The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 8

#8.

It had been a week since I was trapped in this castle, reduced to Zerachiel’s plaything.

Though still at a cute level, his skills in ‘feeding and playing’ were worthy of a villain in the making.

Of course, unlike the original story, it was puzzling that he seemed to enjoy being tormented by me more than tormenting me.

‘Is it because he’s young?’

Being out of his mind is the same as in the original, but…

There was something subtly unsettling about him now.

Come to think of it, Zerachiel wavered with Ella even in the original story. He was nice, then hurtful, then indifferent, then suddenly trying to win her over, so even Ella was confused about his true self.

The thought of Zerachiel becoming an adult and tormenting me like in the original story sent shivers down my spine. It wouldn’t be as mild as it is now!

‘My life is closer to a survival story than a healing one. Let’s get a grip. This is a den of evil!’

I shook off my recent laziness and re-established my escape plan, stepping away from the window. My toes had gone cold in the meantime.

I was about to turn back to the warm blankets when suddenly a sweet pheromone scent brushed my nose. Surprised by the familiar pheromone, I turned around to see Zerachiel just entering.

I hadn’t seen him coming back, so he must have entered the castle through a door I didn’t know about. He approached casually and asked,

“What are you doing there? Were you waiting for me to come back?”

His smiling face felt eerie today. Was it because I was thinking about the original story? He seemed to overlap with the Zerachiel in the original story.

“Chew.”

Waiting? Not a chance.

I scratched my cheek, avoiding his gaze for no reason.

I’m definitely not scared. I’m just awkward because it’s been a while.

That’s what I was telling myself when I faintly smelled a fishy scent of blood through Zerachiel’s pheromones.

‘Huh? Come to think of it, his pheromone concentration is higher than usual.’

I belatedly realized that it wasn’t normal for him to be emitting pheromones like this.

Ivan had told me that his pheromones were extremely dangerous. The pheromone lethality rate per stage was more than double that of ordinary beastkins [humans with animalistic traits].

Therefore, he had to suppress it much more than ordinary beastkins.

‘Somteol-nim will be the first beastkin to be awake in less than an hour after being hit by Zerachiel-nim’s pheromones. Usually…’

At the time, Ivan had covered his mouth with his hand and squeezed his eyes shut. His shoulders even trembled, which was annoying.

Just looking at that reaction, I could tell how dangerous his pheromones were.

Zerachiel, who shot those pheromones at me, is scary, but I, who woke up so lucky, am also amazing.

Maybe I’m a genius?

Of course, Ivan poured cold water on me, saying that Zerachiel had gone easy on me.

Well, it was called the strongest charm-type pheromone. If he had really tried to kill me, there’s no way I would have survived.

‘But why is he emitting pheromones again! It’s making me nervous!’

I slowly backed away. Even if the stage was very weak, it was still threatening.

Seeing this, Zerachiel raised one eyebrow. Then, he quickly closed the distance.

‘D, don’t come closer!’

Reaching a dead end, I warily watched Zerachiel. He looked fine on the outside, but strangely, the smell of blood was strong around him. It smelled even stronger as he got closer.

‘Could he be hurt?’

No matter how strong he is, he was still a beastkin who hadn’t reached adulthood. Since he’s young, he could definitely get hurt.

Maybe he’s releasing pheromones to hide the smell of blood.

Forgetting that I had been backing away, I got close to him and smelled him.

Sniffing and searching, he misunderstood and squatted down, reaching out his hand to me.

“Chew.”

You smell.

I covered my nose with my front paw and made a face. Then, Zerachiel opened his eyes wide and said calmly,

“Ah, I tried to erase it.”

So he was hurt after all?

“Don’t worry. It’s not my blood.”

“…….”

I slowly moved away from him again. I shouldn’t worry about a beast of prey. I keep forgetting that I have enough on my plate!

Zerachiel grabbed me as I backed away and brought me to his face.

“Tell me. Were you worried about me?”

No way.

I was just curious because I smelled blood. I shook my head, nipping his misunderstanding in the bud.

But I had no choice but to change my attitude at the words that followed.

“Well, no one in this castle worries about me. Usually, they’d be worried about the other person.”

Zerachiel muttered quietly, lowering his eyes. His eyes, which looked pitiful, pricked my conscience.

Since I had just run into Zakari, those words sounded even more meaningful. Zakari’s assessment of Zerachiel was quite harsh.

‘So they really don’t get along?’

As I perked up my ears and listened, Zerachiel smiled faintly and said sadly,

“It’s okay, I’m used to it.”

It looked like he was trying to hide his sadness. His disguised smile, which was thicker than usual, made me reach out my front paw towards his eyes without realizing it.

But perhaps comfort was premature for us.

At that moment, Zerachiel suddenly leaned in, and I failed to control the distance, so I ended up poking him in the eye.

Very accurately.

“Ugh.”

“!!”

Zerachiel squeezed his eyes shut and let out a low groan. Both I, who poked him, and Zerachiel, who was poked in an unguarded state, were embarrassed.

It was like I had been waiting for an opportunity to land a blow!

Startled, I quickly pulled back my hand and sweated profusely. Zerachiel had his head down and his eyes closed.

After a while, Zerachiel muttered eerily.

“This is a rather unique attack.”

N, no, I didn’t mean to do that!

“Did you take advantage of my carelessness?”

No! No! That’s not it!

I waved my front paws in the air and gaped my mouth. My eyes were already shaking as if an earthquake had struck.

I landed a preemptive strike on the villain. I might be retaliated against!

I trembled and watched Zerachiel’s reaction. And I saw it.

Clear tears falling from his eyes.

‘Ughhhhh!’

No one who makes a villain cry has a good ending.

I hurriedly clung to him.

“Chew, Chew!”

D, don’t cry. Stop! I was wrong!

I was licking his face and groveling when he raised his head and stared at me.

Fortunately, his eyes didn’t feel murderous.

His eyes were slightly red because he had shed tears. As I patted his eyes and fidgeted, he smiled and grabbed my front paw.

“So you missed me that much? Your welcome is a bit intense.”

Who pokes someone’s eye as a greeting?

I opened my eyes wide at the absurd reaction. It was ridiculous that he was interpreting it his way, but I didn’t want to argue with this crazy guy, so I stayed still for now.

He fiddled with my front paw and fell into thought. As if he was contemplating how to dispose of this front paw.

Somehow, the captured front paw looked dangerous.

As I instinctively curled up my front paw, he brought my front paw to the eye that wasn’t poked.

“Do it again.”

……No!

As expected, a crazy person is different from the start. The sorry feeling I had for a moment disappeared.

I struggled to get out of his grasp. But it was not enough.

He finally brought my front paw to his remaining eye and muttered quietly.

“I said, do it.”

No, you crazy bastard!

The sluggish confrontation continued, and finally, when I was exhausted, I half-heartedly poked his eye with my front paw, and only then was I able to escape from that strange pressure.

Afterward, Zerachiel moved me onto the bed and lay down next to me, staring intently.

I stared back, wondering what he was going to say to make me explode, and he said,

“I heard you met my father.”

Iyla must have reported it already. As I nodded, he continued,

“You managed to survive?”

“…….”

So I almost died after all.