Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 232

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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 232
A chill ran down my spine.
But I kept my composure, blinking calmly without letting it show on my face.
I couldn’t quite make sense of the strange sense of déjà vu I’d just experienced.
Levai’s words seemed both like he knew Hauser well and like he was merely speculating aloud.
In other words, I couldn’t be certain yet.
“…You speak as though you know Hauser quite well?”
My voice emerged calm and measured as my lips parted.
As if making casual conversation.
“I wouldn’t say I know him well, but that was the impression I received.”
“…”
“Don’t I have a good eye for people?”
Yet something kept nagging at my senses.
“Though I must say, he does speak to me as though we’ve known each other for quite some time.”
With that, Levai returned his attention to the documents in his hands.
“Speaking of which, regarding the third batch of medicinal ingredients you ordered last time…”
For a while after that, only Levai’s gentle voice echoed through the Study.
I answered casually while scrutinizing his face with keen attention.
A subtle barrier of water power flowed silently from me, settling between us like a thin veil.
A barrier that prevented sound from leaking out.
Levai seemed unaware of it, his gaze fixed on the final document.
“The rotation schedule for soldiers to patrol the Wasteland is also being arranged smoothly, I hear.”
“…Is that so?”
As I answered leisurely, Levai asked without lifting his eyes from the papers.
“What is it that makes you stare at me so intently?”
“You noticed?”
“I may be a body that can’t fight and would be down in ten seconds, but my instincts are sharp.”
“Holding a grudge?”
“Not holding a grudge.”
“I was looking because you’re handsome.”
Levai lifted his head.
“You’re good-looking, aren’t you? The handmaidens squeal whenever you pass by.”
“Don’t the handmaidens here prefer strong Beastkin? Like the young masters, for instance?”
“The standard for strength varies, doesn’t it? Power is also one of the privileges the strong possess.”
Levai laughed softly.
It was almost a cold laugh.
“I didn’t know I possessed enough power for someone to covet.”
In my third cycle, the handmaidens would squeal whenever Levai passed by as well.
There were other handsome ones among my subordinates, but that one in particular seemed to have exceptional demand, so to speak.
‘Come to think of it, now that the Dragon Duke and Whale are here, the attention seems a bit more distributed…’
Handsome men with distinctly different charms.
The moment I thought of the Dragon Duke, his name spilled from Levai’s lips as if by coincidence.
“If we’re speaking of appearance, there would be the most stories concerning the Dragon Duke.”
“Ah, I suppose so.”
“Yes, though there’s no need to maintain secrecy now, if we had to hide the fact that he was here, his appearance alone would have caused us considerable trouble.”
That much was true.
A handsome face one could never forget once seen.
Moreover, rumors of such a mysterious beauty would have leaked out no matter how carefully we tried to contain them.
“Are you interested?”
The question emerged very quietly while I was lost in thought.
I glanced sideways at Levai, but his gaze remained fixed on the documents.
“Well… I like handsome men too.”
“I see. Is it a preference of yours?”
The tone was less a question born of curiosity and more one meant to continue the conversation.
But I had watched this man long enough not to let it pass so easily.
This was how he began interrogating criminals as well.
“If I’m being honest, it is a preference.”
Even with my eyes on the documents, the words didn’t quite register.
I should be grateful there was nothing urgent at least.
“…”
“Is that all the documents I need to review?”
It was like a taut game of tug-of-war continuing between us.
“Yes, there are none. For now. And…”
“Yes?”
“Do you like him?”
The softly spoken words carried a cold indifference beneath them.
I couldn’t tell if he was asking out of genuine curiosity or merely from conversational momentum.
But.
“Why are you asking such a question?”
“…”
“Why, do you like me?”
The retainer I remembered was skilled at both lying and concealing his expressions.
“I respect you. And… as you are the Matriarch, how could I, as your closest aide, not think of succession?”
“Is that so? I kept you as my Retainer and strategist, not as a secretary.”
I let out a soft laugh and crossed my arms.
“Yes, I like him.”
