Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 116
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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 116
‘Is it a misunderstanding?’
Calypso hesitated.
Perhaps I had been so absorbed in Atlant’s thoughts that I mistakenly recalled something upon seeing the current Atlant.
There was no way Atlant would remember my command.
However, Calypso shook her head inwardly.
‘That can’t be right.’
Calypso remembered the details of Atlant from the third cycle with perfect clarity, regardless of anything else.
His death had made it so.
So Calypso hadn’t misread the current situation.
‘He kept exactly to the line I had specified.’
Among the orcas, many were humans whose bodies moved faster than their minds.
Because of this, when pairing members from different Branch Families rather than family members, there were often cases where they struggled in group combat that required mutual cooperation to defeat enemies.
Especially for someone like Atlant, who was accustomed to fighting alone in solitary supremacy, the tendency for his body to act first was even more pronounced.
To take such individuals to war, Calypso had long since drilled many lessons into them through physical experience.
One of those lessons was this distance between two people.
When Atlant reached adulthood, he was the largest among his siblings.
To give an example.
Sometimes a large puppy grows up but still thinks it’s a puppy and charges forward.
The person on the receiving end finds it cute, but it’s still quite an ordeal.
Atlant was exactly that kind of person.
Without considering his own size, he would suddenly charge forward with affectionate intent, so Calypso taught him the distance with her fists.
“Don’t you know about the movement of the center of gravity?”
“Ugh….”
“If you ambush me from the stairs one more time, I’ll use you as a carpet on those stairs. Understand?”
It was because I happened to be holding another subordinate’s child, whom they had brought saying a child had been born.
Atlant had thoughtlessly charged at me, and I nearly went down with the child.
It was a rule that Calypso herself had drilled into him afterward.
Such a memory of mine couldn’t be wrong.
So then, what was the meaning of Atlant’s current behavior?
Calypso clenched her fist, then opened it.
‘I’ll find out starting now.’
The question: Has Calypso Aquasiadel ever encountered another returner besides herself?
To rephrase: Have I ever met someone else who remembers previous cycles?
‘No.’
And unfortunately, Calypso disliked uncertainty.
If there was a wrapped box in front of her, she absolutely had to dismantle it and place a clear answer before her eyes to be satisfied.
This was all because of that damned original male protagonist.
If Atlant remembered previous cycles, then Calypso would finally gain a companion who shared memories after all this time.
“Atlant Aquasiadel.”
But why was that?
‘Isn’t this a good thing?’
Calypso was not happy.
Thinking this way, my heart sank. More than Atlant remembering his own death in the previous cycle,
it would have been far better if he had forgotten everything and lived an ordinary life without knowing anything.
Calypso always complained to those three brothers that they lacked family bonds and familial affection.
But Calypso herself knew all too well.
Between the three brothers and herself, an undeniably deep affection had already accumulated.
Even if it had originated from camaraderie, it was love.
Whether he understood what lay beneath or not.
Calypso calmed the turbulent feelings within and asked composedly.
“Why are you chasing after me?”
This was a question she should have asked when Atlant’s relentless pursuit began a week ago.
Atlant too, thinking this way, wore an aggrieved expression.
“Why are you only asking now?”
Atlant felt wronged. No, he couldn’t help but feel wronged.
Anyone in his position would feel the same way.
“Isn’t that a question you should have asked a week ago?”
His rough manner of speaking carried a youthful quality, but it was exactly the way Calypso remembered.
But since he was the same person, it was natural that his speech would be identical.
“I heard what you said at the Funeral Hall, and from then on I thought you were glaring at me like I was a beggar.”
Calypso had certainly given him a chance.
And she had hoped that this man would live an ordinary life in this cycle.
She had only hoped that when she became the Matriarch someday, he would live more comfortably.
Of course, I won’t deny that the biggest reason was that I still didn’t want to face Atlant’s death.
‘But that’s beside the point.’
Calypso tilted her head loosely.
A competitive spirit flowed out that was unbelievable for a child.
“I’m going to do what I want to do, so what’s it to you? I think you’re misunderstanding something right now. The one who caused harm isn’t me—it’s you.”
Atlant flinched.
“If you hadn’t chased after me from the beginning, neither I nor the kids in my class, and not even your friend here would have had a single inconvenience.”
