The Crazy Killer Whale’s Favourite Penguin

Episode 19: The Best Incentive (II)

As Iprus looked at me, tears filled her eyes. She lowered her head and wiped away the tears that were welling up.

“Lady Lia. Why did you leave without saying a word? Really… I was really worried!”

“Sorry for worrying you. I also missed dad and Iprus a lot.”

Feeling sorry, I patted her on the back.

Clink-!

At the sudden noise, I turned my head to look in the direction from which the sound came, and someone came into my field of vision.

Hanu stood awkwardly by the door, his sword hanging limply by his side.

He couldn’t hide his bewildered face as he uttered,

“That, that, so…”

“Sir Hanu. Since when have you been watching?”

“I, I came in after hearing screams in the room.”

“Well.”

This meant he heard everything; that I was Lord Reynos’ penguin and not a killer whale.

I smiled lightly.

“Iprus, this is my first command to you as a human.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Catch that black bull.”

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

With one leg crossed, I said sarcastically.

“Iprus. How do you take care of your little brother?”

“Sorry. It seems like I spoiled him. From now on, I will deal with him severely with a rod.”

When Iprus lowered her head and spoke as if she was apologetic, Hanu strongly expressed his resentment.

“Lady Lia, didn’t I say I’m her older brother yesterday…?!”

‘No, isn’t it unfortunate?’

“Uh-huh, the sinner who enters a room without the owner’s permission should lower his head.”

It had only been three days since I came to the Weil mansion, but I had already been caught by two people. It wasn’t the flow I was expecting.

But the water had already been spilled.

I asked Iprus, leaving behind my mixed feelings.

“By the way, is dad okay?”

“Lord Reynos? He can’t be okay. The entire Magic Tower is looking for you like crazy.”

“I guess so…”

I knew it vaguely from the conversation of the pure-blooded humans I met yesterday, but it was bittersweet to hear the situation in person.

“What happened to you, Lady Lia? Did that sneaky killer whale really kidnap you?”

“No, to be exact, I ran away from home. Suradel doesn’t even know I’m a penguin.”

“What? You ran away?”

With a shocked face, Iprus covered her mouth.

“Oh my gosh…! I would have paid more attention if I had known that the lady was going through a period of stormy rage! Well, since the lady has been out of the egg for several years…”

Immersed in her emotions, she finally began to shed tears, and wiped it with her sleeve.

“It seems like yesterday that you only came up to my knees. When did you grow up so much that you’re unrecognizable?”

“Iprus. I’m sorry to spoil the mood, but it’s just the day before yesterday.”

“Heuk, that’s what I’m saying. Think about it. How did I raise the lady…”

Actually, by the time Iprus was hired, I was already close to a quasi-adult penguin.

But I nodded my head as if she was right and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Mom. When will you marry my dad?”

Then Iprus was startled and terrified, as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have heard.

“What?! Surely you didn’t mean Lord Reynos?”

“Yes, it is?”

“L-Lady Lia. No matter how much you hate to admit that I raised you, how can you insult me like that…!”

“…Isn’t that scary enough? I’m not saying this because it’s my dad, but he does have a good face and great skills.”

“But his personality…!”

“Well, not everything can be perfect.”

I whistled and looked at the distant mountains before continuing.

“And I didn’t run away from home because I was in puberty, I did it impulsively out of embarrassment because I suddenly humanized.”

“I see… That’s right, you must have been very confused because you suddenly became a human.”

Iprus slowly grabbed both of my hands.

“Now that you’ve settled down, let’s go back to the Magic Tower together.”

“I can’t go.”

“…Yes?”

Like she hadn’t expected such an answer at all, Iprus blinked rapidly.

“Dad hates demibeasts. Dad liked me as a penguin, but there is no guarantee that he likes me as a demibeast.”

“My lady!”

Iprus got angry, her face showed that she felt it was nonsense.

“There’s no way Lord Reynos hates you. I’m a demibeast too!”

“Iprus is a special case. In the first place, you’re hired to take care of me. You lied to dad about your species trait and said you could roughly translate the penguin’s language, right?”

The black bull demibeasts’ special ability allowed them to be acutely aware of the emotions of others.

That’s why my father hired Iprus, a black bull demibeast, to be a penguin’s maid.

