Black Killer Whale Baby [EN]: Chapter 145

Chapter 145

I flinched the moment I heard that title.

It was just a moment, but that one title made me feel like I had returned to the past.

My proudest 3rd playthrough? No, my agonizing 1st playthrough.

Before I knew it, I was crumpling the old, tattered skirt in my hands. I could see feet pacing back and forth in front of me.

I know who these feet belong to.

I also know that she has a gentle personality, as gentle as the fluffy appearance of her swaying tail.

The original novel’s heroine, but one whose name I didn’t want to call again.

“It’s not your fault, Unnie [older sister in Korean].”

It felt like I was seeing the kind girl overlapped with the present. At the same time, the child sobbed.

“Who are you, Unnie…?”

I slowly came out of the past.

In fact, now that I’ve become desensitized except for specific memories, I just accept it even when painful memories come to mind.

If there’s one memory from this time that doesn’t hurt to recall.

It was the memory I had with the child in front of me.

The memories with ‘Lily’.

However…

‘It was too short a time to call it a memory.’

She was a kind, pure, and gentle girl.

She was that kind of person even after becoming a lady.

But at the same time, she received too much love and overprotection.

“Did you talk to Lily? Did you bully her?”

“Why should we believe you? Lily is hurt!”

“Get lost, you fishy-smelling thing!”

I hardly got to talk to that child because of the black panthers who overprotected her and the male lead, the crown prince.

I only remember the fleeting moments being warm.

‘It’s funny, isn’t it.’

I didn’t even see, touch, or talk to her, but why did they always assume I was bullying her.

Why did they assume I would bully her in the future?

‘That situation, where I had no one on my side, was so frustrating.’

I stared ahead.

As I didn’t say anything, the child blinked her big eyes.

Her eyes are so round that it might take her longer to close them than the average person. A random thought.

‘Seriously.’

For a moment, just hearing the title made me wonder if this child, like Atlan, remembered the past.

That’s how much familiarity I felt from the title.

‘When I think about it, she’s probably the only one in this world who has called me Unnie, right?’

Is that why I feel more special about her?

“Are you done crying?”

They say that the more you comfort children when they cry, the louder and more sadly they cry.

Rather, they stop crying if you don’t pay attention to them.

Lily seemed to fit this example perfectly, as she was busy looking at me with tears dangling from her eyes.

Hiccup, she suddenly hiccupped.

Her eyes were fixed on me.

“Unnie…!”

More than that, she’s been calling me Unnie since earlier. I tilted my head.

“Do you know me?”

I had already assumed that she didn’t remember the past before regression.

But I asked, just in case.

The child shook her head.

“…I don’t know.”

That’s a relief.

I didn’t want anyone to remember the past.

‘What good memories are there to have.’

Of course, if it’s a child like her who grew up loved, remembering might not be harmful, but…

‘Is that really the case?’

What I’ve felt since I was born into this world is that I’m not sure if the overprotection in childcare novels is good for the person themselves.

‘There were times when I couldn’t eat the food I liked, and there were times when I couldn’t go to the places I liked.’

Well, compared to my situation in the 1st playthrough, she’s practically a fairy.

“You say you don’t know me, but why did you suddenly call me Unnie?”

“Because you’re Unnie…”

Lily moved her lips, looking at me with a guileless face.

Then, she shrank back a little and asked cautiously.

“Is it not allowed to call you that?”

“…No, it’s not that it’s not allowed.”

It’s more than a yes, it’s an oh yes. How can I refuse these sparkling eyes?

I’m not particularly moved by things that are cute and lovely, but.

‘As expected, there’s such a thing as beauty that shatters one’s preferences in this world.’

Lily hesitated a little more, then whispered softly.

“Pallaya said that if they’re pretty, everyone is Unnie…”

Pallaya. The second son of the black panther family.

A guy who will become a great playboy in the future.

He had the makings of it since he was young.

“Ah, that guy… Didn’t he say that everyone who’s pretty is Noona [older sister in Korean]?”

Lily looked at me with wide eyes.

“Do you know Pallaya-nim [honorific title in Korean]?”

“It’s not that I don’t know him. No, to be exact, I just don’t want to know him.”

“…”

“You don’t have to try to understand if it’s difficult.”

I squatted down in front of Lily.

Now, what should I do with you?

‘I’ve never even considered you in my life this time.’

Should I ask about the situation here?

If I listen, can I handle it?

