Black Killer Whale Baby [EN]: Chapter 186

Chapter 186

I stepped into the empty room, Whale following close behind.

Levi looked uneasy about sending Whale away, but the urgency of the situation prevented him from interfering.

I scanned the room and cut to the chase. “Is this place secure? Alright, tell me what’s going on.”

“……”

I spoke directly. “What’s the story you don’t want anyone else to hear? Is it something that can help us?”

*Let’s talk in private.*

Even with the pressing circumstances, he clearly wanted discretion, hence the request.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Half serious and half worried, I listened intently to Whale’s words.

“Before you say anything, and I’m just asking to be sure, this isn’t going to be one of those ‘If you sacrifice yourself, there’s a way…’ scenarios, right?”

Across all stories, healers seem to share a common trope.

For some reason, these healers often have the ability to sacrifice something of their own to unleash greater power or achieve extraordinary healing.

It seemed our white whale friend couldn’t escape this trope either.

“That’s right.”

I received the answer with a heavy heart.

*This world is screwed after all.*

How could words of sacrifice come so easily from a child’s mouth?

A heartwarming childcare story full of dreams and hopes? What a load of crap.

Oblivious to my inner turmoil, Whale spoke with his usual deadpan expression. “Levi doesn’t like it when the word ‘sacrifice’ comes out of my mouth……”

“……”

He must have interpreted my silence as a question about why we were having this conversation alone.

Whale began to explain his personal history.

“My mom died helping others……”

Whale’s mother had been Levi’s teacher.

This wasn’t the direction I wanted the conversation to take.

“Whale, we’re short on time, so I’ll get straight to the point.”

“Yeah, I know we’re in a hurry, but that doesn’t mean I’m taking what you’re telling me lightly.”

“Huh?”

“Thank you for sharing something that couldn’t have been easy to say.”

“……”

“So, what is it you want to tell me?”

Whale hesitated for a moment.

He had never fully explained this to anyone before, nor did he feel confident in doing so.

He asked for my understanding first.

Piecing together the story that followed, it went something like this.

“So, the healing power you use usually requires a price to be paid, but you’re an exception to that rule?”

“Yes.”

Whale nodded.

“And unless it’s a really crucial ingredient, you can pay the price yourself and begin the treatment. Is that right?”

I didn’t completely grasp Whale’s explanation, so I summarized my understanding.

There’s a certain power or being that grants Whale’s wishes and heals him.

This power favors Whale, and when he uses it for his own benefit, it reduces the price.

Like treating himself or his family.

Having said this, Whale looked around and cautiously confessed. “Actually, after returning from the City of Dragons, I secretly ‘diagnosed’ Pierre again without you knowing.”

“What?”

I was shocked to hear that Dad had agreed and kept this a secret from me.

“First of all, the major ingredients in Pierre’s treatment are Levi and the ingredients you brought this time. But… Calypso, the ingredients needed have increased.”

“……”

“It means Pierre’s condition has worsened. If we miss this opportunity, we might end up needing ingredients that are impossible to obtain.”

It was the feeling a doctor gets when they know they can’t save a patient. It was Whale’s own sense, with his healing abilities, of an unavoidable death.

“This might be the last chance to heal him.”

“…And Dad was acting nonchalant about it.”

“Uh-oh?”

“No, go on.”

Whale continued calmly, even while watching my reaction.

I understood the gravity of the situation.

“So, you’re saying you’ll pay the price for the missing ingredients and start the treatment immediately?”

“Exactly.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s not just Levi. I really hate the word ‘sacrifice’ too.”

“Calypso?”

“I don’t want you to get hurt. Do you know how precious you are to me?”

Just being able to cure Dad’s incurable disease would make him a lifelong benefactor.

For some reason, Whale’s face flushed slightly.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Calypso. But the price isn’t something that threatens my life. Um, it’s just enduring some discomfort? Something like that.”

“What kind of discomfort?”

