Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 331

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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 56
Her expression was so refreshing that it bordered on cathartic, and the young boy found himself momentarily at a loss for words.
Part of it was that he hadn’t grasped it all at once. So suddenly?
“Where are you going? Why are you leaving all of a sudden?”
The one asking was Rayla, who had been dining with them both.
“On the surface, the reason is… my mother called for me. And even if that weren’t the case, I need to go home. I can’t keep living here indefinitely.”
The young girl’s face remained refreshed.
“Besides, the master of this house doesn’t seem to like me. I’m a complete unwelcome guest. How long can I keep eating in awkward silence?”
Anyone listening would think she’d been squatting here for a year. Pierre forcibly suppressed the rising absurdity and resistance he felt.
“In any case, it’s fortunate that you’re leaving without any misunderstandings. You almost went back and spread the Third Prince’s hidden bad temperament all over town.”
“There’s nothing about my temperament worth hiding.”
His temperament was famous enough that all the cadet branches who visited this place knew of it.
He’d even heard himself called “insufferable” without anyone lowering their voice.
“True enough. But honestly, I had no one to tell either. I have no friends.”
The young girl spoke brightly. Without wrinkles or hesitation.
“I actually liked it here because I didn’t have to see the disgusting things my family showed me. It was quiet.”
But then why was she trying to leave? The young boy refused to ask, unwilling to lose to his pride and this unfamiliar sensation.
After that, the meal continued in silence. Only Rayla kept glancing at Sehera Zade with a regretful expression.
That Pierre saw her off at the very front gate after the meal was something the young girl had never anticipated.
“…This farewell is quite unexpected.”
Pierre stood at an awkward angle, speaking without expression.
“I accepted you as a guest. So it’s only proper that I do what’s fitting when you depart.”
The young girl’s eyes widened in circles. The elegant face that had always hung like a mask vanished entirely, making her look a bit younger and more innocent than her years.
“…Wow. I’ve never heard such words in my entire life, and I like it.”
The young girl then smiled shyly for the first time. Her cheeks flushed a delicate cherry blossom pink.
“I’ve only ever been called an unwelcome guest by everyone.”
“…”
The young girl lifted her head sharply. The distance of three steps between them closed in one stride of her own.
Sehera Zade’s blue eyes gleamed like the depths of the sea, polished and luminous.
“Then I should introduce myself properly too, shouldn’t I?”
“Introduce yourself? If it’s a name…”
“Sizer. My name is Sizer.”
It was completely different from the name he’d heard before. Pierre closed his mouth before he could object.
“I didn’t come to my family by choice. Ah, you know I’m illegitimate, don’t you? I imagine you must have suspected…”
“…”
“From the moment of my birth, it didn’t feel like I was born into any blessing. My name was the same—forcibly given. So I chose it myself.”
Sehera Zade extended her hand. Water appeared at the tips of the young girl’s pale fingers, and soon formed into a massive weapon. It was scissors.
“You’ve never seen this before, have you? It’s my killing weapon. Just from this, you can see that I didn’t really hold back against you… no, I wasn’t fighting with my full strength.”
Because she’d held garden shears so many times, even her water-formed weapon was most comfortable in this shape, the young girl continued with unnecessary words.
Pierre gazed quietly at the chattering young girl. As if tracing the outline of her form, his gaze was utterly piercing.
If you dislike the family so much and have so much to say, why not simply stay here?
“That’s why I’m Sizer. I wanted to let you know. Rayla, you heard that too, right?”
“Yes, Sizer! I heard it!”
“Good.”
Scheherazade—no, Sizer clapped her hands. Again. That refreshed expression.
Pierre’s brows furrowed. Something didn’t sit right with him. He couldn’t even identify what it was.
“Am I supposed to remember your name? Since we won’t see each other again?”
So the words came out twisted. He thought it was just his usual manner of speaking, but even to his own ears, it sounded sullen.
The young girl blinked in surprise, then laughed softly. As if it were nothing at all.
“That’s right. I hope we’re just passing acquaintances.”
Pierre’s fists clenched without his realizing it. He was the one who decided when to bind and when to sever ties—yet she dared to leave on her own terms and attempt to cut things off?
“So, I’ll ask you formally and with proper courtesy, Your Highness.”
The form of address changed. Pierre stared at the young girl as she bowed respectfully before him.
It was an impeccably courteous and proper greeting. Not a single degree of deviation.
