”

“It seems like she’s been subjected to pheromone manipulation.”

At the words ‘pheromone manipulation,’ Ivan and Jerarkiel’s eyes widened.

I had heard of it too. In 『Ella’s Kingdom』, the reason why the female lead, Ella, had unique pheromones was because of that.

Deliberately injecting superior Beastman pheromones to give birth to a Beastman with unique pheromones was against Beastman law.

However, it was also something that Beastmen with inferior pheromones secretly attempted to gain superior pheromones.

Ella was a victim of that. But why are they suddenly talking about unique pheromones?

As I looked at her questioningly, Marina continued,

“I can feel two pheromones in Chi Chi.”

“Two?”

At Jerarkiel’s question, Marina added an explanation.

“Yes. Maybe her transformation is delayed because she’s trying to handle two pheromones with this small body. If she transforms rashly, her body won’t be able to withstand it.”

“…….”

“Actually, I’ve never seen a case with two pheromones. Besides…….”

Marina trailed off, sweating profusely. It was because she could feel an unusual aura from Jerarkiel.

To be exact, his expression had been terrifying since the word ‘pheromone manipulation’ came out.

I covered my nose from Jerarkiel’s pheromones. It wasn’t threatening, but it was a pheromone that could intimidate people.

Ivan patted Marina’s shoulder and said,

“It’s okay, feel free to speak. If he intended to harm you, you’d already be lying on the floor.”

Is that supposed to be comforting?

I shook my head at Ivan’s near-zero empathy. As expected, Marina gasped and trembled.

Seeing this, Ivan lightly advised Jerarkiel,

“Jerarkiel, please withdraw your pheromones. At this rate, Marina won’t be able to tell us the results of her examination properly.”

At that moment, the heavy air lightened a little. Soon after, Marina took a breath and said,

“Both pheromones are likely to be unique pheromones. It seems like one hasn’t fully awakened yet, but…… I’m sure based on this wave.”

“!!”

I, I have unique pheromones? Two of them?!

Deeng― Deeng―

The sound of my life going awry echoed faintly.