The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 112

#112.

Over a century had passed since the Hebel Treaty eliminated unauthorized crossings between their territories.

Now that they knew some rabble was traipsing across the continent, they couldn’t simply ignore it.

Moreover, it was a blatant act targeting Jabez’s pheromones.

Since they provided the pretext first, there was no hesitation.

Zachary ordered Herman:

“Display Victor Orban’s head at the Jabez border gate, and send his torso divided among the representative families of each territory.”

This was a declaration of war. It was an act that instilled fear in those allied with the forces that sought to harm Jabez, and demanded active cooperation from those who were not.

“As of today, the Hebel Treaty is over. Leave no stone unturned in finding the forces that threaten Jabez.”

“Understood.”

Herman knelt on one knee and answered respectfully.

* * *

At the same time Zachary ordered the termination of the Hebel Treaty,

Chelsea had a private meeting with Ella. They had something to discuss in private.

Ella fidgeted as if she had something to hide. Chelsea spoke in a gentle tone.

“We’re alone, so you can speak freely.”

“…….”

“Actually, you knew who Heinrich was, didn’t you?”

Ella fiddled with her fingernails and nodded slowly. She seemed to know that lying was no longer an option.

“I didn’t recognize him at first either. I never saw him humanized when I was in the lab. If he hadn’t recognized me first, I wouldn’t have recognized him at all.”

“Then why did you pretend not to know after you recognized him?”

“I never thought we’d meet so soon. Besides, Heinrich should have already been dead…….”

Ella muttered something incomprehensible and sighed deeply.

Chelsea tilted her head.

“Should have been dead? What do you mean?”

She was taken aback by the statement, as if Ella knew the future. But Ella had no time to pay attention to Chelsea’s reaction.

Variables had arisen.

If it had been Zerachiel in the past, he wouldn’t have cared whether Heinrich died from a pheromone surge or not.

What changed him was clearly Chelsea Jabez before her eyes.

‘Can you change that future?’

Ella was lost in thought. Just before she regressed, the entire continent was devastated by pheromone surges [sudden, overwhelming releases of pheromones].

Hearthcliff, who tried to protect her, and Zerachiel were both on the verge of madness.

At the time, there were no safe zones except for Hebel. Most of the beastmen causing pheromone surges were reluctant to enter Hebel.

Thanks to that, many refugees tried to enter Hebel, and Hebel was in a state of emergency due to the influx of beastmen.

Then, Naaman argued that the saintess should be sacrificed to end this disaster.

The moment she was sacrificed, Ella was surprisingly able to return to the past.

Ella recalled the moment her heart froze and continued in a trembling voice.

“Maybe it’s because of Chelsea this time. Chelsea was always there when the Black Lion showed strange behavior.”

He may have shown mercy because he saw Chelsea reflected in Heinrich.

She heard that she was also an abandoned beastman.

The reason for the consideration that the original Zerachiel would not have given.

A changed future.

At the center of it was clearly Chelsea Jabez.

Ella trembled as if she had discovered a hidden treasure and muttered.

“If Heinrich survived because of that, the future might be changed enough.”

“Ella, you mean…….”

Chelsea widened her eyes at the words that she could change the future. That meant she knew the future like her.

She had been thinking it was strange all along. Ella staying in Hebel instead of the Page family, as well as not having pheromones, conflicted with the original setting.

But what if Ella knew the contents of the original story in advance and deliberately avoided it?

“You mean you deliberately went to Hebel…….”

Chelsea couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence and covered her mouth with her hand. In response, Ella revealed the truth she had been hiding all along.

“That’s right. I ran away. I wanted to live this time.”

“Wanted to live?”

That was as good as saying she had already died once. Before she could even interpret the meaning, Ella gave an answer.

“I came from the future.”

“!”

“I didn’t want to be used and die again like in the past. I wanted to try everything I could.”

Ella took something out of her arms. The broken bracelet had a broken vermilion gemstone.

“That’s…….”

It was the moment Chelsea looked at the bracelet without realizing it.

― Time Topaz?

Tavi recognized the relic and muttered in a daze. Jonathan then got heated.

― Where did you get that? It wasn’t even in the vault.

The two guardians seemed embarrassed enough to pour out questions to her, even though Ella couldn’t hear them. Tavi muttered seriously, pacing around the bracelet.

― It looks like it’s already broken, so it must have turned back time. The Time Topaz can only use its power once at the same time as the contract.

― It’s something you have to contract with carefully. There’s always a price to pay for turning back time.

She thought it was similar to the bracelet she was wearing, but it seemed to be a relic.

Chelsea couldn’t hide her embarrassment and asked back.

“So Ella really turned back time?”

― Yeah. I know why the original story you saw was canceled now.

― If the Time Topaz intervened, it’s understandable. The future has been artificially changed, so you can’t write the rest of the story anymore.

Tavi and Jonathan explained about the broken Time Topaz, taking turns.

The conclusion was that the future of 『Ella’s Kingdom』 that Chelsea read had disappeared as Ella turned back time.

― So that’s why it was familiar.

Tavi belatedly realized why Ella was familiar and muttered quietly.

Chelsea also realized why Ella had acted differently from the original story, and all the questions became clear.

Ella said.

“That’s right. I turned back time just before I died. Rem appeared the moment I was sacrificed alive in the past.”

‘Rem’ seemed to be the name of the guardian who protects the Time Topaz.

“Sacrificed?”

Chelsea was just breathless at the fact that Ella, who was a saintess, had been sacrificed. There was no such story in 『Ella’s Kingdom』.

The ruthlessness of the public who naturally tried to sacrifice the few for the sake of the many. And even Ella, who had to be sacrificed alive in it.

Even if she had actually been sacrificed, the disaster would not have disappeared. If that had happened, she wouldn’t have possessed this place.

“Everyone was desperate at the time.”

“That’s…….”

“Rem said I had to go back to the past. He said that’s how the future would change. The future I experienced was terrible. The beastmen lost their reason and became beasts with only pheromones left.”

Ella’s body trembled weakly like an aspen tree.

“I tried to prevent the war, but a bigger disaster happened instead.”

It seemed that something had gone wrong while trying to prevent the war. Chelsea held her hand tightly, and Ella barely opened her mouth.

“Actually, I didn’t turn back time for a grand reason like saving the world. ……I just wanted to live.”

“……I understand.”

She would have done the same. If she could escape from the crazy world, she would have done anything.

She didn’t know everything about the future Ella had experienced, but she wondered how bad it could have been.

Seeing that the beastmen had lost their reason, it seemed to be related to ‘Nabi’s’ actions. Chelsea carefully opened her mouth.

“So, you said you saw a beastman who had a seizure after taking illegal drugs back then…….”