Black Killer Whale Baby [EN]: Chapter 147

Chapter 147

The Black Panthers are in Dragon City.

I was shocked to hear Lily stammer those words with such an innocent expression.

This was supposed to be the time when they were fawning over the female lead.

According to the original timeline, they shouldn’t have left their mansion in the capital.

‘I remember they hardly ever went out.’

Looking back at my previous playthroughs and the original story, it was always the same. Exactly the same.

But why now?

‘Could it be because of Ekion?’

In previous playthroughs, I had no idea how the Dragon Duke was treated or what happened to him.

He was a character I had absolutely no contact with.

‘Let’s hypothesize. What if a major incident or event related to the Dragon Duke occurred, and the Black Panthers are stationed in Dragon City because of it?’

The Black Panthers were allies of the Imperial Family, handling matters that the Imperial Family couldn’t openly deal with.

I’ll find out everything once I get to Dragon City, though.

I think I know why I found Lily here now.

‘Yeah, there’s no way those Black Panther bastards would have left her alone.’

If they were in the Dragon Territory, it makes sense.

Of course, on the other hand, it still doesn’t make sense that she was collapsed on the road after wandering for days, even with them around.

‘I couldn’t ask Lily any more questions because she looked so terrified.’

I slowly opened my mouth, recalling what happened in the field.

“I haven’t heard all the answers yet, but currently, the Panterion family is in Dragon City.”

“……”

“It seems this child was abandoned in the place we found her due to some incident.”

Dad nodded slightly.

Considering Lily’s appearance when we found her, it would be strange to think she hadn’t gone through something rough.

“I understand everything. However… why is that *thing* you mentioned in such a state?”

At Dad’s words, I turned my head.

There was Levi, holding a bundle of cloth with a slightly embarrassed expression.

Next to him, Whale was peering curiously with a stoic face….

Three steps away, Atlan was glaring at Levi as if he were looking at an enemy, his eyes blazing.

He was frowning deeply.

‘That guy, I told him not to glare, and he’s doing it again.’

For the record, the second one isn’t angry.

Then, a small squirrel peeked its face out from the bundle of cloth in Levi’s arms.

Not only Whale but also the knights who were watching exclaimed, “Oh!”

“Didn’t you say she transformed into her beast form to talk?”

“Yeah. I did. I did, but….”

Yes, Lily transformed into her beast form to talk to me.

I reflected on what happened in the field.

Just as Lily finished telling me everything, stammering in my arms….

“Ah, ah, achoo!”

Lily sneezed softly in the still chilly morning breeze.

At the same time, there was a *pop*! sound.

The baby beastkin was nowhere to be found in my arms, only a small squirrel.

I was dazed for a moment, but I snapped out of it because of Atlan next to me.

“……You hug her, and she shrinks?”

“Are you going to say she shrank? What kind of expression is that?”

The expression was so absurd that I was jolted back to my senses.

Lily, who had become a squirrel, couldn’t speak human language, but fortunately, she understood and could express herself.

“Perhaps, do you turn into a squirrel when you sneeze?”

*Dori dori!* [Shaking head no]

“Then, do you turn into a squirrel every certain amount of time?”

*Dori dori!*

“……Could it be that you turn into one without any specific conditions?”

*Kkeudeok!* [Nodding yes]

Thanks to her hard work in expressing herself, I learned that Lily didn’t know the conditions either.

But it was just as frustrating.

“She just went *pop* and turned into that.”

I said this and looked at the baby squirrel clinging to Levi’s arms.

‘Fortunately, Levi seems to like her?’

Besides, Levi lowered his body so Whale could see her too.

When Whale reached out his hand, Lily tilted her head, then approached and sniffed.

Then, she brought her forehead *kkong*! [onomatopoeia for a light tap] to Whale’s finger.

I unknowingly brought my hand to my chin.

“What are you doing?”

“……I’m thinking, Dad.”

“About what?”

“……It’s not bad to see something handsome and cute together.”

“That doesn’t seem like an answer to the question.”

“Yeah……. They say you should be careful when getting a pet.”

Then Dad glanced at Levi and Lily and said with a calm expression.

“You can’t call that an animal, can you?”

“Kkeueung.”

That’s right. I was just saying it. Just saying it.

“Anyway, it seems she’s been through a rough time, so I’m going to protect her for the time being.”