The help I thought of was just for this child to return to a safe place. That was it.

After all, this child has a safe nest called the ‘Black Panther Family’.

But why did she come all the way here, far from this nest?

Why are you able to fully transform into a beast, unlike in the original story?

I’m worried about whether I should ask this.

“By the way, why did you run all the way here?”

I put the decision on hold for a moment and asked.

“You woke up in a carriage, right?”

“…”

Nod. Lily slowly nodded, looking at me with frightened eyes.

What happened while she was waking up to make her like this?

‘Did Atlan snore loudly? No, was Agenor the one with bad sleeping habits?’

“That carriage is my group’s carriage. We picked you up and were protecting you.”

“…Unnie did?”

“Yeah.”

The temperature touched the hand that was dropped. A small hand like a maple leaf was holding my pinky finger tightly.

‘It’s like duckweed.’

It’s a really small hand.

“Then, there are no more scawy [scary] people…?”

“Scary people?”

I blinked, still holding her hand.

The people who were in the carriage with the child were all outstanding in appearance.

Even the beastman with detection abilities that Ilia had attached was a person with an unremarkable, ordinary, and kind appearance.

‘Were there any rough guys among the knights… Hmm, there are too many people I can guess.’

Orca beastmen are characterized by sharp eyes, so you can often see appearances that look intimidating.

“I don’t know who you saw, but you’re mistaken. We have no intention of harming you.”

I also thought that maybe the reason why this child felt close to me was because of my relatively round face.

“There aren’t…?”

“Yeah. There aren’t. And don’t you want to go home?”

Let’s see, we can’t take her directly to the Black Panther family, but.

Could we go to the City of Dragons and request it?

As I was thinking this far, the bushes rustled behind me.

Soon, rough footsteps were heard, and someone popped out of the bushes as if they were flying.

‘Oh, it’s the second one?’

It was Atlan.

As soon as he came, he was not only sniffing, but he was already floating water around him.

He must have amplified his five senses with the power of water.

“Hey. Second one.”

Atlan flinched and turned his head towards me.

He had a very surprised face.

“What, why are you here?”

“I want to ask you that. Did you only find her now?”

I replied indifferently.

“I found her first.”

“…It couldn’t be helped. There are so many animals in the forest, it’s annoying.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“How did you find her among all these animal signs? She’s so small, it must have been difficult to find her.”

“This is all thanks to the greatness of your younger sister. Learn well.”

“Who said I don’t know you’re great?!”

“…You either get angry or admit it, just do one. Just one.”

Atlan’s head was full of leaves. Moreover, there was grass on his shoulders.

‘He must have been looking very hard.’

That was unexpected. Or did he desperately search because he was afraid of getting scolded by me?

“Since you’re here, say hello. You haven’t greeted each other yet, right?”

“What greetings? As soon as she opened her eyes, I was busy running after her tail. Damn it, I’m hungry.”

Atlan grumbled and roughly swept his hair up, approaching me with heavy steps.

I naturally turned my head, then stopped.

‘Oh, where did she go?’

The child who was holding my hand tightly in front of me had disappeared.

Soon, I felt a faint force on my waist.

Oh my.

“Second one, stop there.”

“What?”

Atlan stopped walking, looking dissatisfied but obediently following my orders.

I stopped Atlan and looked at the child again.

The child was hugging me tightly, trembling.

“Unnie, Unnie! Sc, scawy [scary] person!”

“Huh?”

“Ehh?”

I turned my head sharply. I held the child with one hand and raised my eyebrows.

“What did you do?”

“What did I do?”

“She says you’re a scary person?”

“Huh? Crazy, this is unfair. Chieftain, no, hey, how sincerely did I, uh? Even stole the dolphin guy’s spot to prepare a sleeping place for her yesterday?”

“…Why did you steal Levai’s spot? The carriage is wide.”

I learned something unexpected. Levai isn’t someone who would easily be pushed around by Atlan…

“That dolphin guy wouldn’t move, so I slept all crumpled up! Crumpled up!”

“Oh…”

As expected.

Anyway, Atlan seemed genuinely wronged. Then why is she so afraid of Atlan?

“Hey, did that person do anything to you?”

Lily hiccupped and looked back and forth between me and Atlan.

Then, instead of answering, she carefully withdrew her hand and stretched out both arms to me this time.

She looked at me earnestly with a tearful face.

“Unnie…”

Her big, cute eyes welled up, and her tearful eyes were filled with me.

“Hug me…”