The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 90

#90.

Even in his weakened state, Erharden’s pheromones showed no signs of subsiding. The sheer intensity of them made Zachariah’s expression serious.

Zachariah squatted a short distance away, carefully examining Erharden’s face. He gently lifted Erharden’s eyelid, revealing that his eyes were half-rolled back.

It was a clear symptom of poisoning.

“Hmm, it seems he didn’t just overuse shapeshifting to escape.”

Whether Erharden had ingested the drug himself or been given it by someone else, an investigation was clearly needed.

For a man suddenly imprisoned to go on such a rampage…

Zachariah felt a growing unease, especially considering his own recent, unexplained rampage just a few days prior.

Just as Zachariah decided to seek the Duke’s advice and turned to look at Ivan,

Ivan tilted his head, his eyes wide with feigned innocence. Then, he committed a terrible act that instantly drew Zachariah’s wrath.

“Chee-chee?”

It was a blatant, mocking imitation of Chee-chee. Zachariah felt his sanity fraying at the edges from the unexpected assault on his senses.

If Zerachiel had witnessed that, Ivan’s head would already be decorating the nearest wall.

Zachariah almost wished he could unsee it. A sudden surge of murderous intent coursed through him, and he gripped Ivan’s neck tightly, muttering,

“How dare you imitate him? Do you have a death wish?”

“Kuaek!”

Ivan squealed and struggled, then pathetically put his front paws together, begging for mercy.

“Chew—!”

Even that was delivered with an air of playful mockery. Zachariah’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“You little—!”

“Gurgle.”

In the end, Ivan couldn’t escape his fate: a future with painfully swollen eyes as punishment for his insolence.

It was truly that terrible of an act.

* * *

“What are you talking about?”

Meanwhile, Chelsea stared at Ella, unable to mask her bewilderment. She hadn’t anticipated the conversation taking such a sharp turn towards Zachariah’s rampage.

Moreover, Ella was claiming to know the person responsible for Zachariah’s loss of control.

In truth, the fact that Zachariah’s rampage had been artificially induced was a closely guarded secret, even within Zabisi Castle.

Since the rampage had occurred with several petals of the Frenzy Flower [a potent, dangerous flower] remaining, it would be disastrous if word got out.

Therefore, the official explanation was that the rampage was due to an unknown pheromone imbalance.

Against this backdrop, Ella’s claim to know the culprit implied that she knew the incident was artificial.

Naturally, Chelsea was immediately suspicious.

The fact that Ella was associated with Hebel only deepened her suspicion.

Chelsea felt a growing unease emanating from Ella, who had seemed so harmless, and her expression hardened.

She wondered if she had been too trusting of Ella, but then Zerachiel spoke, his voice laced with cold accusation.

“It was strange that you volunteered to take the poison first. Now I see, you intended to do this from the start, to deflect suspicion by offering yourself as a test subject?”

“That’s right. I thought you would only believe me if I risked my life. Of course, it was because Chelsea trusted me that I could make that decision so quickly.”

Ella answered calmly, making no attempt to hide her motives. She seemed to have anticipated this line of questioning.

That only confused Chelsea further.

She couldn’t understand why Ella would risk her life to help them.

Chelsea had shown kindness to Ella because she recognized her from the original story, but Ella was meeting her for the first time.

Ella looked directly at Chelsea and said,

“So, everything I’m about to tell you is the truth. Please believe me.”

She was appealing to them through her actions, rather than empty words. It was clear she understood that this approach would be more persuasive.

Chelsea stared at Ella, a dazed expression on her face.

In the first place, Zachariah’s rampage had nothing to do with Ella.

Yet, she was risking her life to report it.

‘As expected of the heroine of this world, she’s so righteous.’

Honestly, Chelsea would have avoided it altogether. It was clearly a troublesome matter, and the other party was the infamous Zabisi.

