The Villain’s Daughter-in-law is Inherently Powerful Chapter 4

‘A daughter-in-law……? All of a sudden? No, more importantly, me? For such a precious position?’

I had been certain I was going to die, so when I received such an absurd proposal, I couldn’t help but panic.

The Driblyane family had a very peculiar tradition.

To summarize it in three lines—

1. The child who will become the next family head’s partner is brought into the family in advance. In other words, the next lady of the house is decided before the heir.
2. The next lady of the house, chosen from childhood, grows up alongside the so-called ‘Heirs of Driblyane.’
3. Once she becomes an adult, she is paired with whichever of the ‘Heirs of Driblyane’ awakens dominant pheromones and rises to the Alpha rank. Only an Alpha can become the family head.

In other words, although no one knows which heir she will marry, the future Duchess is chosen first, and then the Duke is decided afterward.

‘But this is usually where the problem comes up in number three.’

Only one person needs to qualify to become the family head. In other words, there only needs to be one Alpha…….

Yet the Driblyane family always had anywhere from two to as many as four heirs who awakened dominant pheromones. And when there were multiple Alphas, the sole person with the right to choose who would become the next family head was the lady of the house.

‘Which means the Driblyane daughter-in-law grows up surrounded by sweet power from childhood.’

If she wanted to live an ordinary life, that position was a trap. Apparently, among all the Duchess-consorts of Driblyane throughout history, there wasn’t a single one who had never been kidnapped, imprisoned, or threatened as a child.

‘But I…….’

I’d want it even if I had to get it through sheer guts. Honestly, that luxurious position was awfully tempting!

But if I accepted too eagerly, I might look stupid.

Besides, I didn’t even know whether this was a trap or not, so for now, I asked a question like an ordinary child.

Because I had learned that the person in front of me was none other than Kiraxus Driblyane from the original novel, my body was trembling about three times as much as before, but I desperately pretended I was fine.

“If I becom’ daughter-in-law, what do I get?”

“You’ll be well fed and live well.”

Perhaps he found my question amusing, because Kiraxus replied lazily.

‘Yeah, that’s right. I’d be well fed and live well.’

Honestly, I wouldn’t live like the character in the original novel. I wasn’t going to die unhappy and lonely.

Rahin could have a love story. In the meantime, I’d gather money and power and live in luxury, flaunting it all.

“Then…… Why me?”

“I need a good child with no one backing her.”

Oh, that…… somehow sounds like you need someone whose disappearance wouldn’t cause any trouble. Am I hearing things?

“I was wondering where I could find a child of an appropriate age untouched by the influence of those old elders…… This worked out nicely. I won’t have to go through the trouble of looking.”

“I’m a spy……?”

“Are you going to sell the information you learned about the Driblyane family to the Holy Empire?”

“N-no!”

Are you crazy?

I immediately turned serious.

I’d be much happier living here as a daughter-in-law than getting whatever price they’d pay for information over there!

At that, Kiraxus chuckled.

“Then that settles it. Anything else?”

“Um…… then…… am I a contract daughter-in-law?”

Was I only going to hold that position for a few years, as long as I remained useful to Kiraxus? Then I’d have to save as much money as possible during that time.

Actually, it was a common trope for powerful people in novels to look for a child with no backing whom they could control freely, wasn’t it?

As long as betrayal wasn’t an issue, being a spy was actually the kind of talent a powerful family would want most.

Someone they could kill without consequences, who knew nothing, who had no troublesome parents or family to cause a fuss……?

In other words, a ‘clean’ child.

But Kiraxus didn’t answer my question about whether I was a contract daughter-in-law. Instead, he suddenly stopped and tried to hand me over to one of the maids.

“My lord, what is that round little thing?”

“A spy.”

“I see.”

Shing. The maid immediately drew a pair of swords from behind her as soon as she heard the word ‘spy.’

Gyaah!

‘Y-you were toying with me! Of course! You’re the villain!!!’

I’m definitely going to die!

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest as I grabbed onto his collar and clung to him, refusing to go to the maid. Kiraxus responded by letting out a mischievous, rumbling laugh. Almost as though he were pleased.

“But she’ll soon become my daughter-in-law. Treat her with care. I’ll take her to the family meeting tomorrow and formally introduce her.”

“Understood. Then what is the young lady’s name……?”

“For now, call her Dambi. Give her a proper bath and feed her something.”

This crazy man! He should have said that from the beginning!

After giving that simple order, he disappeared somewhere in the blink of an eye.

The maid he left behind placed me on both her hands and gave me a serious look.

“My name is Nina, and I’m a cheetah beastkin. I will serve you with all my heart from now on, Lady Baby Dambi.”

Flinch.

A cheetah?

“Ah, th-then, okay…….”

“You don’t have to speak formally to me. Please speak comfortably.”

Nina looked to be in her mid-twenties, and judging solely by her appearance, she was quite cute. Her tawny-brown hair was braided into two plaits, and, true to her cheetah nature, she had a small face.

