Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 334

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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 59
A world inhabited solely by Beastkin.
Yet animals existed here as well. In other words, it was a world where whales and orcas lived.
This happened when Pierre was young.
Among the branch families of that time, there was a madman who built a massive tank in the Noble House’s garden to breed orcas.
Why was he mad?
Aquasiadel held a principle of respecting orcas found in nature as creatures of the sea.
Thus, deliberately bringing them here to breed was treated as a form of insult.
Most critically, the Matriarch disapproved, so the branch family’s actions were nothing short of madness.
“Watch well. Witness the end of one who defied orders. You must know this.”
….
“Since no daughter was born… it seems you will become my successor.”
That day, young Pierre saw an orca for the first time. His attention was so consumed by it that he barely heard what his mother was saying.
Inside the massive tank.
The orca, cradling ripples like wings, also gazed upon Pierre.
Pierre saw the orca’s bent dorsal fin. That orca was gradually sinking.
Unable to rise any further, it was slowly suffocating in the water….
Pierre was someone with clear preferences for what he wanted and didn’t want. Certainly, he had been that way in childhood.
But after falling ill and becoming an adult while still afflicted, those distinctions had faded.
Before death, life’s purpose and hope alike became meaningless.
As if out of pity, the medicine sent down from the main house extended his life only slightly while inflicting tremendous suffering.
So Pierre had nearly resigned himself to abandoning treatment and accepting the fate that approached.
He was weary.
Yet after the girl who faded in his memory but never quite disappeared from it appeared before him as an adult, he could not afford such resignation.
“My mother told me so. Make the Oath of the Sea and bear a daughter with Pierre Aquasiadel.”
….
“Then she will set me free.”
Considerable time had passed.
Between them, children were born. A son first. Then one, then two… and thus three brothers came to be.
Pierre was shocked when he first heard this story from Sizer.
While he felt it was plausible for his mother, for the greedy Matriarch of a branch family, he was bewildered by his own shock.
The only time Sizer showed tears streaming down her face and ultimately screamed was the day she confessed the truth.
After that, she showed no tears.
“You also agreed to become husband and wife. So please fulfill your obligation.”
Days later, she appeared in a dim room dressed in a nightgown and spoke matter-of-factly. To fulfill her obligation.
Was it guilt that prevented Pierre from refusing? Or….
At least Pierre thought of it as responsibility. This had happened because of his own negligent intent.
He had not imagined that his single word could ruin someone’s life so completely. Yet, whatever the case, it had already happened.
Pierre complied with everything Sizer desired.
And so a child was born. But….
Pierre found himself at a loss for how to feel about these children.
It was because he felt his own existence was in disarray. Ever since Sizer had collapsed before him with eyes full of hatred and spoken the truth.
Time seemed to have stopped flowing for him.
“Father. Father.”
“Dad, da-dada?”
What was unexpected was that Sizer was kind and affectionate to all the sons she had borne.
She laughed without hesitation, was stern at times, and tried to grant them whatever they desired.
At least while the children were present, she made no effort to show her hatred toward Pierre. She genuinely tried.
Pierre became even more confused.
…How could she smile at children born from someone she despised so thoroughly? Why was that possible?
“It’s because she loves the young masters.”
The one speaking was Rayla.
Now a full-fledged adult, Rayla had secured employment at the education institution of her choice and was steadily climbing the ranks.
She was already earning a reputation for competence.
As Pierre’s closest subordinate, she had also succeeded in secretly concealing this fact. The two of them often spent time together during quiet moments.
“Love?”
“Yes. The kind of love a parent has for their child.”
“….”
“Isn’t there no other answer?”
Rayla seemed to think for a moment before speaking in a businesslike tone.
“Though neither you, nor I, nor Sizer have been blessed with parental love, let alone experienced it.”
It was a blunt assessment, but a truthful one.
“Spending every day watching the children, I’ve come to understand Sizer’s heart somewhat. The children are innocent, are they not?”
“….”
“Of course, I have no intention of marrying, but if I were to have children… there is something like a vow that I would never be like my own parents.”
Rayla closed her eyes gently.
“It seems there are aspects where she and I are similar in this regard.”
Pierre could not know if Rayla’s words were the answer. Yet he only became more confused.
For he still felt nothing when looking at the children.
He only thought it was fortunate that the children existed.
When the children were present, Sizer did not glare at him. She even tried to dine together. Though it was in the garden, she walked with him.
And… even if it was pretense, she smiled for him.
Rayla, for her part, heard Pierre’s account and wore a somewhat troubled expression.
‘I thought he would notice even without me telling him….’
Her master, confined to the castle in all but forced imprisonment, seemed unable to grasp the truth without a clue.
The loyal Rayla dropped a hint.
“Most people call that love, Master.”
In hindsight, this was not a hint but the answer itself.
Yet this foolish man only came to understand the truth much later, when a daughter who resembled his wife appeared.
At this moment, he could not know.
* * *
“Most people call that love, Master.”
Crossing your mind dozens of times a day, wanting to see you when you’re out of sight, wanting to do everything together.
A heart that swells with excitement just from looking at you.
That is what they call love.
“…Is there something you need from me?”
It was a bright spring day.
Sizer sat perched on an old fountain. The three sons were at the education institution.
The Matriarch seemed disappointed when Pierre and his wife kept producing only sons, but her attitude changed once all three children displayed exceptional abilities.
Even the education institution had them leaving early due to the Matriarch’s insistence.
Pierre looked down at Sizer and touched his own chest lightly.
‘…It didn’t swell.’
What is excitement? My heart was simply beating. Or rather, the rhythm did seem slightly faster.
I didn’t feel my heartbeat as overwhelmingly loud as I’d heard described, nor did I experience such excessive palpitations.
“If you’ve come, then state your business.”
Sizer was stroking her slightly swollen belly. The fourth child.
With no children nearby, Sizer’s expression was blank. Or rather, it was that familiar gaze of contempt directed at me.
Though much time had passed, the hatred had only deepened, not faded.
“…So it’s called love.”
“Pardon?”
Even for Sizer, the words were so sudden that confusion crossed her gentle face.
“I heard that the way I look at you is called love.”
“….”
For a moment, Sizer’s expression became peculiar. It was a face difficult for me to interpret.
“I don’t know who told you, but… they seem to have gotten it quite wrong.”
“Why is that?”
“If you truly loved me, there would have been something you needed to tell me back then. But you didn’t.”
What does she mean? But Sizer said nothing more. As if she’d lost interest.
“Whoever it was, tell them not to be ridiculous. Love, of all things.”
“…And have you ever tried it?”
“If I had?”
Her round eyes curved sharply. It wasn’t a smile of joy. A smile closer to mockery.
“I’m someone who knows love but doesn’t practice it, and you’re someone who doesn’t know it and can’t practice it.”
“….”
“As it happens, I had something to tell you too.”
Sizer stroked her belly. A complex expression—whether joy or sorrow, impossible to tell—flickered across her face.
“I finally learned the baby’s gender. It’s a daughter.”
Those words carried another meaning entirely.
‘Keep your promise, my lord.’
At the same moment, Pierre found himself wanting to ask something.
Perhaps, if.
I had a chance.
If there were words that could hold you back.
It was an impulse more fierce than ever before.

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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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