Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 351

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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: Episode 15
No, that won’t work.
At least I should think of an efficient way to shut that bastard’s mouth before doing anything.
I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it.
I glanced around with a lighter heart. People were still gossiping about me, their voices grinding away like mortars and pestles, but it didn’t bother me in the slightest.
People, people. More people again.
The crowd was growing denser by the moment.
‘I need to slip away.’
Now was the time to make use of the place Brunel, Luca, Serin, and Rian had shown me.
‘I’ll just hide somewhere and find Assel once the banquet winds down.’
That was when it happened.
My gaze froze on one spot.
Not far from me, I saw two figures surrounded by a circle of beastkin.
There were two of them.
In the relatively dim lighting, it might have looked like ordinary socializing.
But my ears caught it clearly.
“Look at that—even water beasts wear clothes these days?”
“They’re trying to keep their manners, I suppose. Like that little orca over there.”
Titter-titter-titter. The quality of mockery was lower than what was directed at me.
“Hmm, isn’t a place like this a bit much for your kind?”
The targets of the ridicule were two men with dark brown hair. One appeared middle-aged, the other young.
Their hair gleamed with a wet sheen. I narrowed my eyes.
‘That kind of sheen… it’s a characteristic of aquatic beastkin.’
Moreover, the mockery they were receiving echoed what had been directed at me.
‘Hmm. They’re in the same situation as me.’
Though the Capital of the Empire was said to be inhabited only by terrestrial beastkin, that wasn’t entirely accurate.
Just as there were animals that could live both in water and on land.
‘Snakes, for example.’
But those whose classification was ambiguous like this tended to face ridicule. I was seeing it for the first time myself.
‘In my first and second loops, I was too busy enduring my own situation to notice.’
As the laughter intensified, the two men’s shoulders hunched further. The man at the front even began poking the middle-aged man’s shoulder repeatedly.
I was about to step forward with a frown.
“There you are.”
My wrist was grabbed.
When I turned, Assel was standing there, his brow furrowed in displeasure.
“Come with me.”
I quickly glanced back at the men. Fortunately, it seemed violence wouldn’t break out.
I saw the two brown-haired men turning to leave. Snicker-snicker. Followed by lingering mockery.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from their pitiful retreating figures.
Still, I didn’t resist or pull away from Assel’s hand.
“What are you staring at?”
“Nothing, Your Highness. The light was just bright.”
I turned my gaze forward again.
“You must greet the Crown Prince.”
“…Yes.”
“Don’t say anything unnecessary. Stay silent as a dead mouse.”
Yes, yes, as if I had a choice. Damn beast.
The moment I heard the word Crown Prince, my mood plummeted to the depths.
I couldn’t help but think how convenient it was that he was now holding my hand so firmly—the very hand he once claimed was so filthy that even the heavens would split rather than touch it.
Before long, I came to a halt before a dais. Behind the low steps with their elevation, an ornate chair came into view.
And the figure seated upon it.
I lowered my head before I could see his face.
“Oh, Panterion.”
A cheerful tone, a voice of an age similar to mine.
“I greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
“Yes, Assel. Both of you, raise your heads.”
I obediently lifted my head. As my eyes opened, I saw the familiar golden hair.
Pale white skin, golden eyes as well.
Kael Heltiade.
The Crown Prince, a lion beastkin.
And the original male protagonist.
“Is this it?”
Yet rather than appearing virtuous, he twisted only one corner of his mouth into a contemptible smile.
“An orca.”
No, his expression twisted further.
“Seeing it in person… it’s even worse.”
He covered his nose, openly scrunching the bridge and the corners of his eyes.
“The smell alone is different.”
“….”
“Ugh, you can tell it crawled out of the water.”
His gleaming eyes brimmed with pure malice.
He took the trouble to pinch his nose despite knowing there was no smell.
Contempt and disgust.
And cruel, curious eyes anticipating my reaction.
“No matter how much you dress it up, you can’t hide your true nature.”
I lowered my head.
Outwardly, with an attitude of perfect obedience.
‘I wonder if you even realize. Your hair reeks of not being washed for ten days.’
While sneering inwardly.
“…My apologies.”
Moreover, stupidly enough, whether it was the first time, the second time, or now—he repeated the exact same words without changing a single syllable.
It was clear he had no capacity for any other form of mockery. No, he’d clearly surrendered his brain wrinkles to a cane for his old age to lean on.
“Hey, come closer.”
In that instant, the air froze.
“What are you doing? I said come here. You….”
“Your Highness.”
That was when a low, resolute voice cut through.
“That’s enough.”
“…What?”
Wrinkles etched across the original male protagonist’s smug face. As if he couldn’t possibly comprehend what was happening now.
“He is a guest of our house.”
For just that moment, I forgot my act and my eyes widened slightly.
A brief silence. Even the Crown Prince couldn’t help but exhale sharply.
“Ha….”
The Prince burst into audible laughter.
“A guest? Who? You? Did you say that?”
“….”
“Assel, you care about such a thing?”
While the Crown Prince laughed carelessly, Assel simply stood there like a rock, his expression cold.
His face betraying nothing.
“This is amusing. Ha… I haven’t laughed in a while, you know? Usually you act far worse than this.”
Assel’s eyes hardened for a moment.
My circumstances had spread as rumors even to the Imperial Palace, so it wasn’t strange for the Prince to mock me like this.
I watched all of this unfold, then turned my gaze away.
I was slightly bored.
Moved?
There was no way that could happen.
‘So it’s fine when I do it, but not when others do?’
Until just before arriving at the banquet hall, he’d acted as though I hadn’t learned anything, insulting me by asking if my brain was filled with udon noodles—this hypocrite would suddenly reform himself in the blink of an eye.
I could only laugh quietly where no one could see.
“Well, it was entertaining after so long anyway.”
The Crown Prince stroked his own chin as if he were an adult, scanning me over like a satisfied beast.
Ugh, I could never do that. He even added muttering loud enough for me to hear.
“Go on. I’ll let you.”
Goodbye, friend~ And you dirty fish? He laughed mockingly until the very end, snickering.
Until I had completely withdrawn.
The place where one had an audience with the Crown Prince was slightly isolated from the banquet hall. When going to the audience chamber, one could walk through the interior of the banquet hall.
But the return path required passing through a quiet corridor. By the time I reached the door connected to the banquet hall.
Assel stopped.
“Don’t misunderstand.”
It was the first words from him, who had been silent until now.
“You don’t need to thank me.”
My gaze lifted.
“…Yes.”
A brief answer. And in a very obedient tone at that.
Though internally, I was seething with sarcasm.
‘Damn it. Who’s thanking you? You insult yourself all day, and when someone else does it, you stop them—what’s so great about that?’
Even a cruel master will protect his dog if someone else beats it. Because then there’s no room left for him to do the beating.
If he wanted to add the titles of brutal abuser, jailer, and now hypocrite to his collection, I had no intention of stopping him.
For the first time since I’d been obedient, I raised my head without permission.
I stared directly at him.
“…What?”
“Nothing, sir.”
I turned my head toward the door.
“If you’re finished speaking, may I leave?”
That’s when his grip on my wrist—which he’d still been holding—tightened.
Damn it, the strength in it.
I suppressed the pain.
“What’s with that attitude.”
“…?”
“You were docile just a moment ago.”
He fell silent for a moment. Assel clicked his tongue and glared at me with cold eyes.
It felt like staring into blue flames.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
I tilted my head ever so slightly.
“How am I looking, sir?”
What does it matter. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.

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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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