The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 87

The Strongest Daughter-in-Law of the Black Lion Family (87)

#87.

After that, I stared at Rachel with cold eyes as she began to list various chicken dishes as if nothing had happened.

Rachel, seemingly oblivious to my feelings, excitedly chose the dinner menu. “My dear daughter-in-law, how about smoked chicken? Sounds delicious, right?”

“No. I don’t think I’ll want to eat it.”

“Why?”

“I feel sorry for the chicken.”

“Hahaha! You’re saying the strangest things. Why feel sorry for food? It’s not like you’re a chicken beastkin.”

So, the problem is that she talked about chicken dishes after telling the heroic tale of tearing apart a chicken beastkin!

“I won’t eat it.”

When I covered my mouth and shook my head, Rachel burst into laughter.

Even in the midst of all this, Zerachiel was counting my hairs, and Keira was expressionlessly refilling the empty teacup.

Can I really keep staying in this house? Am I going to end up like them?

I shuddered, wondering if I was already becoming Zabisified [becoming like the Zabis family, known for their eccentricities].

Just then, Rachel jumped up.

“I can’t stand it. I have to go to the kitchen and check if there’s chicken on today’s menu.”

Rachel stormed off as if she was determined to eat chicken no matter what. Keira quietly followed behind her, looking like she was used to Rachel’s impulsive behavior.

As I was feeling a sense of despair about my life alone, Ella came to find me.

“Did you call for me?”

“You’re here?”

I immediately got up as if I had never been depressed and sat Ella next to me. Then, I pulled the dessert tray I had prepared in front of her and said,

“Let’s eat this first.”

“Pardon?”

“You looked too thin last time. You need to eat a lot.”

I even put a fork in her hand, and Ella looked bewildered. Moreover, Zerachiel’s expression, who had suddenly been deprived of his seat by Ella, became terrifying.

Zerachiel tilted his head and expressed his displeasure.

“What is going on right now?”

He seemed dumbfounded by the situation where I was offering the dessert I had prepared to Ella. I feigned innocence and said,

“I can’t eat it all anyway.”

“I bought it for you to eat.”

He had a nasty attitude that he would rather throw it away than let it go into someone else’s mouth. But I wasn’t going to take his words at face value.

“I feel joy when I share.”

“You’ve never shared with me before.”

“…That’s true.”

When I couldn’t pretend any longer and admitted it, Zerachiel’s expression suddenly brightened. Is it just my imagination, or does he look scarier the more he smiles?

‘Was there really none?’

As I was thinking that, Zerachiel said in a sulky tone,

“Why is my Chichi so prickly only to me? She’s so kind even to a rabbit she just met.”

“That’s because you do crazy things when I’m nice to you.”

“You all know that I’ve been crazy for more than a day or two.”

“Please, let’s live normally.”

I smiled wryly at Zerachiel’s insane answer. I feel like I can’t have a conversation with this crazy Black Lion unless I go crazy with him.

At that moment, Ella glanced at me and Zerachiel with uneasy eyes. The force in her hand holding the fork showed that she was wondering what we were doing in front of the female lead.

Regaining my composure, I pushed Zerachiel aside, who kept glaring at me, and said to Ella,

“Eat it quickly. It’s really delicious.”

“T, thank you.”

Only then did Ella move her fork with a dazed expression and take a bite of the cake. A moment later, Ella’s eyes sparkled.

“Wow, it’s delicious!”

“Right? I thought you’d like it.”

I pushed other desserts in front of Ella and smiled brightly. Ella seemed to hesitate for a moment, then began to gobble up the desserts.

‘Aww, she eats so well, our female lead.’

I looked at Ella with an adoring gaze. How could she end up in a place where fasting is a daily routine and not even get to eat dessert?

Remembering that Ella especially liked desserts in the original story, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

The reason I called her today wasn’t just because of the Saintess test.

Because Ella is so wary, it was a top priority to become friends with her. And there’s nothing better than sharing desserts to become friends.

Look at that.

Ella, already captivated by the desserts, was much more relaxed than usual.

I could take this opportunity to ask why Ella ended up staying in Hebel.

I wiped the crumbs from Ella’s cheek with a handkerchief and said,

“How long have you been in Hebel?”

“Umm. A little over a year.”

“That’s not as long as I thought?”

Considering that she’s usually abandoned in Hebel at a very young age, it seemed that Ella came relatively late. I thought it had been quite a while since she even attended my wedding, but it was unexpected.

I casually asked,

“Then, how did you live before coming here?”

“That’s…”

Ella seemed to hesitate and quietly put down her fork. Judging by her hesitation, she didn’t seem to want to talk about it.

I wondered if I was being too hasty and was about to change the subject when Zerachiel interjected.

“I know that Hebel doesn’t easily accept outsiders. Especially someone vaguely young like you. I know they do a more thorough identity check.”

It was a rare, on-point question.

As he said, Hebel was a neutral area but also a space isolated from the outside world.

Those who were registered here could not go out without Nahman’s permission, and even if they did, they were easily targeted due to their weak pheromones.

Moreover, I knew that they were even more careful about registering young beastkins. In areas with frequent territorial disputes, it was not uncommon to deliberately steal the successors of their rivals.

In the original story, Heathcliff was also kidnapped at a very young age.

So, even if Ella’s pheromones were weak, they would have checked her identity.

Ella rolled her eyes as if she had been hit with the truth. After a while, she said,

“That’s because I’m not officially affiliated.”

“Not officially affiliated? Then you’re staying here temporarily?”

Ella nodded at my question.

“Actually, I’m staying in Hebel as Isaac’s adopted daughter. That’s why I have relatively free outings.”

“Adopted daughter?”

Just because you’re a priest of Hebel doesn’t mean you can’t get married. There were beastkins who fell in love and got married here.

So, there was nothing particularly restricted about being an adopted daughter. Ella continued,

“I once saved Isaac’s life. After that, Isaac, who learned about my unfortunate circumstances, took me in.”

If she was a lifesaver, it was worth taking her in. Of course, it was a bit strange because Ella and Isaac had no contact in the original story.

I tilted my head and continued the question.

“But what do you mean by unfortunate circumstances? Was the situation difficult before you came to Hebel?”

“Ah, that’s… I have almost no memory of before I came here.”

“You have no memory?”

“Yes. I have fragmented memories, but I don’t know who my parents are or where I came from.”

Ella scratched her cheek as if she was embarrassed. Ella also suffered from memory impairment due to pheromone manipulation in the original story.

So, has Ella already been subjected to pheromone manipulation?

‘But why can’t I feel the pheromones?’

In the original story, Ella was one of the successful test subjects for pheromone manipulation. Moreover, she developed a unique pheromone called healing pheromone, so how intense was the pursuit when she escaped?

But I couldn’t feel any pheromones from Ella in front of me.

Tavi had already contracted with me, so there was no way she was using Tavi’s power.

‘What the heck is it?’

The more I knew, the more I felt like I was falling into a maze. It was natural because nothing about her was the same as in the original story.

But I couldn’t keep questioning a child who had no memory. Ella’s face was already pale from the repeated personal questions.

‘There’s still plenty of time.’

At that moment, I noticed Ella’s cumbersome sleeve touching the dessert. I rolled up her sleeves for her, as she was too busy eating.

At that very moment.

Having discovered something, I said sternly,

“What is this?”