Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 19
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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 19
Calypso, unable to discern what Pierre was thinking, was too busy chattering away regardless of his silence.
“That’s amazing, isn’t it?”
“Not really.”
“Oh, why not? It’s amazing, isn’t it? Right, I am amazing. Whose daughter am I?”
….
The child’s cheeks flushed rosy in the twilight, even without smiling.
Regardless of Pierre’s response, Calypso subtly gauged his reactions while speaking her mind freely.
“Whose daughter am I?”
Soon a beautiful smile bloomed across her face, befitting the sunset-painted features.
“My father’s daughter, of course.”
….
“My father is incredibly cool. He loves me so, so much.”
…What exactly does that father do?
Instead of asking, Pierre crossed his arms.
“The man who manipulates a three-year-old yet never bothers to show his face.”
Why was it? What was this uncomfortable irritation simmering within him?
“Has my standard for an impressive father changed in the time we’ve been apart?”
Calypso soon glanced at Pierre, sitting beside her on the edge of the fountain.
It was shocking.
…So you were aware you were manipulating me?!
But this realization was fleeting—she was too busy watching Pierre with eyes full of curiosity, like a dolphin.
Oh, what’s this? He’s not asking for more? No overtime work?
Training’s over? I can go home like this?
‘I need to choose my words carefully here…!’
Recently, having discovered that the handmaidens, like a school of herring, possessed remarkable culinary skills.
Calypso felt a longing to return home, like an office worker yearning for quitting time.
As she was earnestly devising a strategy, Calypso stopped thinking.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that watching Pierre sitting beside her, gazing quietly ahead, made it impossible to think of anything else.
It was the hour when twilight dominated the world.
Yet why was it?
Pierre, sitting beside her, seemed like a person immersed in shadow alone.
Was it because he had his back to the sunset? No, it seemed to be more than just that.
“Teacher.”
Sensing her gaze, Pierre turned his head slowly.
“Why do you live alone?”
Calypso herself did not know why or for what reason Pierre lived this way.
“Do you prefer being alone?”
Because it hurts? Because people are bothersome? Or simply because you prefer solitude?
There were many possible reasons to speculate, but she knew none of the answers.
“Do you dislike crowds?”
“I suppose. It’s more peaceful without bothersome people around.”
“So that’s not the whole reason, then?”
Pierre’s eyes glanced toward Calypso.
“The more I observe you, the more I realize your intellect isn’t lacking.”
“Well, how impressive. You should have figured that out from the moment I started speaking so clearly. Do you know of anyone else who can articulate like I do? Whose disciple am I, after all?”
“…You’re not mentioning Father, whose name comes up every time he opens his mouth.”
“Well, it was my Teacher who instructed me, after all.”
Calypso felt Pierre’s lips twitch ever so slightly in the backlighting.
But it vanished before she could be certain.
Calypso started to laugh along but asked instead.
“So why won’t you tell me the reason? You don’t seem like you want to live at all, Teacher.”
“That’s not an incorrect assessment.”
Calypso’s eyes widened.
“Are you saying you want to die?”
“Perhaps.”
She had always sensed something—a perpetual listlessness, a languor, as though he lived alone in another world.
But she never expected him to voice it so casually: that he lacked the will to live.
“You don’t want to live, then.”
“It would seem so.”
Pierre replied without any emotion.
Even as he did, he found himself wondering when this small child would finally change how she addressed him.
The silence beside him was deafening.
When he shifted his gaze, Calypso was glaring at him with a huff.
‘And here I am, having struggled so desperately to survive!’
It was an expression he’d never seen before.
“You….”
Before Pierre could say anything, a small hand flew at him first.
Smack!
Calypso struck Pierre’s back with a sharp slap, then giggled without a trace of fear or concern for consequences.
“How can you speak of death so easily!”
Calypso possessed an extraordinarily fierce attachment to life.
Having experienced three deaths already, rather than succumbing to resignation or weakness, her will to live only grew stronger with each cycle.
