Black Killer Whale Baby [EN]: Chapter 209

209

“Father knows this is the last time, doesn’t he?”

“What?”

“Does Father think he can coddle you forever? Shark, if you sort things out, you’ll take over as head, right?”

“Hmm. Was it that obvious?”

“Do you think I don’t know you? Clan Head.”

“……”

I often feel like I’ve shared a lifetime with this guy.

“Well, yeah.”

I saw Dad looking weary among the people.

It was an expression only I could recognize.

“Now, I need to save Dad.”

“Save?”

“Dad doesn’t like being around people. The Clan Head position isn’t suited to his personality at all. How long do you think someone who’s lived alone their whole life can endure it?”

“……”

“But why did he do it?”

He’s enduring it because it’s for me. A moment of silence passed between us.

“……The last thing you want to do is attack the Imperial Family, right?”

“Of course.”

“……”

“I need to untangle the long knot.”

Glancing at the second, he looked tired despite his well-dressed appearance.

I probably have a similar expression. It’s a regret only we regressors [people who have relived their lives] with the residue of time possess.

Especially me.

Thump, Atlan’s hand came up to my shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“To show some filial piety [respect and care for one’s parents]. Well, I should stop resenting and live as a son too.”

He’s probably talking about how Dad neglected all of us children in our younger days.

“Happy birthday, my brother.”

The things I’ve changed are turning like a treadmill.

“I resolved my last resentment a long time ago.”

“……”

“Because I wanted you to be happy. I’m seeing it now.”

“……What are you doing, being so cheesy?”

“Huh, is that all you have to say?”

I roughly brushed off the second guy’s hand, who was distorting his face, and spoke curtly.

“It’s still too early.”

“……”

“After I get rid of the Imperial Family, then say it again. I think I’ll be happier then.”

Atlan grinned, showing his fangs, and strode away.

His expression looked refreshing, but instead of feeling relieved, I felt strange.

“He’s got…… a face like he’s about to die. It makes me feel uneasy.”

I scratched my neck and soon headed to the terrace.

The birthday boy shouldn’t disappear, but anyway, at this party, attention will be focused on Dad rather than me.

That’s what Dad wants, so I decided to go along with it.

We’re going to have another party with family and my people tonight anyway.

‘I want to get some sleep.’

* * *

“Ugh……”

I went out to the terrace, leaned against the railing, and gulped down the champagne I brought.

“Doesn’t even tickle my liver.”

Should I have brought a few more glasses?

Just as I was thinking this, someone opened the door and came in.

‘Who is it?’

I couldn’t see their face because of the backlight. Soon, I recognized who it was by their hair color.

Dark, deep ash-gray hair. Eyes similar to the hair color.

A man with his hair down to his waist loosely tied.

A typical scholar-like appearance, but unlike that, broad shoulders and a long, well-proportioned silhouette.

The eyes alone were far from those of a scholar, with a prickly look.

‘He’s so different from his species.’

Round glasses.

Especially after looking at his sleek and slender silhouette, I tilted my head.

He approached and offered a plate with a prickly expression.

“What’s this?”

It was a grown-up Levi.

“Weren’t you supposed to be on patrol and unable to come?”

“I came. Whose birthday is it that I would miss?”

“How loyal.”

Levi smiled roughly while holding out the plate.

It was a face that was hard to distinguish whether it was a smile or a sneer.

“If you take away loyalty, there’s nothing left of me.”

“You should at least wet your lips before saying something like that.”

“Ah, it’s a pity you noticed.”

“Tsk.”

I took a sip from the glass Levi offered and slowly looked at him again.

“If you’re here, does that mean the first one is back too?”

“Yes, but since when have you been so affectionate as to look for Bellus right away?”

“We’re loving siblings.”

“Or is it just a convenient subordinate to exploit?”

I smiled slightly.

‘This guy is becoming more and more like the 3rd timeline. It’s sometimes confusing.’

I wasn’t the only one who felt this way.

Atlan and Bellus felt similarly.

In fact, I probed them several times, but they didn’t seem to remember the 3rd timeline at all.

‘It’s better not to remember, but……’

Even if they’re the same person, they grow up slightly differently depending on the environment they’ve lived in.

In Atlan’s case, he was slightly less ferocious than in the previous life, and he was taller.

Bellus was still cold, but he could at least show a slightly softer expression.

But.

Strangely, only this guy grew up exactly the same as the 3rd timeline I remember?

‘Is there a reason? Or is it just a coincidence?’

In the meantime, Levi put the empty plate aside and approached again.

“Clan Head?”

“It’s still strange to be called Clan Head by you, you know?”

“Pardon?”

“No. Just talking to myself.”

Levi tilted his head.

Soon, as if he had thought of something.

He put one hand on his chest and bowed politely.

“Happy birthday, Clan Head.”

It was a proper greeting. It suited his sleek physique.