“Do as you wish.”

Dad put his hand on his chin as I did.

I suddenly realized that Dad puts his index finger on his lips even when he has small worries.

That was my habit.

‘When did he start copying my habit?’

He didn’t do this when we first met, so he must have been influenced by me.

Parents influence their children, but children also influence their parents.

I scratched my cheek at the newfound fact.

“Is the Dragon Duke still asleep?”

“Huh? Yeah. He opened his eyes when I woke up earlier, but when I checked again, he was sleeping.”

“So, he hasn’t seen her yet.”

“Huh? Lily, you mean? Right?”

Come to think of it, Ekion hasn’t seen Lily yet because he was sleeping.

Even though it was quite noisy last night and this morning.

“I’m saying this out of caution, but it would be better to have the meeting in animal form.”

“You mean in squirrel form? I don’t mind, but why?”

“The Dragon Duke you brought is obsessively attached.”

“……”

“Surely you don’t mean to say you didn’t know.”

I pondered and nodded.

“I know he likes me a bit abnormally. However, I think it’s just because he still thinks I’m his only guardian.”

“……”

“Do you think it’s more serious, Dad?”

Dad was silent for a moment before quietly asking. As if dealing with something very dangerous.

“What if that obsession harms your people?”

“I don’t know.”

“Will you abandon him?”

“Hmm?”

“Dad.”

I pondered for a moment before saying.

“If a child does something wrong, you have to scold them. Not abandon them.”

“……”

“I’ve thought of her as family from the moment I brought her in to protect her. Even if it’s hard to consider her family, don’t say things like that.”

“……I won’t.”

“You still have a lot to learn, Dad.”

Dad stared at me intently before suddenly putting his hand on my head.

“I guess so. I still have a long way to go. Me too. But I wasn’t trying to urge you to abandon the Dragon Duke.”

“Yeah, I know. And he’s good to me, so it’s okay.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

Like Dad said, I didn’t think Dad really meant to tell me to abandon Ekion.

“By the way, Dad. I suddenly became curious, did you deliberately tell the third and second [referring to Atlan and Levi] to call me ‘Teacher’?”

Dad tilted his head.

“I’ve never told them to do that.”

“……So, they were calling me that on their own.”

I wondered why they didn’t call him Dad.

“It’s okay. Time will solve it. By the way, Dad, didn’t you have something more to say?”

Then Dad shook his head slightly.

“It’s okay. It seems you’re not without a sense of awareness.”

That’s how our short conversation ended.

We set off with the female lead in tow.

After driving straight, we arrived at Dragon City before long.

It was my second visit.

* * *

‘Hmm, something’s strange.’

I finally entered Dragon City.

Last time, I came here as a member of Aquasiedel.

This time, I came as a representative of the aquatic beastkin delegation.

As the ‘Dragon’s Bride,’ that is.

‘Isn’t that why the gatekeepers welcomed me with smiling faces, calling me the Dragon’s Bride?’

The story that the Dragon’s Bride always dies is widespread.

However, no one felt uneasy seeing a carriage with a child who was about to die.

‘By the way, it’s strange.’

In the last playthrough, it was so natural that I didn’t think about it, but if the Imperial Family acted like they were going to brainwash the Dragon Duke in the last playthrough as well….

There’s no reason for the brainwashed Dragon Duke to kill the Dragon’s Bride, is there?

‘The Imperial Family is shady, the more I think about it….’

While I was thinking this, we arrived at the castle. It was the Dragon’s Castle I was visiting for the second time.

“Ekion is still asleep. What should we do?”

“Let’s leave him in the carriage for now. I heard you told your maids and the second one.”

“Right.”

If Ekion didn’t wake up even after arriving at the Dragon’s Castle, Dad and I would meet with a butler-like member of the Dragon’s Castle first.

Atlan and Levi were to be responsible for safely moving Ekion.

‘I need to attract attention well.’

While I was thinking that, the carriage stopped.

When I opened the carriage door and got out of the carriage in Dad’s arms, I was greatly surprised by the person I encountered in front of the door.

“Welcome to the Dragon’s Castle.”

A sleek and massive physique, an impression that was cold and heavy as if he were taciturn.

Unlike the Orca beastkin, he was a man with a sharp and honed feeling.

The person wearing all black clothes and even black hair was….

Duke Panterion.

The head of the Black Panther family.