Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 188

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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 188
The light Whale conjured mysteriously summoned a breeze into the room where not a single window had opened.
My hair drifted back and forth within the vast ocean that had unfurled throughout the chamber.
Perhaps that’s why it had become so noticeable.
“Well, I gave my ribbon to Whale.”
“…Why?”
It was strange.
Ekion, who ordinarily cared only about me or the relationship between myself and him, was now curious about my relationship with someone else.
“Because a reason emerged for why I had to give it to Whale.”
I hesitated for a moment before speaking.
I wondered if I should have told Father or Levai first.
But it should be fine. After all, it was Ekion.
“Because I must take responsibility for Whale for the rest of my life.”
The instant I lifted my head after saying this, I felt as though an enormous weight of metal had been placed upon my shoulders.
I hadn’t actually suffered any physical impact.
It was simply because Ekion was gazing at me with an expression as though he’d lost the entire world.
…What?
“For the rest of your life?”
It was peculiar.
It couldn’t have been the first or second time Ekion witnessed me accept Suha by my side.
So why was he reacting differently this time?
If I were a kindergarten teacher, I’d focus more intently if a child who’d never shed a tear until now suddenly cried.
When someone who never looked at me that way gazed at me with such desperation, my heart plummeted.
“…What about me?”
“Huh?”
Ekion’s hand still held me firmly.
Whale continued praying, and the enormous light swirled between us.
“Calypso isn’t the type to give away her own things.”
“…Oh, um, you know me that well?”
“If you became curious about Calypso’s belongings, you’d rather just buy her a new one.”
“…”
Well, he knows me well. I realized it was a foolish question only after speaking.
But how did he know?
Simply by my giving my ribbon to Whale, Ekion had sensed that something was different from before.
Were dragons particularly perceptive?
Yet this was the first time I’d seen him like this.
I hesitated, then smiled slightly.
“Bear with me for now, Ekion.”
“…”
“Right now, I’m standing at a crossroads where Father might or might not open his eyes again, and I’m trying to focus on that.”
“….”
I paused thoughtfully before speaking.
“If anyone else had approached me like you just did, I would have ignored them, no matter who it was.”
I smiled faintly.
“Isn’t this enough for now?”
I glanced at Father and even at Whale. Neither of them stirred, still undergoing treatment.
Ekion stared at me intently, then stepped closer.
I thought he was approaching as he always did.
But only when he drew near enough for me to see the clarity of his irises did I realize it.
He was close.
“Calypso, I taught you.”
“….”
“Something unique and incomparable.”
The child’s emotionless voice pierced my ears like an awl, sharp and deliberate.
Jewel-like eyes, beautiful and mesmerizing, wavered with blind devotion fixed upon me.
I had grown weary of witnessing such blind obsession directed at me, yet something felt different this time—was it because Ekion was a dragon?
His language differed from ordinary speech, always demanding my fuller attention.
“I read it in a book. ‘Salvation carries responsibility.'”
“…Our Yongyang, you understand such difficult words?”
“Calypso. I have everything.”
This Yongyang often spoke in ways that confused people.
Perhaps because he had only recently learned language, distinctions were difficult for him.
Or perhaps I was hearing things differently after receiving his proposal.
“You’re giving me something far too precious.”
I deliberated, then opened both my arms wide. I remembered how I had embraced Ekion like this when the Matriarch in the adjacent room had provoked him to the brink of rampage.
“I’d like for you to think about this more, since it’s so precious and weighty.”
I thought it might help if he was feeling any anxiety.
Ekion came forward and embraced me tightly.
“I will stay by your side for as long as you wish, then leave.”
“….”
I patted his back gently, as though soothing a great whale. A gesture to calm him.
Since Ekion had formed an attachment to me, perhaps he felt that Whale was an obstacle to our relationship.
Ekion rubbed his head softly against my neck and whispered quietly.
“…Calypso, I read something else in a book. A beautiful passage.”
“Yes. Let’s end with that for now and talk about the rest another time. Is that alright?”
There was no verbal answer, but I felt Ekion nod.
“From the book….”
Soon the child’s voice resonated softly in my ear.
“‘What is obtained through salvation is good. But what is obtained without seeking is even better.'”
As if I hadn’t even seen it, yet I needed it—and so I accepted Whale’s proposal.
His affection, which I hadn’t sought, was somehow better than that proposal.
‘…I’ve become unexpectedly popular, haven’t I?’
Perhaps Ekion didn’t care for me the way Whale did.
But this was a moment when such thoughts were inevitable.
And three hours later.
All the treatment was complete.
“The treatment… is finished.”
And the moment the treatment ended, Whale collapsed.
