Black Killer Whale Baby [EN]: Chapter 259

259

* * *

“……So, among the surviving monkeys, some rebelled and used their strength.”

“……”

“It seems one of them contacted the Imperial Family. They weren’t planning to just stand by either, I guess.”

“……”

“Lord?”

I was slightly surprised and turned my head. Of course, I was only surprised inside, barely showing it on the outside.

However, Lilibel, standing askew, already knew me well, raising one eyebrow as if she knew me all too well.

It was my cousin, Lilibel, who was endlessly elegant even with a crooked face.

“Are you even listening?”

She was using polite language as it was a formal setting, but it was full of dissatisfaction. If I were to interpret it, it would be like, ‘Are you even listening to me?’

“Yeah, yeah, I heard you.”

“Heard what?”

I awkwardly smiled, touching the back of my neck.

“Just pick one, either use honorifics or speak informally.”

“What on earth is distracting you?”

It seemed like she omitted, ‘At this important time?’

Then, Lilibel made a serious face all by herself.

“Or… are you still not feeling well?”

“No, it’s not that. Sorry, I was just spacing out.”

“……It’s nice that you’re honest.”

She didn’t sound like she meant it was nice at all. Lilibel crossed her arms with a sulky expression.

“Okay, what problem has captured your attention so much that you can’t even focus on the important ‘Imperial Family’ story?”

Well, it wasn’t that extreme.

I just didn’t respond, but I did hear the story. That there was a monkey who contacted the Imperial Family.

‘I already expected it.’

“It’s not that I wasn’t interested. I’m sure Levi has already taken action.”

“……How do you know without even looking? You speak as if you were actually there.”

“Well, I just know you guys well.”

Then, Lilibel’s expression slightly hardened. She almost looked angry.

Unfortunately, our Orca friends don’t know how to react honestly to compliments.

It’s because their childhood education was wrong. It’s the parents’ fault.

I let go of the hand that was propping up my chin before Lilibel’s expression became even stiffer.

“Lilibel, have you ever been in a relationship?”

“What? Cough!”

She started coughing as if she had choked while answering. Lilibel, who barely calmed down, stroked her neck and looked at me askance.

“Why are you suddenly asking that?”

“No particular reason, the important report is over, right?”

“Well… is romance even important in our lives?”

Lilibel’s lifelong goal was to become the successor and then the head of the family, but she said it changed the moment she lost to me.

“You had a fiancé when you were young, and even after being dropped from the successor position, I think you’ve had some, right?”

“Traitor.”

“Pardon?”

“While I was working my butt off to rebuild the family, you were dating?”

“What… how does it turn out that way if you interpret it?”

A fleeting contempt flashed across her elegant face. Of course, it was a joke, so I neatly ignored it.

“Listen, let’s say you have someone you like.”

“……Suddenly? Yes. Okay.”

“The person you finally confessed to suddenly…”

“Suddenly?”

I paused for a moment and recited seriously.

“What if they said it’s okay even if you have other husbands besides them?”

“I’d be completely grateful, right? Isn’t that a jackpot?”

“……”

“You’re the Lord. The Lord is someone who has multiple husbands. Aren’t you talking about yourself?”

“Who said I was talking about myself?”

“Then who are you talking about? You don’t have any friends, do you?”

“Why not?”

She was suddenly making me out to be a friendless person. I narrowed my eyes and stared at Lilibel intently.

“You’re here. You.”

“……!”

Then Lilibel’s white cheeks flushed red.

She didn’t change one bit when it came to romance. Seeing her face turn red at the word ‘friend,’ I chuckled.

“Me, like that, um. Well, I can be a friend to the Lord.”

“Okay. So, I have a headache right now.”

“Why?”

“No, I confessed, and the other person said it’s okay to have other husbands?”

“……? Then just say thank you and leave it at that, right?”

“Say something that makes sense. How can a person like two or three people at the same time?”

“That’s right. There’s a hierarchy in affection. So, if you have multiple husbands, you can give them different levels of affection, right?”

Did I choose the wrong person to discuss this with? I thought I could communicate because she was a girl of similar age.

I should have remembered that she was an Orca first.

I was about to open my mouth to change the subject, but Lilibel was faster.