‘This poor regressor—what are you even doing?!’
The time you abandoned is the tomorrow this regressor desired.
You don’t even understand that? Huh?
Fury blazed green-hot toward her father.
“Don’t say such things in front of a bright Three-Year-Old, understand? Teacher? Have you lost your mind?”
“…Why doesn’t your father say such things?”
“Of course not. My Father taught me that life is the most precious thing of all!”
Calypso’s hand didn’t actually hurt, and if I wished, I could have blocked her strike or simply tossed her small frame away with ease.
Pierre was, after all, one of the formidable orcas.
Yes, that wouldn’t have been difficult.
…But instead of throwing her away, Pierre chose to observe Calypso.
“This won’t do.”
“What won’t?”
“You’re living your life far too passively.”
“I don’t want to acknowledge someone as my son if you’re going to act so listlessly!”
Those were precisely the words his mother and family head, Ocula Aquasiadel, had spoken.
“Let’s do this instead.”
Blue eyes caught the sunset’s glow, sparkling with the same luminescence.
“Why did your manner of address suddenly change?”
“Aren’t you acting like a grandfather in front of a bright three-year-old?”
In this age of centenarians, don’t grandfathers also make life plans?
“Teacher. You need to learn the beauty of life.”
“…What?”
I feel sorry for you, not knowing the beauty of existence!
“Until now, you’ve taught me the power of water, haven’t you?”
“And?”
“Let’s be business partners! In return, I’ll teach you how joyful life can be.”
“…Your vocabulary is something I can never quite grasp.”
If it’s inappropriate for a grown adult to speak of death and passivity before a three-year-old, then isn’t it equally inappropriate for a three-year-old to lecture a grown adult about how beautiful life is?
Pierre’s question was valid, but he chose not to voice it aloud.
“Teacher, do you eat meals?”
In all his years of existence, this small creature before him was the first to ask such a question.
“Teacher, are you listening? I’m asking if you eat.”
While Pierre was momentarily at a loss for words at the sheer absurdity, Calypso, whose patience had worn thin, pressed for an answer.
“When I feel like it.”
“You don’t understand how important eating is.”
What was this young, reckless, and utterly preposterous creature trying to say?
“Look here. Look here. What kind of adult can’t prepare a meal for themselves? Can’t cook their own food? Are you a child?”
With such immense power at his disposal, he rarely needed to eat.
While there was no permanent retainer in residence, there was one who brought meals each time.
Pierre could have answered all of this, but instead of opening his mouth, he chose once again to watch the chattering Calypso.
“Laundry, cleaning, organizing things.”
From what he knew, among the direct bloodline living in this castle, those who prepared their own meals could be counted on one hand.
Or more precisely, even those who ate regularly could be counted on one hand.
The reason he didn’t bother voicing this was simple.
“Next you’ll probably say spoon-feeding counts as training too, won’t you?”
It wasn’t so bad watching this small orca prattle on, lost in whatever misunderstanding she’d concocted.
The more Calypso spoke, the stronger Pierre’s curiosity became.
“Well, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but….”
Just because I wished to live in seclusion for my own peace didn’t mean all ears were closed to the world.
There were far too many factions eager to reach out to Pierre, who dwelt quietly here.
Efforts to win his favor were still underway.
“These days, people are spreading rumors that your daughter is deeply beloved by you, but hahahaha! Surely that’s just baseless gossip, yes?”
Of course, the fact that Calypso was spreading such absurd rumors had also reached his ears.
Even though he hadn’t intended to learn of it.
A person who showed interest in no one—the second most powerful force after the head of the household.
They said he only showed interest in his own daughter.
What benefit were you hoping to gain by fabricating such rumors?
“….”
Yet despite all this, why did she never slip up with her honorifics even once?
‘Unnecessarily meticulous brat.’
As irritation surged within him, Pierre found himself curious about what this brat truly wanted to achieve with these rumors.
He wanted to let it play out.
He was curious what excuse she would offer when caught.
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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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