The other dolphins looked round and cute like Lougarouba.

I’ve always wondered why only this guy looked like a mutant.

“Happy birthday, Clan Head. May you live a very lo-ong life.”

“Just curse me, curse me.”

I got angry back then because the words ‘live long’ sounded like ‘repeat your life.’ His face, looking wronged, is still vivid.

I smiled slightly, remembering that time.

Then, erasing my smile, I asked.

“Why do you follow me anyway?”

In the meantime, Levi had been acting as my secretary without me even asking.

Even when I was asleep.

“Gratitude……”

“You’ve repaid that enough. I don’t mind if you leave and live happily.”

Levi smiled coldly.

“You’re saying that after exploiting me, I’m a little disappointed.”

It’s insubordination to mock your superior.

“I like power. So don’t keep trying to reel me in. It’s confusing.”

While I was briefly reminiscing about the past, Levi got close enough that it wouldn’t be rude.

Because his face was the same, for a fleeting moment, I was confused about which life I was in.

“I’m working hard, so please guarantee my promotion.”

“Why?”

The eyes under the glasses stared at me for a long time.

“I have a thing for women overflowing with power.”

“……”

A faint tension spread from where our gazes met.

If this tension were a scent, wouldn’t it feel like it’s getting stronger with every breath?

I slowly reached out my hand.

“If you say that, people will misunderstand.”

“……”

Before I knew it, my hand grabbed Levi’s chin and lifted it.

Why do you make me confused?

Even though you don’t remember.

‘What would change if you remembered?’

Ah, it would change.

‘I’d hit you with a charge of being impudent.’

The funny thing was that this guy didn’t resist, but obediently lowered his waist and offered his face.

Even this was similar.

“I’ve decided to only have one husband.”

“I don’t know which point made you misunderstand me.”

“You said you like people overflowing with power.”

“That’s right. Please respect my taste? And of course, if I’m by your side, wouldn’t I see a lot of those people?”

“Hmm?”

I put strength into my hand. The atmosphere, which had been subtly tense, shattered like glass.

“Um, Clan Head? Excuse me…… are you planning to blow away my jaw?”

“Your skill at talking is quite……”

“I make a living with my mouth, so please break my arms and legs instead.”

“I’ll really break them?”

“……”

I couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the face that still felt grumpy even while keeping his mouth shut.

I pushed Levi’s face away as it was.

“Never mind. I must have been mistaken.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I won’t tell you.”

I patted Levi’s shoulder and waved my hand.

“Go away, I want to rest.”

“……Yes. Then I’ll see you later.”

Levi turned around, but suddenly turned back as if he had thought of something.

“Clan Head.”

I looked at him with an indifferent expression. He smiled with a handsome face.

“Live long.”

I felt even stranger.

* * *

After Levi left, a bland feeling dominated my whole body for a while.

‘Well, whatever. There are times like this.’

In fact, whether Levi was really pretending not to remember the past or not.

It wasn’t important right now.

‘There must be a reason why he’s acting ambiguous.’

A lighthearted feeling dominated my whole body.

“Birthday.”

It’s a birthday I’ve repeated several times.

Will the remaining birthdays be as happy as today?

“It will be if I take down the Imperial Family.”

Beside me were scattered glasses. It was the glass that Levi had brought back.

He’s unnecessarily meticulous.

I blinked for a long time while looking at the blue moon before falling asleep.

In my dream, I was standing in a ruined castle.

It was the first time in a long time I was seeing the last moment of the 3rd timeline.

I looked around the ruins with my injured body.

Soon, the attack that would kill me and destroy the world would come flying.

But nowhere was the Dragon Duke who would destroy this world to be seen.

‘……What? Where did he go?’

The space shattered and reassembled. When I closed my eyes and opened them, I was standing in a dark space.

It was the crack in time. The place where Ekion and I had been for 3 years.

“I won’t peek into Calypso’s time.”

“Really? I don’t really mind if you do.”

“Later.”

“Later?”

A conversation I had in the crack of time one day echoed in the space.

Then I slowly opened my eyes.

“Calypso shows me directly.”

“Ah, am I asleep……”

I rubbed my eyes roughly. I don’t know how much time has passed.

It didn’t seem like much time had passed.

The music from the party was still coming from beyond the terrace door.

I stretched.

‘I feel hazy.’

My eyes were itchy.

I rubbed my eyes once again, and then I lifted my head, thinking that something was hanging down below me.

‘What? When did he come?’

Someone was standing there.

When I blinked slowly, the person who had been looking at the sky turned his head.

The hair covering his forehead fluttered. It was a clear azure resembling the blue night.

The person who was not there at the moment of the 3rd timeline’s destruction in the dream comes to mind.

……It’s the Dragon Duke.

Different colored gazes crossed.

In the moment that felt like an hour, my mouth opened on its own.