The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 97

The Strongest Daughter-in-Law of the Black Lion Family (97)

#97.

I burst into laughter, bending over at the waist, which made the mole’s expression fierce.

“Are you laughing?”

He bared his teeth and growled. Feeling belatedly embarrassed, I barely swallowed my laughter and explained.

“Pfft, ahem, cough, cough. I’m sorry. I’m just weak against cute things.”

Of course, my explanation only twisted the mole’s mood further.

“Cute?”

The mole tilted his head to the left as if hearing something bizarre. It was an attempt to be threatening, but it only made him look as cute as a mole in a whack-a-mole game.

‘If I had a hammer in my hand, I might have hit him.’

Considering myself lucky that I didn’t have a hammer, I politely put my hands together.

“Hello?”

— I’m not doing well.

The mole pouted and grumbled. It seemed he was upset that I had laughed in his face upon meeting him.

Come to think of it, in the original story, Ella got scolded for calling out his name without even saying hello.

And I even laughed on top of that, so how could he not be upset?

At this rate, the mole might run away completely. To refresh my image, I tried to be even more polite and act cute like a granddaughter.

“I’m so sorry. You’re just so adorable that I couldn’t help but laugh. They say you can’t help but laugh when you see something cute and lovely, right?”

— Ahem! Hmm! Young one, you’re full of words! Cute! Lovely!

“Oh, I forgot to add ‘adorable.’ Please add that in.”

— Goodness, tsk!

The mole seemed to jump at my flamboyant flattery, but I could see that his anger had subsided compared to before. His cheek twitched slightly, as if he secretly liked being praised.

‘Oh? It’s working.’

I tried it just in case, but thankfully, it worked.

The mole before me was Jonathan, the guardian who protected the Sapphire of Order. He had been known as a stubborn old man for a long time, but I remembered from the original story that he was surprisingly weak to cuteness.

In fact, Ella in the original story wasn’t the type to act cute. Thanks to her straightforward personality and appearance that stimulated the protective instinct, there was no need for her to act cute.

Jonathan was the type to laugh and try to give her everything at Ella’s small displays of affection.

On the other hand, I was a seasoned office worker in my past life. For me, who was a master of social life, acting cute was a piece of cake!

As expected, Jonathan’s unique laughter began to be heard.

— Hong, hong, hong.

My tension naturally eased at the grandfatherly laughter, and I subtly moved on to the main point.

“Are you the great Jonathan who protects the Sapphire of Order?”

As the flattering words flowed, Tabi’s movements, who had been beside me, stopped like ice for a moment. I decided to ignore Tabi’s reaction, as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

For now, the important thing is Jonathan in front of me.

Jonathan’s voice rose with my praise.

— Aha! That’s right! I am Jonathan, the guardian who protects the Sapphire of Order!

Jonathan, who used a strange tone that seemed to come from a historical drama, put his hands behind his back again and stood dignifiedly.

The sight of him pushing up his sunglasses with his short stature was very insignificant and cute.

I was careful not to let my gaze go to his bulging belly and opened my mouth.

“I’m Chelsia Zabisi. I desperately need Jonathan’s help right now. Would you help me?”

The atmosphere was good, so I introduced myself while I was at it.

— What? Zabisi? Are you a Zabisi?

Suddenly, Jonathan’s momentum became fierce again. Jonathan, whose face turned red and blue, stomped his feet and shouted.

— Get out of here! How dare a Black Lion talk about a contract with me!

“But I’m not a Black Lion?”

— Oh, really?

Jonathan’s face brightened again at the words that I wasn’t a Black Lion. I clenched my fist tightly at the sight of him tilting his head.

I almost brought my fist to my mouth like Ayla, but I endured it with my mental strength.

Anyway, everyone starts a riot as soon as Zabisi is mentioned, which is absurd.

What did Zabisi do so wrong!

It’s too much just because they’re a little stronger!

Of course, they might hate them in a different sense than other beastmen. From the guardian’s point of view, the Black Lion is the thief who stole the Saintess Larien.

