Black Killer Whale Baby [EN]: Chapter 260

Tathren trailed behind the Crown Prince as he answered, almost involuntarily.

“Your Highness…!”

The Crown Prince turned, his face etched with irritation and anger, causing Tathren’s shoulders to tense further.

But he had to say this.

“When… when will His Majesty the Emperor… make a statement… do you think?”

“……”

Indeed. After the rumors of human experimentation at Madrum spread far and wide, the Imperial Family quickly issued a statement of non-involvement, promising to severely punish those spreading baseless rumors.

However, it was the Crown Prince, not the Emperor, who made this declaration.

The Emperor had remained silent since the rumors began to circulate.

Moreover, there was an even stranger story attached to this…

Very few people had actually seen the Emperor.

In recent years, or even broadly speaking, in the past nine years, only a handful of people had seen the Emperor’s face.

The Crown Prince handled all important and external affairs.

The Emperor had no other children besides the Crown Prince. In other words, the Crown Prince was the next Emperor, so the retainers thought nothing of it.

“My father continues to be in poor health. Everyone should be discreet.”

They accepted the Crown Prince’s words about his poor health without question.

Everyone knew how much the Emperor cherished the Crown Prince.

Anyway, that being said, wasn’t it unusual for the Emperor to be so difficult to see?

Although he didn’t show it, as time passed, the Hyena Leader secretly grew suspicious.

Tathren, the Hyena Leader’s right-hand man, noticed his leader’s thoughts.

“Huh, did you dare to ask the Emperor for a statement?”

“No? No, absolutely not!”

Tathren quickly waved his hands and bowed deeply at the Crown Prince’s sensitive reaction.

It was suspicious how strongly he reacted, as if rejecting the very idea.

“You better behave yourself.”

“……”

“Weren’t you also beneficiaries of Madrum’s… favors?”

Tathren closed his eyes tightly.

…It was true.

Among the Hyena’s direct descendants, young and naive children, those who craved power, recklessly coveted that power.

They took the drugs provided by Madrum or gained extraordinary power through strange devices.

Now they knew what those drugs and devices were made of and how, but it was too late to back out.

Above all, having been to Madrum, they couldn’t pretend they didn’t know anything.

All the Hyenas who had been there had vaguely guessed but turned a blind eye.

For the sake of becoming stronger. To climb higher.

“……”

Step, step. The sound of footsteps fading away. Soon, the door closed. Tathren sighed inwardly.

‘Who can I blame?’

However, for some reason, even as a strong ally of this powerful Imperial Family…

He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was on a sinking ship.

* * *

“What are you going to do now?”

Leaving the office, the Crown Prince slowly turned his head. His face was as elegant as ever, as if he had never been angry, but his eyes still flickered with uncooled anger.

“Duke Panterion.”

Duke Panterion, a large black panther beastman, stood in front of the office.

With a stern face, he bowed politely.

“Your Highness.”

He had only called out, but the Crown Prince understood the unspoken request and twisted his lips.

“I humbly request an audience with His Majesty the Emperor. Please.”

As expected. A sneer crossed Crown Prince Cale’s face.

“How unfortunate, Duke. My father is not in a state to meet anyone.”

“……”

“You must know this, Duke, so why do you ask?”

The Crown Prince took a step towards the Duke. A sinister smile appeared.

“Duke, you and I are in the same boat.”

“……”

“The world calls it ‘being on the same side,’ wouldn’t you agree?”

*Don’t act morally now, when you’ve been cooperating with my plans from the beginning.*

The Crown Prince’s words were barbed.

Panterion knew this, so the reason he was saying this now was…

“Your Highness, when will you find ‘Lily’?”

“I’m looking. You’ll meet her soon.”

How many times had they repeated this conversation? Panterion barely managed to release the tension in his fist.

“Yes, I will trust you, Your Highness.”

“Surely, you don’t think I would betray you?”

The Crown Prince patted Duke Panterion’s shoulder with an elegant gesture.

“And don’t look for the Emperor anymore.”

“……”

“We all know each other, right?”

The whispering voice pierced his ear like an awl. The Crown Prince turned and walked away.

