Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 340

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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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Extra Side Story Episode 4
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The corridor was deserted.
Palaya, the Second Brother of the Pantherion Duchy, hummed a tune as he walked.
His pace was leisurely—no reason to hurry, no reason to stop.
“Did you hear?”
His ears perked up.
“That person finally got released.”
“They locked her up for a whole week?”
“Exactly. It’s amazing she’s still alive.”
Palaya’s pace slowed slightly. He tilted his head down to peek below, where handmaidens were doing laundry.
“She must still reek, right?”
“Even washing won’t get rid of it. Has anyone among us actually washed her clothes before?”
The storage room. One week.
‘Hmm, they didn’t starve her, at least.’
The rumors must have gotten twisted.
He’d heard they gave her minimal amounts of food, not nothing. So Palaya had thought the same.
‘Still, she didn’t die.’
A passing thought, nothing more. Actually, he’d expected as much.
“You hunt frequently, don’t you?”
….
“I don’t care for the fishy smell either.”
The day she’d complained about the fishy smell, only to have it turned back on her—what about your own bloodstained smell, then.
The face that chewed meat so casually.
“Then shall we call off the engagement?”
“I’m done. Eat plenty, won’t you?”
“Ah, the fishy smell got to me too, so I couldn’t eat.”
‘Those eyes.’
It wasn’t fearlessness. It was something else entirely.
Palaya tilted his head with a hum.
‘Not resignation or acceptance either.’
Usually, people break easily under such harsh treatment. Honestly, a week was more than enough—four months wasn’t even necessary.
Father wanted one thing.
For her to cry, cling, and beg for her life.
Or to break completely.
‘But it seems like she’ll be the same this time too.’
He felt oddly certain of it.
The corners of Palaya’s mouth curved up elegantly.
It was the first time.
He’d never been this intrigued by an aquatic Beastkin before.
Ordinarily, there would be no reason to associate with their kind. Barbaric and crude, and despite speaking the same language, they were unmistakably a lesser species than us.
‘At least she didn’t pretend to be weak, I suppose.’
When I first arrived at this place and received that water baptism, the look in her eyes was sharp and clear.
And.
She was beautiful.
Hair that mingled black, white, and blue—colors rarely seen in this place. Large eyes and long lashes.
I had known this from the beginning.
That’s precisely why she bothered me.
‘Normally, with that face….’
She could have lived far more easily.
“Insane.”
He muttered quietly to himself.
That was when.
“What is it?”
A voice inserted itself beside him, far too naturally.
Palaya’s footsteps halted.
“….”
When he turned his head, there was Calypso Aquasiadel.
Just as expected, her face was composed as though nothing had happened.
With that same relentless indifference as in the restaurant.
‘She looks fine.’
Not a mark, not a trace of disorder.
At least, not on the surface.
And those eyes.
They remained exactly as he had last seen them.
Palaya’s gaze paused for just a moment. Brief as it was, his refined brow furrowed.
“…Didn’t anyone teach you it’s rude to eavesdrop?”
Words thrown out habitually. Yet an unmistakable bewilderment lurked beneath them.
Calypso stepped closer instead of answering. The distance between them had narrowed more than expected.
Palaya’s eyes narrowed subtly.
For some reason, he did not retreat.
And he himself, stubborn as ever, pressed his weight firmly into his feet.
Finally, Calypso opened her mouth.
“Listen, Second Prince. Or should I say, Palaya?”
His name, spoken from her lips, somehow grated on his nerves.
“Want to make a wager with me?”
A smile played at her lips. Palaya blinked.
…This time, laughter came to him first as well.
Interest kindled within him, irresistibly.
And.
“Ha.”
Is he really trying to act superior to me right now?
* * *
I’ll deal with him first.
When a person harbors malice, it shows in their eyes. I realized this looking in the mirror.
So I decided to smile to hide my rotten intentions for now.
“…A wager?”
I understood his bewilderment at the sudden proposal.
But his reaction was oddly peculiar. Palaya smiled faintly.
“Setting aside the nonsense, where does this sudden confidence come from?”
Palaya raised his index finger, pointing at me.
“What, do you want to run away?”
…How did he know? Damn bastard.
Of course, it’s not just running away.
At the very least, I’d need to leave a nuclear bomb in this Manor—one that includes the Imperial Palace in the Capital—to feel satisfied.
And I’ve already roughly decided what that nuclear bomb will be.
‘The Dragon Duke will be here too, right? Of course he will be.’
I tilted my head slightly, concealing my true thoughts.
