Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 333
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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 58
Pierre could not speak. There had been so many things throughout his life.
Long ago, he had received a terminal diagnosis with a limited lifespan, and before that, he had been revered as possessing a tremendous power that rivaled or perhaps even surpassed the Matriarch.
Within the fluctuations of extremes, there were countless words he had heard. And each time, he had responded appropriately.
Even in the moment when those who had revered him yesterday suddenly mocked and ridiculed me the next day, the young boy wore the same bitter smile and meted out retribution.
So then.
In all his years, there had been scarcely a moment when words failed him like this. No—this was the first time.
From the woman’s eyes, loathing and hatred dripped like poison. For a moment, he mistook it for tears falling.
Looking again, it was sweat beading on her forehead that had fallen.
“Are you satisfied, you ask? Noble Young Master.”
Her voice, refined with even more elegance than he remembered, contrasted sharply with her disheveled appearance, emphasizing the discord.
“Who are you? Who are you to ruin my life! Who do you think you are! Cough….”
Sizer, who had been screaming, clutched at her own throat. Pierre did not miss the mark that had briefly appeared on her neck and saw it clearly.
…It was the Oath of the Sea.
An oath regarding what? Sizer had clearly been clutching her throat as if bound by chains.
His mind could not function properly.
What should one say in such a moment? He felt like an idiot who had lost all language.
“…Ha, haha. Huh…. I must have been mistaken.”
Sizer, who had been coughing for a long while, lifted her head. Her face had lost some of its vigor compared to before.
Yet her eyes still gleamed with venom.
“I thought you might at least apologize the moment you saw me.”
“….”
“Have I really been so wrong about you, Young Master? What are mere days compared to that?”
Pierre’s lips moved.
Not knowing what he himself wanted to say, in the moment he was about to speak the words his heart was pushing out—
Someone tugged at his sleeve.
When he turned his gaze, there was Rayla with a troubled expression.
Rayla was quicker to read the situation than Pierre. Of course she was—Pierre had neither reason nor position to read such things.
“Um, Master. Sehera, or rather, Sizer… wouldn’t it be better to have her sit down first?”
Rayla gestured with her eyes. Following her gaze, he saw shackles binding the woman’s wrists and ankles.
Pierre cursed inwardly and wiped his face.
From beneath his feet, a stream of water surged upward.
Crack! Boom!
A blade-sharp stream of water severed the shackles and manacles. They were so heavy that the moment they fell to the ground, they cracked the floor.
Rayla bit her lip tightly. The condition of Sizer’s ankles where the shackles had been and her wrists where the manacles had been was appalling.
‘…It’s fortunate there was so much medicine, at least.’
Could one truly call this fortunate? Rayla was about to suggest they begin treatment immediately.
Pierre blocked Rayla’s path. This time, the stream of water engulfed Sizer.
Rayla wondered if perhaps Pierre, having been betrayed, was attacking her.
Yet the stream of water only washed away the blood and filthy traces that clung to Sizer’s body.
“Rayla will treat your wounds.”
Rayla’s shoulders flinched. Pierre swallowed hard once, then pointed toward the window.
“Once the treatment is finished, leave this place.”
Pierre remembered Sizer’s words with perfect clarity. At the same time, he felt the weight of responsibility settle upon him.
The young girl had her own goals, and she had certainly asked him to refuse her….
It was I who broke that promise. I bit the inside of my mouth. I didn’t want to show my anxiety by biting my lips.
“I remember what you desire. So go outside and….”
“Haha….”
I faltered at the laughter coming from Sizer, but I continued speaking.
“Your noble house and your mother—I will take responsibility for them. So….”
“Hahaha…!”
Sizer’s shoulders trembled violently. At first, I thought it was from pain, but the more I listened, the more I realized it was laughter.
She was truly laughing.
Soon the woman lifted her head, her eyes fixed on me with a gaze full of mirth—sweet as one looking upon a lover.
“Young Master.”
Though I recognized the mockery in her address, I still flinched.
“Did you truly believe that once the shackles and handcuffs were removed, it would all be over?”
“….”
“Escape, flight… how wonderful. If only it were that simple….”
“What do you mean?”
“Would my noble house, my Matriarch mother, truly have failed to consider such an obvious solution?”
“….”
“You, who know all too well how cunning and sometimes base an orca can be. Yet you speak with such naïveté.”
Sizer’s hand reached toward my face. I flinched not because her fingertips drew near.
‘Her nails….’
They were shattered and broken beyond recognition.
The hand that had drawn near withdrew back to Sizer.
“If I could escape, why haven’t I already? Truly….”
Sizer stared blankly out the window. Soon she laughed weakly.
“I… hate you.”
In that moment, Sizer’s eyes grew dim and she collapsed. Barely catching her as we fell together, I exhaled a heavy sigh.
Where had things gone wrong?
No, the cause was clear.
‘She’s so light.’
I slowly looked down at the woman cradled in my arms.
Seeing her up close, I understood better. Beneath her well-fitted clothes, she was skeletal—nothing but bones.
Moreover, her lips were parched and cracked, like someone who hadn’t drunk water in ages.
Yet her closed eyes possessed long, dense lashes.
In that space between them, I suddenly furrowed my brow.
“Ugh….”
The moment Sizer’s thin breath touched my skin.
Pierre’s eyes flew wide open.
I couldn’t identify what that subtle sensation—ticklish and fleeting—was, but it was undeniable that this singular moment had transformed me.
It was strange.
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart was pounding loud and fierce.
…What had startled me so?
At that moment, I could think of nothing else.
* * *
“Mm.”
Upon waking, Sizer said nothing. She accepted Rayla’s treatment without complaint.
The moment the treatment ended, when I spoke again about leaving this place, she merely gazed at me before answering that she could not.
Then she fell silent once more.
Sizer ventured into the garden every day. Her usual refuge was the old fountain.
Sometimes she left it empty; other times she filled it with her own power.
I often wondered why she filled it only to ankle-depth rather than to the brim.
Yet I could not bring myself to speak carelessly. Each time I approached, each time I opened my mouth, her eyes would fix upon me.
When I met that gaze, I lost all words.
“…Will you truly not leave?”
Thus, when I finally mustered the courage to speak, considerable time had passed.
News of my marriage had spread throughout the Noble House, a date was set, and we were married as hastily as roasting beans over lightning.
Neither groom nor bride smiled; with no guests permitted, it was a meager affair.
It was merely a marriage of purpose. A political union.
“As I said, if you fear for your mother and your house, I will prevent whatever comes. You need not worry about future troubles….”
“My lord.”
Sizer, who had been gazing vacantly at the fountain, slowly turned her head.
“One day, you will regret this terribly.”
Sizer spoke to her husband, who neither apologized nor acknowledged his wrongs. She understood well enough.
That this lord truly knew nothing. Born in a place where it was natural for him to do as he pleased, where everything was natural.
But she had neither need nor reason to make him understand.
“The moment you truly love someone, you will regret what you have done.”
Please, let it be so.
I wish you would regret yourself to death.
Since you will never apologize to me. Instead, I wish someone would make you regret terribly.
Continuing these curse-like murmurs, Sizer smiled faintly.
That smile, steeped in resignation, liberation, and emptiness, nonetheless appeared beautiful to me.
“My mother said this to me. Swear by the sea’s oath… and bear a daughter with Pierre Aquasiadel.”
“….”
“Then she will set me free.”
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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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