But the pheromones coming from Nina were anything but weak.

‘Even a maid has pheromones of a higher rank than mine……! As expected, this villainous family is not one to let your guard down.’

If possible, I wanted to run away even now, but honestly, I wasn’t confident I could run faster than a cheetah.

‘Okay, abandoning the escape plan.’

It would be better to just become the daughter-in-law and figure out how to live happily.

‘But I’m an albino. Is that really okay?’

I couldn’t even properly transform into human form, and even the pheromones I emitted were recessive.

Why had I suddenly become the daughter-in-law instead of the original character?

“Kyahaha! It tickles my tummy!”

While I was going through tremendous amounts of soul-searching worthy of a marten, Nina kept rubbing bubbles all over my belly.

Unable to endure the tickling, I flipped over and burst out laughing inside a tiny silver basin. My whole body was covered in soapy water, but since it had been so long since I’d had a bath, I actually liked it.

“……You’re even cuter when you smile. You look just like a baby choux, so I want to put you in my mouth and go ‘nom nom nom’…….”

“……!”

“I won’t. I’m sorry.”

Nina’s face remained expressionless, but her hands were calm and delicate, making me feel comfortable. And since she didn’t look at me with disgust despite me being an albino, I liked her even more.

“All right, let me dry you.”

“Thank you.”

“I need to dry you thoroughly so you don’t catch a cold.”

After being scrubbed clean until I squeaked, I looked at the silver basin I had just climbed out of and shivered.

It’s so black! Still, I should be a little cleaner now, right?

While Nina dried me with a fluffy cloth, I stared blankly out at the darkness that had fallen outside before shifting my gaze to my reflection in the window.

Snow-white fur. Cherry-red eyes. Two round ears and an adorable little twitching nose. I looked utterly lovable.

Unfortunately, however, I couldn’t transform into human form. Even after escaping the cage, I was still nothing but an animal.

The power that a beastkin absolutely needed to transform from an animal into human form was called . This was the purest form of natural power, which could manifest as sword aura, mana, spirit arts, or something else after one matured.

But albinos were born with so little Equilis. Almost none at all.

It was possible to forcibly replenish Equilis from an external source by eating a Dice, but…… how was I supposed to obtain such an incredible sacred relic, and even if I did, how could I possibly bring myself to eat it?

“Lady Dambi must be very clever, since you can speak so well even in marten form.”

Did I look a little depressed?

Nina suddenly complimented me.

I had been squeezing the water out of my tail, but at those words, I immediately felt better and perked up my ears.

“Really? A talking marten…… is rare?”

That would be nice. Maybe this could become my weapon.

“I suppose so. You’re the first beastkin I’ve ever seen who can speak while in animal form. Usually, beastkin can’t speak when they transform. Their oral structures are different, after all.”

“!”

“Then I already have at least one use!”

I smiled brightly, genuinely delighted. But Nina’s expression as she looked at me was a little strange.

“Babies aren’t supposed to talk about being useful.”

“Really……?”

“Yes. So tonight, don’t think about scary things and get a good night’s sleep, Lady Dambi.”

“Mm-hm.”

“But if you do get scared, pull that cord and call for me. Wherever I am, I’m confident I can get here within one second.”

Of course. She’s a cheetah.

Even if I ran away, she’d catch me within one second.

I hurriedly nodded and sent Nina away.

‘But surely this isn’t Kiraxus’s bedroom, right?’

The grand interior, which was dominated by shades of blue, was rather suspicious, but thankfully, the villain didn’t come barging in or anything.

I was tense for a moment, but when I saw the fluffy pillow on the bed where I was supposed to sleep, I soon broke into a happy grin.

‘This is amazing……!’

Crackle, crackle. The firewood burning in the fireplace gave off a cozy warmth. The honeyed milk I had drunk before bed was sweet and delicious, allowing me to forget my anxiety, if only for a little while.

I curled myself into a little ball, buried beneath the wool blanket Nina had tucked around me.

‘No matter what happens, I survived. So this time, let’s live for a long, long time.’

Ever since I possessed this book, I had never once felt at ease.

Honestly, every day I would want to die, then want to live again, then not want to die because it was unfair, then not want to live either.

In the end, I lived so that I could die properly. Because dying in order to live was simply too unfair.

‘I am…… a little tired, though. This nomadic life of possession.’

Can I settle down here?

Can I…… become an adult once again? No, at the very least, can I live for more than three months?

‘I need to work hard and sell off the information about the Holy Empire that appears in the original novel.’

So that Kiraxus will keep wanting to let me live.

Kiraxus still hadn’t asked me for any information. That was probably because he thought there was no way a worthless little child like me could know anything.

‘Which means I need to find something I can sell on my own…….’

After everything that had happened, sleepiness quickly came over me. It had been a long time since I’d had a night that wasn’t cold.