“It’s not like there aren’t families with polyandry [marriage custom where a woman has more than one husband], so why are you doing this? You should know that there are quite a few among the aquatic animal beastmen. Just like the difference between the Empress and the Consort, give them different levels of affection. It doesn’t matter if you secure one person’s position and put others below them, right?”

“……No.”

“I don’t think Duke Yong told you that easily. That’s why you’re worried, right?”

“Did it show that much that you knew even if I didn’t say it was Ekion?”

“It’s obvious. I’m not Atlan Aquasiadel, so I’m not that clueless. Rather, would there even be a beastman near you who doesn’t know about Duke Yong’s obsession?”

“……”

“Rather, I wish there were others to suppress that dangerous obsession. And for the sake of the territory, I would like you to have more husbands.”

There is nothing better than marriage to integrate beastmen like the Ho tribe society. Lilibel put forward a just argument.

“Okay, thanks for the opinion.”

As I scratched my cheek, Lilibel moved her shapely lips.

Then she said with a sigh.

“It’s not my place to say, but you looked terribly lonely sometimes. Although it’s a story from when we were young.”

“……”

“So, I also think it would be nice to have as many people as possible by your side and be loved.”

When I turned my head, Lilibel was continuing to speak while looking into the distance.

Her ears were flushed red as if she was embarrassed.

“I’m saying I hope you’re happy. We’re greedy Orcas, and the more, the better, right?”

* * *

Bang!

Inside a room decorated entirely in red, extremely luxurious and extravagant.

A handsome man with gorgeous blonde hair was breathing roughly with a distorted face.

The floor was covered in blood, and someone was lying there.

A round pool of blood was drawn around the head, and the dripping blood created ripples.

“Say it again. What?”

“……”

The person who fell was a servant who delivered news from an envoy from another place.

The vassal who came with the fallen servant was pale and unable to say anything.

He was the most skilled person next to the head of the hyena clan, but he had no choice but to shrink like a deer in front of a lion in the face of the Crown Prince’s aura.

“Am I not asking, Duke Tasren?”

Tasren Endaide, from the Hyena family, held his breath.

“Th, that is… The East and North continents are demanding a clear expl, explanation for this incident… and if the Imperial Family does not make a statement, they will not cooperate with the affairs of the Center in the future…”

In the East Continent lived the elephant beastmen, who could be called the king among herbivores.

Not only that, but the hippopotamus beastmen with a bad temper also held sway over the Empire’s East Continent.

They were not in conflict with the Imperial Family, but rather acknowledged the authority of the Imperial Family and passively watched as long as it was not detrimental to them.

However, with the destruction of Madrum, terrible rumors spread throughout the entire Empire.

No matter what the Orcas did, the rumors spread to every corner before they could even do anything about it.

The Imperial Family hurriedly cut ties with Madrum and declared their innocence, but the Orcas took out evidence as if they had predicted this, nailing it down once again.

‘The Imperial Family ordered a terrible human experiment!’

It was revealed to the world that the Emperor had approved or cooperated with all the human experiments that Madrum had done.

It became even more difficult to handle because they cleverly circulated copies of the data to each leader.

‘Roland, you’re not helping until the end.’

It was all Roland’s fault for dying without even erasing the data that he was always told to erase.

Roland was an ardent supporter of the Crown Prince and followed him like a pseudo-believer.

It was their downfall that he cherished the paper with the Crown Prince’s seal on it, saying, ‘How can I burn it with my own hands?’

Among those who died so far, besides the rescued experimental subjects, there were various beastmen.

They are members of families who are now rising up or strongly demanding an explanation from the Imperial Family.

The Crown Prince gritted his teeth.

“Tell everyone to gather.”

The Crown Prince shone his eyes in the darkness.

“Ye, yes?”

Because so many different beastmen were mobilized in this Madrum human experiment document, only beasts or black panthers who had been loyal to them from the beginning remained under the Imperial Family.

“They need an explanation, right?”

The Crown Prince covered his face and chuckled. Hyena Tasren felt a chill down his spine.

“Tell them to come and listen in person. To that explanation.”

If they can listen alive, that is.

“Send the messenger right away.”

“Ye, yes!”