“My mother told me. After I leave, the Matriarch will surely ask you whether you’ll choose me as your betrothed, or perhaps confirm it. She might not ask at all.”
The young girl gazed into empty space for a moment, then spoke as if she had made a decision.
A desperate expression bloomed across the girl’s beautiful face. It was urgent, even.
“If she asks, please refuse. I’m asking you sincerely. I have a goal.”
The young girl did not say what that goal was.
“I… don’t want to stay in this orca society for long.”
Yet she spoke in a way that made it sufficiently clear what she was thinking.
Pierre did not answer.
But both the girl and the boy knew that in the span of just an hour, the boy’s silence always meant affirmation.
The young girl smiled brightly. It was her brightest smile.
“Thank you so much. And… I hope this is the last time.”
The young girl bowed her head once more.
“And though it’s not my place to say—be happy.”
The girl’s voice came through louder than ever before.
“Just as the young master didn’t choose to fall ill, and I didn’t choose to be born a bastard. We have the right to find happiness in our own way.”
The boy felt an inexplicable impulse surge through him. It was almost like resistance. If she spoke with such conviction, why did she insist on leaving? What if he challenged her to a duel over the matter of her residence here?
Had the two of them clashed in earnest, Pierre would have won without question. It would have been the same no matter how many times they fought.
The difference in talent was overwhelming.
“Farewell, Young Master.”
Yet as she slowly turned away, her back perfectly straight, Pierre felt for the first time as though he were facing an opponent he could not defeat.
And not long after.
Whether it was the girl’s prediction or a hint from the Karmin Matriarch, her words proved precisely accurate.
“So, what was that girl like?”
The Matriarch truly did summon Pierre and speak to him thus. Pierre fell silent for a moment.
He could simply refuse coldly as the girl had asked. Then the Matriarch would find another girl his age and place her at his side. It was predictable.
His mother would never abandon her ambitions for his talent.
The Third Son had been told to hurry and bear a child once his terminal diagnosis was known.
…After all, if he had to keep someone by his side regardless—if there was no other choice—
Pierre moistened his dry lips. He had rarely performed such an action before.
The anxiety he felt now was also his first time since receiving his diagnosis.
The young girl said she despised this society. Pierre, too, had no intention of bearing a child as the Matriarch desired.
He felt the same disillusionment toward this society. More precisely, it was revulsion.
Weren’t they similar in that regard?
After a certain time had passed, he would set her free. He could even make a water oath. Pierre didn’t know the name of what stirred restlessly within his chest.
So he settled on calling her a comrade who shared his revulsion for similar things. For a boy who had never had a single friend or colleague his entire life, this was the first time he acknowledged someone as an equal to face directly.
Regardless, what he wanted to see before his eyes right now was clear. And the unguarded smile she had worn at the end came to mind.
That judgment solidified his conviction that it would be better than his own family, whom he so despised.
“If you are asked, please refuse. I’m asking you sincerely.”
The young girl’s earnest expression came to mind. Pierre averted his gaze downward, as if unable to meet her eyes.
Without even understanding why he couldn’t face those eyes and was avoiding them.
“…Very well.”
He answered his Mother thus. Rationalizing to himself that it was far better than any other option.
If he disliked his family, he could simply live in his own home as before. Besides, Rayla seemed to miss it as well.
And he would help the young girl achieve her goals.
So there were plenty of reasons. It wouldn’t be a bad arrangement for the girl either. So perhaps…we might become good comrades.
Pierre thought thus.
His Mother laughed with an inscrutable expression.
“Is that so? Good. We shall proceed as planned.”
At this moment, Pierre did not know.
“I shall send her to you in perfect condition.”
What consequences his choice would bring.
And that he would not see the young girl again until a very long time had passed.
The immature boy who had prided himself on being no different from an adult understood none of this.
* * *
A very long time had passed.
Pierre had come of age through his adulthood ceremony. This also meant he had less than ten years left to live.
With each year Pierre aged, the whispers only grew louder.
Some even gathered people to secretly wager on when Pierre would die, and some met their end at Pierre’s hands for it.
“Hmm, autumn will be here soon.”
Where Pierre’s gaze turned, Rayla stood. The girl, who had grown considerably, was approaching her graduation from the Intermediate Institution.
“I heard something strange…”
Rayla spoke hesitantly, gauging his reaction.
“They say your marriage is being arranged. Have you heard?”

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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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