The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 41

Zakari smirked, feigning wickedness as he usually did. His decline had been foreseen ever since Rahel was driven out.

‘He should at least die after Zerachiel becomes an adult.’

There was a risk of his madness erupting before Zerachiel even reached adulthood.

There was no way someone who wasn’t an adult could stand against him. Of course, Zakari only said that and had no intention of letting his son meet a tragic end. He would take his own life before that happened.

Still, what worried him was Zerachiel, who would take over Jabisi after his death.

With Page acting suspiciously these days, a sudden change of generations would bring chaos and create vulnerabilities within the family.

Meanwhile, Duke had much to say but kept his mouth shut. He had served his master since he was young.

He couldn’t possibly curb the whims of his master as he withered away. Duke sighed with a faint smile.

“Indeed. I am more worried about the head of the family than the young master.”

“I’ll worry about myself, so you worry about your gray hair. It seems to have increased since I saw you last time.”

“It’s because the master I serve is so particular.”

“If you can’t even say it.”

Zakari chuckled and got up from his seat. As he went outside, Herman, who had been waiting, said.

“All the elders have arrived at the annex and are waiting to be summoned.”

It was his turn to work. Zakari grinned.

“Finally, they’ve all gathered.”

* * *

On the day of the Council of Elders.

The elders staying in the annex of Jabisi Castle headed to the main castle one by one. Judging by their faces, they seemed full of dissatisfaction with this agenda.

“Welcome.”

Jabisi’s head, Zakari, greeted the elders as he sat at the head of the table. To his right, Zerachiel was holding a white ferret, looking sleepy.

What was unusual was that the white ferret in his hand had a face full of displeasure.

As if they had fought, the ferret didn’t even look at Zerachiel. Rather, Zerachiel was fixedly staring at her.

‘Displeasure?’

To maintain such boldness even in the grasp of the Black Lion. Any other animal would have fainted from the pressure.

The elders judged that this white ferret was no ordinary ferret just by looking at it. At the same time, they wondered why it was in the conference room in the form of a ferret.

‘Could it be… a Suin [a creature with the ability to shapeshift between human and animal forms] who can’t even transform into a human?’

If so, it was a really big problem. Judging from its small appearance, it was clear that it had been threatened by a direct descendant.

Thinking so, they looked again, and it seemed like it was not displeasure, but an ardent look of requesting rescue.

It was absurd unless they wanted to destroy the family. They had no idea what the Black Lions were thinking.

Balzac, the head of the elders, forced himself to look away from the white ferret and greeted as a representative.

“We greet the owner of Jabisi and the young master.”

“Thank you for your hard work in coming.”

As everyone took their seats, Zakari went straight to the point.

“I have arranged this meeting to discuss the issue of the successor’s partner, which has been postponed. Thank you all for attending despite the urgent call.”

“We have to come when the head of the family calls. But…”

Balzac’s gaze turned to the white ferret.

“Is the person mentioned in the letter perhaps that white ferret over there?”

Surely not?

Zakari answered cheerfully to Balzac’s question with a smile.

“That’s right.”

Balzac, having his suspicions confirmed, said sternly.

“Head of the family, the position of the next mistress is not a position that just anyone can handle.”

“Just anyone, you say.”

“You can tell at a glance. Judging from the fact that I can’t feel any pheromones even though she’s so close, aren’t you just trying to fill the position by bringing in a Suin who was abandoned somewhere? Moreover, looking at her, I don’t know if she can even use pheromones properly, let alone transform into a human. Avoiding the succession issue in this way is ignoring us elders…”

“You should be careful with your words, Elder Balzac.”

Then Zerachiel, who had been listening all along, smiled and showed his displeasure. He tied one of the white ferret’s ears together and said.

“Our Chi Chi has a bad temper, so she can’t stand hearing such things.”

“Chi!”

The white ferret cried out as if agreeing. To be exact, it was saying, ‘Don’t talk nonsense, you crazy lion!’ but in Balzac’s eyes, it seemed like she was agreeing.

It was clear that she had been thoroughly threatened. It was like a rehearsed line.

Then, when Chi Chi roughly untied the tied ear, Balzac was shocked.

“Oh, my.”

“Look. Her kicks are quite sharp.”

“You speak as if you’ve been hit before.”

“I’ve been hit countless times.”

“Yes. There’s no way you would have, daring to hit someone… Huh? What did you say?”

Balzac made a blank expression as he spoke. Did he mishear? A Black Lion being hit by a white ferret that was barely a mouthful?

“No, right?”

“I got hit once today too.”

Zerachiel showed his cheek. There seemed to be a pink paw print on it.

“D-Don’t lie.”

“Even if it’s like this?”

Zerachiel gestured below. In the gaze that naturally followed, there was a white ferret biting Zerachiel’s finger and resisting. To be exact, it was an act of telling Zerachiel to shut up, but on the surface, it looked aggressive to anyone.

“T-That, such…”

Balzac forgot that he had been boldly rebelling and trailed off.

A white ferret biting a Black Lion. It was an unheard-of combination.

At the unexpected development, not only Balzac but also the elders who were with him all widened their eyes. It seemed like their eyeballs would pop out if they were poked.

Zerachiel looked down lovingly at the one biting his finger and said.

“Besides, there’s no proof that not feeling pheromones is necessarily because she’s weak, right?”

“Are you saying that the reason I can’t feel that ferret’s pheromones is because she’s so strong?”

A Suin with strong pheromones was skilled at hiding their own pheromones. If they were emitting pheromones all the time, the prey would be more likely to run away before they could even hunt.

Therefore, it was the accepted theory that you couldn’t feel the pheromones of a Suin stronger than you unless they revealed them first.

“Well, you could say that.”

Zerachiel smiled and gave an implicit affirmation. It was a phenomenon that occurred after Chi Chi swallowed something from the well, but he had no intention of telling the elders that.

It was a word deliberately let out to mislead them. If he stayed like this, they would underestimate Chi Chi.

When Balzac couldn’t say anything, another elder next to him, Reinway, opened his mouth.

“Such tricks are useless. We already knew that that ferret was Zerachiel’s pet. I heard it was definitely an abandoned Suin.”

“So what if she is?”

Zerachiel tilted his head, as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“Of course that’s…”

“I wouldn’t have called everyone here just to get permission.”

“…That’s right!”

“I can’t back down anyway.”

“?”

“I knew you’d do that, so I marked her.”

Zerachiel smiled and held up Chi Chi’s front paw. Everyone’s eyes turned to the inside of the white ferret’s front paw. There was a black dot there, and on closer inspection, it resembled the shape of a black rose.

Zerachiel shook his front paw playfully as if teasing. Accordingly, the elders’ eyes also shook violently.

“That’s… !”

“You really marked her?!”

The elders jumped up and trembled. Zerachiel yawned with a bored face, whether they did or not.

“Yes. I can’t be without Chi Chi.”

“…”

“So if you’re going to object, you’ll have to face me directly.”