Black Killer Whale Baby [EN]: Chapter 208

208

“Happy birthday, Calypso!”

I blinked, showered in paper confetti.

“Ah, sorry. Misa.”

“Hehe. No, it’s okay.”

I had instinctively grabbed and subdued the person throwing something as I turned the corner.

I realized it was Misa and that it was confetti only after I had already acted. I felt a little bad.

‘My hands were too fast.’

I let go of Misa’s hands and dusted off her shoulders.

The nanny, who used to be much taller than me, was now about the same height.

“By the way, why do you look so surprised? Don’t tell me, you forgot it was your birthday……?!”

“No, no. How could I forget?”

Actually, I had forgotten. Just for a moment.

And that was because….

‘That third kid visited so naturally, didn’t he?’

Agenor had barged in early in the morning, no, almost at dawn, said what he had to say, and left.

There was no birthday greeting at all, so I naturally forgot for a moment.

‘There are things you can forget, and then there are things you can’t.’

I snapped my head up.

The reason I shouldn’t forget today. Was it because I was finally becoming an adult?

No, I’ve been an adult several times, so there’s no special feeling.

‘Ekion.’

Wasn’t today the day that kid finally grew up!

I hurried my steps.

“He’s not here?”

“Yes? Yes……”

When I arrived at Ekion’s room, I ran into Eiya, who was cleaning the room.

“He said he was going to the library and left for a bit……”

Ekion in the library?

It wasn’t strange. Ekion often went there because it was the quietest place.

He went there to read books, but mostly he took naps there with Tus.

He said it was a habit he developed while I was away from the mansion.

“Oh, Cal, Calypso?!”

Eiya called me from behind, but I didn’t answer and kept walking.

‘Ah, I should have asked Eiya if Ekion had grown.’

After walking to the library for a while, I realized I had forgotten to ask Eiya.

And what he looked like if he had grown.

But it’s okay.

I’ll see it soon too.

‘Why am I more excited to see someone else on my birthday?’

But the long-awaited meeting didn’t go as planned.

“Calypso, Calypso! Just a moment!”

Dede, who I ran into on the way, handed me an envelope.

“Oh my.”

It was a cute and adorable envelope.

The sender was ‘Irie.’

I burst out laughing at the small squirrel sticker next to the name.

Irie was the alias Riri was currently using.

The heroine of this original story seemed to be living happily after escaping a terrible place with her second brother.

‘I heard that Palaya barely stopped her from coming here when she found out I was asleep.’

I heard that the black panthers were still looking for Riri, so it would have been dangerous if she had come.

“I’ve already taken the gift Irie sent to your office!”

She had sent me something every year, so I was curious about what she had sent this year.

But Ekion came first.

I stroked the letter for a moment and asked Dede to take this letter to my office as well.

And then I arrived at the library.

“He’s not here?”

The place where Ekion always was, was empty.

I slowly frowned.

I felt like I was constantly missing Ekion everywhere I went.

‘What… is this, like hide-and-seek?’

Before long, I found Ekion in the garden.

It was a garden created just for Ekion, given his need to stay out of sight.

The one sleeping quietly in the gazebo was a small boy.

A boy with blue hair.

I lost strength.

‘……He hasn’t changed? Why?’

I approached Ekion quietly so as not to wake him, but my body felt heavy as if submerged in water.

‘Why hasn’t he grown?’

You clearly said he would grow up on the day I became an adult.

I reached out to touch Ekion’s head, but then stopped.

Ekion’s sleeping figure, like a baby angel in a painting, was literally like a picture, but I felt complicated.

I looked down at his fair skin, like a porcelain doll.

‘Is it because of me?’

In this life, where I had run without hesitation, there was little that bothered me.

Not being sent to the black panther’s house.

Taking the position of head of the family into my own hands, I had done it all with my own strength.

Now, in this situation where there was no problem in obtaining the power of water, Ekion was the only thing that bothered me.

‘I was expecting it, wasn’t I.’

I was looking forward to this child’s growth more than I thought.

As I stared at the boy, Tus slowly opened his eyes.

Tus looked at me and tried to open his mouth in greeting.

Shh.

When I put my finger to my lips, Tus quickly closed his mouth.

‘Good job.’

I said only with my lips.

