Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 96

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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 96
“…I’m listening.”
“Taking revenge on someone who abandoned me isn’t wrong. I nearly died because of them. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes.”
When I met his gaze, Father nodded slowly with a complicated expression.
“Father, I’m going to become the Matriarch.”
Father was probably thinking of Rumi, the Maid.
‘In this place, there’s only one person who nearly caused my death.’
But he would never know that this statement carried within it not just that abuse, but the weight of over sixty years of time.
It didn’t matter.
What mattered now was speaking this resolve aloud.
“If that’s what you wish, then it will come to pass.”
“No.”
I shook my head firmly, then lifted it.
“While the Orca Family Matriarch still lives, I’ll take the position of Matriarch.”
To drive her out. In other words, usurping the position of Matriarch.
“I will cast aside someone whose prime has not yet ended and sit upon the Matriarch’s seat right before their eyes, watching clearly.”
“…Is that your revenge?”
“Yes.”
“It won’t be easy.”
His voice was blunt, but concern was woven through it.
I felt a warmth that didn’t match the solemn situation.
I smiled brightly, bathed in the light of the setting sun.
“Father, if revenge were easy, why would it be revenge?”
Father, who had been staring at me intently, soon smiled faintly.
“That’s true. So you won’t take revenge on me either?”
It was an acknowledgment of three years of neglect.
I shook my head.
“From the moment I called you Father, I forgot all of that. It’s only natural.”
I embraced Father’s neck.
When I released him and our eyes met, I smiled the brightest, most genuine smile for the first time.
“I’m generous to those on my side.”
Then Father’s eyes crinkled once before he smiled again.
His face looked as relieved as a prisoner casting off chains that had bound him.
“Yes. It’s good to have a clear purpose.”
“Yes. Look forward to it.”
Father would soon be called the father of the Matriarch.
“When we return, there will be so much to do. The days of idleness are over now.”
“That’s quite frightening.”
It was no illusion that Father’s footsteps toward the carriage seemed slightly lighter.
“So what will you do first when you return?”
Ah, I can answer that with confidence.
“What else? I need to grow stronger.”
Very seriously, at that.
* * *
Bellus gazed out at the Aquasiadel Territories visible before him.
As the landscape swept past the window in blurs, his homeland and home drew ever closer.
“Thank you.”
At the unexpected gratitude, Bellus turned his gaze from the window.
Across from him sat Calypso with a serene expression.
A small smile crossed her round face.
“Do we really resemble each other that much? What you said was helpful. When someone helps, it’s only right to say thanks.”
“….”
As the smile faded, Calypso fixed him with a serious gaze.
“What will you do about not being able to speak of the Dragon Duke? You could have earned merit just by telling.”
“I have no intention of using tricks, so don’t waste your worry. Do you want another oath?”
“What….”
Calypso tilted her head but ultimately extracted an oath from him.
Not understanding why he was like this, she took what she could get and made sure everything was certain.
Lately it felt like she was overusing the Sea’s oath, but what did it matter?
She used it where it was needed.
Calypso thought this way and opened her mouth.
“My thanks are sincere.”
Her earnest voice rang out.
The Dragon Duke was sleeping peacefully, his head resting on Calypso’s small legs.
Perhaps aware of this, her voice was somewhat quieter.
“Because of you, I’ve resolved to aim for the position of Matriarch. There’s no point in regretting it now.”
“I don’t regret it.”
Bellus spoke firmly.
Calypso tilted her head, then thought to herself.
‘He must have really wanted to kill me or turn me into a pulp.’
Otherwise, why would he drag her into this blood-soaked competition?
And to someone who had said she didn’t want to do it and told him to become Matriarch himself.
Calypso thought he couldn’t possibly regard a three-year-old like herself as a true rival.
She decided it was merely his own amusement and stopped worrying about it.
As the carriage raced on again, and finally crossed the threshold into Aquasiadel’s borders.
Bellus murmured quietly to himself.
“…I don’t regret it.”
Since even Calypso had fallen asleep, only Pierre barely heard this whisper.
‘This isn’t something he’d care to worry about anyway.’
Bellus stared intently at the sleeping Calypso, regardless of whether Pierre was looking or not.
“If you do anything foolish, word will spread that you died beyond the borders.”
“…I have no intention of killing her.”
“…”
“You needn’t believe me. Anyway, may I ask the second question you promised me here?”
Pierre nodded slowly.
Bellus asked once more.
“Since I asked the first question, have you still been having those strange dreams?”
An ill-fitting tension flickered across the young boy’s face—an emotion that vanished the moment Pierre spoke.
“Yes, …I still have never dreamed even once.”
“I see.”
“When someone repeats a question like that, it usually means they want to confirm whether others experience the same thing as they do. What kind of dreams are you having?”
“…Nothing of consequence. But I have no obligation to answer you, do I? You weren’t interested anyway.”
“At least thanks to the daughter sleeping here, I’m not entirely uninterested. I’m willing to listen if you speak.”
Perhaps out of consideration for the sleeping Calypso, the father’s voice was quiet.
“Since you lowered your voice for her sake, I’m willing to help to that extent.”
“…”
“Do you need help?”
After the monotonous question and emotionless answer ended, the father fell silent.
Silence stretched on for a while, but Bellus ultimately did not answer Pierre’s words.
Bellus’s thoughts continued endlessly.
“What do I think of Pierre Aquasiadel? Nothing in particular?”
There was always a voice ringing in his head when he closed his eyes.
A bright, youthful woman’s voice.
“Just, a somewhat pitiful person? They say he was sick and spent his whole life confined to his quarters before dying. I just thought it wouldn’t have been different from how I lived, so I don’t think much of it. I don’t particularly dislike him. Ah, if he were alive, I would have tried to clash with him somehow or find a way to use him.”
At some point, Bellus became aware of the title this woman used to call him.
No, he had only truly understood it very recently.
“Eldest Brother, you think more than expected, don’t you?”
In the dream, neither face nor body appeared clearly, so he wondered who this person was who called him by such a name.
He always suspected why it felt so longing.
“Hello, Eldest Brother.”
Until finally, before meeting his younger sister for the first time at the Family Meeting.
And the day he faced Calypso, Bellus dreamed again.
“I’m going to create a world where all aquatic creatures are free. Isn’t that really wonderful?”
A confident smile, a clear laugh.
The long, flowing hair was the symbol of direct Orca Family lineage.
Though her face was still not visible, Bellus understood.
Ah, so tender and longing, so worrying and concerning.
You are my family.
And so strong and worthy of reverence.
My liege.
“So don’t die before me, Eldest Brother.”
Bellus would wake with tears streaming down his face whenever he had such dreams.
He couldn’t remember the dream itself. Only a faint voice remained.
That was enough.
“…Eldest?”
“Yeah. You’re the eldest, aren’t you? What else would I call you?”
So you’re that person.
On the other hand, Bellus resisted such dreams.
‘Why me?’
Whether it was the pride of an orca who couldn’t acknowledge anyone weaker than himself, or simply his nature, it didn’t matter.
“I don’t believe I would ever kill Calypso Aquasiadel.”
Whenever I saw Calypso, jealousy would flare up, and there were moments when restraint became difficult.
Calypso interpreted this as killing intent directed at him, but it was something else entirely.
It was an impulse to confirm whether this was truly that person Calypso had seen in his dreams—the one who made him want to follow.
“Rather, it’s the impulse to follow that I struggle to overcome.”
“That’s an odd thing to say.”
Fortunately, however, Bellus was a beast capable of patience.
“Time will prove it.”
So prove it to me.
That you are truly that person I cherished, treasured, and revered.

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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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