Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 100

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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 100
I remember that beautiful face, grinding her teeth in regret even now.
The way she looked at me with a mangled expression twisted by battle, her gaze filled with envious hatred.
“If only you’d met me when I was a little younger. If this ‘flaw’ hadn’t hindered my body, I would have won this fight.”
Me? I simply laughed and answered kindly.
I’m generous to the defeated.
“…What nonsense. You lost, yet you have so much to say.”
In my previous cycle, if I had to name the person who gave me the most trouble in combat on my path to becoming Matriarch, it would undoubtedly be my three older brothers.
They were formidable, and the battles with them were fierce, dancing on the edge of life and death.
However, if I consider not just combat but everything else as well, there was a different opponent who proved most treacherous.
Lirivel.
Lirivel, backed by Heila Ruzel.
The two of them were, if anything, masters of scheming and intrigue.
And their ability to manipulate people was remarkably exceptional.
Of course, if all they could do was plot from the shadows, I would have disposed of them like a traitor.
‘This one is troublesome.’
Surprisingly, Lirivel also possessed formidable power over water.
To what extent, you ask…
I rose from my seat.
“Hey, where are you going, little sister? Are you perhaps going to see where that Baian bastard died? Everyone’s been busy going to pay their respects.”
“Respects, not sightseeing. When is the funeral being held?”
“Well, the burial is in three days? But the funeral rites themselves begin today.”
“Good. There’s plenty of time then.”
“Where are you planning to go in the meantime?”
“Where else would I go?”
I turned away from the food I’d barely touched.
“I’m going to see Ekion.”
Agenor hastily set down his utensils and chased after me, insisting on coming along.
* * *
It rained all day long.
As if aware of the tragedy befalling the Aquasiadel Estate, the rain fell in a steady patter.
In the dimly lit room despite the daylight, a mother and daughter sat dressed in black funeral attire.
Lirivel gazed out the window.
The large building visible there served the same purpose as a cathedral during funerals.
In other words, Baian’s coffin was laid there.
Soon, a soft voice was heard.
“Why now, of all times?”
“Because now seems like the easiest time to eliminate her.”
Lirivel, a thirteen-year-old girl, pointed toward the door and revealed the true nature she had hidden all this time.
‘Brother, I’m sorry, but I hope you’ll disappear from this world now.’
The moment the young girl had long awaited had finally arrived.
Her parents now had no choice but to accept her.
The calm and gentle tone of voice did not belong to a thirteen-year-old girl.
“And the later a genius appears, the easier it is to draw attention, isn’t it?”
Heila turned her head.
“I have indulged your wishes, but I do not quite understand that remark, Lirivel.”
“You will see for yourself soon enough.”
Lirivel stood with perfect posture.
“Until now, you have regarded my frail body and weak constitution as a liability, have you not? You said I could never withstand the power of water.”
A strong body was essential.
It was a necessary element for wielding the power of water.
“What do you think of this?”
Around Lirivel, streams of water appeared—one, two, three…
Heila’s eyes, which had seemed indifferent at first, widened as if they might split.
Soon, joy bloomed across her face.
Lirivel thought she resembled her mother.
Then, gazing at her own water streams, which possessed a very pale hue, she rose from her seat.
“I’ll stop by my room first, then head to where my brother is.”
“Very well.”
Hearing her mother’s voice grow even softer and more affectionate, Lirivel realized she had now entered her mother’s circle of protection.
From this moment forward, she would be loved as never before.
Within the family, Heila’s love was power itself.
Lirivel opened the door and walked down the corridor.
The path from the drawing room to her chamber was not far, so she expected to arrive soon, but Lirivel discovered someone already standing before her door.
A child. Perhaps eight years old.
“Hello, Lirivel.”
A clear, bright voice.
She had the jet-black hair of direct orca lineage, yet unlike her own cool features, her face was remarkably round and soft.
Lirivel was momentarily taken aback, but soon responded with composure.
