Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 117

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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 117
I reached out with a bewildered expression.
The large figure curled his body and tried to nestle into my arms, and I stumbled backward helplessly while patting his back.
Even as I watched his trembling shoulders, I felt utterly confused.
Was he crying?
Even when his arm nearly flew off, he was the one who laughed with a giggle, saying he’d crush the Imperial Court himself, not shedding a single tear.
Sometimes when people are sorrowful, patting them doesn’t stop the tears but causes the sorrow to explode instead, and Atlant seemed to be in exactly that state now.
The more I patted, the more his shoulders trembled.
Had it been that difficult?
Perhaps the emotional burden had been severe.
“You, you can’t, do this to me….”
Even in this moment, he didn’t forget his own argument, and watching him speak with a voice like “heung,” I laughed bitterly.
“…Yeah.”
You’re probably the thing that shocked me most since the regression, you bastard.
If I remembered the previous cycle, I couldn’t have remained composed.
I’ve repeated this three times, but there are memories difficult to adapt to even with repetition, so how could this one, experiencing it for the first time, be any different.
“Stop crying.”
I grabbed Second Brother’s head and pulled it roughly.
“Your eyes will swell, you fool.”
He didn’t even lift his head, as if it didn’t hurt.
“Lift your head.”
His shoulders were completely soaked, but I didn’t care.
Clothes could be changed, after all….
But the heart could not.
As they say, the one who tied the knot must untie it.
The one who wetted the heart must dry it. I felt a sense of responsibility.
I decided to comfort him gently and talk things through.
“I said lift your head?”
However, unfortunately, just as I had forgotten how to be loved, I had also forgotten how to comfort, so my patting didn’t last long.
Rather, it was realizing that we were in the middle of the corridor that mattered most.
No matter how rarely students passed through here, there was no guarantee that no one would come by.
‘Can’t you see I’m thinking of your social standing right now?’
I watched Second Brother, who still wouldn’t lift his head, and pressed my neck firmly.
As if to snap him out of it.
“…I hate it.”
After a long moment, a weak voice finally came out.
But the weakness was brief before an angry voice followed, grinding fiercely.
“Would I, would I show you a face like this?”
“Why are you angry.”
“What I wanted to show you… wasn’t, this pathetic face.”
“Yeah, I’m curious about that brilliant plan of yours too, but if you keep crying like this, even I’m starting to feel a bit sorry for you.”
“….”
“I care about you too, Second Brother.”
That’s why I, who have regressed three times, couldn’t overcome your death.
However, even though there was affection between us adoptive brothers, it was a quiet, accumulated bond rather than something tender.
This situation and demeanor felt entirely unfamiliar to me.
“I overlooked the fact that you’re the type to hide things you really need to say.”
Even if I went back a few days, without knowing that he retained his memories, he would have made the same choice.
But now I couldn’t pretend not to know anymore.
I whispered softly enough for him to hear, patting his shoulder gently.
“Have I seen your strange side once or twice?”
I continued speaking to him, who remained motionless.
“If you’re going to show it again eventually, then lift your head now.”
Instead of listening, he just pressed his large frame against me.
Looking at my large Second Brother, I felt a tender, wistful affection.
‘…This bastard, he never thinks about his size and just throws himself at me—it’s exactly the same.’
Fortunately, he wasn’t fully grown yet, so he was smaller than what I remembered.
It was just that my body was so much smaller than in the previous regression that I couldn’t handle it.
He’s going to have a massive growth spurt? The fact that he’ll grow even larger to the size I remember suddenly felt real.
‘Anyway, how much longer do I have to stay like this?’
…I felt sorry for him, but this was becoming unbearably awkward.
‘Should I hit him? Kick him?’
No, I didn’t need to do something so trashy.
Half of me wanted to end this embarrassing performance now. The other half was a mixture of affection and the urge to just brush him off.
As my conflict grew, I was actually considering pushing him away.
Finally, Atlant lifted his head.
I was startled.
‘It’s intense.’
I had told him to listen, but…his face was blotchy red and ruined by tears.
In his crimson eyes hung fierce sorrow and resentment, an undisguised longing that dangled like fruit.
I realized something.
Having seen these eyes, I could no longer turn away.
“…Are you done crying?”
I smiled crookedly and pinched his cheek lightly, and Atlant clenched his teeth.
His handsome face contorted.
“Damn, how pathetic.”
“You’re only noticing that now?”
“Don’t mock me. You’re the one who messed up.”
“You’re right. I was wrong.”
“Why are you admitting it!”
“Good grief, you startled me. Why are you screaming? Do you have a death wish?”
“….”
At that, he bit his lip and began cautiously gauging my reaction.
