Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 243

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 243
Thump, thump.
In my entire life—no, across all my previous cycles and past lives—I had never found myself in such a situation, never taken such an action.
Where had my capable mind and quick reflexes gone?
I stood there like an idiot, my face frozen in shock, only my eyes moving frantically.
Ekion’s face with closed eyes, his neat brows, and beneath them the sharp line of his nose that the handmaidens always called a work of art.
Even those eyes whose gaze I’d once wondered about—what they might look like if he were to grow.
I pulled my hand away.
Inside, it was more like I’d jerked it back in panic, but outwardly I feigned composure.
Still, a faint tremor remained.
Ekion opened his eyes. Those sun-bright irises were dangerously close.
“…What are you thinking, Calypso?”
“Wicked thoughts.”
I lifted my gaze. His eyes were clear, overflowing with affection directed at me.
“That your face is made this way, and how you bewitch people in situations like this. That’s what I’m thinking.”
“…”
“Just that. What you said…”
“…Do you like it?”
My hand, which I’d pulled from Ekion’s lips, was now caught in his large palm.
His hand interlaced with mine, eager to express affection in every way, and I didn’t hate it, so I simply met his gaze once more, lifting my eyes again.
“Calypso. If you want to have that person, I told you to give me the leash first.”
“…You certainly remember what I said well, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Back then, I never imagined you’d use those words on me.
I never thought I’d be shaken by what you’re saying now.
The distance between us was close.
Close enough to share breath, standing on the edge of something I’d never experienced in all my lives.
It was inevitable that countless thoughts crossed my mind.
But seeing the face before me, the deep affection and gaze pooled in those eyes, was something I couldn’t control either.
“I never thought I’d actually have a dragon in my hands.”
That version of me, saving you so long ago, probably never knew.
That the dragon I thought of as merely an aide or ally would willingly offer me his own leash.
“Ekion. But I too have my clumsy parts. Especially my emotions. I’ve never allowed reason, love, romance, or marriage in my life.”
Ekion drew closer, his eyes pure and innocent as before his growth.
“I’m confused right now.”
As if implicitly saying it was fine.
Your silence had always been affirmation, and it was now.
I slowly closed my eyes.
The silence, the confusion, the crossing emotions, the softly gleaming something—it all seemed to be hidden by the darkness.
For just this brief moment, I was grateful for this space, grateful for the darkness.
* * *
Crash, crash! Boom!
The jet-black wall shattered all at once, and I strode through the gap with confident steps.
Beside me, Ekion hung limply with his arm draped over my shoulder, leaning heavily against me.
Light poured out, and familiar faces came into view.
“Matriarch, are you alright?”
“Matriarch!”
“Ah, Lirivel. Hauser.”
“What in the world happened?”
Lirivel and Hauser, along with Atlant and Bellus.
“What exactly transpired down there?”
“Calypso!”
Whale and Levai were visible as well.
Every face bore expressions of shock and concern. I waved at them casually as if nothing were amiss.
“I was ambushed.”
“What?”
“By that Prince.”
I recalled what had just transpired.
When I’d closed my eyes for my first kiss, I’d wondered if this was what excitement felt like.
Then I sensed something—a dull yet subtle presence. I opened my eyes in panic and shielded both Ekion and myself.
But it was too late.
Given the nature of this space where presences nearly vanish, it had already drawn near.
The presence I’d felt was a black shadow extending like a tree branch.
In my haste to protect Ekion, the black shadow nearly grazed me.
In that instant, the shadow sprouted thin tendrils like tentacles, and Ekion shoved me away.
Before I could react, the shadow coiled tightly around Ekion.
Simultaneously, Ekion’s eyes widened, and explosive power surged forth.
That power resembled the rampage force I’d felt from the Dragon Duke’s own rampage.
“Ekion!”
“Cough! Don’t touch me!”
Ekion cried out, spitting black blood.
