The Youngest Daughter of the Snake Family - Chapter 48

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 48
Just before sleep, the thought had surfaced unbidden.
Who was I, exactly?
It was a natural enough question to have.
Who had left me here, and for what reason? And how had such a thing even been possible?
The Astropel Clan Estate was heavily guarded; no one could simply approach it.
Especially if another Beastkin had tried to enter, they would have been detected immediately.
Yet whoever had left me here had slipped past all defenses and abandoned me deep within the manor itself.
The room housing the Heir Egg had been under strict surveillance.
Given that I was being protected alongside Set and Arban, it seemed even Kaide and Baon hadn’t known about my arrival.
“Does Airing want to know too? It would be nice if Durias came soon and explained everything.”
“I suppose.”
“Mm.”
As I nodded calmly, Kaide’s brows suddenly drew together.
“……Is that why you asked whether people from the East attended the last banquet?”
Hm?
“Had the young lady inquired about the East before?”
Baon’s eyes widened in surprise as he turned to look at me.
I’d asked about the East simply because it was where I’d lived before.
Ah, come to think of it — was there a new Clan gathering there?
Both men wore expressions of utmost seriousness.
They looked shocked, as though they’d overlooked some crucial fact.
After a long silence, Kaide spoke.
“The Loisar Clan sent word of their non-attendance. Are you curious about your Clankin?”
“……Mm?”
“You want to meet others who look like you, don’t you? That’s why you asked about the East.”
“……Mm?”
No, that wasn’t it at all. I hadn’t wanted to meet them, not really. It would be strange to actually see them, perhaps, but I hadn’t sought it out.
The two men’s expressions grew even more grave.
“You were born in the South, young lady.”
“I know.”
“……But though you may know it, the South is far more pleasant to live in than the East.”
“Mm. I know that too.”
At my response, Kaide’s expression hardened further.
“So you’ve already been investigating the situation in the East, then.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Then who told you?”
“……That’s not it either.”
The misunderstanding was deepening. They seemed to think I’d looked into the East because I wanted to meet my Clankin.
I shook my head firmly and pressed the seal down on the remaining document.
* * *
The hour before dawn, while darkness still held the sky.
Durias moved at an unhurried pace.
At the edge of the Cliff, where all around lay silent, only the soft sound of grass wet with dawn dew bending beneath his feet disturbed the quiet.
Crackle.
At that sound, the body of his quarry—cornered at the dead end—went rigid.
It was plain to see that she was terrified.
Durias straightened his disheveled tunic as he pursued her, then regarded her with an even gaze.
In his deep Golden Eyes, a flicker of irritation crossed.
“Have you finished running now?”
“……Why are you doing this to me?”
The woman being chased finally spoke.
Her entire body was covered in scratches from her frantic escape, each one a patchwork of raw wounds.
She steadied her ragged breathing with difficulty, then cast a wary glance behind her.
A violent wind was tearing up from below the Cliff.
A great river flowed beneath, yet she held no certainty that she would survive the fall.
And yet……
Being caught by the man before her offered no better prospect.
Trapped between two perils, she looked at Durias with anxious eyes.
“Why are you chasing me?”
Durias, who had stopped at a certain distance, let out a dry laugh at her question.
“Ha. You’re running without even knowing why you’re being chased?”
“Well, that is…”
Ella bit her lip and could not bring herself to answer.
At this, Durias’s mouth, which had been clamped shut, curved into a thick smile.
It was the moment a mere assumption transformed into certainty.
She grew anxious at his abruptly altered demeanor.
Trapped between walls on both sides with no choice left to make, the world seemed to darken before her eyes.
“…What do you intend to do with me?”
“Intend? What do you mean by that?”
……
“Ah. Do you perhaps know what I might do?”
Durias murmured matter-of-factly.
At his voice, clear and unmistakable, Ella’s complexion gradually turned pale.
The Eastern Border.
There was no accounting for how he had come to find her in such a place.
A figure of his caliber would have no reason to journey to such a remote location in person.
From the look of him, it seemed he had not crossed the border through proper channels.
Ella sensed instinctively that the situation was unfolding in an ominous way.
“Did you consult with the head of our clan before coming to find me?”
“Mm?”
“If not, perhaps you should follow protocol first. Relations between the South and East could be damaged, after all.”
Her voice trembled faintly at the end, laden with tension.
She knew such words might accomplish nothing, yet she had to try everything within her power.
Durias, who had been listening to her with leisurely ease, opened his eyes wide in apparent surprise.
“Are you concerned for my position?”
……
“I appreciate the sentiment, but it’s unnecessary. You see…”
Durias gestured deliberately as he surveyed the quiet surroundings.
Ella drew in a sharp breath as she grasped his meaning.
“There is no one here, and you will vanish without a trace—without witness or word.”
…!
“So shall we dispense with this futile effort?”
Durias frowned as he glanced at the sky where dawn was beginning to break.
He had no time to linger in this place.
Just as Ella had said, Durias had crossed the border without prior notice to the East.
Should the East learn of this and take issue, the situation could spiral into something far more serious than he could contain.
“I myself am far from idle at present.”
Durias wished to conclude the matter cleanly, hoping the affair would not become complicated.
He sighed, lamenting his circumstances.
At his rank, he had thought himself beyond having to conduct field operations personally…
But there was nothing for it. When ordered from above, one simply complied.
“Come along quietly, Ella. I too am bound by my superiors’ orders, and I’ll face consequences if I’m late.”
“My. And who would dare scold Durias with such a joke?”
It was then that a figure in a black hood stepped out from behind Durias.
Ella stifled a cry that nearly escaped at the appearance of yet another Black Mamba operative.
The two began exchanging words with an air of casual indifference.
“I have two more superiors above me as well. I dare not imagine the scolding I’d receive from them.”
“Then this mission must succeed, no matter what.”
Two superiors above.
At those words, a chill ran down Ella’s spine.
She knew all too well who stood above him.
It would be Kaide Astropel and his aide Baon.
At the realization that the two were searching for her, Ella’s mind went blank.
Because of this, she failed to notice Inyoung, hooded in black, drawing gradually closer.
Only then did Ella notice and stiffen, recoiling.
“…Do not come closer. You’ve come to take me, haven’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“Come any nearer and I’ll jump from here.”
“My goodness?”
“That’s something you wouldn’t want either, would it? If you mean to take me, make a formal request to the head of my clan!”
Ella spoke forcefully, playing her final card.
Even as she did, anxiety crept up her spine, and she bit her lip hard.
What if the Astropel Clan had come because they’d learned what she’d done…?
Would she even survive then?
The answer was no.
From the moment they began searching for her, the end was all but certain.
Once captured, she wouldn’t walk away unscathed.
‘I can’t rely on my own clan either.’
If word got out that her tail had been caught, her own kind would be the first to dispose of her.
A surge of unbearable indignation welled up inside Ella.
‘Why do I have to suffer like this? I’m the victim here!’
This couldn’t happen. Ella’s Golden Eyes blazed with venom.
She had to survive, no matter what.
At Ella’s threatening cry warning them not to come closer, the black Beastkin halted abruptly.
A soft voice soon emerged.
“Very well.”
“…What did you say?”
Ella questioned, as if doubting her own ears.
“I said to do as you ask.”
This time, even Durias looked at the black Beastkin with bewilderment.
“Wait. Can you really say that?”
“Didn’t he say her condition doesn’t have to be perfect?”
“…Well, yes, but—”
“If she just stays alive, what does a little damage matter?”
“I suppose it would be easier to take her back that way.”
Durias nodded, finding the reasoning sound enough.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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