Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 91
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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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Chapter 91
On Mother’s face, I could see the traces of time that had accumulated during our separation.
Beyond that, she also appeared to have lost some weight.
Yet when I saw that gentle expression—the one Mother wore when she was truly at peace—my strength drained away completely.
It really is Mother.
My Mother….
Strangely, tears I thought I had forgotten came streaming down my cheeks.
I wiped away the tears earnestly.
I didn’t want my tears to blur my vision and prevent me from seeing Mother.
‘I cannot return to her side yet, but I will definitely come back.’
Now, facing Mother like this, I understood it even more clearly.
Yes, I wanted to go home….
I missed Mother, who would greet me wearing an apron when I came home in my school uniform.
A moment later, the door opened and someone emerged carefully.
The moment I saw that face, the tears I had been holding back came streaming down again. I tried to hold them back, but I simply could not.
“Are you cold? The balcony window is closed, which is strange. The kitchen door must be open. Should I check?”
A tender voice. It was the voice that had always called my name more warmly than anyone else in the world.
“My precious daughter~!”
“Daddy loves you most.”
It was Father. His handsome face seemed a bit more tanned, and there were a few more wrinkles.
It was Father, whom I had missed so dearly.
I could not hold back and reached out my hand toward Father.
As expected, my hand passed right through Father.
Right. I had passed through the door to get here, so there was no way I could touch Father.
With a tearful expression, I let out a small laugh.
‘Thank goodness, they seem to be doing well….’
I had been afraid that my disappearance had brought great despair to my parents.
But what frightened me even more was….
The fear that my place beside them would disappear.
This terrified me so much.
Perhaps this fear was even stronger because I was an adopted child.
But it’s alright.
My parents looked healthy and were kind people, so surely when I return….
It was at that moment I had thought this far.
I suddenly lifted my head.
Huh? No, wait.
‘Did I mishear?’
Could it be….
I wanted to deny it, but it was a sound I could not deny.
Waaaaaah!
…It was the sound of a young child crying.
“Oh my, our Princess must have woken up! You stay here. I’ll bring her to you.”
“Yes, bring her quickly. It’s about time for her feeding.”
I watched Father rush away with his mouth still open, my eyes wide with alarm.
…No. No.
That can’t be right.
Can it?
But contrary to my hopes, Father returned carrying a small child.
It was obvious at a glance.
The baby resembled both Mother and Father unmistakably.
“Our daughter was born from Mother’s body. That’s why she looks like us.”
Not resembling my parents had been my only complex.
Though I had accepted it as inevitable and managed it, it had caused me countless moments of worry and internal conflict.
During my teenage years, I had fretted endlessly about whether I would be abandoned.
It was a nail that finally melted away at my parents’ firm declaration that I was their only child in this life.
That nail had come back to life and driven itself deep into my chest.
“Oh, our precious Princess. Were you hungry?”
“Waaaaaah!”
“No? Should we change your diaper?”
“Ugh, Mother’s arms are tired. Come here, our Princess!”
No. That’s not right, is it?
My mouth opened and closed soundlessly.
I felt as though I couldn’t breathe.
Mother. Father. I’m here.
“Mother… Fa…ther.”
I crossed sixty years of time just to get here.
So please, look at me.
I endured all that painful time thinking only of you both…
“…No, that’s not it. Yes. I understand. I can understand.”
Why am I crying? When I think about it, you two had such a good relationship.
I heard Mother was diagnosed with infertility at a young age.
Or more precisely, she was told she was ‘nearly infertile.’
Yet without despairing, she adopted a child and raised me with love—such a good person. So couldn’t a miracle like this come to you?
Yes, I’ve gained a younger sibling.
So, Mother. Father.
I didn’t forget, did I?
Tell me I didn’t.
“Father.”
I’m crying right now. You always came running whenever I cried.
Father, you haven’t forgotten me now, have you?
Say it isn’t so.
Otherwise… all my efforts up until now would be too pitiful and tragic.
“Our Eldest Brother was just a little smaller than the Princess. Isn’t that right, dear?”
I stopped mid-sob.