Yesterday, Hanu must have felt that I was truly sad and in pain. Which was probably why he did his best to carry out my request.

“…But didn’t I convey the meaning well?”

“That’s right.”

She really got me everything I wanted, as if she understood the penguin’s language.

As if relieved by my answer, she patted her chest and opened her mouth with a grim face.

“It doesn’t matter what reason I was hired anyway.”

“I think it’s important. I let it slide nicely, but you’re guilty of fraud.”

“Oh, anyway! You’re the only daughter of Lord Reynos.”

“It’s someone else’s business, so it’s easy to say. Would such words come out even in my situation?”

I also didn’t want to imagine that my dad would hate me. But what could I say about this reality?

Anxiety still crept into my voice as I refuted Iprus’ claims.

“Iprus. You have a blood relative, Sir Hanu, but I have nothing if I am abandoned by my father.”

‘There will really be nothing left.’

As if feeling deep anxiety in my heart, Iprus looked at me with worry for a moment.

Then, as if to change the mood, she hurriedly brought up another topic.

“In any case, you ran away and found a place to stay immediately. Looking at the situation, it seems that the people of the Weil family mistook the lady for a killer whale demibeast…”

“I never intended to deceive them.”

I let out a small sigh and explained, though it sounded like excuses.

“Somehow, they thought I was a killer whale when they saw my hair, and by the time I realized this, it was a little difficult to explain.”

Upon hearing that, a glint appeared in Iprus’ eyes. 

“Since it’s like this, you’re going to suck it up and run away, right?”

It was an Iprus-like idea. The personalities of this pair of siblings were complete opposites.

Frowning, I denied it.

“Didn’t I just run away from home? No matter how brazen I am, it’s not to that extent.”

“Aww! The lady who ran away from home have a conscience? There’s one thing in common, and that is running away!”

Looking at the bright Iprus, I held back a sigh that tried to come out on its own, and spoke as if admonishing her.

“Iprus, have you ever been hit with a penguin’s wing?”

“Yes! You hit me many times.”

“How about human hands?”

“There is no one other than Hanu, when he is in his human form.”

“If you don’t want to add one more person to that list, you’d better guard your freewheeling tongue.”

“…Yes.”

The snickering maid instantly clammed up and turned her gaze elsewhere.

It was then.

Hanu, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, opened his mouth cautiously.

“Uh, Lady Lia?”

“What.”

After allowing him to speak, he began to ask curiously.

“First of all, Lady Lia is not a killer whale, but a penguin that Lord Reynos cherished.”

“Mhm?”

“But why are you so good at talking? Is it really true that you humanized the day before yesterday…?”

“Huh?”

“I heard that it hasn’t been long since you’ve humanized, but I thought it’ll be at least a few months.”

I closed my mouth, confused.

Should I… not be able to?

In theory, I knew that any animal could become a human.

However, I have never thought about to what extent an animal could speak once it humanized.

When the silence persisted for more than a while, Iprus clicked her tongue.

“That’s right, my lady is a genius. Do you know how smart she was back in her days as a penguin?”

“Oh, in what way?”

She stared at her brother with a gaze that seemed to be calling him the most pathetic thing in the world for not knowing it, and continued to speak.

“Thinking and acting are all on a different level from normal animals. Even then, she was already no different from a human!”

‘But of course, it’s because I’m a human inside…’

While listening to the familiar voice of Iprus, I suddenly remembered what happened last night.

My bones tingled when I thought of Primo, the head of the Weil family whom I met yesterday.

“To have been caught by another person in Weil… I really need to be alert from now on.”

With a doubtful expression, Hanu asked cautiously.

“Yes? To say you’ve been caught… it’s not possible that someone else besides me already…?”

Feelings of resentment welled up.

Of course, it was my fault for speaking fluently without thinking.

But my identity was discovered by Primo… 

“How can I deceive a loving man who has only looked at the madam all his life? He noticed by looking at my hair, not by my actions.”

Hanu stared at my hair with incredulous eyes.

“Is… Is that possible?”

“I don’t know. He says it’s possible with the power of love.”

“Wait. He has a high-enough status to say that?”

“Yes. The head of the Weil family found out right away yesterday.”

Jjarum.

Just like I did in front of Primo yesterday, I made a sound effect with my mouth.