Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 80

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

Chapter 80
Could it be that the Dragon Duke’s rampage was already occurring at this point in time?
Even as I thought this, I moved my body.
Toward where the door was located.
The sound of footsteps continued to reach my ears.
-Tus, I’ll ask you just one thing. Please answer me honestly. Is the Dragon Duke in a ‘rampage’ state?
-No!
Tus cried out.
-The Duke is fine. He’s not hurt! Nothing’s wrong! It’s just…!
Squeak. The sound of the door opening interrupted Tus’s words, and I instinctively pressed myself flat against the wall.
When I cautiously peeked my head out, I saw a massive shadow emerge from the doorway first.
Such an enormous shadow… Just how large is the Dragon Duke?!
I swallowed hard.
Soon after, I saw the figure that had appeared approaching the broken plate.
‘Just a little more, a little bit more….’
If he moved any further, his form would become visible beneath the moonlight.
Finally, when the Dragon Duke emerged into the moonlight, my mouth fell open.
‘A young boy?’
What on earth was that massive shadow about?
Despite the shadow’s size, he was a small child.
I could only see the child’s back, but he seemed to be staring blankly at the food scattered on the floor.
‘No matter how frightening he is, the service here is absolutely terrible.’
Was he angry because the food had spilled?
Was he about to throw a tantrum now?
But the next moment, what the Dragon Duke did was utterly unexpected.
‘Wait, hold on!’
Before I knew it, I had already rushed out and grabbed the small hand.
“Wait!”
I stared at the child with a bewildered expression.
“Were you trying to eat that food off the floor?”
“….”
In the hand I was holding, there was indeed a crushed tomato that had fallen to the floor.
And the appearance of the tomato visible beneath the moonlight was….
Spoiled?
It was grotesquely rotten.
I could not help but recognize it. There was once a time when I too was forced to eat spoiled food like this.
…When I was sold to the Black Panthers.
Regardless of how resilient the Dragon Duke’s stomach might be, to give a child something like this to eat….
‘What on earth is going on here?’
The Dragon Duke being monitored, or being in this dilapidated building like this.
There were more than one or two strange things about this situation, and yet he was still the Dragon Duke.
The symbol of this Empire, revered by all the beastkin.
I never imagined such a person would be treated like this.
At the very least, he deserved to be treated with basic human decency.
“Drop that. It’s already spoiled.”
Only after the words left my mouth did I think I should have used formal speech, and I winced.
But it was already too late.
When I looked up, I saw a face pale as snow.
‘He’s not the age I remember, but his face is exactly the same.’
That brilliant azure hair I had always admired.
Beneath it lay skin so pristine and porcelain-white that veins seemed to shimmer through, and golden eyes that left a striking impression burned into my memory.
‘…But why does he look like this?’
These were not the wild, crazed eyes of the berserk state I had witnessed before, but rather vacant and hazy pupils.
Or perhaps they seemed indifferent, utterly hollow.
…Was it malnutrition?
The first things that came to mind were his sunken cheeks and slender neck.
The skeletal wrist I had grasped.
‘As if someone had deliberately given him spoiled food to starve him, or slowly kill him….’
I stopped mid-thought and shuddered.
“Hang in there a little longer. Once he dies and is reborn, things should improve somewhat.”
Though I hadn’t heard a single word from Tus about this, the pieces seemed to fit together, and my skin crawled.
No, let me calm down first. I haven’t actually confirmed anything yet.
‘The Maid might return soon.’
I glanced down the corridor. There were no signs of her returning, but there was no benefit in lingering.
“You’re the Dragon Duke, aren’t you?”
“….”
“I’m not your enemy. Don’t worry. I just want to talk.”
“….”
“Um, hello?”
…I’d never met someone as taciturn as Father before.
No, he was even worse. He didn’t even seem willing to respond.
He simply looked at me once, then at the tomato in his hand, tilting his head in confusion.
“Hey? You’re still holding that? Let go, I said. Let, go.”
“….”
When I forcibly pried open his fingers with my other hand, instead of resisting, he simply let the tomato slip from his grasp.
Yet his expression remained bewildered as he tilted his head back and forth.
“Hey, Tus? Tus, stop crying now and do something….”
