The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 67

“……What is that?”

I tilted my head, hearing the flower’s name for the first time. Judging by the context, it seemed to be referring to a flower that bloomed here.

So, the flower in the seal wasn’t a black rose after all.

Its appearance was identical to a black rose, so everyone must have misunderstood.

Of course, I had roughly guessed as much, so I wasn’t greatly surprised. I just didn’t know how this had happened.

“Unbelievable… So the records were true.”

“Records?”

“There’s a record passed down through the Zabisi family. It says there will come a moment when the Frenzy Flower turns white.”

Zachary’s gaze shifted to the Frenzy Flower that had turned white. Even though there were only a few petals left, the flower was rather vibrant.

“The ancestors always hoped for that moment.”

I quietly listened to his voice, which sounded almost wistful.

He was very happy. Not only had his flower turned white, but the frenzy that had bloomed in his heart had also disappeared.

Zachary suddenly ruffled my hair and smiled.

“Well done.”

He didn’t seem like the always sensitive and picky Zachary. It was the brightest smile I had ever seen from him.

Was it because I received praise?

For a moment, I felt a throbbing sensation in my chest. My face even felt hot, which was unfamiliar to me.

“Did I do something?”

As I blankly moved my lips, he coldly said,

“Hmph. Are you planning to play innocent after doing it?”

“Um…”

I did do something… but I couldn’t remember exactly how I did it. Tae-bi stopped me the moment I used my power, and because of that, I didn’t even know if I could bring out that power again.

Perhaps that’s why I wasn’t sure if it was my doing. Of course, I was relieved that Zachary was okay, but there were still many suspicious aspects to my power.

‘What Tae-bi said also bothers me.’

Tae-bi’s appearance, as if it were dangerous for me to use my power, kept replaying in my mind.

As I made a complicated expression, Zachary said quietly.

“Thank you.”

“……”

“It’s all thanks to you.”

At that smile, I unknowingly smiled along.

What does it matter?

Right now, it was enough that he was alive and not dead.

Looking at the Frenzy Flower that had turned white for Zachary’s sake and Zachary before my eyes, I could instinctively tell.

Zachary was now free from the frenzy.

The dangerous and gloomy aura that had followed him had completely disappeared.

Seeing that, my heart welled up. At the same time, I thought it was fortunate that I came to Zabisi.

I had always considered myself a useless existence. Born as a half-baked weasel beastkin [a person who can transform into a weasel], I was busy struggling through harsh winters.

A being who couldn’t even transform into a human, an ambiguous gray area where I couldn’t even be called a beastkin, that was me.

No one valued me, and I was only seen as a bothersome existence that needed to be taken care of.

But at this moment, for the first time, I felt like I was an existence that could belong here.

It was a world that had always felt like a foreign land, but now it felt like a world I belonged to.

I mumbled timidly in a trembling voice.

“You’re really okay now, right?”

“Of course.”

“That’s a relief.”

With those words, I relaxed and collapsed, falling into a deep sleep. It seemed like the tension I had been holding onto had finally been released.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zerachiel, after confirming that Chelsea was safely taken away, stared askance at the person in front of him. Isaac’s shoulders shrank at the sight of the sharply gleaming golden eyes.

“Let’s end today’s banquet here.”

At the order to dismiss, Isaac snapped out of it and protested.

“We can’t just go back like this. We need confirmation…!”

“Didn’t you hear me say go back?”

“We can’t do that. This matter is related to Hebel. We need an explanation, along with the strange phenomenon that occurred earlier.”

At the firm reaction, Zerachiel wore a deep sneer. He was determined to interrogate Chelsea.

If Chelsea had been from a prominent noble family, would he have reacted this way?

Absolutely not.

Zerachiel coldly stared at Isaac. Chelsea had officially received the Zabisi name today.

So, ignoring Chelsea was the same as ignoring Zabisi.

After a moment, he said coolly.

“It seems like you still haven’t grasped the situation.”

As Zerachiel took a step towards them, pheromones surged threateningly. Isaac was startled and shouted.

“Ze, Zerachiel-nim! [a respectful title]”

“Since when was Hebel allowed to overstep its authority in Zabisi?”

“We’re just trying to get the details from the weasel you took away earlier…”

“Not just a weasel, but Chelsea Zabisi. And now, my mate.”

The surroundings fell silent at Zerachiel’s cold voice. Isaac fiddled with his tingling fingertips and looked at the little master of Zabisi.

He was more taken aback by the strong reaction than he had expected. He couldn’t believe it when he suddenly said he had imprinted on a white weasel, but seeing it with his own eyes, it was clear.

The little master of Zabisi reacted more fiercely when his white weasel mate was ignored than when he was ignored.

This meant one thing: the Black Lion was passionately in love with the white weasel.

As Isaac didn’t say anything, Zerachiel opened his mouth.

“It means you’re not someone who can casually confront her. Are you still going to insist that this isn’t overstepping your authority in Zabisi?”

“I, I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to……”

“If this were the Page family, would you have been this firm?”

“We absolutely do not favor one family……!”

“Who wants to be loved by you?”

Zerachiel said with a disgusted expression.

“Why don’t you just be honest? You’re curious about the circumstances of what happened earlier. I know you can’t bring yourself to ask me, so you’re planning to grill Chelsea.”

At Zerachiel’s direct rebuke, the voices of the beastkins who had been buzzing around, including Isaac, died down.

Isaac looked at Ivan as if asking for help, but Ivan’s expression was no different from Zerachiel’s.

“Just cut off his head. I don’t even want to see him acting so presumptuous.”

At the action of even encouraging Zerachiel, Isaac reflexively stepped back.

This was the southern territory ruled by Zabisi. As Naaman’s order to not cause trouble and return came to mind, cold sweat ran down Isaac’s back.

The situation that had unfolded was so shocking that he had ended up taking the lead. He had unknowingly become excited because the Guardian had appeared.

Moreover, it was a mistake to judge that he could push forward because the head of Zabisi had a personal problem.

The little master before his eyes was driving him into a corner more skillfully than he had expected. He was exuding a more ominous aura than Zachary, or rather, even more so.

Probably because he had touched the white weasel.

“That’s right. Maybe that would be better.”

Zerachiel smiled as he fiddled with his sword hilt, as if agreeing with Ivan’s words. He looked just like a grim reaper.

Isaac’s face began to turn white. Seeing this, Zerachiel smirked inwardly.

Their guilty expressions.

Normally, these guys wouldn’t have dared to step forward, crushed by Zabisi’s power, but as soon as Chelsea got involved, they acted like this.

They couldn’t touch Zabisi’s direct line, so they were planning to latch onto a mate of unknown origin without any backing.

Knowing their obvious intentions made him feel even more twisted inside.

Perhaps everyone’s heads were messed up after seeing Zabisi go berserk before their eyes.

Well, the fact that the one who quelled that rampage was none other than the white weasel.

Even he was still dumbfounded, so there was no way they could be calm about it.

As soon as they realized it was Zabisi’s rampage, they were all busy running away. Now they were trying to mediate, which was absurd.