‘The Emperor?’

The name Panterion brought up was laughable.

Because the Emperor was no longer in this world.

“My son…!”

His father, who had already met his end at his hands.

‘This one, that one.’

All of them were displeasing. He gritted his teeth.

He knew the future. He knew many things.

But to be restricted and unable to move.

Crunch.

This was wrong.

* * *

“Haha.”

“……”

“Hahaha……”

I had been assigned an office in a temporary building in Madrum, or rather, the land that was once a city but no longer was.

And this morning, a guest came to this land.

To be exact, a face I had missed.

“……Dad?”

My dad’s beauty was still as white, cold, and handsome as ever, but his face was colder than the north wind.

It wasn’t like this from the beginning.

Clearly, when we met this morning… it was a somewhat touching father-daughter reunion.

The problem was that when Dad arrived here and found out everything that had been going on.

“……You almost died?”

He even seemed to have heard a somewhat exaggerated story. *No, when did I almost die?*

I moved knowing Whale was there.

Of course, it seemed like Dad wouldn’t buy that at all.

Another problem was that it wasn’t just this one thing that was discovered.

Before Dad started nagging, I slipped away while Atlan and Velus came, and went to Ekion.

I got caught red-handed while working with Ekion.

‘It’s amazing.’

Working with Ekion was something that had happened countless times since childhood.

But Dad amazingly noticed right away when he saw me and Ekion.

That our relationship had changed from before.

‘Scary, scary. Is this a parent’s intuition?’

Could it be that if I have a child, I’ll become this perceptive too?

In my previous life, I was an adopted child, and I had grown up being mistreated for three lifetimes, so I had never even thought about having children. I don’t know.

Anyway, due to several complex issues, Dad was now sitting with a complicated expression—no, with a face so cold it seemed to reach sub-zero temperatures.

“……Your body.”

“Ahaha, as I said this morning, I’m perfectly fine. You know it too, Dad; you’ve experienced it. Whale’s treatment is perfect.”

“The white whale himself said that he couldn’t cure the mental aftereffects, so he asked me to keep an eye on you. Did I hear wrong?”

“……”

Whale told unnecessary stories. I’ll have to punish him.

Knowing the culprit, I secretly resolved to carry out petty retribution.

“Haa.”

My shoulders flinched at the small sigh.

For some reason, I felt more nervous and concerned about my loved one’s sigh than about fighting or battles.

Was I going to get scolded? Just as I thought this and braced myself, a gentle hand landed on my head.

Stroke, stroke.

It was a familiar caress.

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“……”

“But next time, I hope you’ll be with me or not get hurt.”

“……”

“That’s a parent’s heart.”

I slightly opened my mouth and then closed it again.

No matter how big I got, I would always revert to being a child in front of my adoptive parents.

It was no different now. It was as if we had returned to the day we first met.

“Mister!”

Feeling like I was looking up at Dad with a very small body.

“I will.”

Satisfied with my answer, Dad didn’t say anything more.

“Bringing the white whale was a really good thing.”

“I think so too.”

Whale had done so much since coming to Aquasia Dell.

Years later, when his existence became known, there would be no one who didn’t know Whale’s contributions.

“That’s why so many people are coveting him.”

“Huh?”

“Now that he’s no longer hiding, his abilities have become known. There must be more than a few forces trying to recruit the white whale.”

“Aha……”

To be exact, the power struggles among the aquatic beastmen were quite significant.

Well, with healing abilities that no one else had, it was understandable. Dad shook his head slightly.

“The fact that he’s the closest to the head of the family also plays a role.”

“Ah, yeah. I guess so.”

“So they all want to tie him up with marriage. That’s going to give you a headache.”

“Huh?”

“If that white whale marries into another family, have you thought about the possibility of his abilities being used politically?”

I blinked for a moment.

Dad stared at me intently before naturally changing the subject, as if he didn’t want to hear the answer now.

Rather, he had only brought up Whale’s story because he had healed me. He clearly had no interest in Whale personally.

“So, when did you get into that kind of relationship with that dragon brat?”