I’m the Youngest Daughter of the Serpent Family
Chapter 51
Chapter 51
“What are you talking about? It’ll be ages before I ever get married.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t hang around guys like that. Got it?”
“…But he’s my first friend.”
Maybe Seiji invited me without really understanding what it meant, either? Since I only just found out myself.
If he had known it meant something like that, he wouldn’t have said it to me. Yeah, that had to be it. Phew. My mind was finally at ease.
“I bet Seiji didn’t know either.”
“As if that guy wouldn’t know!”
Arvan, however, was still throwing a fit. To calm him down, I held out a chocolate cookie from the plate.
“Eat dis.”
“…….”
“Looks yummy, right?”
Arvan closed his mouth and took the cookie with one hand. His gaze turned toward me, looking oddly displeased.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“Do you think I’m a kid like you? That giving me a snack will make me shut up?”
“Den you not gonna eat it?”
“…I’m still eating it.”
Arvan snatched the treat away. He looked like he still had plenty to say, but the cookie offensive had clearly softened him up.
Hmph. You’re a kid too, Arvan. You always treat only me like a baby.
Watching Arvan eat, I popped a cookie into my own mouth.
“By the way, Arvan oppa.”
“What.”
“You came to see Ireng to teach me beast transformation, didn’t you? ’Cause you were worried.”
“…No, I didn’t!”
Then why did you come? There wasn’t any other reason for him to seek me out.
When I stared straight at him, Arvan flustered and hastily sprang up from his seat. Through his messy black curls, I could see his ears turning faintly red.
“I-I just dropped by on my way past! I only came for a second in case you were bored!”
With that, Arvan bolted out of the room like an arrow.
Slam!
The door shut forcefully. Watching his retreat, Rosaria let out a soft chuckle.
“Young Master Arvan is truly incapable of being honest with himself.”
“Right?”
By now, we understood each other without needing many words.
He could have just been honest and said he came to teach me how to transform because he wanted to go on the family trip sooner.
Her head throbbed. As consciousness slowly returned, Ella opened her eyes.
Her last memory was falling from the cliff. Seeing that she was awake, it seemed she had narrowly escaped with her life.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she tried to sit up, only for her eyes to widen in shock as she realized all four limbs were bound tight.
She couldn’t feel even a trace of pheromones in her body.
Snapping fully awake, she frantically scanned her surroundings. All that met her sight was a pitch-black underground dungeon without a single window.
“It seems you’ve finally awakened. Did you sleep well, Miss Ella?”
“…Gasp!”
Ella sucked in a sharp breath at the voice coming from behind her. Her body stiffened rigid with terror.
Because of the ropes embedded with Pheromone Control Stones, she hadn’t even sensed Durias nearby.
Ella slowly turned her head toward the sound.
Durias was sitting on a chair with his legs crossed, looking down at her.
And behind him, Hestia stood silently in place.
“Thanks to Miss Ella sleeping so soundly, we were able to return quickly without being detected.”
“Mmph! Mmph!”
“Ah. Just in case, I had you gagged. Even if it’s uncomfortable, please bear with it.”
“Mmph…!”
“Because in just a short moment, the person who wished to see you will arrive.”
The person who wished to see her.
At those words, Ella’s breath hitched. Even without being told who it was, she knew instantly.
Her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Beyond the quiet dungeon door, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed.
Soon, the heavy door swung open.
The moment Ella confirmed the figure, her eyes shook violently.
“It has been a long time since I last saw this face.”
Kaid Astrophel. It was him.
As Kaid stepped into the dungeon, Durias and Hestia bowed respectfully and took a step back.
“You have arrived, Head of the family.”
“Welcome, Head of the family.”
Kaid briefly glanced at the two before turning his gaze toward the cell where Ella was confined.
“…Mmph!”
Crimson eyes revealed themselves vividly in the darkness.
Ella slammed her head flat against the stone floor, terrified by the chilling gaze fixed upon her.
“I certainly remember this face. As I recall, you were the one who delivered Estella’s child.”
Estella. At the mention of that name, which she could never forget even in her dreams, Ella’s face drained of all color.
Watching her impassively, Kaid spoke in a calm, measured tone.
“You may or may not have heard, but a child who is not of our clan was born into my family.”
“…!”
“I believe you would know the reason why.”
The more Kaid spoke, the more Ella’s body shook beyond control.
Her golden eyes trembled with sheer panic, so desperately that anyone watching might have felt pity for her.
Kaid unlocked the iron cell door, stepped inside, and stopped right in front of Ella.
