The Villain’s Daughter-in-law is Inherently Powerful Chapter 14

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“It is truly unbelievable. For the two of you to get into a physical altercation like this.”

A little while later, Laphiren sent the people away and made them keep their mouths shut before bringing Gerd and me to the infirmary. Since Gerd’s ear was covered in blood, it was better to go somewhere with a doctor so he could be treated quickly.

“That thing did this to me! I will definitely tell Father about this!”

Gerd didn’t change his arrogant attitude even in front of Laphiren.

I didn’t miss the way Laphiren’s beautiful brows drew together, so I sat there with my front paws politely clasped together. I even let my whiskers droop dejectedly to show that I was remorseful.

“For now, Lord Gerd is fine. His ear is slightly torn, but there doesn’t seem to be any problem with his hearing.”

“I see. What about the Young Lady?”

“The Young Lady’s tail is also unharmed. However, both of you may experience pain for another day or two. I’ll prepare some medicine for you, so please take it thirty minutes after a meal.”

The doctor who treated us was a woman who looked to be in her fifties.

I heard John let out a sigh of relief beside me at the doctor’s reassuring words.

“Now that I know the two of you are safe, I suppose I should hear what happened from the beginning.”

Laphiren had an extremely stern expression.

But it didn’t seem like he intended to cover things up and take Gerd’s side.

‘Laphiren is the head family’s most trusted aide.’

Anything said here would be reported directly to the family head.

Knowing that, John tried to step forward.

“I will explain.”

“No, please don’t. I’ll hear it from the two of them.”

The rejection was as sharp as a blade, leaving John with no choice but to step back.

Seeing his innocent face covered with worry made me feel just a little sorry.

‘But if I let myself be looked down on here, Gerd would have bullied and looked down on me for the rest of my life.’

I did the right thing. I really did.

Once you lose a battle of wills, all that remains is being bullied afterward.

You have to ram into them before the bullying even begins.

I knew that well from experience.

“Why should I have to explain myself to you? I have no obligation to explain myself to a servant. I’ll report it directly to the family head.”

“Young Master Gerd seems to believe that he is entitled to interrupt and interfere with the family head’s schedule.”

“I-I am his blood relative! Of course I am!”

Gerd seemed to have learned absolutely nothing even after being bitten by me.

Was he seriously planning to go before the family head and tell him to throw out someone the family head himself had accepted as his daughter-in-law?

‘He… really isn’t in his right mind….’

Watching Laphiren press his lips into a straight line, I rolled my eyes.

Even if I left him alone, Gerd seemed perfectly capable of bringing about his own downfall, so I decided to keep my mouth shut.

“Does the Young Lady have anything to say?”

But when Gerd refused to explain, the arrow came flying toward me instead.

I acted startled and fidgeted my front paws.

“……I did bad.”

“What did you do wrong?”

“I…… bit him, even though he’s the heir.”

“Why did you do such a thing? Such behavior is barbaric. What makes us human is our patience. If you surrender to instinct, you are merely an animal, but it is our reason that makes us human. I thought you were a wise one, so I believed you would understand that.”

Laphiren’s olive-colored eyes fixed upon me.

I mumbled and chewed at my lips as I wondered what the right course of action would be.

Should I keep saying I was sorry, or would I earn more points by explaining everything clearly?

“P-pudding was thrown away.”

“You said pudding?”

I squeezed my eyes shut and reached out my paws.

Pompom gently flew over and nestled into my arms.

—They threw the pudding the cooks worked so hard to make straight into the trash can right in front of them.

I hugged Pompom tightly in dejection and continued speaking.

“I saw.”

“Are you certain that Lord Gerd did that?”

Laphiren’s voice was cold.

After hesitating for a moment, I weakly shook my head.

But there was something else I needed to tell him for.

“He said if I marry him, he’d lock me in a spire.”

—Once we get married, I’ll divorce you and lock you away in a spire like you. You’ll spend your entire life begging for my love!

This time, Pompom automatically played Gerd’s recorded voice……

Huh?

‘What? Does it have a function like this too?’

I had no idea about this???

I stared in surprise, my eyes wide, when Pompom played another recording all on its own.

—I am the one who cannot possibly marry an albino like you, so go to the family head right now and tell him! Tell him that choosing you as my future wife was a mistake and that I’m calling it off!

“…….”

Fwoosh.

It felt as though the temperature inside the infirmary had dropped by ten degrees.