Like a frightened beast, his face etched with sorrow and grievance, afraid of being cast out again.
He launched into a wild, rambling tirade in that fierce voice of his.
“No, Matriarch, you’re you. What wrong did you commit? There must have been a reason! Abandoning an orca like me was wrong, but there must have been a reason!”
“…I’m grateful you’re making excuses for me, but you don’t have to do that.”
While Agenor and Bellus showed different sides compared to previous cycles, this one remained identical to before—the more he spoke, the more he resembled his former self.
It felt as though I’d returned to when I was the Matriarch.
With that youthful face of his.
Atlant rubbed his eyes roughly. Now the fierce, handsome boy with reddened eyes beneath them suddenly asked me:
“So you’re accepting me now, right?”
At his confident tone, I laughed brightly.
“What? You said you wanted to live an ordinary life in the next cycle?”
“….”
Atlant flinched.
He hesitated for a moment, then abruptly turned his head away.
A fierce bruise still clung to his face, not yet faded.
“…I don’t remember. I would never say something like that, would I? Do you not know me?”
“So I don’t know you?”
Atlant flinched again.
‘Struck a nerve, have I?’
His face remained like blank canvas as always—a canvas that laid bare every emotion without filter.
Soon after, Atlant’s expression crumpled and his voice rose.
“I want to follow you! Why won’t you accept me!”
“…Listen, just think about it until you reach adulthood. I’m doing this for your sake….”
“Don’t!”
“…Don’t think about you?”
“Yes, do think about me! I wasn’t trying to make you stop thinking about me—I’ll make you remember me by charging at you every day if I have to. Understand?”
“Understand what? What tune am I supposed to dance to?”
For a moment, even Atlant looked confused.
…What do I do if you’re confused, you fool.
“Think about me a lot! Who told you not to? But think about using me as a weapon! When someone like me offers you a handle, you should take it without hesitation!”
“Ugh. My ears hurt, you brat.”
Even as I said this, I smiled warmly.
At that, he faltered.
“Second Brother, you’re quite fun to tease, aren’t you?”
In the previous cycle where his only joy in life was targeting the Matriarch, his reactions—quick to excite and hot-blooded at the slightest provocation—were indeed one of the few sources of amusement.
“…You’re teasing me, aren’t you?”
I rested my chin on my hand and widened my eyes.
“Oh, so you’ve developed some awareness now?”
I thought Atlant would grow even angrier at such words, but instead he paused in thought before arrogantly tilting his chin upward.
Of course, tears still hung precariously from his eyes, which rather undermined the effect.
“Yeah, I know. I’ve gotten a bit smarter. It’s because of you. So you’ll accept me even after I say things like this, right?”
His confidence shone through—the certainty that he possessed the talent to deserve such acceptance.
His grin, with canines bared, was refreshingly bold.
I smiled along with him.
“No.”
“Why!!”
“Sorry, but my standards for recruiting talent in this life have become rather strict.”
“Is there someone stronger than me?”
…Well, not really. Excluding Father and myself, he’d probably be comparable to Lirivel now?
I suppressed my playful expression and the mischief threatening to spill out, forcing my face into seriousness as I bit back my laughter.
“What then? What exactly is needed?”
“A wise mind?”
“….”
Atlant faltered for a moment, and his face flushed red.
“I don’t have that!”
I whistled.
“Oh, so you understand that much? You’ve made progress.”
I stood up and brushed off my clothes.
He remained seated, glaring up at me with burning eyes.
“Go back for now.”
“You’re abandoning me.”
“I’ll call for you again. That’s why I’m telling you to go back.”
“….”
This one really was fun to tease. In truth, I hoped that even this teasing might help him forget some of his sorrow.
Only then did I let the playful smile that had been hanging on my face fade.
“Give me time to sort things out too. It seems like your memories returned long ago. You needed time to accept them, didn’t you?”
“….”
“So do I.”
Atlant’s face remained anxious that I hadn’t given him certainty, but he eventually rose to his feet.
“I’ll follow you even if you don’t accept me.”
“…Right, keep that in mind then, and don’t go tormenting the innocent ones.”
“Why would I torment someone weaker than me? There’s no fun in that.”
He answered curtly. He was certainly handsome like a powerful orca, but the inherent savagery beneath the surface overwhelmed his good looks, marking his features with a wild edge.
“Learn to understand that your very existence is a threat.”
“I don’t know. Teach me then.”
I let out a soft laugh.
Then I turned my head away.
There was a thought that had occupied a corner of my mind all along.
‘Wasn’t it just the two of us here?’
From behind a pillar some distance away, Levin peeked his head out and our eyes met instantly.

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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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