Black Killer Whale Baby [EN]: Chapter 174

174.

I lowered my eyes to hide my true feelings.

“But I’m tired from a long journey, so could I think about it a bit more before giving you an answer?”

*Let* her enjoy the Black Leopard bastards’ humiliation.

I had gained everything I wanted from this trip to the Dragon City.

*This* old hag will never know that the things she’s enjoying are just byproducts *for* me.

“You want more time?”

Unsurprisingly, the tyrannical head of the family frowned as soon as her favor wasn’t immediately accepted.

However, she seemed to be in a very good mood and let it slide.

“Alright, think it over.”

Grandmother nodded, and I bowed once more.

I had things to do back home, so I planned to keep the audience short today.

“The stories coming from the Dragon City are quite interesting and surprising, I must say. Very intriguing.”

“Thank you.”

“Is it all your doing?”

Her eyes seemed to be asking if Pierre, my father, had been the one in charge.

I chuckled inwardly.

“……Father will do anything I ask, Grandmother.”

“…….”

“But he rarely wants anything.”

Indeed, if it hadn’t been for my request, Father wouldn’t have gone to the Dragon City, nor would he have done all those things there.

“As Grandmother knows better than anyone.”

Grandmother wouldn’t be unaware of that.

As expected, she frowned as if it answered her question, but that was all.

“It wouldn’t be polite to answer Grandmother’s questions with a clouded mind. If it’s alright with you, may I return now?”

“Yes, you must be tired. Come again when you’ve recovered from your journey.”

The head of the family didn’t seem inclined to keep me for long and allowed me to leave.

However, just as I turned around, she called me back once more and said something unexpected.

“Come and live in this building.”

“……Pardon?”

“I know you’re still living in that shabby place. Is that your home?”

……What is she talking about? She’s the one who sent me there as soon as I was born.

Instead of getting annoyed, I calmly gazed at the head of the family.

“If you come, Pierre will come too.”

“No……. Father won’t change his residence, Grandmother. You know why he lives there.”

Father hated people who arbitrarily gossiped *about* and approached him.

He found people who condescendingly pitied him even more bothersome. Grandmother shouldn’t be unaware of that.

“Tsk, like a weakling. Then you come.”

“…….”

“You were the goal anyway.”

I was silent for a moment before smiling prettily.

“Yes. I will. Thank you.”

We faced each other with expressions that betrayed no hint of what we were thinking.

“I wanted a daughter a long, long time ago.”

“…….”

“A daughter with a healthy body and powerful strength like me.”

Of course. Orcas are a matriarchal society where the oldest, wisest, and strongest female leads the group.

It wasn’t hard to guess that Grandmother’s wish would have been something like that.

That the one thing the head of the family, who had everything, couldn’t have was that ‘daughter’.

“So I thought it would be wonderful if I could at least get a granddaughter. But wouldn’t you know it, all of them just kept producing sons. Useless bastards.”

Her three sons also only produced sons.

“The granddaughters who were barely born were either flawed from birth or weak.”

The granddaughter, Lilybell, who was barely born, unfortunately suffered from the same illness as Father.

“Now, it won’t be long before the events in the Dragon City spread far and wide across this land. Now that things have come to this, you know what position you will rise to.”

Grandmother tapped her temple. A smile of a strong person played on her lips.

“Do you want my seat?”

It was the face of an arrogant ruler.

“Yes, I want it. Grandmother.”

I kept those words, ‘I don’t need what you hand down,’ carefully on my tongue.

“I heard that you have hidden cards that I secretly released, with Beluga at the forefront?”

So she knew about me using Ilia to win over the weak beastmen.

Well, she should know at least this much.

What fun would it be to take the position of head of the family if she didn’t even know that much?

Although she was known to be incredibly powerful, Grandmother wasn’t just strong; she also had a good head on her shoulders, even if she lacked cooperation and looked down on the weak.

“Alright. Try to become a unique successor. This will also be my amusement.”

Instead of answering, I bowed my head.

“Calypso Aquasidel.”

When Grandmother spoke my name once more, a thrill rushed through me.

What had I wanted?

Did I want you to call me like this in my past life?

Laughter briefly consumed me.

‘Recognition is something that the weak receive from the strong. Now it’s my turn to decline.’

I waited for Grandmother’s next words.

“Next time, come to this building as my successor.”

The Dragon City had brought me many victories.

Along with a valuable title.

I smiled victoriously and bowed my head once more.

* * *

“What, so you’re moving, Little Sister?!”

The next day, Agenor stormed into Father’s mansion, having just found out that I had returned.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“No, I’m not going to move?”

