Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 191
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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 191
Calypso felt oddly disconcerted.
The Ekion before her eyes was smiling so brightly, like a child experiencing laughter for the very first time.
That face had always been expressionless.
All that was ever visible was his gaze fixed upon me with blind devotion.
Calypso lowered her gaze and paused in thought.
‘He really is beautiful, truly beautiful.’
Those golden eyes were so exquisite and radiant that even Calypso, who had witnessed countless beautiful beings throughout her long life, could not help but marvel.
Could there exist another being in this world so delicate, refined, and lovely?
Sometimes the beauty alone made her wish to possess him.
Surely, if he continued to grow as he was, he would become a presence that drew the eyes of not just herself, but everyone.
She had no doubt of it.
Had she not already witnessed what form this boy would take as he matured?
‘He was expressionless.’
The rampaging Dragon Duke had not worn an expression of anger, nor had he raged wildly.
With no expression, with a cold face, he had destroyed everything and ultimately brought about the world’s annihilation.
Now that she thought about it, the reason the Dragon Duke was known to live quietly in the Castle in the third cycle was likely because the Imperial Palace’s schemes had left him unable to recognize his own emotions.
He was a pitiful existence.
Calypso pitied him.
If this Ekion were to grow into the Dragon Duke she had witnessed.
If he were to smile as brightly as he did now in that form from the third cycle….
Having thought this far, Calypso slowly lifted her gaze.
“Calypso!”
Tus, who bore an identical appearance to Ekion, seemed flustered.
Though it was Calypso’s thought, Tus seemed to have no intention of revealing the truth to Calypso.
‘You’ve been watching Ekion’s expression since just now, haven’t you?’
As befitted a former Matriarch, Calypso judged sharply even while observing a precious being.
Had Ekion instructed him to speak?
That must be it. Tus would explain far better than Ekion could directly.
She harbored no resentment for having been kept in the dark until now.
However, if such a truly important imprinting had been placed upon her, when exactly had they intended to tell her?
‘Shouldn’t such things be revealed promptly so that I might bind his heart to me?’
Calypso thought with utter selfishness.
When she first met Ekion, she had not revealed any particular objective to him.
From Ekion and Tus’s perspective, Calypso was simply someone who helped them without reason.
-Calypso is… someone who has endured the power of time, and she is kind.
Tus merely believed her to be virtuous, but in truth, had she not been attempting to use them for her own purposes?
Of course, she had genuinely pitied Ekion’s fate, and her wish for his happiness in this life was also sincere.
Yet though she cherished and supported the virtuous, the world was not a place sustained by goodness and morality alone.
As a returnee, she had come to understand this thoroughly.
If she were Ekion or Tus, then.
If the person she’d marked unilaterally seemed even slightly soft toward her?
She would have immediately revealed the truth and seized control of that person’s life.
That’s why Calypso found it puzzling.
Why Ekion hadn’t revealed it from the beginning.
“Calypso, don’t worry! Don’t worry! Calypso, no harm!”
“What I’m curious about isn’t what harm I’d suffer… Well. Fine, let’s say I was curious about that too. Can you explain?”
Then Tus hesitantly explained to Calypso.
The explanation went like this.
A mutual marking is necessary.
If the one who becomes the marked target in a unilateral marking doesn’t accept it, that’s the end of it.
A dragon’s marking doesn’t force the other person.
Contrary to the intimidating weight the name “dragon” carried and the fear and reverence it inspired in people, this was unexpected.
‘Well, that’s only if I actually knew anything about the Dragon Duke.’
“So what happens if I ultimately refuse to accept it?”
“If Calypso doesn’t accept it…”
Tus glanced sideways at Ekion.
It would be nice if my master, the Dragon Duke, would express his will about this…
Ekion, since speaking a moment ago, had simply been staring intently at Calypso.
Like a sunflower that dies if it doesn’t see the sun.
Tus, despite being a retainer, felt a sigh welling up.
His master was already in serious condition!
‘In truth, if she doesn’t accept it, problems would arise, but…’
Just as Tus was about to say something, Calypso asked first.
“I’ll just ask this one thing. If I don’t accept, does one of us die?”
“Ah, no!”
“Then, it’s fine if I live separately from you for now?”
At this, Tus felt Ekion’s gaze pressing against the back of his head.
But he nodded without thinking.
‘That’s right.’
Ekion was the lord of the City of Dragons.
Whether I continue to be with him or maintain contact, I should be able to return.
That marking, whatever it was, didn’t seem to prevent separation even for a moment.
Calypso slowly reached a conclusion after deliberation.
“Alright then. For now, let’s postpone the decision on something like that.”
“Postpone…?”
Calypso nodded at Tus’s question.
“You said there’s nothing bad about marking me, right?”
Calypso tended to think that as long as she didn’t die, anything was fine, at least for herself.
Sometimes she was so indifferent that even pain was nothing to her.
This time too, Calypso thought that if it were for Ekion, she would gladly endure even pain if he were suffering.
“No, no! Rather, Dragon Duke, with a one-sided bond, once a mate exists, it becomes a stable state…!”
Tus deliberated.