I liked that person who might become my only source of understanding in my remaining life.
If he had grown…
If I hadn’t lost my memories, I believe this affection would have evolved and deepened into something else.
Perhaps that’s why I hate the man who lost his memories.
The depression that had plagued me for so long, the loneliness, the sense of injustice.
Because I had come to realize that only the Dragon could truly understand a Returner.
“I regret that she’s lost her memories. She doesn’t feel like the person I knew anymore.”
“…I see.”
Levai nodded lightly.
His sharp eyes behind his glasses showed no disturbance whatsoever.
Rather, the usual keenness hung in the air like an invisible presence.
I stared at him for a long moment, then released the rope.
Releasing the rope in a game of tug-of-war was also a declaration that I would not continue this game.
If he had no intention of showing his hand, I had no intention of probing further.
“Fine. If there’s nothing more urgent, you can go. I’ll send the letter to the Sea Lions through my handmaidens.”
“….”
Levai tucked the documents he was taking into his chest and offered a respectful bow.
His footsteps receded, but then they drew closer again with heavy thuds.
When I lifted my head, documents scattered down before me.
In the blink of an eye, a sullen face was reflected in my vision.
“You made a promise.”
“…What?”
“Was I not even permitted to wait?”
My mouth fell slightly open.
Though the words came suddenly, my mind had already interpreted their meaning.
Wait, wait a moment?
“Levai. Hold on, right now.”
“You said we would live together once everything was over.”
“Just a moment…!”
“You said then that you would take responsibility for me for life.”
Where else would you find a retainer who could seize the Matriarch by the collar?
Yet absurdly, during that chaotic third cycle, there was only one person capable of this.
“If you make a choice you will regret, it is my role to prevent that choice even if I must sacrifice my arm. Do you understand? Think only of surviving!”
That Dolphin retainer who swore he would beat me with his own fists if I made a wrong choice, offering his earnest counsel.
“…Who are you, really?”
A man with that exact same face from back then was looking down at me.
“…How long have you been remembering?”
There had always been hints.
Levai is a meticulous man.
I thought that perhaps the clues I had sensed were things he had deliberately let slip.
But every time I probed, he played innocent, so I could only remain uncertain.
The beautiful face of the bespectacled man before me twisted severely.
Whether it was anger, regret, sorrow, or injustice—many emotions flickered across his features.
And then they settled into laughter.
“Since when?”
“….”
“From the very beginning, esteemed Matriarch.”
“…What?”
I gripped the wrist of Levai, who held my collar, with crushing force.
Despite the blood surely ceasing to flow, Levai did not release me.
“You’re lying. Back then you truly seemed like someone who knew nothing at all…!”
“Do you remember, sir? When we once became examiners at an educational institution and created test questions together, we discussed something like this.”
It was a trivial conversation.
But in this moment, with my mind racing at full speed, I immediately grasped what he was referring to.
“A person who can craft thoroughly and perfectly wrong answers across all questions.”
“…would actually be someone who knows all the correct answers.”
He admitted that he had remembered from the very beginning, yet maintained silence for an extraordinarily long time—an eternity, truly.
But why, exactly?
Was there any need for such a thing? What possible reason could there be?
“The moment I saw you, it all came flooding back. Every memory.”
I clenched my teeth.
“On the other hand, I was curious.”
“About what?”
“If I conducted myself identically to my previous life.”
“….”
“Acting exactly the same way, but without the memories.”
Levai’s face contorted as though he might weep.
“Whether you would say those words to me once more.”
His glasses slipped down his face, but neither he nor I could stop them.
“…Surely I’m allowed to wish for this much in a life lived again, am I not?”
He had always been cold and resolute toward me, and though his body was never the strongest, his spirit was always admirably unwavering.
My strategist.
“If I have waited this long for a single word directly from you.”
The man who never began foolish endeavors was laughing as though he might cry.
A single tear streamed down between his clenched teeth and trembling smile.
“Will you curse me as a fool? My esteemed.”
“….”
“Beloved Matriarch.”

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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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