Episode 3
“…….”
The aide looked back and forth between me and my grandmother with a face drained of color.
It was almost as if he were looking at me with pity, as if my life were already forfeit.
I didn’t care at all. If anything, I was just thinking that I wanted to try pulling out more of her hair.
Thoughts should be put into action.
It was right when my dainty hand reached out again. That hand was firmly blocked by a much larger one.
Oh dear, was the hair-pulling blocked? Or was she angry? It was at that moment I thought so.
“Ha, ah-hahahaha!”
Grandmother was laughing heartily as if it were incredibly amusing.
At the end of her laughter, her glistening eyes turned toward me. It was a gaze filled with a languid sense of satisfaction.
“To think that something like this came from under Pierre, that crazy bastard who gave up on life?”
However, her sharp eyes were continuously examining me. As if it were quite interesting.
Her wrinkled yet handsome face suddenly leaned in close.
It was close enough that I could clearly see the wrinkles.
The members of the Killer Whale family were capable of loading their gaze with murderous intent.
Those glistening eyes certainly didn’t contain only goodwill.
“You’re the first grandchild to ever rip out my hair, you little sprout.”
“…Ung?”
Grandmother dropped me back onto the bed with a thud.
As expected, it wasn’t the kind of behavior one should show a baby, but the bed was soft, so it didn’t hurt.
“Fine, I shall postpone the disposal of this thing.”
In previous rounds, the very first thing that happened to me as soon as I regressed was being kicked out to the building furthest from the main house.
“Throw her into the educational institution this summer.”
“……Yes, My Lady.”
Her long, slit-like eyes turned toward me.
Beneath hair as sleek as a killer whale’s skin, her murderous eyes curved.
“Listen well, you little rice-cake piece. If you fail to show results at the educational institution, you will be exiled to the cold valleys immediately. Do you understand?”
Because I was weak and hadn’t awakened the power of water. That was the situation I was always kicked out for.
‘Fine, just you wait and see. I’ll grow up quickly and get the hell out of this family.’
Before that, I’ll have to see that old hag’s face crumple.
‘Once I become strong enough to make you drool, I’ll vanish as the Dragon’s Bride.’
I’m going to be the boss. I’ll definitely become the boss.
And just like that, I changed the start of this life.
* * *
The age at which one can be sold as the Dragon’s Bride is 10.
However, before then, I was frequently sold off to other families.
I tried to rebel, throw tantrums, and escape many times.
But having the memories of the original work was useless; with a body that had no strength, there was absolutely nothing I could do here.
‘The only reason I could escape in the previous round was because I put my life on the line.’
But now, thanks to finally mastering the trick of speaking clearly, I’ve bought myself some time.
Now, there was only one thing for me to do.
‘First, the goal is to survive safely until age 10.’
And until then, to not be sold off to a family related to the original work.
I already appeared to have an extraordinary brain, but this alone was not enough.
‘I need a guardian until I turn 10.’
My abilities can be developed gradually, but until then, I needed at least one guardian who would firmly support me.
‘My physical abilities are too low. It can’t be helped since I take after my father in that regard.’
My three older brothers above me, who had outstanding abilities, were either under the protection of vassals or were such great individuals that they didn’t even need protection, but the current me was different.
‘It would have been nice if the power of water had stayed with me.’
Then, who could help me until I grow up?
Most adults wouldn’t want to be my guardian.
No matter how smart I was, this was a family that preferred overwhelming martial force over intelligence.
‘I need an adult who has unique tastes and will also be a bystander.’
And I knew one such human.
‘My father. Pierre Aquasiadel.’
My father was a human in a peculiar position within this Killer Whale family.
The family head, Grandmother, had three sons. While the first and second boasted such formidable abilities that they were called rivals from childhood…… the third, Pierre, was different from birth.
His body was very frail.
However, unlike me, who was ignored for being frail, my father was not ignored or held in contempt, and that was because he possessed an immense ‘power of water.’
‘The problem was that because his body was weak, there were constraints on using that power.’
To describe my father, it was like this:
A weapon with firepower that everyone feared, but with a limited number of uses.
Grandmother also treated my father as a useless fellow, albeit a regrettable one, and my father lived in seclusion, cooped up.