Certainly, a one-sided bond exerts no influence whatsoever on the mate. The Dragon Duke could govern his existence stably.
However, if he failed to receive the mate’s choice, there remained a possibility of going berserk….
This could be mentioned later, should he fail to be chosen.
Since Tus was an intelligent creature and a familiar, he believed that forced relationships were undesirable.
From Tus’s perspective, Calypso already cherished Ekion dearly.
Had he not witnessed her treasuring him as much as family all this time?
Moreover, she had kept her promise to him again, even though she need not have.
“Is that so? I understand.”
Calypso actually hoped that Ekion would grow and return to the City of Dragons in the future.
Yet if both beings found happiness in Aquasiadel, she would not mind if they lived here their entire lives.
‘Rather, if I no longer felt this gaze, it might feel lonely….’
Having entertained such thoughts, she shook her head. Once one concern was settled, another rose to the surface.
‘Hmm, what worries me is….’
What on earth would she tell Father now?
Had he not already seemed deeply displeased by Whale’s very existence?
‘How am I supposed to explain this situation.’
Father, hehe.
Surprise! There aren’t one but two sons-in-law!
‘Hmm, the Manor might fly away.’
In fact, Pierre had once unleashed such tremendous aquatic power upon hearing about Whale that the room seemed ready to collapse.
Had it not been for Calypso desperately restraining him, and Atlant or Agenor arriving in alarm at the tremendous force they didn’t understand,
half the Manor would have vanished.
“Calypso. Good.”
In the meantime, Ekion approached Calypso with a satisfied expression and bowed his head gently.
“May I touch you?”
It was a careful question.
A ticklish question, like the flutter of butterfly wings. Calypso nodded without thinking. Simultaneously, soft hair brushed against her shoulders and neck.
Once, there had been someone who burrowed into her shoulders like Ekion did….
“I, thanks to traveling through the cracks of time… replenished my strength.”
“Replenished?”
Ekion nodded while leaning against Calypso.
Ekion found Calypso’s embrace truly comforting and pleasant.
Moreover, Calypso had not rejected him. This alone made Ekion feel immensely happy.
So he burrowed closer and whispered.
“I’ve recovered quite a bit.”
“Oh, is that so? That’s fortunate. Then there won’t be a sudden collapse like last time?”
“Yes.”
Tus watched the two of them, uncertain what to do.
It was a lie.
Well, not entirely a lie on Ekion’s part.
The Dragon Duke certainly did recover his strength when entering the gaps in time.
Normally, he would replenish his power for growth at such moments.
But if the maximum capacity of this power replenishment was one hundred.
Ekion had already spent about forty of it punishing the Matriarch.
He would have to grow with only the remaining sixty….
What on earth was his master thinking, acting this way when hitting a limit?
From Tus’s perspective, Ekion still didn’t understand human relationships well.
Simply because Whale had entered into a marriage bond, he wanted to say he had already done the same.
‘Of course, it’s not entirely wrong, but….’
A Dragon’s companion held a far more special meaning.
…It was a matter that could destroy the world itself.
Tus sighed.
“Calypso.”
* * *
I turned my head at Ekion’s call. I could see Ekion lifting his head from my shoulder with a rustling sound.
Looking at him, I felt a strange sensation.
When I thought about it, Ekion and I were neither friends nor family.
Yet if I wished for his happiness and wanted to protect him.
What kind of relationship was that?
‘A bond between victims who suffered harm in the third cycle?’
I thought peacefully and gently stroked Ekion’s head.
“Why did you call me?”
“I, replenished lots of strength. In the gaps of time.”
Seeing him repeat what he’d said moments ago, he seemed intent on emphasizing it.
“Is that so? That’s impressive.”
“Now I can grant Calypso’s wish once.”
“My wish?”
What wish could I possibly have? I stopped mid-thought and paused.
‘Could it be….’
“Ekion, you mean that time I asked you to let me use my power from my prime?”
Hadn’t he let me use the power of water for a brief moment in the City of Dragons?
Surprised, my face filled with anticipation without my realizing it.
Ekion nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Really? Truly?
In the third cycle, I could reclaim my strongest power?
Ekion then told me about the duration, saying it would be difficult to maintain for long, but this only made me happier.
That’s more than enough!
I pulled Ekion into my arms without hesitation.
“Oh my goodness, you really are my lucky charm, aren’t you?”
If I could, I wanted to grab our Yongyang’s hand and dance around joyfully.
Or maybe even include Tus and do a circle dance?
No, actually, I could probably lift Ekion up and do a solo victory celebration.
A brilliant smile bloomed across my face. Seeing this, Ekion, who had been watching me intently, mirrored my expression with a beautiful smile of his own.
‘He’s smiling well now.’
It was in that moment I thought this.
Knock, knock!
The sound of knocking echoed, and the door burst open.
“Sister!”
The person who appeared was none other than Third Brother, his expression urgent.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Something serious seems to have happened?”
“What could be serious?”
Father has awakened. Moreover, through Ekion, he can recover the strength of his prime.
There shouldn’t be anything serious about this—or so I thought, when Third Brother reminded me of something I had momentarily forgotten.
“This Manor is surrounded.”
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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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