Black Killer Whale Baby [EN]: Chapter 229

229

“Really? Our mother is alive?”

“I’m telling you, yes. Why can’t you believe it? You should have seen your real dad’s dazed face.”

“I saw enough of that look.”

“When?”

“When you fell into that long sleep.”

Ugh, poking at a sore spot. I frowned.

We were currently on our way back to the main castle.

Last night, after a long conversation from day to night, Dad’s aura was nothing short of ominous.

Not like a man who had met his wife, whom he thought was dead for decades,

but more like a loan shark who had found a debtor.

“I read in some book that the opposite of love isn’t hate, but indifference. That’s exactly it.”

“What nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden?”

“There are such things, Second.”

And finally, when we returned to the main castle,

I received quite surprising news.

“A rebellion?”

While Dad and I were away, a rebellion had broken out in the main castle.

And surprisingly, the one who contributed the most to stopping that rebellion was

Ocula Aquasidel,

my grandmother.

* * *

In fact, the rebellion itself wasn’t that surprising.

I had already sensed it and had turned a blind eye to it several times.

‘It’s cleaner to gather them all at once and get rid of them rather than eliminating them one by one.’

Because Grandma’s reign had been so long,

there was a lot of talk about her sudden removal from the position of head of the family.

Quite a few didn’t properly follow Dad.

Dad punished them when necessary, but he ignored some.

Strong Grandma supporters.

In other words, those who still shouted about the law of the jungle.

There’s no point in keeping guys who can’t change their way of thinking around.

That’s why, this time, to subjugate the sharks’ last stronghold, Dad, Velos, Atlan, and I left our positions so that those guys could step out.

We even put Agenor in charge to avoid even a hint of suspicion.

It must have been the perfect opportunity for those guys.

And it happened.

The ones who started the rebellion didn’t act without something to believe in.

They planned to occupy the main castle first, then bring my exiled grandmother, Ocula Aquasidel, back and put her back in the position of head of the family.

‘How ridiculous.’

It was obvious.

A dictator can’t return to their position once they lose the power of dictatorship, even once.

Even if Grandma were to rise to the head of the family with their power, could she wield the same power as before?

‘Well, still, if she has a desire for power, if she’s thinking of revenge, it would be the perfect opportunity.’

That’s what I thought, but…….

The one who suppressed this rebellion is my grandmother.

The main culprits of the rebellion either died at Grandma’s hands or were captured.

They weren’t dead, but their limbs weren’t intact.

I heard when I arrived.

“We’ll need at least one mouth to get the remaining stragglers to talk, won’t we?”

Or so she said.

‘This is…….’

Thus, when I arrived at the hall, I saw the bloodied, tied-up branch family heads of the Orcas.

I naturally sat in the head of the family’s seat and looked down at them.

Dad was with me, but he naturally stood behind me.

I wonder what kind of conversation he had with Mom. He looked like he wanted to run to the wasteland right away.

If that’s the case, he should have just stayed there longer.

But he stubbornly refused, and that’s how he looked.

Let’s talk about this later for now.

I slowly turned my head.

In front of the leaders of the rebellion, who were tied up to their mouths, was an old man kneeling quietly on one knee.

He was still a huge figure despite his age.

“It’s been a while, Ocula.”

I can’t call the former head of the family, who was stripped of her position, Grandma.

Isn’t that too affectionate?

“Why is someone who should be in exile here?”

Agenor, who was standing next to Ocula, looked like he wanted to say something right away,

but I shook my head at the Third.

“May I raise my head?”

“Go ahead.”

Grandma raised her head.

She looked gaunt. But like an old dog, she still had spirit.

Her eyes were still sharp.

She seemed to have noticed something as well.

“You’ve become stronger.”

“Is that all the flattery you have?”

I chuckled.

“That’s not an answer to my question.”

The retired head of the family must speak respectfully to the current head of the family.

I thought it would be difficult for her, but it was surprisingly natural.

Strangely, she even felt like an old knight.

Perhaps in the distant past, she served her mother in this way.

“Why are you here? I’m asking for the second time.”

