Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 315

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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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Side Story Episode 40
I’d thought about it more than once.
What did they call it again—the multiverse? That seems right.
Except for one thing: there’s a main timeline separate from the others.
Tus said that all timelines other than the main one were either backups or dead timelines.
– I’m sorry, Calypso. I’m so sorry….
Tus apologized with tears streaming down her face, but truthfully, it wasn’t her fault.
“I’m really fine. And I genuinely don’t think it’s your fault.”
To begin with, Tus was the Dragon Duke’s familiar—her mastery of temporal manipulation couldn’t compare to Ekion’s.
– I jumped toward where I felt the Dragon Duke’s presence, but….
She said that if we investigated a little, we’d likely find the answer.
Since I believed Tus’s intuition about time-related matters would be accurate, I nodded.
I had a similar premonition myself, after all.
A feeling that if we stayed here a little longer, we’d either return or discover a way to do so.
‘Besides, Ekion is probably doing the same, and my husbands, including Levai, are searching for a way right now.’
With both sides moving, the day we’d meet would come. How fortunate that I’d traveled with Tus.
Tus had asked me to give her time, but I had no intention of leaving this pitiful baby water snake to fend for herself alone.
If we worked together, wouldn’t we find the answer faster?
This was also the reason I’d accepted Ruga’s exploration proposal.
“It’s here!”
Ruga smiled brightly.
Her snow-white hair swayed in the gentle breeze. The garden visible behind her was in full bloom.
I stepped onto the verdant grass and was seized by a peculiar sentiment.
‘This place….’
It had been so long.
This was a garden used simultaneously by the elementary and intermediate institutions. This lawn in particular was perfect for eating.
During lunch hours, it would be crowded with children. The elementary and intermediate institutions had different lunch times.
I remembered spreading a mat when I was three years old and eating sandwiches and carefully prepared lunch with the Lugaluba Twins.
‘Roba’s cooking skills were remarkable.’
The twins’ father was both a warrior and an excellent cook.
“This is….”
“Yes! This is where we had our first date, Noble Lady.”
I still felt bewildered.
I’d confessed to this child first, and I’d even threatened that accepting me meant marrying me.
‘Honestly… I can’t deny it since it’s exactly the kind of thing I’d do.’
To be precise, if my life had been peaceful and I’d focused entirely on one person.
It would have been exactly the kind of thing I’d do.
Besides, Ruga had apparently liked me for a very long time.
‘I never picked up on any hint of that.’
My husbands said the same, and my older brothers too. Even Father, whose emotional range wasn’t particularly wide, agreed that I was hopelessly oblivious in that regard.
I couldn’t trust my own instincts.
But I also couldn’t assume that Lu’s feelings in this timeline were necessarily identical to those in the main timeline.
I decided to treat the person before me as if I were watching a film.
After all, I wasn’t the one meant to receive that child’s tender affection.
‘The real problem is… what am I supposed to do with this hand?’
Lu had taken my hand, saying she’d help me remember. I wondered what holding hands had to do with it, but then—
“You always used to hold my hand when we walked together!”
That wasn’t something I would do, yet apparently I had?
…What exactly have I been doing here?
Moreover, as Lu and I walked hand in hand, every student we passed looked at us with familiarity.
Some even greeted us or remarked that we looked good together.
From that alone, I could tell we’d been a notable sight for far more than just a day or two.
‘A celebrity couple in my life.’
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t a university, so it was different, but close enough.
It was certainly a fresh experience.
I’d never had such an experience on Earth, and in my previous life, I hadn’t spent much time in educational institutions.
In this life, educational institutions had been more like stepping stones to becoming a Matriarch.
And when I happened to pass by Rayla, the director of the elementary institution, and she smiled saying, ‘You look even more radiant today,’ I truly—
I lifted my head.
A familiar place, a familiar person, but with a subtly different expression. Certainly refreshing.
It was the season of full bloom. White flowers bloomed abundantly everywhere. Someone had mentioned those were apple blossoms.
Beside them stood cherry blossom trees in full bloom as well.
The cherry blossoms seemed to be nearing the end of their season. Each time the wind blew, petals scattered down like snow.
It was winter blooming in spring.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve never taken Cali on a picnic.’
The lunch here was so delicious. I should definitely bring her.
And my husbands too.
Should I ask Lu to come along as well?
“Noble Lady?”
As flower petals scattered in the wind, the young boy with flushed cheeks looked as picturesque as a postcard.
I released the hand I’d been holding and reached toward Lu instead.
I brushed away the flower petal that had settled on his shoulder. As I released it from my hand, the petal drifted away.
I left it at that and moved my hand through the empty air.
“Tada.”
When I opened my hand before Lu, another flower petal lay in my palm. I’d caught one floating through the air.
“Where I come from, there’s a saying that if you catch a falling flower petal, your wish comes true.”
Though technically it was something different.
“Usually the saying was more about love being fulfilled.”
“…”
“I’ll give it to you.”
If I had loved Ruga in this world, there would have been a reason for it.
And Ruga was someone worthy of affection. Because he was a good person.
I could feel it even in my fourth cycle, exhausted from running without pause.
How could I not know it now?
I lacked nothing in my current state.
All my resentments were resolved, I had a Father who loved me and a Mother I’d reconciled with. And I had my brothers.
I had husbands who loved me more than anyone else, and a daughter who looked just like me.
Because of that, I could see clearly.
“It means be happy and affectionate with me now that my memories have returned.”
I smiled softly.
Ruga stared at me blankly for a moment, then accepted the petal. His fingertips trembled slightly.
When emotions run too high, tears can surge forth regardless of the type of emotion.
Whether it’s anger, joy, or being moved.
“…Thank you.”
He pretended to be mature, but he wasn’t even twenty yet. Still in his adolescence, really.
His beloved suddenly lost her memories—there’s no way he could accept it so calmly.
This boy had thought of the other person first. Of me, confused and lost.
I had been helped countless times by the kindness and wisdom of these white dolphins.
“You’re not uncertain, are you? I like you and you like me—it was mutual, wasn’t it?”
“Y-yes, that’s true….”
Ruga stammered for a moment before speaking.
“When we had our first date here… after walking around the garden about fifty times, you said this was a date, and that I should know you like me.”
…I’m not exactly a great person either. But I can certainly see that in this timeline, I’m terrible at romance.
His legs must have hurt, Calypso.
A bitter laugh and an empty laugh escaped simultaneously.
On the other hand, if I was clumsy with emotions, I must have been utterly confused when I first felt love.
Just like when Father first wanted to act like a real father, I got scared out of nowhere.
Like the day Levai confessed to me.
“Right. I know myself well.”
I took Ruga’s hand and closed it. So the petal wouldn’t escape anywhere.
“Once I make up my mind, it almost never changes. So what I said, staking my whole life on it, will come true.”
A first confession that stakes marriage on it—how brutal that is.
I burst out laughing.
This freshness wasn’t so bad.
It was something I never had in my life.
Perhaps because I was certain I could return, I could stay for a moment and observe it.
On the other hand, a strange thought close to intuition raised its head.
“Noble Lady.”
“Ruga.”
“Oh, please speak first.”
“Hmm…”
Perhaps the reason I see you every time I move through timelines is something else entirely.
If I think about it in my own way.
If you are my fixed coordinate.
An unchanging person.
“Noble Lady, my brother suddenly refuses to become the Matriarch! It’s strange! Even the Imperial Retainer Chief told him to do it, but he won’t! Sob, I’m lacking compared to my brother…”
Perhaps you in the main timeline might also care for me.

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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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