“Like, my lifespan being shortened.”

“I reject that. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

I turned away coldly.

But I had to turn back before I could even take a few steps.

Whale was urgently grabbing my hand.

His hand was surprisingly warm.

“I, I can choose something else instead of lifespan! Like, my eyesight will be slightly impaired for the rest of my life! Or! Or I won’t be able to use one of my fingers!”

“Is that even something to suggest! If you just want to lie down, say it now. I’ll make sure you’re confined to this place for 10 years and can’t get up.”

I growled and roughly tried to pull my hand away from Whale’s.

No, I tried to.

“But you want to save your father, don’t you?”

“……”

Deep gray eyes, like those containing ashes, turned to me.

“I know how it feels to lose parents.”

“……”

“Calypso, and we white whales have the longest lifespan among whales.”

I was about to retort, asking what he meant, but the moment I saw the clock over Whale’s shoulder, I couldn’t say anything.

“10 years is okay. Even if it’s shortened, I’ll still live longer than you, Calypso.”

“……”

I stared intently at the calm yet somewhat desperate expression on his face and asked. “What do you want in return for paying that price?”

“Um, about that. First of all, you have to grant my wish.”

“What?”

“Like I said before, to minimize the price I have to pay, we need to make this treatment ‘my affair’.”

If Whale were to pay the price instead, I wouldn’t be able to repay the favor for the rest of my life.

Of course, I could grant him a wish.

“I said before, the power I use is an exception only for me.”

“So?”

“And this exceptional rule only allows exceptions for the power to heal my family.”

“And?”

It was a statement that was hard to grasp the core of. A strange look appeared on Whale’s face.

“Our white whale shifters, even though they form marital bonds with each other, do you know which shifters they form the most bonds with besides that?”

“Huh?”

“Patients.”

I blinked.

“I’m sorry for saying it this way. But this is the only way for us to become family.”

Whale gently held my hand. A warm sensation enveloped my entire hand, starting from my fingertips.

From the base of Whale’s neck, the tips of his ears, his chin, a bright red color spread as if someone had accidentally spilled tomato sauce.

The warmth coming from the hand I was holding was almost scalding.

Whale’s hand was trembling.

Soon, the boy, who was a head and a half taller than me, lowered his head.

“Please be my bride.”

…I can say with certainty that this was the most innocent and embarrassing proposal of my entire life.

* * *

“Please marry me.”

Having lived through three lifetimes, it wasn’t like I hadn’t heard proposals before.

Of course, excluding the engagement I had with that scumbag Asuel, I had only heard it in the third lifetime.

“What nonsense are you spouting.”

And that humpback whale, who had severe affection deficiency, accounted for most of this nonsense.

“The bakery in the village up ahead gives discounts to married couples.”

“Is your proposal just about the price of bread?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, getting married for bread? Congratulations, Lord!”

“Huh? Oh, congratulations! What’s going on? Are you getting married?”

“Oh, did you just come in? The Lord is finally getting married! The bouquet is made of bread!”

“I’m not doing it! You crazy people. Get out of here?! Don’t talk nonsense either and leave before I make a grave out of flour for you.”

Of course, I had never taken any of them seriously, nor had I ever accepted them.

When I think about it, I had never seriously exchanged romantic feelings with anyone. I wasn’t even interested.

“But the Lord wouldn’t like heavy-hearted sincerity, would she?”

The dark, heavy voice of the humpback whale brushed past my head.

“Lord, there will come a moment that you cannot avoid.”

“Shut up.”

When I raised my head again, the memories of the third lifetime faded, and a flushed boy stood before me.

Even with his face flushed, Whale maintained an expressionless and indifferent demeanor.

“Whale, I think my ears are broken because I’m in such a hurry right now.”

“Broken, not.”

“……”

The sound of someone gasping for breath could be heard clearly.

A slightly trembling voice repeated the same words once more.

“Please be my bride.”