Slowly bending down, he caught her chin—pressed low against the floor—and forced her head up, a cold smirk curling his lips.
Chilling red eyes pierced straight through her.
“Gasp…!”
“From what I hear, you headed straight to the East the moment Estella drew her last breath.”
“…!”
“Quite strange, isn’t it? From what Estella told me, you had been abandoned by your clan.”
Kaid was right. Ella was a beastman cast out by her own clan.
The East, where she was born, was intensely conservative, with a fierce intolerance toward mixed-bloods.
That tendency was especially pronounced among high-nosed, prestigious families.
Estella had taken pity on that fact and taken Ella in.
She had actively helped her make a living in the South, and when she married Kaid, she even brought Ella into the household so they could stay together.
That was why no one had suspected a thing.
Even when Ella submitted her resignation right after Estella’s death, claiming she wished to leave the family, everyone had simply accepted it.
Because living in the Astrophel estate without Estella would have been agonizing.
Because remaining here would constantly remind her of Estella and cause her pain.
At the time of her departure, she had even been paid more than enough severance. It had been Kaid’s final act of consideration.
Yet the Ella standing before his eyes right now was….
Kaid’s pheromones flared menacingly. It was a murderous aura that felt ready to snap Ella’s neck at any second.
Ella gasped and choked, unable to breathe properly under the excruciating pressure threatening to crush her jaw to powder.
“…When I looked into where you went, I learned the East welcomed you back. There must be a reason why they took you in.”
Durias and Hestia hastily covered their noses. The heavy scent of venom was suffocating the entire dungeon.
It was potent enough that, if left unchecked, not only Ella but even her fellow clan members, Durias and Hestia, could end up poisoned.
Ella’s eyes were already rolling back into her head, teetering on the verge of losing consciousness.
When Kaid released his grip on her chin, Ella collapsed onto the floor, the gag slipping free from her mouth.
Kaid’s gaze shifted to Hestia.
Meeting his slit, terrifyingly narrowed pupils, she flinched and swallowed hard.
“Treat her, Hestia.”
“…Yes, understood.”
Approaching the completely unconscious Ella, Hestia cast her healing arts.
As the poison was neutralized to some extent, Ella let out a pained gasp and opened her eyes. The moment her golden eyes caught sight of Kaid, despair washed over them.
Terrified, she screamed.
“I-I didn’t do anything! I swear it!”
“We shall see about that once you have a conversation with my subordinate. I do hope you endure it well.”
“I’m truly innocent! Please believe me, Lord Kaid!”
Ella shrieked at Kaid’s retreating figure as he left the dungeon.
Whew. Once the situation had settled somewhat, Durias let out a sigh, his brow furrowing as he looked down at Ella, who was still screaming hysterically.
From this moment on, the real work was about to begin.
Durias removed the gloves from his hands, one finger at a time.
“Shall we have our chat now, Miss Ella?”
“…! I’ve really been wronged! Lord Durias, you know, don’t you? You know how devotedly I served Lady Estella!”
Ella stared up at him desperately through her tears.
Durias offered a bright, serene smile.
“Of course, I am well aware of just how devotedly you served Lady Estella.”
“R-Right? Lord Durias, you know, don’t you? Thank goodness. What a relief….”
“Then let me ask you point-blank, Miss Ella.”
Ella, who had been smiling in relief, froze mid-breath. The faint smile that had risen with hope sank into absolute despair.
Sitting back in his chair, Durias gazed down at her with eyes devoid of any emotion whatsoever.
“Did Lady Estella, whom you served, truly pass away while giving birth to the heirs?”
“Ella disappeared?”
“Yes. When we checked her lodgings this morning, she had vanished without a trace.”
A vast chamber adorned in gold from floor to ceiling.
Beyond a long curtain woven from strands of jade, a faint silhouette swayed.
Leaning back against his jade throne, the man murmured as he sipped his tea.
“Well now, this has become rather troublesome. Did she run away?”
“That is unlikely.”
“Unlikely, you say?”
A chilling voice resonated through the room.
The man seemed displeased by the uncertain report.
At the suddenly frosty atmosphere, Elvin held his breath and bowed his head low.
He knew all too well that the moment he offended his master’s temper, his life would be forfeit.
“Elvin.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
“Didn’t I tell you to dispose of her long ago?”
“…I apologize.”
“If she didn’t run away, are you suggesting someone kidnapped her?”
“Given the circumstances, we suspect the Astrophel family.”
The man paused, the motion of raising the teacup to his lips coming to a sudden halt.
“There is no direct evidence linking us to this yet, so it should be fine.”