Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 29

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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 29
Pierre stared intently at Calypso.
“You’re apologizing?”
“Yeah. Yesterday I suddenly brought someone and asked to take them on as a disciple without warning.”
“….”
It was an uncomfortable topic.
“Actually, now that I think about it, this situation could be inconvenient for you, Teacher… I think I was too thoughtless.”
“I’m aware of it.”
As he said this, Pierre fixed his gaze on Calypso’s fingers.
There were clearly wounds that hadn’t been there when she first arrived.
Come to think of it, there was no way a three-year-old could cook perfectly.
The burns, blisters, and cuts on those fingers must have come from making whatever that culinary creation—or monstrosity—was.
“Yeah. I was thoughtless. I’m sorry.”
The girl before me was cunning. Of course she was.
Otherwise, why would she only droop like this and gauge my reaction in situations like this?
Using formal speech that she didn’t normally use.
“Hello, mister.”
Perhaps because she had first met me with such a brazen face.
I found this drooping, cautious demeanor distasteful.
Lift your eyes. Where did that shameless expression go that deceived me so brazenly?
“….”
A stream of water grasped Calypso’s cheek and forcibly lifted her head.
Calypso blinked her large eyes.
“When you’re having a conversation, you look at the other person’s eyes.”
“Huh? Oh, oh, okay.”
“Explain the cooking.”
“Huh?”
“Continue with what you were doing.”
Then Calypso continued her explanation while still gauging my reaction.
She had squeezed lemon juice on this salmon dish, and it needed five types of herbs, but she couldn’t find one ingredient so she only used four.
Despite the shortcomings, it was a respectable level for someone living alone.
She even mentioned how the Teacher’s kitchen seemed to have every ingredient imaginable, so she was able to cook to her satisfaction.
Pierre listened to this absurd explanation without even blinking.
The stream of water Pierre had created was now wrapping around the hand scarred by burns, cooling the heat with its chill.
Calypso seemed unaware, too absorbed in her explanation.
‘She was rather insensitive to pain and wounds.’
This was something only Pierre, who had trained her, could know.
Calypso was insensitive to pain and wounds. More precisely, she possessed an extraordinary talent for endurance.
As if she had already experienced extreme agony before.
She would endure with the expression of someone for whom such things were trivial.
“…up to that point. How is it, Teacher?”
Once Calypso finished her explanation, she glanced at me nervously.
Instead of commenting on her explanation, Pierre brought up a different matter.
“I’m not pleased.”
“Huh? The cooking?”
“I don’t take just any disciple.”
“Ah…! Yes. I’m sorry, Teacher.”
Calypso bowed her head deeply as if she understood.
The moment Pierre’s eyes narrowed, a stream of water straightened Calypso’s posture at the waist.
“One apology is enough. If you make the same mistake again, that would mean your intelligence is lacking.”
“Right. Then my intelligence would be lacking.”
Calypso nodded earnestly.
At the same time, she noticed Pierre’s furrowed brow smoothing out and remembered something.
“Is it possible that you got annoyed because I suddenly brought another disciple without warning?”
“Annoyed?”
“No, never mind. But you seemed angry about something.”
Calypso grinned shamelessly.
“I thought maybe you were sulking, Teacher.”
Her face was utterly brazen.
“Sul, what?”
“Gasp, were you really sulking?”
“….”
“No, no. That can’t be right. You’re our great Teacher, after all. I misspoke. So don’t throw the cooking out the window…!”
Watching the dish being placed back on the table, Calypso laughed with a hehe.
That ridiculously pure and bright smile.
The same shameless face that sometimes crawled toward me like this.
“Actually, weren’t you proud, Teacher? I beat even a nine-year-old!”
Instead of answering, Pierre crossed his arms. His expression was indifferent.
“That’s only natural.”
Of course it is. You’re my daughter, after all.
There’s no need to be conceited over something so trivial.
“Don’t be arrogant. At your age, I defeated even fourteen-year-olds.”
“….”
Calypso grumbled inwardly. Yeah, yeah, your accomplishments are impressive, old man!
Ugh, I never thought I’d hear the “back in my day” speech here.
Still muttering to herself, Calypso lifted her head slightly.
‘Ah, his expression is better now.’
Pierre had seemed quite out of sorts just moments before.