Laphiren looked genuinely furious. His expression as he turned toward Gerd was so cold that it couldn’t even compare to the look he had given me earlier.

“There is evidence.”

“I-It’s fake! It’s been fabricated!”

“That is an invention of Lord Kiraxus. Lord Kiraxus has already been recognized within the family as someone who does not make mistakes.”

In other words, you’re screwed now.

I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to look dejected because of this unexpected help and let my expression brighten.

“Windy was there too. Windy grabbed my tail.”

I had to tell him this too before Gerd was dragged away.

I quickly added another sentence toward Laphiren, and my faithful friend Pompom interpreted my words.

—The intermediate wind spirit threatened me. It was the spirit that grabbed me and pulled me down from atop John’s head.

“Are you saying that you used the spirit given by the Lichenbium royal family under the pretext of protection to attack the Young Lady?”

“No! I just, just wanted to teach her a lesson. That thing laughed at me first!”

“……Young Master Gerd, you truly do not realize what you have done wrong. Using a royal spirit to attack someone could escalate into a conflict between Lichenbium and Driblyane!”

Laphiren, trembling with anger, finally raised his voice.

Perhaps no one had ever shouted at Gerd before, because his expression soon became a mixture of betrayal, shock, surprise, and indignation, and his eyes began to swell up with tears.

“I-I don’t understand why trying to teach an albino a lesson would, why it would become such a big—”

That was when it happened.

CLANG!

The door burst open, followed by the sound of a cane striking the marble floor so hard it seemed as though it might crack it.

The infirmary was spacious, but with another large figure entering, it suddenly felt cramped—so cramped that it was almost suffocating.

“You were reckless.”

The man overwhelmed the atmosphere simply by appearing.

The head of the family had arrived with four massive bear beastman escort knights. He was dressed with such grave solemnity that he looked as though he had just returned from some dangerous affair.

Laphiren was the first to respectfully greet the family head.

“I pay my respects to the great family head.”

“Mm.”

The gaze of the seasoned beast of prey fell upon me once, then upon Gerd.

Just as I was beginning to feel a little uneasy at his unreadable expression—

“Father.”

Someone leisurely walked in through the open door.

Black hair darker than the lonely darkness held within the night.

Beneath it, his blue-green eyes were bright, as though they could see through all things.

Kiraxus strode toward me and simply lifted me into his arms.

“My respected father has never tolerated those who challenge him.”

“Are you saying I should not forgive him?”

“You heard everything, didn’t you? Surely your ears haven’t already begun to fail.”

Huh?

Since when had he been listening?

I had no idea what was going on, but Kiraxus was clearly taking my side.

Realizing that, I tightly grabbed the collar of Kiraxus’s clothes and lowered my head for a moment.

‘Hoo, haa, hoo, haa.’

Wait a second.

Before putting on an award-worthy performance worthy of the year-end acting awards, I needed to take a few deep breaths.

“F-Family head……! I’m hurt!”

But when Gerd saw what Kiraxus was doing, he immediately ran toward the family head.

I had to admire his cunning in showing off his injured ear.

‘But my cunning is a level above yours, you little brat.’

Soon, I began trembling.

Pitifully and miserably enough that no one could possibly fail to notice.

‘Grandfather the family head hasn’t completely taken my side yet. He must still be weighing the situation.’

It was only right that Gerd be punished for this.

But it was obvious what would happen in Lichenbium if Gerd were punished.

We would have to deal with formal protests for quite some time.

And right now, Grandfather the family head was weighing whether I was worth that trouble.

‘But I’ve learned that the world doesn’t always revolve around profit.’

It was something I had naturally come to understand after possessing seven different bodies, counting this life.

Most things in the world run on profit, but in the end, what matters most is the heart.

“Tsk.”

At last, as though he had made his decision, Grandfather the family head clicked his tongue and opened his mouth.

But just then, I interrupted him.

“Family head. I’ll do it for you.”

Not receive it, but do it for him.

That simple difference made the family head, Immanuel, stop the words he had been about to say.

“It shouldn’t hurt.”

“It shouldn’t hurt?”

“Mhm. Family head hurts.”

I stretched out my front paw, and Kiraxus moved closer so I could reach.

My gaze settled on the collar of the pitch-black, glossy shirt Grandfather the family head was wearing today.

‘There’s a stain.’

There were also tiny red specks scattered across the sleeve of his silver-gray suit.

Surely that couldn’t be ink, could it?

Gerd, who was inattentive and easily distracted, apparently hadn’t noticed.

But I could see it very clearly.