The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 36

#36.

For some reason, Jerakiel felt elated the moment he heard those words. He repeated them to himself several times for no reason, then belatedly revealed himself.

“Gasp!”

Bianco spotted Jerakiel first and widened his eyes. Chichi also looked surprised, though a bit later. Jerakiel approached them with leisurely steps.

Jerakiel stared impassively at Bianco’s trembling face before extending a hand to Chichi.

“You were taking too long.”

“Ah.”

“I came to pick you up.”

When Jerakiel even flashed a bright smile, Chichi bit her lower lip and raised her hand.

“Let’s go.”

Chichi nodded lightly at the unspoken invitation, without any questions. Her head was bowed so low that her expression was hidden.

It was then that the man, emboldened by some unknown courage, grabbed Chichi’s other hand.

“Hayan, no!”

It was a desperate cry, but he had chosen the wrong opponent. Jerakiel had been annoyed since earlier at the man’s presumptuous touching of Chichi. If it weren’t for Chichi, he would have already severed his wrist.

“Let go of that hand, won’t you?”

Jerakiel, having exhausted his patience, muttered with a hardened expression. Instantly, the man recoiled, his face filled with terror.

“Hayan…”

“Haa.”

Who authorized him to keep renaming her as he pleased?

Chichi had clearly told him not to call her that, yet he stubbornly insisted on using that name, which was disrespectful to her.

Jerakiel didn’t like the fact that the man had given Chichi that ridiculous name in the first place.

If white fur meant Hayan, then was he supposed to be Kkamang [Korean word for ‘blackie’]? He couldn’t understand who would come up with such absurd names.

If Ivan were here, he would have snidely remarked, ‘Chichi-nim [honorific suffix] is called Chichi because she ‘chichi’s around…’ but he wasn’t here, so it didn’t matter. Even if he were, he would have shut his mouth.

Jerakiel had already prepared a new name for Chichi. Zakari had been urging him, and upon further thought, he didn’t like the idea of everyone calling her Chichi.

If she had a proper name, the nickname Chichi would be exclusively his.

Thinking about it that way, giving her a name seemed like a good idea. Jerakiel stood Chichi beside him and declared,

“Chercia Zabisiah.”

“?”

“This child’s name is not Hayan, but Chercia Zabisiah.”

At that moment, Chichi raised her head and looked at Jerakiel. She seemed surprised by the unfamiliar name.

She was surprised already?

Jerakiel stared at Bianco. As expected, the man’s body trembled, realizing the meaning of his words.

“Y-you’re giving her the Zabisiah name?”

“What if I am?”

“T-that’s absurd!”

The man shouted, his face pale. Even if the Zabisiah family was infamous, they were still a noble family representing the South.

Receiving the family name was akin to gaining immense power.

It wasn’t a privilege to be given to a mere pet. As expected, Bianco protested vehemently.

“A n-noble family name, and you’re giving it away so easily? Giving the Zabisiah name to a beastkin who has only just achieved human form? To someone whose pheromones are weak and might die young anyway?”

It was a far cry from the sanctimonious advice he had been giving Chichi earlier.

“T-this is unfair! If she raided the warehouse, she should be punished, not rewarded!”

He was quite the chatterbox, considering he was the one who raided the warehouse with her.

If they were going to talk about punishment, the weasel in front of him should be the first to receive it.

Blinded by jealousy, Bianco shamelessly revealed his dirty intentions, even in front of Chichi.

There were always those who couldn’t stand it when someone they considered beneath them suddenly rose above them. Their kindness was relative. The kindness they only showed to those beneath them was not true kindness, but hypocrisy.

Just then, Chichi squeezed the hand she was holding. She seemed angry at Bianco’s change of attitude. The man who had pretended to care for her was now protesting, his face red with anger.

Jerakiel lightly ignored the man and looked at Chichi.

Was she hurt? If so, he would inflict the same pain on that man.

