Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 220
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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 220
Calypso swallowed quietly.
‘What is this man doing? Does he know what his own face looks like?’
Remarkably, tears suited his face well. Though truthfully, nothing would look out of place on a face like that, whether smiling or crying.
It was a face beautiful enough to make one want to see it weep.
Each time the tear-laden lashes trembled like dewdrops hanging from eaves, she found herself swallowing involuntarily, as if drawing in breath.
Over countless long years, she had met innumerable men, yet was this man before her truly the most handsome?
No—his face held a beauty and mystery beyond mere handsomeness, woven together with exquisite precision.
Could even a heart of stone withstand such a sight?
“I’m not sure what this is about, but let’s go inside and talk….”
“I had a dream where a small version of me appeared.”
A low voice resonated through the corridor.
‘Has he remembered something?’
The unexpected words pierced through her momentary indifference.
“And I was confessing to you.”
“….”
Calypso blinked.
Due to her overly developed senses, Calypso avoided rooms where many people lingered nearby.
So she knew no one was there, yet still her spine straightened.
“Anything else?”
“….”
“So it seems you only remember just that.”
A tension unlike that of combat seized her.
“What does that even mean? If you can’t remember the reason or how such words came to be spoken…”
Calypso spoke softly.
Her words were gentle yet distant.
“Then it’s meaningless.”
“And if it has meaning?”
While Calypso was momentarily dazed, the man grasped her hand and brought it to himself.
“You said I love you.”
The man placed Calypso’s hand over his heart, lowering his gaze.
“I like you.”
Was it because she’d grown sensitive, worried someone might see? Or was it because this man stood before her?
Her sharpened hearing caught the sound of a great drum. No—not a drum, but a heartbeat.
“….”
“So I hope you won’t leave me alone.”
She knew the voice of one who had never learned emotion. It was truly parched and withered.
“I like Calypso. I’ll be with you forever. I only want to see you.”
“…Well, a confession in this darkness, in a Time Rift no less, while beating up monsters—that’s hardly romantic, is it, Yongyang.”
“Then if we leave the Time Rift and I grow stronger, will you give me an answer?”
Yet whenever he spoke to me, there was always a faint longing buried deep within his voice.
It was a voice tinged with obsession.
I’m lonely. The man’s whisper was so soft it pierced straight through my ears.
“Is love without memory not love at all?”
“….”
Calypso looked up at him with complicated emotions swirling in her chest.
Of all things to remember, why did it have to be that?
I wanted to hear from you—the grown version of yourself—what feelings drove you to make that confession that day.
Calypso saw the deep shadows hanging beneath the man’s eyes.
It seemed he hadn’t slept in a long time. Was it insomnia?
‘I’ve heard from the handmaidens that he’s awake no matter what hour they enter, but…’
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but… have you not been sleeping lately?”
“….”
“How long has it been since you slept?”
“That’s… not important right now.”
The man bristled slightly.
Then he stopped short. Calypso was laughing quietly, her voice soft and muffled.
Calypso grasped the door handle and opened it.
“Come in.”
“….”
“Let’s rest together for a bit.”
Calypso tapped her own eyes lightly.
“I’m a little drowsy too. I haven’t slept in a while.”
The moment the man entered the room as if entranced, the door closed behind him.
And at that same moment, in the room where Hauser lay—his hand, limp as death itself, twitched with movement.
* * *
“Mmm….”
I stirred and opened my eyes, then flinched.
‘Oh, what a fright.’
Wouldn’t anyone be startled if they opened their eyes to find a sculpture right in front of them?
Especially if it wasn’t just any sculpture, but one that was not merely excellent—but extraordinarily, breathtakingly beautiful.
‘Was I really that captivated?’
I stared at the man sitting beside me, leaning against my shoulder in sleep, then slowly sat up.
‘He fell asleep in such an uncomfortable position.’
I wanted to lay him down properly, but I was afraid of waking him if I touched him.
After entering the room last night, we fell asleep together without much conversation.
At first, I’d tried to sleep on the sofa, but seeing tears about to spill again, I sat on the bed beside him and leaned against the headrest—that much I remember.
“I’m grateful for that feeling.”
When I said I wished you’d remember me, the man hesitated for a long while before quietly nodding.
We fell asleep like that, which was fine, but….
“You go in…!”
“No, you go in!”
