Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 350

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Additional Side Story: Act 14
* * *
A week later.
Night.
The sky still held the fading crimson glow of evening, dimming into dusk.
Clop, clop.
I gazed out the window from within the carriage, its interior nearly silent.
‘A small gathering, then.’
Today was the reception that Assel had announced beforehand.
Imperial receptions came in various forms. Some were empire-wide events like the Founding Festival or the Land Festival.
Smaller ones were held for the Emperor’s birthday or the birthdays of imperial family members.
For events smaller than these, the reception hall itself wasn’t particularly grand.
The Imperial Palace held regular receptions to emphasize harmony, given the diverse Beastkin populations living throughout the Empire, and today’s gathering was said to be one such occasion.
‘Pointless waste of time.’
I’d almost prefer the constant brawling of the Orca Family Members.
At least then a truly strong opponent might appear, or the number of fools relying solely on brute strength would decrease.
All this pomp and ceremony.
As the carriage drew closer to the reception hall, I felt the light intensify. Despite being called a small gathering, the scale was certainly substantial.
‘This will be chaos once I step inside.’
I closed my eyes briefly, anticipating the reactions I’d draw.
Voices overlapped in my mind.
“Wait, you’re going to a reception?”
When I’d mentioned attending the reception at the social club the other day, the friends I’d been spending time with had all flinched in surprise as if they’d coordinated it.
Then they’d said:
“If it’s that hall, the right garden has fewer people.”
“Maza! You can catch your breath there!!”
“If that’s too loud, try the back corridor.”
Those were Brunel’s, Luca’s, and Serin’s words in order. Serin had added with a sly smile:
“Hmph, I’m only telling you because I feel sorry for you, but the terrace at the far left of the second floor might be better than the back corridor.”
“Ah… I… know too… there… you can hear sounds… but… people don’t really go…”
Rian, a sloth Beastkin, had added to Serin’s suggestion.
“We don’t go there much.”
“It’s uncomfortable.”
“What are you saying? You just don’t want to see us.”
Their faces bore a calm melancholy, wounds worn smooth by familiarity. They were far too mature for children.
I slowly opened my eyes.
‘I understand that feeling.’
That’s why I came.
The carriage came to a halt. The door opened, and a familiar face appeared.
It was Assel.
‘He came in a different carriage again.’
Usually, partners would share the same carriage. Yet Assel had taken a different one from me in the previous cycle, and again in this one.
The reason was obvious.
‘He’ll probably complain about that fishy smell again.’
So I merely watched without interest.
That was when it happened.
He extended his hand toward me.
“….”
I froze in place.
“What are you doing? Get down on your own.”
“Don’t even think about standing beside me with that foul-smelling body.”
The words he’d spouted in the first and second cycles flashed through my mind.
I stared at him without blinking.
‘What is this?’
No matter how many times I looked, it seemed strange.
This had never happened before.
He had always refused to touch me under any circumstances.
How long had I been staring?
“…What is it.”
Assel’s expression hardened.
“Take it. Now.”
He spoke curtly.
“….”
“Don’t waste time.”
How am I supposed to take it, you bastard.
How would I know what trap you’ve set here?
‘Are you planning to let go the moment I grab it and make me fall?’
This bastard had the character to pull off something like that. Since I couldn’t demonstrate my strength, I’d simply fall. The problem was that this carriage was quite high.
If I twisted my ankle or got injured, it would disrupt my training. That absolutely couldn’t happen.
When I didn’t move.
“…Tch.”
Assel exhaled sharply.
“I’m wearing gloves.”
“….”
“That much is….”
His irritated voice trailed off as he seemed to choose his words carefully.
“I can overlook it.”
With those words, a brief silence settled between us.
I looked at his hand. Just as he said—a smooth black-gloved hand.
My gaze slowly traveled upward.
“…Yes.”
Then he raised his hand.
The hand clad in leather gloves was cold.
A brief contact.
As I descended the stairs and inevitably pressed down with force, his hand paused for just an instant—subtly, unmistakably.
But soon he moved as though nothing had happened.
“Too late.”
He wasn’t letting go? Just moving on like this?
