Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 219

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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 219
Lately, Calypso had been feeling as though she were living her third life all over again.
Meeting Hauser had only deepened that sensation.
Atlant’s gaze traced the curve of Calypso’s round nose.
“When I’m with you, or with Levai. And recently, that fool Bellus too.”
They were people who either remembered their past lives or bore a striking resemblance to those who had lived before.
It was unavoidable.
“Atlant.”
My younger sister and the Matriarch I revered rarely called me by my name.
Yet I found it comforting.
The way she said “Second Brother” held far more warmth than the name my neglectful parents had given me.
“You know Father and I—and the Eldest and Third Brother too—none of us are particularly fond of having Whale and Ekion at your side.”
Orcas are exclusionary toward other species. Simultaneously, their attachment to what is theirs, to their own companions, is unparalleled.
It may seem similar to the petulant jealousy families in domestic fiction display when their daughters or younger sisters marry, but the essence is fundamentally different.
…In that these people could genuinely kill that young man if circumstances demanded it?
“But you see, those two exist for me as proof that this life is different from my last.”
Calypso slowly lifted her head.
Atlant flinched.
Her face bore a confusion he had never anticipated.
It was unlike the Matriarch who always brimmed with certainty and self-assurance.
“You wouldn’t understand what role they’re playing.”
“….”
“Atlant, I… died last.”
It was a topic so suffocating it made breathing difficult, yet Atlant did not stop her words.
The last survivor of a war carries the deaths of all who fell before them upon their shoulders.
It was the very reason suicide rates were so high among soldiers who survived combat alone.
“I thought it wouldn’t be me… but living through it, I understand now. I’m the one burdened.”
At least in this third life.
“My regrets overflow endlessly.”
In the Korea where Calypso once lived, the souls of those who harbored resentment were called ghosts.
Beings who sought to achieve in death what they could not accomplish in life.
Calypso, very occasionally, felt like a living, breathing ghost whenever memories of her third life surfaced with crystalline clarity in her mind.
Yet she dismissed it as the lingering attachment of her past life.
She showed no sign of it.
Unconsciously, she had deceived herself.
Perhaps that was why time spent with Ekion felt so comfortable.
A person she had not shared her previous life with.
Whale, too, had been dead in the previous cycle, so she had not been with him either.
“You’ve changed, but I… whether in my past life or now, I haven’t changed at all.”
“….”
Bellus had softened, and Atlant had gained a friend.
Yet I myself remained unchanged from the third cycle.
I cannot forget those deaths.
I feel regret, injustice, and a bittersweet ache.
Hauser, who suddenly appeared before my eyes, became the embodiment of all these tangled emotions.
“Want to hear something amusing?”
I had only recently realized this.
“You shouldn’t laugh?”
That I found stability through people who didn’t exist in my previous life.
“Through the romantic feelings those children hold for me, I distinguish between my past life and my present one.”
Was it because the one thing I never did in my previous life was interact romantically with the opposite sex, or fall in love, or marry?
Everyone around me was filled with those who either revered me or nearly deified me as a deity.
I could only grow more distant.
I thought it was ridiculous, but it was the truth.
“Of course, Father changing is significant too.”
I ended the conversation as if it were nothing.
But Atlant could not let it pass so easily.
“Why are you saying you need both of them in such a roundabout way?”
“Oh, so you’ve gotten a bit sharper in this life? You’re picking up on things now.”
….
I turned my head away.
Certainly, I had never been in love. I had never had a partner.
I had never been attracted to the opposite sex, not even once.
Even in my first life, when I desperately wanted to entangle myself with the Male Protagonist out of survival instinct.
I was never drawn to him.
But I had received confessions of love from men.
“I realized that not confessing is itself a confession to the Matriarch.”
….
“Since this is the last time.”
….
“May I say that I love you?”
My expression crumpled as I gazed at Hauser.
I hadn’t brought up this story to Atlant on a whim.
“Atlant, that’s why.”
Certainly, the unconditional love that Ekion and Whale poured out helped me take root in this life.