‘Wouldn’t Ekion be disappointed too.’

I didn’t want to wake the boy who was sleeping peacefully.

‘But why hasn’t any growth taken place at all?’

If he had grown even a little, there would have been hope.

As I sat slumped on the floor thinking, a soft, beautiful voice was heard.

“Calypso, why are you frowning?”

“……”

“Is someone bothering you?”

I turned my head with a frown still on my face.

“Why am I frowning? It’s because of you. Why haven’t you grown?”

“……”

“Did you lie to me?”

Ekion, who had just woken up, quickly sat up as if he had come to his senses.

“……I didn’t.”

He shook his head.

He was a child who became more and more beautiful and graceful, even if he didn’t grow taller.

Everything Ekion did was pretty, but I couldn’t see it now.

‘Why is he so calm? Looking at me with such an innocent face.’

Perhaps my hostility was leaking out without me realizing it. Tus shuddered, shaking his scales.

-Calypso!

“I won’t listen to excuses.”

-No, it’s not that. Duke! I didn’t lie!

“You didn’t?”

Tus crawled diligently and climbed onto my hand.

“I’m watching you not grow even one millimeter, what are you talking about.”

-But you didn’t specify the time!

“So, what, are you going to suddenly grow up tonight?”

-That’s…….

Tus tilted his head this way and that and said.

I could feel his will to calm me down.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to vent my anger. But, as you know, Ekion’s growth is like a painful finger to my heart.”

-No. Calypso. Don’t be in pain. Really, Duke, I didn’t lie.

When I looked at Ekion, I could see an anxious expression on his face.

-It’s just not the time yet. Evening, no……. It’s night.

“Night?”

“Dragons are completed at night.”

I turned my gaze.

Ekion continued, holding onto my sleeve slightly.

“Because I was born at night. Growing up is also at night.”

“I see……. What.”

I put Tus down and grabbed my face.

“Haa, you scared me.”

Even if it’s my birthday, these cute and surprising events are not right.

Ekion hesitated for a moment and then started patting my shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

I asked, feeling frustrated.

He said he saw a scene in a book where someone patted the shoulder of a person holding their face.

In the end, the tension was released and laughter flowed out, almost hollow. I got up from my seat with a light heart.

“That’s a relief. At least I think I can enjoy my birthday, which is also my coming-of-age day.”

It was my fourth time becoming an adult.

“Shall we go? Everyone will be preparing for the party.”

* * *

That evening.

As I told Ekion, a grand party was held.

The first part was a party attended by many people, that is, the orca cadet families and various family beastmen [people with animalistic features].

Ekion couldn’t come here.

Of course. There was no way I could bring him to a place where all the nobles were coming.

‘I can’t believe I’m attending a party like this.’

I glanced at the dress I was wearing.

In the first and second rounds, I wasn’t allowed to attend parties.

‘In the black panther family, I was treated as if I was alive but didn’t exist.’

In the third round, I only lived fighting, so there was no such event.

‘No, wasn’t there because of that nagging Levai?’

He was so insistent that we had to hold a victory party for morale and that the head of the family had to attend.

At that time, I attended wearing a uniform.

‘Me in a dress, it’s a long life and I’ll see everything [an expression meaning ‘I’ve seen it all’].’

I firmly refused to wear anything extravagant and heavy, so I ended up wearing a dress that was close to a one-piece.

It’s okay.

Because parties for aquatic animal beastmen allow for this kind of attire.

“Wow, my dad is popular.”

Standing on one side of the party hall, I chuckled as I watched the people crowded around my dad.

“Popular. It’s because they can’t approach you, so they’re naturally gathering there.”

“Who said you can’t say hello.”

Atlan glanced at me from the side and shrugged. He also had his hair slicked back and was dressed stylishly for the party.

“Father doesn’t seem to like any guys coming near you.”

He said that no one came near me because they couldn’t overcome my dad’s pressure? It was funny. It’s my birthday.

“Who can’t come? Ah, handsome young men?”

“……Huh, what’s with that expression? You looked like an old woman.”

“I am an old woman.”

I’ve lived for over 60 years, so isn’t that right? I muttered to myself.

“……Hey. Let me make an excuse for him.”

Atlan slowly said, looking at me, even though I didn’t ask him to.