They say crying and laughing at once becomes something strange—such an absurd thought crossed my mind that my tears stopped like a lie, and a smile bloomed at the corners of my mouth.
Yes, my parents couldn’t have forgotten me.
After all they’ve done to raise me.
If I just return like this… we can all live together happily, can’t we?
Having a younger sibling is a joyful thing, after all.
But in the next moment, words shattered the joy that filled my heart.
“Dear, stop.”
A firm voice. I could even feel a coldness as if something were being cut away.
From Father, whom I loved more than anyone.
From Father, who had loved me more than anyone.
“She’s a child who no longer exists.”
I heard words that erased me.
“Even if she returns, she’s a stranger. Think of it that way.”
My place to return to vanishes before my eyes.
Why?
Father, what… what did I do wrong?
I’ll fix it. I’ll fix it.
“So don’t even think of bringing it up again.”
….
I can fix anything. I’m really good at that.
So, Father.
Why are you trying to forget me?
Don’t erase my place. Father, please don’t.
“…Yes. I will. I’m sorry, dear.”
Mother, Father. Why already… have you forgotten me?
Tears fell drop by drop.
I couldn’t even think to wipe them away, just watching them fall endlessly.
As I slowly lowered my head with the hollow feeling, my body began to disappear from below.
The last thing I saw was.
“No, no…! Mother, Father! I’m here. Sob, I’m here…!”
“I won’t bring it up again.”
“Why, Mother, Father!!”
“Yes, never again.”
My family—no longer a place where I belonged.
“Sob, Father, Father, Father!!”
I reached out my hand desperately, but it vanished the moment it barely touched Father’s cheek.
My family vanished before my eyes.
* * *
“….”
“…Dear?”
Suchan blinked his eyes wide before slowly shaking his head.
“Why are you like that? Is something wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing. It felt like someone touched my cheek.”
Suchan answered his wife’s question in a bewildered yet tender voice.
His wife Jihyeon tilted her head, then grew melancholic.
Just as I had anticipated.
“I told you not to bring up that child’s name.”
“But dear… how can I not?”
Tears seemed to well up behind Jihyeon’s parched eyes, yet they did not fall.
When sorrow overflowed the heart beyond its capacity, there came moments when even tears would not flow.
“She’s our daughter. Sieun is our daughter.”
Ansieun. The name of the daughter who had vanished.
She had left one day saying she would go to school, just as always, and never returned home.
I had done everything to find her, yet in the end could not.
Everyone said she was dead. They told me to give up now.
“That child might be crying somewhere. How can I, her mother, ever be happy?”
“Dear, you’re getting worked up. Please calm down. Yes?”
Suchan had to make a decision to protect his wife and their second child.
It was something only he could do for his wife, who even suffered from depression—to awaken her to reality.
“I know. I loved our Sieun more than anyone.”
“….”
“But we can’t search anymore. Let’s focus on Jieun now. Let’s forget about this.”
Yet Suchan himself knew the truth.
How could one ever forget a beloved daughter?
Suchan gazed out the window as he always did.
“Dad! I love the sky! Sieun loves whales too!”
“Dad, maybe I should really try going into marine biology?”
My daughter, are you eating well?
Father still misses my daughter.
…Wherever you are, I hope you’re not in pain.
* * *
Pierre was a man who had rarely experienced worry throughout his life.
He had been born with tremendous power and striking beauty, and from the moment of his growth, he received his mother’s complete trust and confidence.
Power followed naturally.
At the same time, his inherent nature was so indifferent that he learned ennui before desire.
Even when he eventually suffered a grave illness and withdrew from the world, none of these things became an obstacle in his life.
Though he had suffered from illness, he had never worried about anything serious until now.
Yet that man was currently grappling with the greatest concern of his life.
‘Why on earth has she become so silent?’
It was because of Calypso, his one and only daughter.
No matter how much he pondered, he could not find the cause.
Calypso had always been different from him—her round face perpetually radiant with confidence, her mouth constantly busy with cheerful chatter.
She seemed unaware of her own talkative nature, but Pierre adored this about his daughter.
Yet in a single day, all of that had vanished entirely.
Pierre recalled what had happened the day before.
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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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