Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 145

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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 145
I flinched the moment I heard that title.
For just an instant, that single word transported me back to the past.
My proudest third loop? No—the agonizing first loop.
Before I knew it, I was crumpling the tattered, ruined skirt in my fists. Before me, I saw pacing feet.
I knew who owned those feet.
As gentle-natured as the soft, swaying appearance of her fluffy tail.
The original heroine—though I never wanted to call her name again.
“It’s not your fault, older sister.”
The kind girl seemed to overlap with this moment. At the same time, the child’s voice wavered.
“Who… are you…?”
I slowly pulled myself free from the past.
Truth be told, except for certain specific memories, I’ve grown numb to it all, so painful recollections simply pass through me now.
But if there’s one memory from that period that doesn’t hurt to recall—
It’s this child right before me.
The memories I shared with Lili.
Only…
‘The time we spent together was far too brief to even call it a memory.’
She was a kind, pure-hearted, gentle girl.
She remained that way even as a young lady.
Yet at the same time, she received far too much love and overprotection.
“You talked to Lili? You didn’t bully her, did you?”
“How can we trust your words? Lili got hurt!”
“Get lost, you reek of fish!”
I barely spoke to that child because of the Black Panthers who overprotected her and the male lead, the Crown Prince.
I only remember those fleeting moments being warm.
‘It’s rather absurd, really.’
We never saw each other, never touched, barely exchanged words—so why did they always insist I was bullying her?
Why did they assume I would bully her in the future?
‘That situation where I had no one on my side was so bitterly sorrowful.’
I stared ahead.
When I said nothing, the child blinked her large eyes.
Her eyes were so round that it probably took her longer to blink than most people. An oddly random thought crossed my mind.
‘Really, me.’
For just a moment, hearing only that title made me wonder if this child also remembered the past like Atlant did.
The title felt that familiar.
‘Come to think of it, since I came to this world, no one but her has ever called me “older sister,” probably.’
Perhaps that’s why it felt so special.
“Are you done crying?”
They say children cry louder and more sorrowfully the more you try to comfort them.
Rather, if you ignore them, they’ll stop crying.
Lili fit this example perfectly—tears dangling from her eyes as she stared at me intently.
Hiccup, hiccup—she even started hiccupping suddenly.
But her eyes never left mine.
“Sister…!”
Wait, she’s been calling me sister this whole time? I tilted my head in confusion.
“Do you know me?”
I’d already concluded she couldn’t remember the past before my regression.
But I asked anyway, just in case.
The young girl shook her head vigorously.
“…I don’t know.”
Thank goodness.
Truth be told, I didn’t want anyone to remember the past.
‘As if there were any good memories to recall.’
Of course, a child raised with love like this one might not be harmed by remembering… but.
‘Is that really true?’
Having lived in this world, I wasn’t sure overprotective parenting was actually good for the child themselves.
‘There were times I couldn’t eat my favorite foods, times I couldn’t go to my favorite places.’
Though compared to my circumstances in the first timeline, this was practically paradise.
“If you don’t know me, why did you suddenly call me sister?”
“Because you’re my sister…”
Lili moved her lips innocently without a trace of wariness.
Then, shrinking back slightly, she asked carefully.
“Will you get mad if I call you that?”
“…No, it’s not that I can’t.”
More than yes, it was an absolute yes. How could I refuse those sparkling eyes?
I’m not usually moved by cuteness or loveliness.
‘But there really are beauties in this world that shatter your preferences.’
Lili hesitated a moment longer, then whispered softly.
“Palaya said that if someone’s pretty, I should call them all sister…”
Palaya. The second son of the Black Panther Family.
The one who would become quite the womanizer later on.
He showed signs of it even as a child.
“Ah, so that’s it… he calls every pretty girl his sister, doesn’t he?”
Lili looked at me with wide eyes.
“You know Palaya?”
“I know of him. Or rather, I just prefer not to know.”
“…”
“If it’s too complicated, you don’t have to try to understand.”
I crouched down in front of Lili.
Well then, what should I do with you?
‘In this life of mine, I’ve never given you a single thought until now.’
Should I ask what happened here?
If I listen, will I be able to handle it?
The help I had in mind was simply for this child to return to a safe place. That was all.
After all, this child has the Black Panther Clan as a safe nest.
But why did she come all the way out here, so far from that nest?
Why have you become capable of full beast transformation, unlike in the original story?
I’m conflicted about whether to ask this.
“Anyway, why did you run all the way out here?”
