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Chapter 2
“So… this is the one?”
She spoke as if she were referring to an object rather than a person.
Still the same as ever.
The aide standing beside her bowed respectfully.
“Yes, Family Head.”
“And the Power of Water?”
“W-Well… about that…”
After hesitating, the aide slowly shook his head.
The Power of Water.
It was the special ability passed down through generations in the Orca family.
Those who possessed it could wield one hundred percent of their strength even while on land.
For aquatic beastkin, whose abilities weakened the farther they moved from the sea, it was an invaluable gift.
The stronger one’s Power of Water became, the more it allowed nearby aquatic beastkin to fight at full strength as well.
At its peak…
It could grant that blessing to every aquatic beastkin.
I reached that level once.
In my previous life, I obtained one of the treasures mentioned in the original novel.
Using that treasure, I awakened the Power of Water and pushed it to its absolute limit.
I became the head of the Orca family…
Gathered every aquatic beastkin under my banner…
And even started a war.
Those bastards were the ones who mocked us first, calling us fish that stank!
Back when I had simply read the novel…
Even I thought every aquatic beastkin was an irredeemable villain.
They kidnapped the adorable squirrel heroine.
Forced medicine on her to exploit her healing powers.
Eventually, they even tried to kill her.
The Orca family, the story’s final villain, was no different.
But after living in this world…
I realized the real thugs were the land beastkin.
It wasn’t enough that they’d claimed all the fertile land for themselves.
They had driven the aquatic beastkin onto salty, barren islands where farming was nearly impossible…
Then laughed at them.
“Go eat fish all day with the rest of your salty kind,” they’d say.
As if they didn’t smell like blood themselves…!
Our true forms might be sea creatures…
But in human form, we still had to eat ordinary food like everyone else.
Living on barren islands…
The aquatic beastkin fought desperately just to survive.
No wonder they’d grown so ruthless.
And honestly…
I can’t deny I still carried some resentment from my last life.
Every single life, before I even turned ten…
I was sold off to another family.
The first time, it was to the Black Panther family.
The second time, after causing absolute chaos, I became entangled with the Imperial Family—the home of the original male lead.
But no matter where I went…
I was nothing more than a bargaining chip.
Eventually, after dying over and over…
I finally snapped.
In my previous life, I ran away.
I built my strength.
Returned.
Beat all three of my brothers into submission.
And claimed the position of Family Head.
Damn it… what was the point of becoming that strong?!
I nearly won the war against those arrogant land beastkin families who looked down on us…
But then that lunatic of a male lead provoked the Dragon Duke—who had been minding his own business—and dragged us all into mutual destruction!
The Dragon Duke…
The greatest cheat in this world.
His original duty was to maintain peace between the land beastkin and the aquatic beastkin.
However…
Every ten years…
He inevitably lost control.
The Dragon Duke of the current generation wished only to live quietly.
Even in the original story, he barely interacted with the heroine beyond occasionally offering wise advice.
But when it looked like the male lead’s side was going to lose…
He deliberately provoked the Dragon Duke into going berserk.
The result?
Everyone died.
The end.
That was when I made my decision.
This time…
I’m going home.
No matter what, I will become the Dragon’s Bride.
Resolving myself was one thing.
Getting past the first obstacle standing right in front of me…
…was another.
Hmm…
How do I stop that old woman from immediately deciding she dislikes me?
“Tsk.”
“So they brought me another useless child.”
Grandmother clicked her tongue before speaking in an icy voice.
“Family Head, the child’s name…”
“Calypso.”
“Her name shall be Calypso Aquasiadel.”
“Yes, ma’am. I shall record it.”
Looks like the naming ceremony is exactly the same this time too.
Calypso.
A name associated with a water spirit.
She kicked me out in every lifetime…
Yet she always gave me such a beautiful name.
Is that your version of a guilty conscience?
Spare me.
I had hated my grandmother with every fiber of my being.
Yet now…
I merely stared at her without any emotion.
There was only one reason for that.
In my previous life, one of my retainers had spoken these words just before he died.
“…Lady Calypso…”
“The former Family Head…”
“…regretted it until the day she died.”
