Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 338

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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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Additional Side Story: Act 2
The corridor stretched long and silent.
My footsteps echoed softly against the marble floor. I walked without any particular thought.
“Did you see that one?”
I stopped at the corner.
A low, hushed voice.
Peeking my head around, I found two retainers standing there.
I simply turned my back and leaned against the wall.
“I heard he really reeks. Have you caught a whiff?”
“Shh, keep it down. The restaurant isn’t far from here.”
Laughter erupted from the other side.
“What else can we do? He’s been locked up for four months already, hasn’t he? Those damned stinking Orca creatures need to have their spirits broken like this. The Matriarch did splendidly.”
“Hmm, well… there’s a certain satisfaction in breaking them. Since he’s still young, he probably won’t break as quickly, right?”
“My grandfather fought territorial wars and knows those creatures well—even when captured as prisoners, they never surrender. It’s infuriating.”
It wasn’t particularly irritating to listen to. Did these bastards have hamster genes mixed in their blood? They spouted the same repetitive nonsense like wheels spinning endlessly.
‘Bastards who can’t even curse creatively.’
I surveyed the corridor. Expensive-looking decorations befitting the Dragon Duke’s manor came into view.
I was considering which one would fit nicely in my hands.
“By the way, did you hear? About what came in this time…?”
“What?”
“The treasure.”
My hand slowed imperceptibly.
“What was his name again…?”
“Lineius.”
My eyes widened.
“Ah, that’s right. That one.”
Someone snickered.
“A treasure from those aquatic creatures, they say? Apparently they stole him from someone. Hmm, how careless to lose something so important.”
“Those worthless fish are like that. That’s what makes it even more amusing, isn’t it?”
“They brought him in right in front of the other one.”
My eyes narrowed briefly.
“He won’t even be able to see him anyway. They’re offering it to the Imperial Palace, after all.”
“Well, even before that, it’s difficult. But that one is probably right now….”
That was when it happened.
“You.”
A low, firm voice.
I turned my body around.
My fiancé, Asel Panterion, stood on the opposite side. It seemed he had followed me.
‘I wish I could have heard a bit more.’
Fortunately, the retainers beyond the corner still hadn’t noticed Asel and me, and they continued their chatter.
“…That’s what I’m saying, in the first warehouse….”
As I listened, Assel drew closer.
His cold gaze pierced down at me.
“Stop.”
I was already still, but I didn’t bother answering.
“During the meal just now.”
“Yes.”
“You were insolent.”
I paused as if thinking for a moment before speaking.
“Was I?”
“This is no place for you to endure.”
True to his nature as a beast, a low growl mixed with his cold, angry voice.
“Live as if you don’t exist. Stay within your station.”
“….”
“It would be better if you stayed quiet.”
I tilted my head slightly.
‘Hmm, is he leaving?’
I felt the presence beyond the corner fading. Assel seemed too focused on me to have heard the conversation.
I made my decision.
And I stepped forward.
The distance suddenly closed.
His words cut off abruptly.
“…What are you doing?”
Though we were engaged on paper, I had rarely seen him this close.
Even at galas, we would enter separately rather than as an escort pair.
The face of this infuriatingly beautiful young man stirred no emotion in me whatsoever.
In my previous life, I would have shrunk back from that contemptuous gaze and couldn’t have met his eyes.
“…I asked what you’re doing.”
I stood close without hesitation, tilting my head slightly to meet his gaze.
“You told me to stay quiet.”
“….”
“I was listening.”
Assel’s gaze wavered ever so slightly.
“To what.”
“Your words.”
I stepped closer still.
Perhaps he would smell something foul and throw a punch or lash out. So be it.
I stopped at the razor’s edge of distance.
“Even now.”
The moment our eyes met again, this time his pupils truly trembled. Assel’s breath caught, and then his breathing grew ragged.
“I heard everything.”
Only until the retainers rounded the corner and disappeared. With that thought, I stared intently before taking a step back.
Assel fell silent for a moment.
“…It seems you didn’t understand.”
The words that came next were barely squeezed out.
“No. I heard you clearly.”
I answered flatly and brushed past him.
“Shut up and stay quiet.”
And when the time comes, die—as if anyone wouldn’t understand that. Damn bastard.
I didn’t shrink away, and I even met his eyes, which I had always avoided before, but it brought no satisfaction.
Just.
The desire to strike him—not just once, but quite a few times.
I paused briefly, then added casually.
“I’ll do well.”
Making him feel as though I was obediently submitting.
I walked away without looking back. I didn’t care what expression he wore.
‘He’s probably seething with anger.’
I turned the corner. The retainers I had spoken with were long gone.
And.
“Lineius….”
I murmured once I confirmed no one was around.
I had heard all the information I needed.
For some reason, a very precious treasure had come into the Black Panther’s hands, and it was soon to be presented to the Imperial Palace.
But before that.
My lips curved upward faintly.
‘What if it disappeared in an unforeseen accident?’
I continued walking without stopping.
In the empty corridor, I tilted my head in thought.
‘Once I have it, it’s mine now.’
It was the moment my first objective came into being since I opened my eyes.
Four months into my resolve to destroy the Black Panther.
So, shall I become a righteous thief?
* * *
The next day.
I was locked in the warehouse.
I wasn’t flustered.
‘Well, it’s exactly as I expected.’
It was intentional.
Perhaps he thought I hadn’t been sufficiently cowed and felt stronger measures were necessary, so this time he locked me in the warehouse.
What was somewhat amusing was that since it would be problematic if I died or suffered serious injury, bringing me here seemed ridiculous.
An art storage warehouse, no less.
The warehouse was packed to the brim with all manner of treasures and valuables.
I could feel how much they looked down on me.
Their confidence that I could steal nothing, their contempt that any attempt would be discovered—it was palpable.
‘Fine then. Let your guard down. Keep it down.’
I kneaded the back of my neck repeatedly.
“Reflection seems necessary.”
This morning, the Dragon Duke and that bastard Assel had burst in and thrown me into this place as punishment.
For some reason, Assel couldn’t meet my eyes, but what did I care.
‘Idiots who can think of one thing but not two.’
My lips curved into a cold smile.
Thanks to the first and second loops, I knew the warehouse structure of this manor well.
Once, Assel had even taught me about the Dragon Duke’s affairs under the pretense of instruction.
‘That shameless bastard without even a shred of decency.’
I stopped in one spot.
“Here it is.”
A small ventilation duct door was mounted on the ceiling. Boxes were stacked beside it, making the climb manageable.
The problem was my frail body, but gritting my teeth, I could manage the ascent.
Honestly, these four months had filled me with nothing but malice.
‘Damn it, go ahead and kill me then, you bastards. I’ll come back and make you pay, again and again.’
I was sick to death of the Black Panther, the Imperial Palace, the Orca Family—all of them. If I didn’t get revenge on every single one of them soon, I’d end this loop consumed by rage!
When I finally pried open the ventilation duct door with effort and crawled through the narrow passage to the adjacent warehouse.
My body was filthy.
I wiped my cheeks clean and headed toward one location.
‘I knew it would be here.’
Before my eyes lay a bead containing a dazzling light, encased in a glass display.
Lineius.

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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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