The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 120

#120.

“Lady Chersea…”

Ella looked at me with a touched expression, likely a look of gratitude for my concern.

A moment later, she declared with a determined face.

“Still, if something happens, I’ll go alone. I won’t get caught like last time.”

“No. It might be better to be caught by Heathcliff. It could be more dangerous if another beastman catches you.”

Ella’s face darkened at my defense of Heathcliff. She muttered gloomily.

“Lady Chersea seems particularly lenient towards Lord Heathcliff. Even though you’re enemies now, you’re not wary at all.”

“Well, he *was* the male protagonist in the novel I read…”

“I see, that’s why you were so generous to me too. I shouldn’t have said that.”

As Ella became even more dejected, I quickly added, “No! That’s not what I meant! I would have liked you even if it wasn’t the original story. Besides, you *were* my favorite character in the original!”

I said it to cheer Ella up, but her face turned even darker.

“That’s what worries me so much.”

Ella wore an unusually stern expression. I flinched, and she continued, “Don’t trust Lord Heathcliff too much. Even if he’s Heathcliff, as the young lord of Paige, he can always turn his back for the sake of his family.”

It was an incomprehensible statement. Heathcliff and the young lord of Paige—they were the same person.

Besides, Heathcliff was a righteous character in the original story.

But since Ella, who was the protagonist of the original story, was saying it, I couldn’t ignore it.

‘What happened to Heathcliff before the regression?’

Ella became cold only when it came to Heathcliff.

It didn’t seem like this from the beginning…

Ella was gradually regaining her memories from before the regression [time travel/reincarnation].

The memory confusion was said to be a side effect of using the power of the Topaz of Time without a contract [magical agreement].

It happened so urgently that there was no time to make a contract.

As a result, her memories were returning jumbled, mirroring how much she had turned back time.

Tavi had said nonchalantly to me, who was worried about this:

– Eventually, when you reach the point of turning back time, all your memories will return, even if you don’t want to remember them.

Currently, Ella had regained enough memories to not interfere with her daily life.

Of course, there were still memories that hadn’t returned, but they would all return soon.

In the past three years, Ella, who had regained quite a bit of her memory, had become a more gloomy and cold woman.

Perhaps it was because she had embodied all the exhausting situations at the time as her memories returned.

Fortunately, she maintained her old self only in front of me.

Of course, I was worried that she was building too many walls against beastmen other than me.

Especially, she was so cold to Jerakiel that I felt awkward when the three of us were together.

Of course, there were plenty of reasons why Ella disliked Jerakiel. It was only because I was there that they weren’t fighting.

‘Is it because bad memories related to Heathcliff are coming back?’

If not, there was no reason for her to be so cold to Heathcliff.

Heathcliff was Ella’s longtime lover.

But Ella didn’t open her mouth about Heathcliff, so there was no way to press her further.

Then, feeling Ella’s obvious gaze, I couldn’t overcome the unspoken pressure and opened my mouth.

“Okay. I’ll be careful.”

Only then did Ella’s expression soften. She renewed her determination once again.

“This time, I will definitely find the clue to the Opal of Nothingness.”

Ella looked strangely anxious, and I smiled awkwardly. Strangely, Ella was more anxious than I was, the person involved.

* * *

Chersea looked curiously at the unfamiliar land she was stepping on for the first time.

The place where the negotiations were to be held was the old site of the Ludem Temple, located in the northern snowfields.

It had lost its function as a temple and was now only serving as a plaza.

It was said to be the least cold area, but when I arrived, it was freezing.

Chersea shrugged her neck and blew on her white breath.

“I heard that the North is cold all year round, and it was true.”

It was annoying when Ayla wrapped me up like a snowman. Now I knew why.

If I had ignored Ayla’s words and dressed lightly, I might have frozen to death.

It was when Chersea was shivering from the biting wind that Jerakiel cupped her cheeks, and her senses suddenly dulled.

“Huh?”

“Do you feel better now?”

Jerakiel chuckled and took his hand away. Come to think of it, Jerakiel’s clothes were lighter than others, as if he didn’t feel the cold.

‘Ah, is it because of pheromones?’

Chersea, who belatedly recalled that fascinating pheromones had the characteristic of numbing the senses, stomped her feet and shouted, “Ugh, if you had something this good, you should have done it sooner! I almost froze to death.”

Jerakiel stared at her in disbelief.

He saved a shivering white ferret, and now she’s asking for more.

From the beginning, it was funny that the white ferret was shivering from the cold.

Wasn’t the white ferret a species that lived well even in cold regions?

Perhaps because she had been living in the warm South, her racial characteristics had faded.

‘I think she thinks she’s a lion now.’

Well, that’s not bad either.

Chersea, who already shouts louder in front of the lion, was in a situation where there was no lion to resist her in Jabishi Castle.

Besides, there was another reason why he didn’t use pheromones on Chersea.

His pheromones didn’t work on Chersea. To be exact, it seemed that the pheromones of all beastmen didn’t work.

From the first time he met Chersea and used pheromones to the point where she easily unraveled Erhaden’s disguise.

It seemed that Chersea had a unique constitution that could neutralize pheromones, the greatest weapon of beastmen.

Chersea, the person involved, didn’t know this, so he was always becoming the bad guy.

‘Without knowing my heart.’

Jerakiel let out a hollow laugh and tapped the tip of Chersea’s nose.

“Are you asking me to do it for free?”

“To charge a price between us, that’s too much.”

“Only at times like this are we ‘us’.”

Jerakiel chuckled and held Chersea’s hand tightly. Her soft, white-gloved hand was small enough to fit in one hand.

Jerakiel stared at it blankly. Chersea, who had become an adult, was still a head shorter than him.

It was partly because the Black Lion was so large, but also because the White Ferret was so small.

These days, Jerakiel’s heart fluttered just by looking at Chersea.

Was it because of her silver hair that sparkled like snowflakes? Or was it because of her pink eyes that resembled the reddish sunset?

Perhaps he was simply thirsty for Chersea herself.

Chersea, who had become an adult, was more beautiful and attractive than Jerakiel had imagined.

The bobbed hair, which she had always cut off without letting it grow because it was annoying, had become long, flowing hair that reached her waist overnight as she went through adulthood.

Chersea looked great with long hair as well as short hair. Now, Jerakiel was dumbfounded when he even thought that she would look good even if she shaved her head.

‘This is serious.’

Jerakiel could no longer stop his heart for Chersea. Of course, he had no intention of stopping.

However, he was waiting for an opportunity. Chersea was a more cautious beastman than he thought.

He was planning to set a trap so she wouldn’t be surprised and catch her at once.

The problem was that she wasn’t just pretty in his eyes.

It was a big deal because he got angry just by seeing the males looking at her.

She still looked small and weak, so he was exhausted from just keeping her by his side without being able to give her strength properly.

Jerakiel looked down at the small hand that fit perfectly in his hand and muttered seriously.

“Is she still not grown up enough?”

But Chersea, who couldn’t read his thoughts, had no idea that it was a very infuriating statement.