“You’re Calypso Aquasiadel, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Since we both know each other’s names, there’s no need for formal introductions.”
Agenor stood beside Calypso.
Lirivel felt no need to greet Agenor.
He was glaring menacingly from behind Calypso as if he would kill anyone who dared speak to her.
Indeed, as the rumors said—obsessive about everything except his younger sister—he was the same today.
Lirivel was not surprised.
Over the past five years, she had seen him often enough at family meetings to have grown accustomed to it.
“This is our first time meeting privately outside of family meetings, isn’t it?”
Both of them had never missed a regular family meeting, yet they had never exchanged personal conversation even once.
Calypso Aquasiadel had shown no interest in her, and Lirivel had accepted this as natural.
But what was the intention behind calling me so familiarly now?
“I’ve been wondering when I should approach you like this.”
“…You, to me?”
Eight-year-old Calypso was still smaller than children her age.
Yet Lirivel knew better than to be deceived by that small frame.
Though admittedly, everyone was dismissing Calypso now because of rumors that her talents were nothing special.
Until recently, no one in this manor had underestimated Calypso’s combat prowess.
‘She’s an opponent I cannot afford to underestimate.’
Lirivel had been silently preparing to draw upon the power of water at a moment’s notice.
“I didn’t expect you to kill them.”
Calypso spoke with a clear, ringing voice.
When Lirivel turned her gaze, the smiling face before her was not just bright but endearingly lovely.
Lirivel thought it was entirely different from her own pale, almost sickly ghostlike appearance.
“…I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Lirivel blinked innocently.
Calypso laughed with a grin.
“You’re pretending.”
Lirivel wondered for a moment if she had misheard.
“You killed them.”
Calypso’s face, wearing a gentle smile, remained perfectly serene.
Lirivel tilted her head with composure even in this moment.
“Hmm, me?”
Calypso understood the person known as Lirivel very well.
In appearance, she stood at the opposite extreme—sharp yet drooping eyes, pale complexion.
Even her straight hair and her focus on the power of water rather than martial prowess.
Yet to truly evaluate this person called Lirivel, one must understand one more thing.
‘When killer whales become humanoids, one particular trait sometimes becomes maximized.’
This Lirivel was skilled at using others as pawns and scheming.
“You’re still so beautiful, and your voice is lovely. You’re good at pretending to be kind too. Your acting is excellent.”
And one thing more.
“And you’re strong, aren’t you?”
Strong enough to have provoked Calypso’s competitive spirit in the previous cycle.
“Incredibly strong, but you just haven’t been able to reveal it openly until now. Isn’t that right?”
“…”
Yet Lirivel had one fatal weakness.
The weakness that Lirivel herself knew best was this:
“I know your situation well.”
Possessing immensely powerful strength, yet a body that cannot keep up with it.
Her body could not withstand such tremendous power.
Rodesen and Heila had given up on her long ago, seeing only her weak constitution and frail body as a child.
Lirivel possessed an exceptional intellect, and as she grew, she came to recognize her formidable strength and its corresponding weakness.
“You suffer from the same affliction as my father.”
A weapon of such devastating firepower that all trembled before it—yet one bound by a limit on its uses.
Indeed.
Lirivel Aquasiadel bore the identical curse that plagued Pierre Aquasiadel.
* * *
In the third cycle, the period during which Lirivel was active coincided with her transition from sixteen to seventeen years of age.
“Follow Lirivel after Lord Baian’s death? You cannot be serious!”
“The rumors speak of her weakness—surely you jest? Explain yourself! We cannot follow one who is not stronger than ourselves!”
When her brother Baian’s death suddenly thrust Lirivel into prominence, she boldly demonstrated her abilities to the retainers who initially resisted and to her own parents who regarded her with displeasure.
Thus, beneath the current Matriarch—curiously one without daughters until now—
she proved why orca society had always been matriarchal.
The reason succession passed from Matriarch to daughter, or to granddaughter.
“Ha, haha. I cannot deny such power, my daughter!”

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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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