I postponed my decision for a moment and asked the question.
“When you opened your eyes, it was a carriage, wasn’t it?”
….
A nod. Lili looked at me with frightened eyes and slowly nodded her head.
When she woke up, what on earth happened?
‘Did Atlant snore roughly? No, wasn’t it Agenor who had bad sleeping habits?’
“That carriage belongs to my group. We picked you up and have been protecting you.”
“…Really, big sister?”
“Yes.”
Warmth touched my loosely dropped hand. A tiny hand, like a maple leaf, was gripping my pinky finger tightly.
‘Like a duckweed frond.’
Such a small hand.
“Then, are there… no scary people…?”
“Scary people?”
I blinked while keeping my hand extended.
The people who had been in the carriage with the child all had exceptional appearances.
Even the beast-kin with detection abilities that Illia had provided had an ordinary and kind-looking appearance, nothing remarkable.
‘Were there any rough-looking Knights among them…? Well, there are too many people I can guess at.’
Orca beast-kin are characterized by sharp, piercing eyes, so it wasn’t uncommon to see them with somewhat fierce-looking features.
“I don’t know who you saw, but you’re mistaken. We have no intention of harming you.”
I suspected this child found me somewhat familiar precisely because my face was relatively round in comparison.
“Really…?”
“Yes. There aren’t. And don’t you want to go home?”
Let’s see, we can’t take her directly to the Black Panther Clan.
But couldn’t we go to the City of Dragons and request it?
As I was thinking this far, the bushes behind me rustled.
Soon rough footsteps sounded, and someone practically flew out from between the bushes.
‘Huh? Isn’t that Second Brother?’
It was Atlant.
The moment he arrived, he sniffed the air, and water was already floating around the surroundings.
It must be because I’ve heightened all five senses further with the power of water.
“Hey. Second Brother.”
Atlant flinched and turned his head toward me.
His face was quite startled.
“What? Why are you here?”
“That’s what I’d like to ask. Did you just find me now?”
I replied flatly.
“I found you first.”
“…It couldn’t be helped. There are so many damn animals in this forest it’s annoying.”
“Well, that’s true enough.”
“How on earth did you find me among all these animal presences? You’re so small it must have been hard to search.”
“This is all thanks to your sister’s greatness. Learn well from it.”
“Who doesn’t know you’re amazing?!”
“…You need to either get angry or admit it. Just pick one.”
Atlant’s hair was full of leaves. Moreover, grass clippings were stuck to his shoulders.
‘He must have searched quite hard.’
It was unexpected. Or perhaps he searched desperately out of fear of being scolded by me.
“Since you’re here, at least greet him. You haven’t exchanged greetings yet, right?”
“Greetings? I was too busy chasing after that guy who bolted the moment he opened his eyes. Damn, I’m hungry.”
Atlant grumbled and roughly swept his hair back as he stomped toward me.
I naturally turned my head, then stopped short.
‘Huh, where did he go?’
The young boy who had been holding my hand tightly just moments ago had disappeared.
Soon I felt a faint force around my waist.
Oh my.
“Second Brother, stop right there.”
“What?”
Atlant stopped in his tracks. His face was full of displeasure, but his body obediently followed my command.
I stopped Atlant and looked at the young boy again.
The boy was trembling as he clung tightly to me.
“Sister, sister! A, a scary person!”
“Huh?”
“Eh?”
I whipped my head around. With one hand supporting the boy, I raised my eyebrows sharply.
“What did you do?”
“What did I do?”
“He says you’re a scary person?”
“Huh? Damn, that’s unfair. Matriarch, no wait, didn’t I take such devoted care of him yesterday? I even gave up the Dolphin Retainer’s spot to make him a sleeping place?”
“…Why are you taking Levai’s spot anyway. The carriage is spacious.”
I learned an unexpected fact. That Levai wouldn’t be the type to easily yield to Atlant’s pressure…
“That Dolphin Retainer wouldn’t move out of the way, so I had to sleep all cramped up! Cramped up!”
“Oh….”
Just as I thought.
Still, Atlant looked genuinely wronged. So then, why on earth was I so afraid of him?
“Hey, what did that person do to you?”
Lili hiccupped and looked back and forth between me and Atlant.
Instead of answering, she carefully withdrew her hand and then stretched both arms toward me.
With a trembling face, she looked at me desperately.
“Sister….”
Her large, adorable eyes grew misty, and her glistening gaze was filled entirely with me.
“Hold me….”

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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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