“While in exile, secret communications arrived.”

The story that Grandma told was no different from the story I had heard from Agenor earlier.

The leaders of the rebellion contacted Grandma in exile.

Grandma pretended to listen to this story and then crushed them all when everyone was gathered.

“Why did you refuse? It would have been a good opportunity for you.”

The Orca main castle was a good fortress.

If they had occupied the castle, taken the people of the castle hostage, and defended it, it wouldn’t have been an easy fight for us.

“Are you saying I should have risen at the hands of those losers?”

Ocula gritted her teeth.

“The setting sun should be left as the setting sun.”

Grandma muttered to herself.

“Also, the sun that has set should fall. I have no intention of going against the natural order.”

People are so two-faced.

The law of the jungle is also the natural order and law.

According to this, she, who is already old and defeated, has no intention of going against it.

“May I get up?”

When I nodded while looking down quietly, Grandma got up from her seat.

“Although it was for the sake of eliminating the rabble, it is a clear mistake to have come out of exile, so I will await punishment.”

I haven’t seen her in about nine years.

“Okay. Go back to exile and continue to receive punishment.”

Grandma’s place of exile was a village where the families of the people she killed lived.

Some of the bereaved families who knew all the facts moved there, and some left, shuddering at the thought of Grandma’s move.

Grandma was doing all sorts of menial labor there.

Base work that she couldn’t even imagine when she was the head of the family, and sometimes even humiliating labor.

“How is it? Repentance isn’t easy, is it?”

Even though I smiled brightly and looked down, Grandma met my gaze expressionlessly.

Then she bowed slightly.

“……I am receiving what I deserve, and I know that there is more to receive.”

I ordered her to return to exile.

“You will become a better head of the family than I was.”

With these words, she bowed deeply.

I said to her retreating back.

“Repent like that until you die. If someone throws a stone, just get hit, and if they curse, just take the curse.”

Those who died unfairly. Those who were sacrificed. She will have to live with all the deaths.

I know a life worse than death well.

“Endure and endure, and then someday.”

I tilted my head.

“Maybe the day will come when I call you Grandma, won’t it?”

When I fell into a long sleep, I received her letter for the first time.

Of course, I opened my eyes and checked it.

The content was concise. It was just one word asking if I was okay, but the paper was crumpled as if it had been written with great difficulty.

“……It is a luxury for me.”

Grandma turned around and went straight out.

Only Agenor later sneaked up to me and whispered carefully.

“Goodness, Sister. I saw something I shouldn’t have. She was crying, you know?”

“…….”

“I never knew that grandma was a human who knew how to cry.”

I smiled faintly.

“Do tear ducts weaken as you get older?”

But it didn’t seem like that for me, who had lived for over 60 years.

I shrugged.

* * *

A week later.

Everything is peaceful now, and I was busier than when I was beating up sharks.

That’s because I held the head of the family succession ceremony that had been postponed.

Everyone who knows already knows that I have taken back the head of the family position that was originally mine.

But because of someone who shouted that it was important to show it, the succession ceremony was held quite grandly.

‘Oh, my aching body.’

Training all day isn’t hard at all, but why is standing all day at a ceremony so hard?

“It’s because the head of the family is crazy about blood.”

“……Hauser, seriously, don’t say things like that.”

“Yes?”

You might be serious, but aren’t the kids listening looking at you like you’re crazy?

Today was the day of the meeting.

Several important figures were sitting at the meeting, and those who heard Hauser’s remarks glared at him or made absurd expressions.

Dad wasn’t here.

That’s because he went to catch Mom as soon as the succession ceremony was over.

‘Saying he went to catch her sounds a bit off…… Did he chase after her? Did he go find her?’

But it’s true that his momentum was enormous to express it like this.

Only then did I realize that Dad had returned with me for the succession ceremony.

‘Leave the parents’ business to the parents.’

I was about to open my mouth, thinking that I should start the meeting harmoniously, when.

A slightly urgent knock echoed.

“H, Head of the family…….”

A servant who came in with permission handed me something with a slightly trembling hand.

“An invitation has arrived from the Imperial family!”