Tus, who should have mediated—or rather, facilitated communication—between us, had been sobbing uncontrollably ever since I grabbed the Dragon Duke’s wrist, proving utterly useless.
“…Tus.”
The moment I spoke the young Snake’s name, the Dragon Duke finally opened his mouth and spoke for the first time.
Only now did I finally notice Tus, who had been perched on my shoulder all this time.
“See? Here he is—your familiar. So, shall we have a little conversation?”
“…Conversation, conversation?”
“Yes. A conversation.”
I pointed toward the open door.
“We don’t know who might come by, so let’s go inside.”
The problem was that I had no time to spare. I needed to finish this quickly and return.
Moments later, as I stepped into the Dragon Duke’s Chamber, I let out a small sigh.
‘Goodness, that scared me.’
When I told the Dragon Duke to come inside, he ignored me and suddenly crouched down again, trying to pick up food from the ground.
It was clearly spoiled, so I had to stop him and forcibly drag him in here.
Fortunately, my frustration boiled over and I grabbed his collar and pulled him along—and he didn’t resist even once during the entire ordeal.
-Your Grace, Your Grace… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
Meanwhile, Tus was cradled in the Dragon Duke’s arms, doing nothing but crying.
What was strange was that the Dragon Duke merely held Tus without actually embracing him or wiping away his tears.
He simply stared down at Tus intently.
I tilted my head.
“Hey, Your Grace. Ah, forget it. I’ll just speak freely. Why don’t you wipe away your familiar’s tears? He’s crying so pitifully. You have no idea how much he wept missing you.”
“….”
He really is taciturn.
If Tus hadn’t called out to him earlier, I would have thought he couldn’t speak at all.
‘This wasn’t how the original character was supposed to be.’
The Dragon Duke’s current state, and even his rampage earlier—
He keeps showing me behavior that defies all my expectations.
‘How am I supposed to have a conversation like this?’
Then, Tus finally stopped crying and lifted his head.
Though still sniffling, he managed to speak without difficulty.
-Calypso, I’m sorry. Tus just got so happy that tears came out.
“It’s fine. You can cry all you want, but first explain what’s going on here, alright? How did this happen?”
Countless questions swirled in my mind, but I needed to organize them before asking.
I let out a sigh and voiced the most pressing question first. I planned to ask methodically, step by step.
Or at least, that was the plan….
“Why is someone of the Dragon Duke’s stature eating rotten food—no, picking food up off the ground and eating it? I mean, the food itself is one thing, but why is he scavenging from the floor?”
Once I opened my mouth, the questions came pouring out uncontrollably.
The Dragon Duke appeared older than me.
By appearance, around six or seven years old?
At that age, he surely must have received basic education.
-Your Grace cannot eat without Tus by his side.
“You mentioned that in the carriage too. But did you mean it literally?”
I’d assumed it meant he was raised so delicately that he couldn’t eat unless his familiar was there to attend to him.
Without you, wouldn’t the meaning be quite different if it meant he’d be eating scraps off the floor?
Tus hesitated in the Dragon Duke’s hand before slowly opening his mouth.
-Calypso, the Dragon Duke doesn’t need to reproduce. When he dies, the next Dragon Duke is born.
“I already know that.”
That’s why in the book, the Dragon Duke was excluded from the male lead candidates who had something going on with the female lead.
When the Dragon Duke dies, the next generation Dragon Duke is born.
-Tus was born as the Dragon Duke’s retainer, instinctively knowing the fundamentals. How to serve the Duke, how to use power, how to be loyal. I know everything about the Duke.
And that child becomes the Dragon Duke.
-The Dragon Duke must learn from birth. If he doesn’t learn, his body just grows without anything else.
“…So the Dragon Duke’s current state is like that, I see.”
I chose my words carefully.
“You mean he’s an idiot?”
Tus didn’t understand the word idiot.
When I explained the meaning simply, he nodded in agreement.
-The Duke can’t eat without Tus. The humans never taught the Duke how to hold utensils…. Tus is a retainer, so I can’t teach the Duke.
Hearing those words, the child sitting there blankly looked different to me.
He hadn’t been ignoring what I said.
‘He simply had nothing he could say.’
I pressed my lips firmly shut.

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