“How was I supposed to know what would happen….”
‘They can all hear you, you know….’
I stared at the door with an exasperated expression as I heard the handmaidens’ voices coming from outside the room.
“No! Do you know how startled I was when I cracked the door open earlier? There was someone else in there!”
It seemed they had peeked through the door while I was sleeping soundly.
‘Surprising. The door was open, but I didn’t notice?’
Without thinking, I touched my cheek. It was smooth.
“Our Matriarch is quite the romantic! How impressive!”
“Right, the Matriarch is supposed to have multiple husbands anyway.”
“Not lovers?”
“Well, the Matriarch’s husbands must be selected through strict examination.”
“Who does the examining?”
“Obviously! Pierre, of course?”
“…Can a human even pass that?”
“….”
Though they’d lowered their voices, I heard them far too clearly.
I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
The man didn’t wake as I carefully got up. I touched him gently, but he didn’t stir.
Gathering more courage, I even lifted him up and laid him back down, yet he remained still.
‘Fine, I’ll leave him sleeping like this….’
I straightened my clothes roughly and opened the door. The moment I faced the startled handmaidens, I brought my index finger to my lips.
“Shh.”
“Oh, yes…! Shh!”
“Matriarch, hello…!”
The handmaidens quickly lowered their voices. In that moment, I quietly closed the door.
“Shall we move?”
After we’d walked down the corridor for a while, the handmaidens exchanged glances before one of them spoke up.
“Matriarch. If it’s not too presumptuous…the one in the room….”
“Did you see who it was?”
Dede nodded carefully.
“He was undressed….”
“…I didn’t undress him.”
The Dragon Duke—that man said for some reason that he sleeps better when he’s naked.
Of course, he kept his pants on.
It wasn’t for nothing that the moment I opened my eyes, I felt as though I’d seen a sculpture.
I wiped my face.
“Ha, ha, did you have a happy night…!”
“…Why do you stammer when you say ‘happy’ anyway?”
“But regardless, regardless, regardless!”
“Nothing happened.”
“….”
I laughed at the absurdity of it all.
“…Aren’t you all being a bit too obvious about your disappointment?”
I knew that orcas tended to be rather promiscuous.
Since female orcas could have multiple lovers or husbands.
It was only natural that relationships became tangled.
It just happened that this particular generation hadn’t caused problems in romantic relationships without exception.
I’d heard that our previous generations and the ones before that each had at least one household scandal that rivaled “love and war.”
“The Matriarch from two generations back had ten lovers when she was young…!”
…That old woman? Impressive.
This was the first I’d heard of it.
“I see. Well, that doesn’t apply to me, so everyone get back to work. Work.”
“Ah, Matriarch!”
Among the disappointed herring handmaidens, Eiya raised her hand high.
“He’s awake!”
“Oh my, where’s my head? That’s right. He’s awake!”
“The lover the Matriarch brought!”
“He’s not my lover….”
“Then your ideal type!”
“That’s not it either, but wait—he’s awake?”
I stopped mid-laugh and froze. I’d overlooked it because they’d announced it so casually.
‘Hauser is awake!’
I lifted my head sharply and rushed out.
“I’m going ahead! You all contact Whale and Levai and tell them to come!”
“Yes!”
As I ran, I caught fragments of the handmaidens’ conversation.
“What exactly is their relationship?”
Who knows. I’m curious too.
Hauser, what kind of relationship will you and I have in this life?
‘I just hope you never give me reason to be disappointed.’
I threw open Hauser’s door with a bang.
I wasn’t out of breath, but my exhales rose all the way to my throat as if I’d been running for ages.
In the spacious room, the figure sitting on the bed turned his head.
Dark hair swayed, its ends frayed and coarse.
Hair like seaweed from the deep sea. Between the long strands that fell to conceal his forehead.
Eyes gleamed with a somber light.
“…Hauser.”
I knew. When I called out the name of this youth who had become Suha.
Your reaction will determine how our relationship unfolds from here on. Your position. The stance I take toward you.
Thin lips parted blankly for a moment. Then a faint smile hung there.
Suha, who had never smiled, crumbled in just that single instant.
Precisely when meeting me.
“Matriarch.”
After all this time, with merely your gaze, your words alone.
“My esteemed Matriarch.”
I realized in this moment that this meeting was not our first encounter.
It was a ‘reunion.’
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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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