“Oh, Dad, that’s…”

“That dish was made with herbal roots, probably? The most important ingredient when boiling the soup was said to be a white snake.”

“Oops, Dad, that…”

“The reason why this snake was the most popular at the auction house at that time was because of that.”

The silver snake became silent. In the midst of the uneasy atmosphere, Davan added.

“That’s right, so I thought Diane was going to buy that white snake for cooking ingredients.”

“Mikael and I also went to the auction house because we heard that boiling snake soup grants immortality.”

There was a brief silence. Clemens, sensing my confusion, concluded the conversation.
“Diane, what happened? It doesn’t seem like you kept the snake as a pet because you liked it from the beginning. Wouldn’t it be better to resolve it before you get too attached?”

‘Re, resolve?’

That’s a nice way to put it, but in the end, it means boiling snake soup!

Cold sweat broke out. At that moment, the silver snake suddenly lifted its head from the bag.

“What, snake, snake soup?!”

‘This is bad!’

“Stop it, everyone!”

I embraced the silver snake tightly and stood up from my seat. It was a sudden reaction, and their faces were stunned.

“The silver snake is my absolute favorite in the world! It’s my friend!”

With my bombshell declaration, Dad had a look as if the world had collapsed. Davan’s face showed a betrayed expression, as if saying, ‘I used to be your favorite…’

“Oh, Miss, the absolute favorite in the world…?”

“You said I was your favorite twice…”

Clemens muttered in disbelief, and after that, Dad also mumbled something quietly. Their voices were too low, and I couldn’t hear a thing.

⭐⭐⭐

That night, a secret meeting was held at the Kruztel mansion.

The attendees were Duke Kruztel, his aide Filen, and three sages.

‘Why me again…’

Filen, who was working late at the mansion until late that night, sighed inwardly, regretting having chosen the wrong day.

“Write it down, Filen.”

“Yes, yes…”

Filen prepared to take notes.

“The agenda today is how to deal with Diane’s pet snake. Let’s bring forth the opinions we’ve each been thinking about.”

“D, Deal?!”

Filen, taken aback by the unexpected agenda, opened his mouth in surprise.

“Miss, don’t you carry it with you every day? Moreover, I heard that you were originally keeping it a secret from the master! How much do you cherish that pet snake?”

“That’s why it’s a problem.”

“Yes? Which part? It’s not even venomous.”

“The miss cherishes the pet snake too much.”

Davan, who joined in their conversation, responded. Filen turned to Davan and retorted.

“Are you seriously jealous of the snake right now…?”

“Jealous? No way.”

Davan clenched his fist and scowled. Filen quickly scanned the surroundings with keen eyes, and except for Sage Michael, the reactions were generally similar.

Suppressing the urge to burst into laughter, Filen continued.

“No, what are you talking about? Jealous of such a thing? Naturally, family is more important than a pet…”

“…”

Filen couldn’t finish his sentence properly. Before he could conclude his words, it was apparent from the expressions of the master and sages that their faces had fallen.

“The most, the most favorite.”

“Yes?”

“The snake.”

“Oh…”

Even though he wanted to argue that it shouldn’t be compared to family, he decided to keep quiet.

To those who were already shocked, his words were probably not audible.

“Then let’s begin.”

“…Sure.”

The master’s voice was even lower than usual, as if it could penetrate the ground more deeply than on any other day.
In the heavy atmosphere, the first to suggest an opinion was Davan.

“There must be something the silver snake eats. How about poisoning its food?”

“If it dies too quickly, Diane might suspect something.”

“Well, then, how about finding something that makes it suffer slowly?”

“That sounds good.”

“That’s my specialty. I’ll look into it.”

“Yeah, we trust you, Clemens.”

All the opinions presented were oriented towards getting rid of the silver snake. Filen blinked his eyes with an expression of big trouble.

‘But still, it doesn’t seem right to easily kill the snake that Miss cherishes…’

At this rate, the Aristocrats might not come back, and a sudden sense of anxiety arose.

Mikael was the one who intervened in such a situation.

“Everyone calm down; it’s an animal Diane cherishes.”

“Yeah, so we’re planning to get rid of it as discreetly as possible. If you have any ideas, share them.”

“Davan, you’re thinking too simply, aren’t you? Father and my brother, too. Think about it. Even if we get rid of the silver snake without evidence, Diane will be sad no matter who did it. Can’t you see that?”

That was the point Filen wanted to make. Mikael, who clearly pointed out that, received silent applause from Filen.

“But you weren’t there at that time, so you don’t know. Do you know what the kid said to us at that time? He said the snake is the best in the world, his friend, and if we touch that snake, he won’t even look at our faces.”

“It’s okay; let him be like that. After all, when kids of that age get pets, it’s common.”

“You may think so. You’re not interested in Diane anyway.”

“It’s not that I’m not interested, everyone is just too… No, let’s focus on the problem for now.”

The main point got blurred. Mikael clapped his hands again and aired out the atmosphere.

“Instead of getting rid of the snake, why not make Diane dislike it first?”

They hadn’t considered other directions while concentrating on one thing. What Mikael suggested was quite a tempting proposal.

Everyone’s eyes sparkled. Davan asked again.

“How?”

“Well, it’s simple if you think about what snakes eat.”