Or was she angry? If she was angry, he would hang that man until her anger subsided…

Jerakiel could only imagine conclusions that involved dismembering Bianco.

No matter what emotions Chichi was feeling, the surest way to resolve them was to eliminate the smelly weasel in front of him.

Jerakiel was in a position to do so. He wanted Chichi to know that.

Jerakiel spoke.

“Really? Who says she’s weak?”

“W-well…”

“Chichi is the only beastkin who can hit me, so there’s no way she’s weak.”

His voice was sharp, as if he would make an example of anyone who dared to call her weak.

Instantly, Chichi flinched and looked at him. Seeing the pink eyes that seemed to ask what he was up to, Jerakiel grinned.

He wanted to ruffle the white hair, undoubtedly thinking of him as a madman again.

“I’ll ask one more time.”

“…”

“What do you want me to do, Chichi?”

If she told him to kill him, he would kill him, and if she told him to beat him to death, he would beat him to death.

The man also sensed the serious atmosphere and stared intently at Chichi, frozen in place.

After a moment, Chichi looked at Bianco and said,

“Spare him for now.”

“H-Hayan!”

“Hmm.”

At Chichi’s words, the man’s face brightened, while Jerakiel was perplexed. How could she be so soft-hearted? He was just about to decide to secretly kill him when she added,

“They say you can’t kill anyone in Hebel, right?”

“Ah. So it’s about that?”

That meant it didn’t matter what he did outside of Hebel. It seemed the man’s fate had run out. Jerakiel smiled brightly.

“Leave it to me.”

It was a smile like that of a guardian of hell. The moment Bianco saw that face, he turned pale and clung to Chichi.

“H-Hayan!”

But Chichi no longer allowed him to hold her hand. Chichi twisted the man’s hand. He had thought she was just docile, but now he saw that she had resolve.

“Agh!”

Bianco screamed as he was suddenly attacked, and Chichi said quietly,

“Didn’t you hear? My name is Chercia Zabisiah. Not Hayan, not Kkamang.”

“…”

“You seemed interested in Jerakiel, so that’s good. Go have a serious conversation with him outside of Hebel.”

“Kuh-uh…”

Bianco let out a groan of despair. Seeing this, Jerakiel said with a satisfied expression,

“See? Chichi is strong.”

Then he kicked Bianco away. He planned to lure him outside with a kick first.

* * *

We finished our journey in Hebel and returned to Zabisiah Castle. I was nervous about going there for the first time in my human form, but only for a moment.

Ayla displayed shocking behavior upon seeing me in human form. She put both fists in her mouth and sobbed.

‘I was scared… very scared.’

How could she fit both fists in her mouth?

The lions’ mouths must be caves or something. Every servant I met after that stared at me with curious eyes, and for a while, I couldn’t escape the fate of being a zoo monkey.

What was even more surprising was that I felt comfortable in that atmosphere of Zabisiah Castle.

There were so many beastkins gathered in Hebel that it was uncomfortable, but here, I was comfortable because they were all beastkins I knew.

It’s strange that Zabisiah Castle, where I used to live, felt more welcoming than Hebel.

Bianco was nowhere to be seen after the banquet until we left. Jerakiel must have chewed him up, torn him apart, tasted him, and enjoyed him. [Implies Jerakiel dealt with Bianco severely.]

Whatever the case, I decided to stop caring about Bianco. The way he treated me insignificantly and raged until his face turned red overlapped with a friend from my past life, and surprisingly, my mind became clear.

‘That’s why they say you can know the depth of ten fathoms of water, but not the heart of one man [an idiom meaning you can never truly know someone’s heart].’

Well, I knew it to some extent this time, so the impact wasn’t that great. Now that I’ve decided to wield the Black Lion, I’ll use him properly.

Because of this incident with Bianco, my trust in Jerakiel increased slightly.

So, I decided. I’m going to marry Jerakiel!