The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 88

#88.

What I discovered was a dark bruise on Ella’s forearm.

Ella was startled and quickly pulled down her sleeve to hide the mark.

“N-nothing, it’s nothing. I just fell.”

“Fell, you say?”

“Yes.”

Ella mumbled, looking down. It was obviously a lie.

The bruise was quite large for an accidental fall. There seemed to be another reason, but Ella didn’t seem willing to talk about it.

I had many questions, but it was too early to ask. I pretended not to notice and muttered quietly.

“You must have fallen pretty hard. That must have hurt.”

“I’m okay.”

“Let me see your hand, can I take a look at the injury?”

Unable to resist my persistence, Ella lowered her guard and showed me her arm. I gently touched Ella’s bruise and looked around.

Fortunately, it was just Ella, me, and Zerachiel here.

Confirming that no one was watching, I used pheromones to heal Ella’s injury. I was bothered that my favorite character was hurt.

It was at that moment.

Crash, bang, thump!

Ella was startled and jumped up from her chair. The impact made me stagger, but Zerachiel quickly steadied me.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Zerachiel glared at her with a fierce look, but Ella seemed out of it.

I was also wide-eyed at her unexpectedly strong reaction.

Her face looked like she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

“Ella?”

“H-how, how can this be…!”

Ella stared at her completely healed forearm, rambling incoherently.

I was momentarily worried that there might be side effects for those without pheromones, but thankfully that didn’t seem to be the case.

‘She must be surprised by pheromones she’s never seen before.’

Indeed, healing pheromones were extremely rare. Not only was it difficult to manifest, but even if someone was born with it, they were likely to have a short life due to the potency of the pheromones.

It was only natural to be surprised to see such pheromones right in front of her.

I only meant to heal her, but it seems I ended up startling her.

Zerachiel also looked stiff, as if he didn’t expect me to use pheromones so suddenly. He asked quietly.

“I thought it was a secret.”

“Ella’s okay.”

“You haven’t even known her for very long.”

At Zerachiel’s remark, I simply smiled. As he said, Ella and I hadn’t known each other for very long.

Normally, it was best not to reveal such important secrets. In Amitaras, where the law of the jungle prevailed, there was no point in revealing weaknesses.

Moreover, we were currently staying in Hebel, and Ella was a Hebel beast.

He must be worried that if Ella told Isaac, things would get complicated.

If I didn’t know that Ella was the female lead, I would have been wary too. But I was the only one here who knew the original story.

Of course, many parts had changed from the original, but the Ella in front of me was definitely the Ella I knew from the original story.

I believed that my judgment was correct, but it was not easy to convince Zerachiel, who knew nothing about this.

I was pondering how to make him understand when suddenly, Zerachiel created a sword with his pheromones and pointed it at Ella.

Ella, who had been muttering to herself, looked at Zerachiel with a bloodless face.

“!”

Surprised, I jumped up and shouted.

“What are you doing, Zerachiel!”

“Now that I know your pheromones, it’s better to take care of her here.”

As Zerachiel sharpened the blade of the sword, blood began to trickle down Ella’s neck.

Ella’s face grew even paler, and her body began to tremble. I was also getting impatient.

“Let’s talk first.”

“The sword is faster than words.”

To suddenly point a sword at her like that!

I felt frustrated with Zerachiel, who couldn’t understand what I was saying.

This was Hebel, where the peace treaty had been signed. Moreover, Ella was the adopted daughter of Isaac, one of the twelve disciples [influential figures].

Unlike the Bianco case, she was an opponent with whom we could make a big problem if we wanted to.

In a situation where they were hoping for our mistakes, rash actions would only hasten danger.

“Still, not here. You know that, right?”

“But ChiChi used her power as she pleased.”

“……”

“But I can’t use mine?”

I was speechless at his unusually logical rebuttal. But thanks to that brief exchange, I saw an opening and pulled Ella behind me to protect her.

“Put the sword away first.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

Zerachiel tilted his head and retorted coldly. At the same time, he tilted the blade of the sword towards Ella, who was behind me.

He was always so oversensitive when it came to my safety.

In this situation, he could take advantage of my carelessness and get rid of Ella.

Anyway, it was an incident that happened because I used pheromones. He must have been very surprised by the sudden use of pheromones, as he had secretly considered my pheromones to be confidential.

I was sorry for what happened, but I couldn’t let Ella die like this, so I stubbornly resisted. Zerachiel ran his hand through his hair in annoyance and said.

“You’re the strange one. You’re usually so cautious, but why are you so lenient with that rabbit?”

“That’s…”

“Are you two perhaps acquainted from before?”

I hesitated at Zerachiel’s unexpected question.

I do know her. The problem is that I’m the only one who knows her unilaterally.

I was stammering and unable to answer when suddenly, Ella dropped to her knees with a loud thud.

The sound was so loud that I almost mistook it for an attack from behind. Ella shouted at Zerachiel.

“I will never tell anyone!”

“E-Ella!”

With that much force, her knees must have been shattered, but Ella’s face didn’t show any pain.

I was startled and tried to help her up, but Ella put her forehead to the ground and said.

“I really won’t. I will never tell anyone.”

“What makes you think I can believe your words?”

Zerachiel questioned her in a cold voice that was quite different from the one he used with me. Even with a voice that would make anyone shudder, Ella answered steadfastly.

“If you’re really worried, you can use poison on me.”

Of course, the words coming out of her mouth were completely unexpected.

“Ella! Do you know what you’re saying right now?”

I was startled and tried to stop Ella. Unlike other pheromones, charm pheromone poison had a high mortality rate.

Ella, who didn’t have healing pheromones, wouldn’t even be able to attempt detoxification and would die from the strong poison.

To carry it in her body was like carrying a time bomb.

Moreover, it was very dangerous because Zerachiel could kill her silently without me knowing if he didn’t like it.

It was no different from offering her neck to a crazy black lion and saying, ‘Eat me.’

Then, Ella grabbed my hand that was blocking her.

“I, I know.”

Her voice trembled like an aspen tree. Nevertheless, the look in her eyes as she looked at me was firm.

“Cheritzia-nim trusted me, right?”

“Huh?”

“That’s why you healed me, right? I only had a bruise. You could have just passed by, but you cared about me.”

I was speechless at Ella’s question and only blinked. Her eyes seemed to be sparkling a little as she looked at me.

I had a strange feeling as a small light settled in her sunken eyes. It was as if her affection for me had suddenly increased.

Moreover, I couldn’t stop her any longer as I looked at her firm eyes. When I only stared at her silently, Ella continued.

“So I’m okay too. I’m used to this kind of thing.”

I unknowingly released my grip on Ella’s arm at her somewhat bitter smile. As I took a step back, she came forward.

Then Zerachiel put away his sword and said.

“Good.”

Following that, he grabbed Ella’s wrist with a chilling smile. The moment I saw that, I remembered a scene from the original story.