But somehow, as they talked, he seemed to have relaxed a little.
“Mm-hmm. Got it. Teacher, eat up now. I won’t bother you anymore.”
“A nuisance….”
Though she spoke with jesting audacity, she wasn’t truly upset—rather, bringing Agenor along had proven far more irritating to her mood than anticipated.
Calypso resolved to be more careful going forward.
Observing Pierre’s expression, now returned to its usual state, Calypso swallowed hard.
“Um, Teacher, you know….”
“What is it?”
Pierre, who had just reached for his fork, answered.
For some reason, he set it down with excessive haste…. How strange. Did I misread the situation?
“Ah, actually something odd happened at the Educational Institution today.”
“Something odd?”
As Pierre fixed his gaze upon her, Calypso instantly forgot her hesitation.
She quickly broached the subject.
With a cautious expression.
“Yeah. Father…ordered Rayla to protect me, didn’t he?”
* * *
After speaking thus, I quietly assessed the situation.
My breath and saliva caught in my throat. But I swallowed only inwardly, so as not to be detected.
“Ah, Rayla is the director of the Junior Institution.”
“I know.”
Pierre’s expression remained expressionless.
As always, languid and weary.
Rather, even the discomfort that had marked his features moments before vanished, leaving only serene composure.
Not a trace of agitation.
And so, even as I imagined plunging my head into a shark’s maw, I found myself compelled to speak further.
“What do you think, Teacher?”
Perhaps broaching this topic now was an unwise choice.
Our atmosphere had been pleasant, after all.
But….
‘I despise uncertainty.’
What had I been like across my three previous lives?
I had wagered my existence on ‘uncertainty’ and ruined everything.
Especially in the previous cycle—hadn’t the world collapsed because of the uncertain variable known as ‘the Dragon Duke’s rampage’?
And so, in this moment, the compulsive urge to verify rose unbidden, beyond my control.
Even if it proved reckless or self-destructive.
“What do I think?”
I fixed my attention solely on Father’s opening mouth.
As if time itself had frozen, tension reached its apex.
“Why are you asking me that?”
Like an actor reaching the climax, methodically conditioning his audience, Father spoke more slowly than usual.
And gave an answer entirely contrary to my expectations.
It was neither one thing nor the other—a deflection.
“I’m not your father, am I?”
At his words that struck the heart of the matter, I had to struggle not to flinch.
‘…So that’s how he’s going to play it.’
Rather, from Father’s response, I could discern the answer.
‘He’s seen through my lies, hasn’t he?’
The fact that Father already knew about my performance.
When and how did he find out? Through what means?
‘He definitely seemed not to know me at first.’
Well, he hadn’t even looked at me when I was born, so how could he have recognized me?
Besides, among the direct orca bloodline, my appearance was unusually round and soft, resembling no one in particular.
They say I take after Mother.
Given that Mother’s marriage to Father appeared to be a political arrangement, it made sense that he wouldn’t have known.
“That may be true. But….”
I fixed my gaze on Father.
In truth, though I hadn’t revealed it, my adoptive father on Earth and Pierre were similar in age.
Specifically, they were the same age as when I was three years old.
‘Since I was adopted just after turning one.’
My adoptive parents had taken me in at a young age.
“Father and Teacher are similar in age. That’s why I was curious. I thought since you’re both adults, you might know something.”
If he had already seen through my performance….
What must he have thought while listening to me earnestly speak of the ‘kind father,’ the ‘father who loves me so dearly’?
‘What would he think? Probably wondering why I’m putting on such a show.’
But I was curious. Even knowing everything, why wasn’t he saying anything?
Why wasn’t he angry?
“Pierre asked me to look after Calypso.”
“So he gives such orders, does he?”
Why did he tell Rayla that?
“Not all adults are the same. But the way you speak suggests you’re rather young.”
“I’m not young.”
At that, Pierre let out a soft laugh. I was somewhat taken aback.
“Saying such a thing is proof of your youth, is it not?”
“….”
A spark of irritation flared within me.
Excuse me, but I’ve lived over sixty years combined, thank you very much.
This very proper diction is a hard-won achievement after enduring three previous lives of blood, sweat, and tears.
I puffed out my cheeks.
‘Fine. Fine. I won’t listen because he’s being petty. Because he’s being petty.’

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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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