As I fumbled in confusion, we moved together, and his voice came again.
“Even if you’ve been poorly educated, surely you’ve learned basic courtesy.”
I glanced at my hand, then lowered my gaze.
What do you want from me, you ill-mannered bastard?
Does your house teach people to beat and imprison others?
“…Yes.”
At my obedient response, his gaze seemed to touch me for a moment.
Just as I was suppressing the urge to glare and slightly lifted my eyes.
“Brother.”
A voice interjected from beside me.
In my peripheral vision, Palaya stood there.
He had been leaning against the stair railing, and now slowly pushed off, approaching us.
“We don’t have time for you to lecture up front like this.”
“What?”
“The banquet started a while ago.”
Palaya had his long hair loosely tied back and draped over one shoulder.
With his increased height in the meantime, the pretty, feminine impression he once had was largely gone.
Palaya’s gaze brushed past me.
Then, as if to make a point, he furrowed his brow sharply.
‘So what?’
I didn’t know why he was acting like that, but I could guess.
Ever since I asked to stop the lessons, this was how he looked at me every time.
“Aren’t you going in?”
“…I’m going.”
“Then let’s go.”
Palaya turned away. He seemed to be smirking at me with displeasure, yet somehow.
He gave off the impression of having helped me.
‘I’m not even grateful for it.’
Then he paused and only turned his head.
“Don’t hold people up and cause trouble. Arguing with such a fool only damages our reputation anyway.”
A lightly added remark. Assel regarded his younger brother with an inscrutable expression.
“You’re the one spouting unnecessary nonsense.”
“It’s not entirely useless.”
Assel led me forward by the hand. Damn it, does he need to give a warning before dragging me along?
If my body hadn’t become more agile, my legs would have surely stumbled.
Why don’t these bastards realize they keep lecturing me about education while acting like they never learned manners themselves?
Assel and I walked past Palaya.
“…Ah, seriously.”
A small murmur from behind—something close to a curse—reached my ears, but I pretended not to hear it.
Not my concern.
Soon the doors opened and light poured in.
Music.
People.
Gazes.
My eyes grew quietly calm, smoothly concealing the ennui threatening to surface.
‘Ah, here again.’
And I entered without hesitation.
A moment later.
How long had I been in the banquet hall? That damned Assel had vanished.
He clearly left me behind on purpose.
‘How predictable.’
For some reason, Palaya, who had been beside me, was also called away by someone and left his seat.
He kept glancing at me as if he needed to use the restroom before disappearing.
I was left alone.
But I was accustomed to it.
“….”
All eyes fixed on me. Those gazes that would have felt sharp as blades before now left me unmoved.
No one approached.
Instead.
“An unexpected scent has mingled with tonight’s banquet, hasn’t it?”
A veiled blade drawn with a smooth smile.
“Ah, you noticed?”
“Yes, well… salty?”
A giggle.
“Hmm, rather than fresh… it feels quite aged.”
“Oh, like a fishy smell?”
The woman whose eyes met mine tilted her glass with a smile.
Her gaze fixed as if observing how a wingless insect would move.
“It’s certainly a scent that doesn’t belong on land. The Imperial Palace has become quite generous indeed, admitting guests of this sort.”
“I wonder if they’ve learned proper etiquette?”
“Who knows.”
“It wouldn’t be necessary in the water, would it?”
They were making such a ruckus laughing among themselves.
‘Pathetic.’
These Beastkin once appeared monstrous in my eyes.
What had I done wrong? Why did they despise me so thoroughly, look down upon me, and torment me?
What was the reason?
‘Well. What does the reason matter?’
They simply needed a target for their hatred.
I suppressed the smile that threatened to escape my lips.
Maintaining a completely cowed appearance on the surface.
‘So what of it?’
Cowards who wouldn’t even dare come at me directly.
Now I understood.
“The Noble Lady will rarely face defeat from this point forward.”
What I possessed. A faint smirk crossed my lips.
Whether any of them came at me, I had the strength to crush them utterly.
‘Hmm?’
Then a thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘What if I lured just one of them away and beat them senseless…?’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————