Tabi even sighed when she first heard that I was in the Black Lion family, so Jonathan’s reaction was, in a way, natural.

At that time, Jonathan came close to me and sniffed.

— Come to think of it, that terrible smell doesn’t come from you.

“Yes. I’m a white ferret beastman.”

— Hmm. Tsk, tsk, how did you end up in that den?

Jonathan clicked his tongue with a very pitiful face. I sighed on purpose to evoke his sympathy and answered weakly.

“Well, I had to do it to make a living.”

— Tsk, it’s a pity.

When I muttered weakly as if I had no choice to live, I could see that Jonathan’s momentum was completely relieved. After a while, he said cheerfully.

— Good! I can’t ignore the unfortunate circumstances of a welcome young person who has come after a long time, so I will especially help you.

“Then will you make a contract with me?”

— That’s right! Hong, hong, hong.

“I’m so touched, Elder.”

Jonathan’s shoulders rose slightly at my words as I stuck close to him.

— Ahem.

Jonathan’s cheeks twitched incessantly, as if he liked the mechanical praise so much.

I felt it in the original story, but each guardian had its own strategy.

The most difficult of them was Jonathan in front of me. He was a finicky guy who would overturn things if his mood soured.

But he also had a strategy. That is, he was weak against kind young people.

‘That’s my specialty.’

It’s just that I’ve only been in the Black Lion’s den, but I was a type that was especially popular with the elders.

It was thanks to the fact that I naturally learned how to treat the elders while being raised by my grandmother.

In fact, I called Jonathan a *kkondae* [Korean slang for an older person who is condescending], but I didn’t mean it in a bad way.

I really liked the elders. I liked their simple attitude and their warm gaze towards the next generation.

Of course, they sometimes seemed stubborn and rough, but I knew through my grandmother that there was a warm affection inside.

Also, I really liked the unique savory smell that came from my grandmother. Everyone says that grandmothers and grandfathers smell bad, but it was a special smell that gave me a deep sense of stability.

When I was hugged tightly in my grandmother’s arms, I felt a sense of peace spreading throughout my body.

All of this was thanks to my grandmother, who treated me like a friend and a mother at times.

When I saw Jonathan, I was reminded of my grandmother. There was nothing similar except for his short stature, but it was a strange thing.

Tabi was surprised that I was handling Jonathan well. Then, she glared at me, dissatisfied with the attitude I had towards her.

— Why are you only like that to me?

‘Then you become an elder too.’

My courtesy is limited to elders.

— It’s too much! There’s not much difference between him and me!

Tabi paced around, huffing and puffing at my boastful teasing.

‘Why are you doing this when you said you had to make a contract with Jonathan?’

— But I always shook him *jjaljjaljjal* [onomatopoeia for shaking something repeatedly], but Jonathan…

‘I won’t say I won’t do that in the future.’

— Ugh!

‘Hehet.’

While I was teasing Tabi familiarly, Jonathan completed the contract ceremony.

— Then let’s make a contract right away!

At that moment, a flash of light spread in the dark space. Because it suddenly became bright, his small eyes like millet were visible through the sunglasses he was wearing.

‘Cute……’

Jonathan pretended not to notice my gaze.

— Ahem! Don’t stare at me like that. I know my eyes are small.

It seemed that the reason why he stubbornly wore sunglasses that didn’t suit the cave was because of the size of his eyes.

Now that I see it, he was a short mole who was sad because his eyes were small. Cute.

I smiled with my fist clenched tightly. The reason why he looked cute no matter what he did was definitely because of his short stature.

Of course, I didn’t intend to give him special treatment just because he was an elder.

Life is a real battle. Now that I’ve decided to eat or be eaten, Jonathan was no exception.

Huhu.

I swallowed my laughter inside, having gained a colleague and subordinate, and looked at Jonathan with sparkling eyes on the outside.

It was the scene of the birth of a great worker following Tabi.