The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 138

The Strongest Daughter-in-Law of the Black Lion Family (138)

#138.

Seeing me taking my time, I smiled, holding my teacup.

“Please, speak freely. I am a Sarvan now.”

As if those words were a signal, the Sarvan Head began to speak.

“Our family has a ritual for the successor, passed down through generations. Only those who successfully complete this ritual are qualified to become the Head. Even if you are the only successor, it is something you must do.”

“Is that so?”

“It involves some risk, but it is necessary to represent the proud Sarvan family. Of course, I’m sure you can handle it.”

Judging by the lengthy preamble, it was clearly quite dangerous. Moreover, since I had a rough idea of what it might be, I reacted calmly.

“Then I will participate. I am now a proper Sarvan successor, after all.”

“I am grateful that you say so.”

The Sarvan Head smiled contentedly and poured a cup of tea. After some small talk, it was time to leave.

I ran into Eve, who was anxiously standing in front of the door, and blinked.

“Mother? How long have you been here?”

“That’s…”

Eve carefully began to speak, glancing inside.

“Is that Eve?”

Eve’s face turned ashen at the voice from inside, as if she had been caught trying to do something wrong.

Eve answered with a short sigh.

“…Yes, it’s me.”

“Come inside without any useless talk.”

At the overbearing command, Eve silently went inside. I stared at the tightly closed door for a moment before quietly leaving.

* * *

The Sarvan Head stirred the now-cold tea habitually, remaining silent. Eve stood before him as if being punished.

The Sarvan Head rebuked her with a displeased expression.

“I told you not to do anything foolish. You don’t listen. Do you truly wish to die by your father’s hand?”

“Head, please reconsider. I really can’t live if Chelsia is harmed…!”

Eve knelt down and pleaded. But the more she did, the darker the blood vessels on the Sarvan Head’s forehead became.

“I told you not to bother me with that matter anymore.”

“Isn’t it time to give up now? You know very well that there are no more successors left…”

“Ha!”

The Sarvan Head, as if dumbfounded, let out a hollow laugh and glared at Eve with fierce eyes.

“Are you now trying to protect your child? She is just a bastard child anyway.”

“You’ve already sent away more than three siblings because of your greed. Don’t you dare covet my child too…!”

Eve flinched, stopping mid-sentence, because the Sarvan Head had raised his large hand.

Thud!

With a dull sound, Eve fell to the floor. The Sarvan Head looked down at her coldly and said.

“Anyone would think I’m the only villain. You were quietly trying to save your own life, so what are you complaining about now?”

“Hngh…!”

The Sarvan Head grabbed Eve by the collar, who was sobbing, and brought his face close to hers, muttering.

“I saved you from being beaten to death by your in-laws and brought you back, only for you to do nothing but waste food. And now what? Don’t touch my daughter? Do you think I’m doing this for my own pleasure?”

Not satisfied even then, he kicked Eve, who had fallen over from the force of his grip.

“Ugh…”

The Sarvan Head knelt down in front of Eve, who was writhing and groaning.

“You know very well that the Sarvan family is on the verge of collapse if things continue like this. Don’t you realize that if you weren’t of any use, I would have let you be beaten to death long ago?”

“F-Father…”

“If the branch families notice that the direct line’s pheromones are weakening, you and I are as good as dead. Knowing that, how dare you say such things?”

“But the Young Lord of Jabishi is here too. If we get caught…”

“Then we just have to make sure we don’t get caught.”

“…”

“Everything will be fine if you just stay quiet. Understand?”

The Sarvan Head grabbed Eve’s trembling chin with a gentle smile. Then, he forcibly shoved something into her mouth.

“Gack!”

“Swallow it. That will keep your mouth shut.”

“Ugh!”

“That’s right. You have to take it quietly if you want to live, right?”

Gulp.

The moment Eve swallowed it, she clutched her throat and collapsed. The Sarvan Head looked down at her coldly and rang the bell.

“Clean this up.”

At that cruel command, a servant dragged the unconscious Eve away.

* * *

Meanwhile, Chelsia, who had left the study, headed to the place where the busts of the past Sarvan Heads were displayed.

She was staring at the bust of the first Sarvan Head when she noticed movement behind her.

As Chelsia moved forward, Ella, in her rabbit form, jumped into her skirt pocket.

After shaking off the grass that camouflaged her body, Ella perked up her ears.

“Did you scout well?”

At Chelsia’s question, Ella nodded and pointed forward with her front paws, a signal to go inside and talk first.

Chelsia held Ella in her arms and headed to a secluded place.

Only after confirming that they were alone did Ella transform into her human form.

“I think there was a trap after all.”

Ella said with a stiff face, and Chelsia shrugged nonchalantly.

She had roughly expected the scenario of them setting a trap and luring her to the North.

In fact, the first thing Chelsia did while staying in Sarvan territory was to have Jonathan figure out the structure of Sarvan Castle.

The passage Ella had escaped through was a secret passage in Sarvan Castle, a hidden space inside the outer walls.

A passage that only a small animal could barely move through.

It seemed to have been made to secretly escape in case of emergency during construction. A place where even small animals like the White Ferret clan could not enter was very suitable for the purpose of a secret passage.

Fortunately, no one seemed to know about the passage. Jonathan had discovered it after it had been neglected for quite some time.

Thanks to that, she was able to scout various parts of the castle without the Sarvan Head’s knowledge.

The fact that Ella was a small animal also played a part in being able to use the passage.

“It seems the heirs didn’t die from a genetic disease.”

“Then?”

“It seems that the pheromones of the Sarvan direct line have been weakening with each generation. Weakening pheromones mean they are becoming obsolete. The Sarvan Head, feeling a sense of crisis, seems to have taken action to solve the problem, which led to the successive deaths of the heirs.”

“Is that so?”

Chelsia listened to Ella in silence with a darkened expression. It sounded even more meaningful since the Sarvan Head had just told her that there was a ‘ritual that a successor must undergo’.

It was obvious that the Sarvan Head was going to do the same to her.

Recalling that Eve had looked anxious and tried to say something, it seemed she knew something about it too.

“From what I can see, it seems to be an act of forcibly strengthening pheromones. And…”

Ella glanced at her and continued.

“Eve Sarvan seemed to have been caught by the Head with some kind of weakness.”

“Weakness?”

“It seems something happened with her in-laws…”

“It’s okay, tell me in detail.”

“Um, it seems she was abused by her husband for a long time. It seems an accident happened because of that.”

“To think she married such a scoundrel… Well, since she was forced into a marriage with a secret, there’s no way they would have married her off to a decent family. So? Did the Sarvan Head demand me as a condition for taking Eve back into the family?”

“It’s a bit complicated. …It seems Eve Sarvan killed her husband.”

“What?”

“It seems the Sarvan Head paid the price and brought her back after she was almost beaten to death because of that.”

“Heh.”

This was really unexpected. Was the reason Eve was so afraid of the Sarvan Head because she was afraid of being abandoned?

Seeing Chelsia become troubled, Ella continued.

“And there’s a more important problem left.”

“What is it?”

“It seems the Sarvan Head is related to the Butterfly gang. I saw him using Loyalty Bugs [a type of mind-control insect] to silence Eve.”