“Time, a trap… hah, the dragon’s, power, turned against… me…”
“What are you even saying?!”
Fortunately, the black shadow wasn’t particularly strong, and it dissolved quickly under the water’s power.
Yet strangely, black markings like tattoos appeared across Ekion’s freed body.
Moreover, the shadows visibly withered away.
As if the shadows’ sole purpose was to make contact, nothing more.
What could it possibly be?
Frowning, I calmed Ekion’s protests while gently tapping the shadow’s edge with my fingertip.
And in that moment.
‘This place….’
I stood in a familiar space.
A place I had deliberately, and then naturally, forgotten.
It was my adoptive parents’ house in Korea. In the blink of an eye, their figures appeared before me.
And the two of them were holding the hand of a toddling child.
The small child bore an unmistakable resemblance to both Mother and Father.
Though it was ancient history now, my heart ached.
“Ha ha, our Jieun walks so well. Oh my, how precious. Our one and only daughter!”
“Daddy!”
“Yes, it’s daddy.”
“Dear, now that I think about it, wouldn’t it have been better if Sieun had simply disappeared?”
Thump—my aching heart plummeted in an instant. And Father laughed in agreement.
“You’re right, now that I think about it, things turned out well. We finally get to live as a real family.”
With those words, warm laughter filled the space. I was being driven out of this world.
When I came to my senses, I was back in reality. Reality trapped in a black cavern.
On the ground, I could see a shadow now dried and withered.
‘What is this? An illusion?’
It was far too vivid to be a mere illusion. With Ekion’s help, I had once crossed spacetime to see my parents, so I could tell the difference.
A mental attack?
Yes, it resembled a mental attack, didn’t it?
I could sense it instinctively. It was an attack profoundly harmful to my mind.
‘Ekion mentioned time and traps.’
The problem was that despite only the briefest contact, my head throbbed and my strength drained away.
If that were the case, Ekion, whose entire body had been bound, must be experiencing far greater agony.
Perhaps the worst possible attack against a Dragon and a Returner like myself.
After considering that far, I lifted my head again.
“Are you saying that Prince has appeared?”
Before my eyes was Atlant’s face, filled with concern.
“No. That’s not it. Rather, I’m fortunate we learned of this beforehand, though unfortunate that we have no immediate countermeasure.”
I fixed my gaze on Ekion.
“There’s bad news.”
Since this attack works on Returners, if it troubled me, it might also work on Atlant, and perhaps even on Hauser and Levai.
I could feel very clearly that Prince had honed his malevolent blade with precision.
* * *
Fortunately, Ekion regained consciousness not long after returning to the Snake family’s castle.
And soon after, I was able to hear a detailed explanation from him.
“Time distortion?”
“Yes….”
Beads of cold sweat clung to Ekion’s jaw. He nodded in that state.
“The past is already fixed, unchangeable by anyone. But by using the Dragon’s power… it brings the past forth and attacks, devouring existence itself.”
“An existence?”
“Yes. A soul….”
“Then, what I saw actually happened?”
Ekion shook his head.
To be precise, it was a form of attack that distorted time by drawing the past from the temporal axis to inflict greater suffering on the target and damage their soul.
And separately, it was said to be the worst kind of attack against another dragon.
“The Red Dragon’s specialty….”
At Ekion’s words, I recalled the dragon’s tomb we had found in the jungle.
What we discovered was the skeleton of a green dragon.
“The Crown Prince must have found a different tomb?”
“…Probably.”
Having said this much, Ekion, still not fully recovered, suddenly collapsed forward.
Startled, I quickly caught him, and his head fell gently onto my shoulder.
“Don’t go….”
“It’s alright. I’ll stay until you fall asleep, so don’t worry.”
“No, even if I fall asleep….”
Just as I heard this, the door opened. And I heard someone entering.
“Matriarch, the Matriarch of the Snake House….”
Levai, who was just entering, stopped mid-sentence. Then he stared intently at Ekion leaning against me.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————