But if the unrequited love I received in my previous life could also be called love.
“I feel like something will change depending on what that boy says when he opens his eyes. So….”
Atlant saw me wearing a very confused expression.
* * *
Whale’s treatment was complete, but Hauser had not opened his eyes.
Calypso spent her time in the room where Hauser was, never leaving his side.
She even handled her work there, reviewing documents in that very room.
As a result, rumors began to spread rapidly throughout the mansion.
“…Did you hear? The Matriarch is in love.”
“Huh? Pierre? Calypso?”
“Who else would I be talking about!”
“What?! Calypso?!”
Among Calypso’s subordinates, rumors spread that she had found a lover.
“Gasp, I heard it was unrequited love…?”
“What! What could our Calypso possibly be lacking!”
The rumor’s content was clean and straightforward.
Calypso had gone out on external business and returned with some man. Apparently, this man was her ideal type.
“…It’s really fortunate that Pierre is away on external matters.”
Pierre, along with Bellus, Lirivel, and others who had gone to attack other Shark strongholds, were still away.
Just four days in the mansion, spreading quietly at first…no, it spread quite rapidly.
In any case, it was a rumor that had spread widely.
“You two, what are you doing over there?”
“Eek! You startled us. Dede, what are you doing!”
“Phew, you scared me.”
The Herring Maids, who had been huddling their heads together, rubbed their arms.
“How is it? Spot-on, right?”
Dede, who had been mimicking Calypso’s voice and manner of speech, giggled.
“Behave yourselves. The Matriarch is heading this way right now.”
“Ugh….”
In truth, their Matriarch was certainly in her prime years.
So her subordinates seemed rather pleased about it. But they were concerned about the identity of the man she had brought.
Even that concern was eased when they heard he was an Orca Beastkin friendly with the Orcas, and a Beastkin who had helped weak Beastkin in the wasteland before.
That night.
Calypso was returning to her room, rotating her stiff shoulders as she walked.
She planned to wash up and change clothes, then return to where Hauser was.
However, Calypso stopped before entering her room.
Someone was standing in front of the door.
“Dragon Duke?”
It was Ekion. The man who had lost even his name since losing his memory to Calypso.
The man stared at Calypso with an expressionless face. Yet his gaze burned with intensity.
“What are you doing here? Ah, is your current room perhaps uncomfortable?”
“….”
After deliberately showing the Dragon Duke’s appearance to Crown Prince Kail, the Dragon Duke’s quarters had been moved to this mansion.
There was no longer any need to hide his existence.
“Since the room you used before is at the far western end, I moved you. If it’s uncomfortable, I can move you back there….”
“No.”
The Male Protagonist took a step closer.
“A room near you is far better. Even though you never return to your chamber.”
“Ha ha… Really? You said the voice of the First Dragon’s fragment doesn’t reach me when I’m with you, didn’t you? I’m sorry. I’ve been busy these past few days.”
“Is visiting his chamber what keeps you so busy?”
Calypso lifted her head.
Since the Male Protagonist had grown considerably, she had to raise her head quite high.
The Dragon Duke of the third cycle always floated in mid-air, so it was difficult to gauge his actual size.
Calypso had anticipated that if Ekion grew, he would not be much larger than his elegant frame suggested.
Her prediction was completely wrong.
“Calypso.”
At the Male Protagonist’s call, Calypso’s shoulders stiffened rigidly.
“Um, I’m sorry, but I’d prefer you not call me by my name.”
“Are you avoiding me?”
“Why would I? I have no reason to avoid you.”
“…”
The Male Protagonist lowered his head.
Calypso scratched her cheek, wondering if she had been too harsh.
She wasn’t sure what was harsh about it, but perhaps it was because he shared the same appearance as Ekion.
Even as she tried to think of him as a different person, her heart easily crumbled and weakened.
In any case, she should hear the reason he had sought her out. Just as she thought this and lifted her eyes again.
Calypso found herself face to face with the Male Protagonist, whose shoulders drooped as silent tears streamed down his cheeks.
“…”
…This had become even more difficult.

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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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