* * *
A spacious room.
A large man lay on the bed with his hair disheveled.
I gazed endlessly at his jet-black hair. The white streaks dotting it revealed he was an orca.
And at my feet, sitting beneath the bed, was a blue-haired boy sleeping soundly under a blanket.
Ekion had refused to be separated from me, so he’d fallen asleep in this uncomfortable position.
Looking back, it had been a pitch-black night.
My eyes felt gritty, so I rubbed them frantically.
“The treatment was successful.”
Whale, who had collapsed after all the treatment ended, still hadn’t woken up even now, two days later.
Only Levai, who understood Whale’s abilities well, had relayed the message on his behalf.
After that, Levai had cared for Whale diligently, and I had stayed by Father’s side.
I had already handled enormous amounts of laundry and cleaning at three years old without difficulty.
At eight years old now, caring for someone who had collapsed was hardly challenging.
‘He said he’d wake up, but when exactly will he?’
I had postponed everything.
Conversations with Ekion, confiding in Levai about my dealings with Whale.
Accepting visits from Atlant and Agenor, Illia and Rayla who were looking for me.
I simply wished for my family in front of me, for Father to open his eyes.
“…I don’t want to see anyone die anymore.”
In the quiet room, two days had passed without my knowing how. After a long silence, my true feelings burst forth.
That was the moment.
His tightly closed, pale eyelids trembled faintly.
His lowered lashes were long and full, nothing like an adult man’s.
Unlike his delicate lashes, his face looked weary and decadent.
Father’s eyelids trembled once more…
And then they slowly opened.
I greeted him with an expression that didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.
“You’re awake?”
How does it feel to open your eyes to a new world?
You foolish father.
“….”
Father gazed at me quietly before speaking with a composed expression.
“I’d like to know just one thing.”
“What?”
“Is this heaven?”
My face crumpled, but I ended up laughing anyway.
“…You’re not getting into heaven. Not after rotting the insides of your only daughter like that.”
“Well, that’s a charge I’m pleased and displeased with all at once.”
“….”
Father reached out and gently stroked my head.
“I’ll have to do better from now on.”
“Yes, you’ll have to do much better.”
I gripped Father’s hand tightly while wiping my eyes.
“I’ve finally cured your illness. From now on, live long. Live longer than me, I’m telling you.”
Father froze.
For a moment, he couldn’t find his words. As if he were hearing my words in a dream.
Father with such a bewildered expression—
it was truly a rare sight.
While I laughed despite myself, Father’s mouth fell open.
“So…that’s how it is. That’s what happened.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
The moment I answered lightly, my body rose gently into the air. I felt joy at the familiar sensation of weightlessness.
I glanced down at Ekion sleeping soundly below, confirmed he was still breathing peacefully in slumber, then reached out my hand.
Father immediately pulled me into a tight embrace.
Holding me closer than ever, he whispered.
“…You must have suffered so much.”
“Well, suffering is….”
I did time travel once, and I even talked back to the Matriarch, so all the good reputation I’d built up until now went up in smoke.
But what does it matter.
Happiness has no price.
“As long as you’re alive, that’s enough. As long as you won’t suffer anymore.”
Now, Father would at least never die from the illness that had tormented him so relentlessly.
“Father.”
He would have no more suffering, and he wouldn’t have to use his strength wondering how much longer I could live.
I pulled away from Father and smiled brightly.
“How does it feel to be free from your shackles?”
Father stared at me and laughed. More joyfully and brightly than ever before.
“Well, right now, seeing your face again is the greatest joy.”
“Ugh, you’re giving me goosebumps.”
“Is this what it feels like to have a wonderful daughter?”
“You’re being dramatic.”
Even as I spoke, I let out a bright, joyful laugh brimming with happiness from within my father’s embrace.
For a while, the two of us shared in the delight of our reunion.
How his treatment had been possible, why it had to be done so quickly—
I thought he would be curious about his own condition, but surprisingly, every question he asked was about me.
How I had been.
What I had been doing, and so on.
I answered each question one by one, then suddenly clapped my hands as if remembering something.
“Oh, that’s right, Father.”
“Hmm?”
“I forgot, but there’s something you absolutely need to know.”
Since I didn’t know when Father would wake, I’d been by his side constantly and hadn’t even told Levai about it.
“Well, I hope you won’t be too shocked when you hear.”
“…? That’s sudden. Didn’t you calmly tell me to destroy the Dragon’s Castle?”
“What’s so shocking about that?”
“In any case, listen first and then judge.”
I nodded.
Well, it shouldn’t be that big of a shock, right?
“While you were sleeping, Father, I, um… got married.”

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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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