The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 131

#131.

As Rudy said, Ella clung tightly to Heathcliff’s finger, refusing to let go.

Heathcliff looked at Ella with a bewildered expression. It wasn’t long ago that she acted like she didn’t want to be near him for even a second.

He had given her a chance to leave naturally, so why was she doing this now?

On the other hand, Ella’s eyes burned with determination.

‘I have to find out.’

How does he know the name ‘El’ anyway?

Given Heathcliff’s personality, he would never tell her if she asked.

Being a regressor [someone who has returned to the past] was good in this sense. She knew how to handle opponents she already knew.

As Ella stubbornly clung to him, Heathcliff lifted her up and sighed. He was reminded of his father’s words that he wouldn’t let him off if he didn’t attend the negotiation this time.

“Let’s go for now.”

* * *

Back to the present.

Cersia, who didn’t understand Ella’s intentions, decided to pretend she didn’t notice. Whatever Ella was thinking, it was clear that Cersia shouldn’t acknowledge her here.

At that moment, Devon, the head of the Page family, began to speak.

“Everyone’s here.”

His gaze was subtly directed at Cersia, as if she was an important card in this negotiation.

Zachary, displeased by this, glared at him. Devon averted his gaze and said,

“As I said before, the South’s unilateral invasion of the North is unacceptable. The North’s position is that there must be a reasonable reason for smooth passage.”

“It’s about catching the culprit who caused Zabishee’s rampage. Doesn’t that qualify as a reasonable reason?”

“Isn’t that a problem for the Zabishee family? Allowing passage for a private matter of a single family is too much of a burden on our side.”

A hollow laugh escaped at the attitude of subtly limiting it to Zabishee’s affairs.

Zachary scoffed, forgetting his place at the blatant lies.

“That’s funny. The North, which took the lead in enforcing the Hebel Treaty, claiming that Zabishee’s rampage was a threat to the continent, is now telling Zabishee to solve its own problems?”

“Of course, we also regret what happened three years ago. Such an absurd crime was committed against Zabishee. I almost lost my son at the time, and that incident still remains a trauma for me. However, the reason I didn’t hold them accountable was simply because it was my personal matter.”

That meant that you went on a rampage and caused me and my son mental damage, but I didn’t claim damages for the sake of the greater good. It was a highly passive-aggressive attack.

It seemed that it wasn’t just his ears that were bothered. Balzac, the Elder Council Chairman who was next to him, as well as the Zabishee elders who came with him, all had distorted expressions at once.

It was natural, as they had been reacting lukewarmly throughout the negotiations. But Zachary, who had already read their cards, was relaxed.

He was even looking forward to it, as Cersia was about to step into the arena set up by Devon and make a mess.

Zachary picked at his ear and said in an annoyed tone.

“So what are you going to do? Stop beating around the bush and tell me the reasonable reason the North wants.”

“As before, you must fill out entry records and pay tolls each time you enter the North.”

“Leaving entry records every time would give them time to escape. If I had wanted to wait and go through the procedures, I would have done so long ago.”

“Ahem! Show some respect, Head of Zabishee.”

“It’s okay. He does this once or twice.”

When the Page elder stepped forward, Devon immediately stopped him. It was a different attitude from when he usually waited silently until the elder finished his platitudes and then pretended to stop him late.

He seemed to be growing complacent, overconfident that everything would go his way.

Zachary crossed his legs as if to see how far Devon would go. Devon frowned at the presumptuous posture, but it didn’t last long.

“Yes. That’s the point where agreement is needed. The North has been discussing it because we know it’s an unnecessary procedure. The Northern nobles have been suffering from Zabishee’s unauthorized territory intrusions.”

“You must have suffered a lot. Everyone looks 10 years older.”

“Don’t be sarcastic. Would we do this on purpose? Things only work out when everyone’s interests align.”

“Okay. The toll has been paid quarterly, so there won’t be a problem. If you’re going to keep demanding those ridiculous traffic records, why don’t you just drop it? Do you think we came all the way to the North because we have time to spare?”

“Whoa, whoa, calm down. I was just about to talk about that.”

Devon leaned forward, put his hands together, and supported his chin.

“Only those belonging to the North and those guaranteed by them can enter and exit the North without traffic records.”

As expected.

As Devon was finally about to get to the point, Zachary smirked and straightened his posture.

“And today, we surprisingly learned that there is someone from the North among your family members.”

“Surprisingly, you say.”

“Believe it or not, that’s the case.”

‘Has the sly hyena’s acting improved?’

Zachary looked at Devon, who was dragging out his words, with an annoyed gaze.

In the end, his intention was to allow Zabishee’s members to pass through with her guarantee if he could only confirm that Cersia was from the North.

‘A double spy is a surefire way to win, you know?’

Zachary recalled Cersia’s words and waited quietly.

Where did she see such a novel to come up with such a cute idea?

Besides, he didn’t know how she had won over his son, and they were making a fuss together.

Originally, it would never have been possible, but this side also couldn’t afford to waste any more time catching the Butterfly gang.

As Cersia said, there was a high probability that a Butterfly gang executive was a Northern noble.

To manipulate pheromones systematically, they absolutely needed the help of a noble.

In the first place, to collect pheromones from various nobles, they had to have a certain status.

To extract various pheromones without the other party knowing, they had to be a fairly high-ranking noble.

Currently, everyone except the North had already secured their innocence.

Now, all that remained was a high-ranking noble family from the North.

Unfortunately, the North maintained a tight-knit alliance among themselves, making it difficult to find a gap to enter.

There were a total of three influential families in the North, led by Page.

Page, Sarvan, and Alvicho.

In particular, Sarvan was said to be extremely wary of outsiders because they were ultra-right-wing purists.

In addition, the family had closed itself off due to a genetic disease that had recently spread, making it difficult to approach.

He knew that the best way to infiltrate that family directly was to do as Cersia said.

But Cersia’s family happened to be Sarvan.

It was such a coincidental and exquisite timing that he had to figure out if there was another hidden move he didn’t know about.

“So who is it?”

“Don’t be surprised.”

Devon paused and said meaningfully.

“It’s your daughter-in-law, Cersia Zabishee, who is actually the sole heir to Sarvan.”

And at that very moment.

Thump, thump!

Cersia fell backward as if she had been waiting for it.

“Lady Cersia!”

Fortunately, Isla, who had been waiting behind her, quickly grabbed Cersia, preventing the misfortune of her hitting her head on the floor.

“I, I, I had a family?”

Cersia stammered with trembling eyes. Anyone could see that she was in shock.

Of course, it was a planned act, but Devon seemed satisfied with the reaction and said a lot.

“Yes. We were really surprised too. If I hadn’t accidentally seen a portrait of the Sarvan family head’s daughter in a locket he was carrying around, I probably would have never known.”

“Oh my god……!”

What a coincidence, as if it had been planned in advance!

Cersia covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide open. Devon, seeing this, puffed up with a satisfied face.

“I know how hard it must have been to be separated from your mother at a young age. Still, it’s a relief that you joined Zabishee and are doing well.”

“Then where is my family? What about my mother? Is my mother still alive?”

“Now, now. There’s no need to rush. Knowing you’d be like this, I brought your grandfather and mother to this place.”

“Really?”

Cersia even shed tears and showed off her high-class acting skills. Zachary gritted his teeth to avoid laughing.

So that’s what she meant by asking me to trust her just once. It was a very touching sacrifice.

At that moment, the Sarvan family head, who had been silent, slammed the table and shouted.

“I missed you, my granddaughter!”