“So you won’t do it?”
Won’t you do it. That stinking bastard.
When Palaya still didn’t answer, I spoke again.
“Hey, I said won’t you do it?”
“…!”
As my tone shortened, he flinched. The way his eyes widened at the change in my speech was almost amusing.
I wanted to just stab him right then.
“…Tch, what’s this all of a sudden? What exactly are you proposing to wager?”
“A race.”
I answered obediently.
“…What?”
“To the end of the corridor.”
I turned my head slightly.
A long hallway.
A straight line stretching between the pillars. It wasn’t difficult to point it out.
“To there.”
Palaya stood dumbfounded for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“Are you serious? You dare race against a beast like me?”
True to his nature as a Black Panther, the downturned eyes he shared with his brothers looked quite fierce from this angle.
Palaya clicked his tongue.
“Ha, how cute.”
…This crazy bastard. What? Did he take something?
However, I already knew the outcome, so I let it pass with the composure befitting someone stronger.
His gaze dropped shamelessly. Following suit, my eyes traced downward.
A frail frame, a body that appeared to possess no strength whatsoever.
“You look like you can barely stand.”
Yeah, that’s because your father didn’t feed you properly. You accomplice to child abuse.
“You’ve been locked up for a week. And you want to race me in that condition?”
I glanced at Palaya and said just one thing.
“You don’t have to if you don’t think you can.”
Flinch?
“!!”
Palaya’s eyes turned fierce in an instant. Despite smiling, his eyes blazed with fervor.
From previous cycles, I already knew he had a slightly hot-blooded temperament that flared up when provoked.
“Are you provoking me right now?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
The corners of his mouth rose further.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
He rolled up his sleeves.
“Yes. But let’s make it so the loser grants a wish.”
I spoke clearly and deliberately.
“The moment you lose, you grant whatever I ask.”
“Are you really trying to escape?”
I didn’t answer.
Palaya pretended to think for a moment, then laughed.
“If I win, you’ll grant me anything I truly want?”
“Yes.”
“You won’t regret those words?”
“No.”
A brief silence.
Palaya pointed ahead with his finger.
“Fine, that end. Right there.”
He lowered his body slightly. An implicit signal that this was the starting line.
Gold and crimson light flowed from his hands. It was the ‘Oath of Earth.’ Unexpected. Would he really stake an oath on such a trivial wager?
“If we’re doing this, let’s do it properly.”
He hinted at me, so I cast the Oath of Water as well. My unhesitating action made him furrow his brow, but that was all.
“…Don’t run away.”
For some reason, his lowered eyes held something inscrutable. But whatever he was thinking didn’t matter.
I said nothing.
“I’m counting to three.”
“….”
“One.”
The air grew heavy.
“Two.”
His gaze flickered to the side.
I could see exactly what he was thinking. Even his boredom was transparent—that smug certainty that this would be over in seconds.
My lips curved upward slightly.
Well, well. So I’d finally get to smack this arrogant Black Panther bastard from behind.
“Three!”
With the word came the sound of feet pushing off the ground. Palaya’s lean silhouette shot forward.
He was faster than I’d anticipated.
But.
That was all.
“…What, what?”
Wind rushed past my side.
‘Oh, my body feels so light.’
I’d barely pushed off with my feet, yet I’d already pulled far ahead of where we’d started together.
“Hey!!”
By the time I came to my senses, I was already ahead.
I felt him grit his teeth and claw for more speed. I grinned wickedly.
I’d suspected it, but now I knew for certain.
I was overwhelming him.
“Wow, long legs but pathetic speed, huh?”
“What?!”
He gritted his teeth, but the gap between us didn’t close at all.
If anything, it only widened.
Palaya’s breathing faltered for the first time.
At that moment.
‘Done.’
I stopped. Right at the end of the corridor we’d agreed upon.
My victory.
When I turned around leisurely, Palaya was just arriving.
“Insane… haa, ha…”
His breathing was ragged.
“This doesn’t… make sense…!”
I watched quietly for a moment, then opened my mouth.
“I won, didn’t I?”
Palaya was at a loss for words. I tilted my head slightly.
“You remember the terms of the bet.”
I smiled then, more radiant than ever before.
And.
Thwack!
“…!!”
The moment my leg swept across his knee, he gasped for breath and collapsed onto his knees.
I looked down at him with my arms crossed.
“If you’ve lost, you should kneel quietly, you bastard.”
A deliciously thrilling sensation ran down my spine.
“Or would you prefer otherwise, loser?”

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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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