So, even if she knew something, it was better not to get involved. Nevertheless, she was grateful that Ella was willing to risk her life to tell her.

However, being so kind-hearted, how would she ever survive in this harsh world?

Chelsea felt a pang of unease because Ella reminded her of her past self. Her voice became stiff.

“Still, risking your life was reckless.”

“I’m sorry… I unconsciously thought it was an opportunity.”

Ella lowered her head, her expression dejected.

Judging from her reaction, it seemed to be an impulsive action.

That made Chelsea even more concerned. Ella was constantly in danger in the original story because of her recklessness.

“Okay. I’ll listen for now.”

Ella’s face brightened noticeably at Chelsea’s permission. After a moment, she reached into her pocket and pulled something out, holding it out for them to see.

“At the wedding that day, I saw someone secretly trying to leave Zabisi Castle. I followed them because they were acting suspiciously and obtained this.”

Ella held out a neatly folded paper bag. Inside was a small amount of powdered medicine.

“It’s an illegal drug. It’s probably what caused the head of Zabisi to rampage.”

“How do you know this is an illegal drug?”

“Before I lost my memory, I vaguely remember seeing a beastman rampage because of this.”

Ella shuddered, as if the memory of that day was still vivid in her mind.

“I followed them, thinking it might be a clue to finding my memories, and obtained it. I originally wanted to give it to you that day, but…”

Ella’s gaze shifted to Zerachiel.

“At the time, Chelsea had just summoned the Guardian, and it was too chaotic to approach you.”

“I see.”

“But I kept it just in case. I thought that Chelsea, who summoned the Guardian, would eventually come to Hebel.”

Chelsea quietly pondered Ella’s straightforward explanation.

If it was an incident related to her lost memories, it was understandable that she would rush in headfirst. Not having memories made her less confident in herself than she thought.

She had been worried that Ella seemed naive, but she was relieved to see that she was more resourceful than she appeared.

She had been secretly worried that Ella was being bullied, just like in the original story.

‘By the way, talking to her like this makes her seem like my peer.’

Since becoming a ferret, Chelsea hadn’t clearly defined her age.

She had been a ferret since she opened her eyes, and she only realized that she wasn’t yet an adult after she transformed into a human.

Moreover, in the world of beastmen, status was determined by power, so age wasn’t very important.

Still, beastmen who weren’t adults tended to be immature.

But it was strange that she felt a similar sense of age from Ella as she had before she possessed the ferret.

Zerachiel was precocious for his age because of his half-crazed mental state, but Ella was different, wasn’t she?

It was the first time she had felt a sense of age from a normal person, so she was bewildered.

Then, just as Chelsea unconsciously lowered her head to smell the powder, Zerachiel stopped her.

“How do you know what kind of drug it is, trying to smell it?”

“Ah.”

Chelsea belatedly realized she was about to do something foolish and widened her eyes.

“Give it here.”

Zerachiel folded the paper bag again and carefully placed it in his pocket. In fact, he had been watching Chelsea the whole time.

It was a dangerous drug that could instantly cause Zabisi to rampage. He had been anxious just with Chelsea holding it in her hand, and when she tried to smell it, he simply confiscated it.

“I’ll ask Mother to deliver this to Zabisi Castle.”

“Not going yourself?”

“Why would I go, leaving you here?”

‘So it’s okay to just send Mother?’

Chelsea let out a hollow laugh at Zerachiel’s absurd reaction. It was a serious matter, so he should go himself, but he didn’t want to leave her side for a moment.

Of course, his intention to stick to her like glue was obvious.

‘Is he still worried that I’ll run away?’

She had long since abandoned her escape plans. Perhaps his suspicion had worsened because she had come to Hebel on her own this time.

Then, Zerachiel said casually,

“Besides, Mother seemed to want to go to Zabisi Castle too.”

Chelsea secretly suppressed a laugh at his transparent excuse.

‘I don’t know. It looks like you want to send her away in my eyes.’