In the midst of this, he did have a child through an arranged marriage, but he didn’t care for his child like his older brothers did.
My older brothers above me didn’t even pay attention to our father either.
‘But right now, I need that indifference.’
Currently, I was being carried back to where I lived in the arms of the servant who had brought me.
Interestingly, the touch of the hands carrying me had become more careful than when we started.
‘It must be because he saw that I caught Grandmother’s eye.’
When we arrived at the room, the servant glanced at me and spoke tentatively.
“Young Lady, we plan to move your residence in a week. I will come for you then.”
The place I was currently staying was a shabby room at the western end.
The servant withdrew after saying I would be moved toward the end of the main building.
‘Power really is a great thing. Moving rooms as soon as I catch Grandmother’s eye. Anyway, this room was too old and dangerous, so it worked out well.’
As soon as I was left alone, I moved with waddling steps.
In this old building, there was a nanny who took care of babies like me all at once.
Someone who gave just the minimum amount of food so we wouldn’t die.
The babies of the Killer Whale family started in this building and could leave the moment they showed potential.
Of course, babies who possessed the power of water from birth lived in the main building without even needing to come here.
I moved my steps diligently.
* * *
After walking for a long time, baby Calypso was able to arrive at the place she wanted.
Calypso scanned the area, constantly turning her chubby-cheeked face this way and that.
‘It should be around here……. Ah!’
Soon, Calypso’s face brightened.
She had found the person she wanted.
In Calypso’s two large eyes, a man sitting blankly near a fountain came into view.
The fountain here was old and cracked, looking shabby as if placed in the middle of ruins.
The man sitting there was very tall and had a large frame, but somehow gave off a thin impression.
His collarbones were visible above his round-neck shirt, and a loosely draped cardigan created a languid atmosphere.
His face had a sharp appearance that made the languid atmosphere even more mature and even gave off a somewhat decadent impression.
His white skin, looking as if it had never seen a single point of light since birth, also amplified this atmosphere.
‘Hmm, he certainly is handsome, as expected of a powerful Killer Whale.’
Calypso evaluated simply.
The man before her eyes was none other than her father, ‘Pierre Aquasiadel.’
Surprisingly, during her three lives, Calypso had not seen her living father many times.
The reason was simple.
Before Calypso was sold off in the previous rounds, he had almost never shown himself, and after she was sold off, he died not long after due to illness.
Though he possessed power that could be called the strongest, his weak physical body could not endure it, and he died.
‘In the round right before this, I saw plenty of him only through portraits after I became the family head.’
In this round, she hadn’t seen him even once.
Since she heard that her father wasn’t even by her side when Calypso was born.
Calypso ran over.
Pierre was slowly gazing somewhere without turning his head even when Calypso got very close.
“Mister!”
Only when Calypso finally arrived right in front of him did he slowly turn his head.
“…….”
Calypso looked at her father’s face thoroughly.
As expected, it was fascinating to see Pierre’s living face.
‘A person who is currently strong enough to be compared to Grandmother, but the constraints on that power are great.’
Moreover, he was terminally ill and would die early.
Whether or not he knew his own situation, he had a mysterious atmosphere, reminiscent of a night under neon signs that didn’t exist here.
“Hello, Mister.”
Calypso smiled brightly, pretending not to know.
“Do you happen to know where that thing called the educational institution is? I have to go. There.”
Of course, this was just an excuse to talk to him and was a blatant lie.
Pierre looked at Calypso for a long time.
Strangely, rather than saying he looked at her, it would be more accurate to say he just turned his gaze.
He made Calypso feel as if his gaze were passing right through her transparently, as if he didn’t sense her existence.
They were eyes filled only with indifference and lethargy.
Calypso’s rounded eyebrows twitched upward.
Calypso was the roundest-looking among her family members. This had always been a complex for her.
In terms of the public image of a killer whale, everyone else was sharp, but she alone was round.
But at this moment, she wanted to flick her eyes upward. Hey, I’m annoyed!
‘Why is there no answer?’
Only long after she thought this did a slow response come.
“You took the wrong path, by quite a lot.”
Pierre’s voice was low and muffled.
As if he hadn’t made a sound in a very long time.
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