At that, not only Agenor, who had asked me, but also Atlan, who had been grumbling at Levee’s words nearby, looked at me in great surprise.

Even Father, who had been sitting quietly, stared at me with a slightly surprised expression.

“Huh? But, Little Sister. Doesn’t that mean you’ll be treated as the official successor if you move in?”

“I guess so.”

“Then why?”

“Yeah, let me ask too. Why? What are you thinking? I don’t think you’ve been hit in the head with water.”

I tilted my head.

“Everyone has such surprised faces. Is it that surprising?”

My voice was calm.

“It doesn’t matter. The head of the family’s words mean that even if I don’t enter that building, I’ll be treated as the successor.”

Grandmother said to come to the main building next time as the successor.

Which means.

“I’m already the successor now. At least in the head of the family’s mind, she’s acknowledged it.”

“……I see.”

Father, who knew Grandmother better than anyone else, nodded.

I smiled and ran to Father’s side, sitting next to him.

“And if I go to the main building, it’ll be too far to come here, and it’ll be a hassle, right? What if Father misses me so much that he cries?”

“That’s true too.”

“……Huh?”

I flinched for a moment, not expecting him to admit it so easily. To think he would accept it with such a nonchalant face.

Sometimes, Father’s changed appearance surprises me. Of course, I don’t dislike it.

I carefully looked at Father’s face and frowned slightly.

Why, Father seemed a little tired.

“Father, are you sick anywhere?”

“Not at all.”

Was I mistaken? When I looked again, he seemed fine.

‘Should I ask Whale for his understanding and ask him for another diagnosis soon?’

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Anyway. Even if it weren’t for these reasons, I have no intention of moving.”

“What if she retracts her statement that she acknowledges you as the successor?”

“Let her.”

I smiled confidently.

“Do you think there’s a better successor than me?”

“…….”

The third one had a convinced expression.

“Even if I don’t become the successor, or whoever she sets up as the successor. It doesn’t matter. In the end, I’ll be the head of the family anyway.”

Agenor stared at me with eyes so sparkling that it was a little dangerous, as if saying, ‘Isn’t she so cool?’

I felt the need to change the subject and turned my head.

‘Besides, Ekion, Whale, and now Lily are all here.’

I’ve gathered all the precious and valuable things here, so where would I go?

My home was here.

Not in that place recognized by that old hag.

“Levee, did you organize the materials well?”

“Yes, Princess. I have hidden them well in the place Pierre gave me.”

“Good.”

I looked at the list of materials that Levee handed me. The thick list seemed to make me sigh again.

“First, about those first-class rare materials that we couldn’t get this time.”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to ask Grandmother for them this time in exchange for my merits. Go with me to receive them.”

“Yes……?”

“Why do you have such a dazed expression? You have to receive them to see if they’re real or not. If they’re fresh or not.”

“No, it’s not that. How are you planning to introduce me?”

I tilted my head.

“Of course, you’re going as my strategist, no, my aide?”

“Yes?”

Is it even possible for me to have an aide other than you?

“Why are you looking at me like a newly hatched fry now? You’re my strategist.”

“……You didn’t even give me a chance to consider following you, and I didn’t even know I was already employed.”

At those words, I laughed out loud.

Because you said something similar in the third timeline.

“In this difficult job market, I’m so grateful that you employed me without me even knowing?”

Levee stared blankly at me. As if he was seeing me smile so brightly for the first time.

“Okay, let’s say this is resolved.”

“Wait a minute, I didn’t say I accepted……”

“Yes, please take care of me in the future. My strategist?”

Levee had a dumbfounded expression, but he still didn’t refuse in the end.

“Grandmother probably has a lot of materials.”

And even if I asked for them, she would probably think I was trying to cure Father or wouldn’t care.

Because at first, Grandmother was also eager to cure Father’s illness.

Until it was revealed to be incurable.

“The problem is, the materials that we can’t get now…….”

The ones that made me the most angry and furious last time.

The animals and plants that are now extinct in the world.

‘Like the tail feathers of a bluebird.’

“What to do with the materials that we absolutely can’t get now.”

“First, I’ll try to get a list of famous collectors. I’ve started investigating some of them.”

“Ah, good. Tell me if you need anything. Father will assign people to you. Father, is that okay?”

Father nodded slightly.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but Father’s complexion seemed to have gotten worse.

I should really ask Whale to give him another diagnosis.

Or, Father wouldn’t like it, but I should call a doctor.

‘Lyla will be busy.’

I thought of her, who was Father’s aide, after a long time.

‘I’ll have to get Ilia’s help too.’

And so, we decided to do our best to find the remaining materials.