What really made Calypso angry wasn’t that Atlant had been chasing her and making unrelated children uncomfortable.
Until just a moment ago, that was the reason, but not anymore.
If… Atlant really did remember the previous cycle.
‘Why didn’t you say anything?’
The fact that he had remained silent until now made my blood boil.
‘I didn’t say anything either, so how could he? He’d just sound crazy.’
Of course, just as Calypso hadn’t thought of it, Atlant also wouldn’t have thought that Calypso remembered the previous cycle.
Her mind understood this, but even so, her heart surged with emotion.
If you were going to do this, you should have come looking for me sooner!
Atlant answered in a dissatisfied tone.
“Why should I care what others think?”
I had heard the rumors about Calypso Aquasiadel as well.
And that was just the beginning.
I’d heard it so often my ears ached—whether the stories had been distorted or not, at some point rumors began circulating that she was seeking out only the strongest fighters, challenging dojos left and right.
My heart beat with a subtle, thrilling excitement.
‘The strong.’
That chattering fool Agenor followed behind her like a remora fish attached to a whale.
Bellus, who had acted as though he cared about nothing but the Matriarch, had suddenly pursued her to the City of Dragons five years ago, hadn’t he?
Though it was hushed up, Levin’s loose tongue made it easy enough to learn that Bellus had directly told the Matriarch he wanted to go with Calypso.
‘Bellus must have already submitted to her.’
Considering all of this, wouldn’t my turn come next?
That’s what I had thought.
I love fighting the strong. Defeating them is even better.
If I were my usual self, that’s all I would have thought.
But for the past six years, I had to battle memories that kept surfacing unbidden in my mind.
Fighting memories that were mine yet not mine, I struggled, racking my brain in ways I’d never done before.
‘Why, damn it!’
Because of that, despite my great power, I couldn’t focus during Family Meetings and fell out of favor with the Orca Family Matriarch.
I hated the woman who appeared in those memories.
When I learned that woman’s name was ‘Calypso Aquasiadel’—someone whose face I’d never seen—I even came to despise her.
With rumors of her strength already spreading, I even considered seeking her out to fight.
Yet whenever I thought about crushing her completely, my body would instinctively halt, as if something wouldn’t allow it.
As if it shouldn’t happen.
Until this memory fully settled into place, Calypso was someone I couldn’t touch, yet remained an object of my hatred.
“She’s your younger sister, Atlant.”
And so the method I found was this.
“I have no younger sister.”
Better to treat her as if she didn’t exist. To ignore her.
It was avoidance unbecoming of an orca. But only later did I realize.
Only when the memory became truly mine did I understand. None of this could be avoided.
The memory was incomplete.
But did memory and emotion move together?
At last, the revived memory awakened within my chest feelings and attachments I never expected.
I knew you would surely, certainly come find me.
Yet Calypso had not sought me out for five years.
My liege.
I waited for the day I would serve you again, but what am I to do if you don’t come find me?
After you made me into your weapon.
“If there’s no expectation, there’s no disappointment.”
Even if I turned away from you, you shouldn’t do the same to me.
“There is only one person in this world who cares for me, follows me, and listens to me.”
Calypso Aquasiadel had always been fair.
Atlant had always resented that.
Why, when I follow you so devotedly, me.
You won’t acknowledge me?
I’ve always done my best.
“You shouldn’t treat me this way.”
You can’t do this to me.
Traces of time gradually accumulated across his sharp, fierce features. His face flushed crimson.
“You…!”
A surge of grievance and resentment welled up, and Atlant clenched his teeth.
“…You can’t do this to me.”
Sorrow poured forth from his reddened eyes in torrents.
No expectation.
You can’t treat me this way.
Fat tears rolled down the handsome boy’s cheeks, falling one after another.
My younger brother. I was only waiting for you.
* * *
I blinked my eyes wide.
They say when people are too shocked, words fail them. This was exactly that moment.
Why?
Atlant, my Second Brother, crying sorrowfully with choked sobs—I had never anticipated this.
I thought that even if he truly remembered the past, given his temperament, he would rage and thrash about in excitement.
“Uh, hey… S, Second Brother.”
I found myself far too flustered.
“D, don’t cry. Huh? Why, why are you crying?”
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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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