Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 352

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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 16
For some reason, he couldn’t find his words. Though I’ll admit, I was giving him a rather disrespectful look—more so than usual.
But surely one couldn’t pick a fight over just a glance.
‘Though with him, maybe it’s possible.’
Not that it mattered. He was the type who would never embarrass himself in front of others’ eyes.
‘At most, he’d grab my wrist like this.’
I gritted my teeth, enduring the sharp sting that bloomed across my wrist once more.
“Assel!”
Someone called from a distance.
It was a summons he couldn’t ignore—hesitation and irritation flickered across his eyes for a moment.
But when the voice called again, he ran a hand through his hair and turned his head.
“…I’m here.”
He left a short, gruff response.
“Don’t move carelessly.”
A warning wrapped in threat, telling me to stay put.
Then he simply turned and walked toward where the voice had come from.
Of course, I gave no answer.
‘Yeah, right.’
I waited until he disappeared, then moved immediately.
Completely ignoring his order to stay still, I headed for the banquet hall.
Though naturally, I had no intention of becoming a laughingstock at the center of it all again.
I’m not a masochist.
I deliberately changed course midway to take a different path.
‘This should be it…?’
My destination was the second-floor terrace Serin had mentioned—the one at the left end, supposedly the quietest yet where sound carried well.
Click.
Fortunately, no one was here. Then again, all the places the Weakling Club children had shown me were sparse of people. They must have desperately sought out these spots to escape the torrential scorn.
I entered, locked the door, and walked with heavy steps.
The moment I sat in the chair, a groan escaped me.
“Ah, I think I’ll live.”
Tilting my head back, I saw the night sky scattered with stars.
‘Isn’t 9 PM when the children of the new kingdom should be heading to dreamland?’
A hollow laugh spilled out. This is child abuse by any measure, damn these mainland bastards.
My feet throbbed slightly. The reason was obvious.
The Black Panther family had no women’s clothing besides what was tailored for Lili. But since they couldn’t let their partner look shabby, they’d hastily put together an outfit for me.
‘Their servants would never consider my comfort.’
I’d only made it this far because I’d grown tougher through awakening my water affinity, felt less pain, and trained hard under Edric’s guidance.
‘Was it the first time my toenails broke? Or the second?’
My feet, bleeding profusely, seemed to overlap in my vision. I turned my gaze away without interest.
Silence.
“The terrace is quiet, but that’s exactly the problem—it makes useless thoughts creep in. Just so you know.”
“Ah, right….”
Useless thoughts, she said.
If I hadn’t possessed a goal, I suppose I would have been like that. In my first playthrough when I was weak, I would have been crying my eyes out by now.
‘But coming here wasn’t just for rest—there’s another purpose to it….’
If I truly wanted a place with no one around, the garden Brunel mentioned would have been better. Yet I deliberately chose to come here.
“…So.”
There was a reason for everything.
‘They’ve arrived.’
I heard voices from beyond the wall. Rian had mentioned it—this place doesn’t get many visitors, but sound carries well here.
I rose carefully and peeked my head over the edge, spotting men conversing diagonally below.
Smoke curled upward as if they were smoking cigarettes.
‘Cigarettes, huh. High probability they’re carnivores.’
Beasts and carnivorous creatures smoked frequently.
The men spoke in hushed tones.
“You’re certain about this?”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m telling you.”
For some reason, they seemed grave.
“You know my cousin was secretly selected as a guard there, right? She’s our family’s ace.”
“And you know she’s the heir. So if that’s true….”
“Yeah.”
One man held his breath. I found myself leaning in as well.
“The Dragon Duke still hasn’t been born.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
‘…What?’
The Dragon Duke.
In the original work, he was a reliable ally to the heroine Lili.
Much older than Lili, and when I read the book, he was popular as a mature, composed figure—a mentor-like character, a teacher.
As for me, I’d been caught up in one crisis after another, so in my previous playthrough, the Dragon Duke’s active period never even arrived before I died or had no involvement with him whatsoever.
But what was this supposed to mean?
He hadn’t been born yet?
‘…He’s younger than Lili now?’
No, that wasn’t the important part.
It seemed their gravity stemmed from more than just this.
“Yeah, really. Right now he’s… still in egg form.”
An egg.
I’d happened to hear in my previous playthrough how the Dragon Duke was born, but this was still surprising.
‘… This is information I didn’t anticipate.’
I came to this terrace because, from the moment I heard Serin and Rian speak, I made a decision.
It was about gathering information.
I came here thinking that if there was something worth discussing in such a quiet place, it had to be important.
Through repeated regressions, I learned that information was the most valuable asset of all.
Even if that wasn’t the case, I was prepared to use any useful information I could gather, and if all else failed, I was ready to attend several more banquets or investigate matters directly—but….
‘I hit the jackpot on my first attempt?’
What I desired most right now was information about the Dragon Duke.
Why?
Because aside from the Imperial Palace and those Black Panther bastards, the Dragon Duke was the only one who could wield significant influence over these cursed terrestrial beastkin.
I had to become entangled with him somehow.
‘I was even planning to make him an appealing proposal.’
But he hadn’t been born yet.
Setting aside how shocking that sounded, wouldn’t this make a transaction difficult?
‘No, wait a moment….’
I grasped my chin and tilted it thoughtfully. While I was lost in contemplation, the conversation below continued.
“So that’s why he moved here.”
“What?!”
“He moved to the Capital.”
“Wh-what do you mean.”
“You know that haunted manor in the West?”
“Ah, ah… Surely not… the traitor’s house?!”
“That’s the one. He’s disguising it with a barrier, I hear?”
“Good heavens….”
Oh ho.
What kind of sweet information was this?
The corners of my mouth lifted slightly.
I had wondered how I could possibly visit that fellow in the Dragon’s territory, especially one still in egg form.
And he’s conveniently here in the Capital?
The men continued exchanging a few more tidbits before leaving—trivial gossip about their own secret love affairs and the infidelities of others that hardly interested me.
Just in case, I made sure to remember the protagonists of the scandals well.
My heart raced quietly.
The first and second regressions were spent in near agony, but that didn’t mean I had no information at all.
Before the regression, to that extent.
I found myself grinning, fangs bared.
‘I found it, my nuclear bomb.’
The bomb I had intended to deliver to the Dragon Duke to hand over to the Imperial Palace and the Black Panther faction had just shifted in a different direction.
“An egg.”
That distinguished personage said to be inside the egg, contrary to my expectations.
I muttered with a savage grin.
“I just need to steal it.”

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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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