“Huh?”
“What nonsense are you talking? Have you gone senile?”
The family had served the Orca clan for generations.
He wasn’t someone who spoke carelessly.
“Haha…”
“She said…”
“…she should have gone to see you… at least once…”
“…that she should have brought you home…”
Those words weren’t enough to make me forgive her.
But…
They did make me wonder.
Why?
Why were you always so desperate to cast me out?
There were still countless unanswered questions.
Even so…
None of it mattered anymore.
In this life, I only had to survive long enough to be sold as the Dragon’s Bride.
In the Orca family…
Power ruled everything.
“…Grandmother.”
I stretched out my tiny hand toward her.
My hand was once again smaller than a steamed bun.
Damn it.
I have to be at least ten years old before I can become the Dragon’s Bride.
How long am I supposed to wait?
Gripping the crib railing with my chubby little hands, I stood on tiptoe with all my strength.
“Wait!”
My plump cheeks puffed out as I called after her.
Grandmother, who had been turning away, paused.
Her handsome face turned back toward me.
“What did you just say?”
“Grandmother!”
She frowned sharply in disbelief before looking at her aide.
“Can she already speak?”
“Who taught her?”
The reaction was understandable.
Whale beastkin were born with enormous bodies and tremendous strength…
But their mental development was slower than other races.
It was simply a racial characteristic.
Even exceptionally intelligent whales spent years barely able to talk.
Their pronunciation remained clumsy well into childhood.
“Y-Yes… Your Grace. Around the age of two, children can usually say a few simple—”
“Who asked about ordinary beastkin children?”
“Whale children speak much later!”
“Isn’t it common knowledge they still stumble over words until they’re five?”
“Don’t go around calling yourself intelligent.”
“You anchovy.”
“…”
Ah…
Grandmother’s vicious tongue.
I’d almost missed it.
She wasn’t insulting the aide by calling him an anchovy.
He literally was an anchovy beastkin.
“You.”
“Say it again.”
I stared at her.
Then smiled brightly.
Surprised?
I can speak perfectly.
As much as I want, old hag.
“Grandmother!”
“Hmm…”
“She doesn’t just speak…”
“She actually understands what we’re saying.”
“What’s going on here?”
“W-Well… neither the maid nor the nanny reported anything unusual…”
Of course not.
I’d been pretending in front of them.
Even after regressing…
You couldn’t suddenly start doing everything as a newborn.
No matter how many times I repeated my life, I couldn’t completely overcome the natural limitations of whale children.
Only now had I finally figured out the trick.
Would’ve been nice if I could’ve spoken clearly from the beginning.
Oh well.
What’s done is done.
At least this life could start more intelligently.
Besides…
Whale children had another weakness.
Their immune systems were much weaker than those of other beastkin.
I’d learned that from the novel too.
As adults, whales became overwhelmingly powerful.
But as children…
They were incredibly fragile.
That said…
They were still physically stronger than ordinary beastkin.
Powerful…
Yet surprisingly delicate.
“So…”
“A genius has appeared among the fish-brains?”
“Fish-brain!”
“Grandmother!”
“Fish-brain!”
“…”
A strange expression crossed Grandmother’s face.
…Did she just insult me?
“Did you just call me a fish-brain?”
Yes.
That’s exactly what I did.
Old hag.
Just because I’m smiling doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten everything.
Pretending not to understand, I happily shouted again.
“Fish-brain!”
Without warning, Grandmother grabbed my clothes and lifted me into the air.
“What a cunning little thing.”
I probably looked like a kitten dangling by the scruff of its neck.
Her grip was unbelievably rough.
“You dare call me a fish-brain?”
If my clothes tear, I’m going to hit the floor headfirst…
Instead of struggling, I simply relaxed.
“You look exactly like that fool Pierre…”
“Yet you’re so ridiculously small.”
“Your body is utterly inadequate.”
“Y-Yes…”
“Normally, by the age of three, children are much larger than this…”
“No Power of Water…”
“Physically defective…”
“And only your mind developed early.”
“Little one.”
“You understand everything I’m saying, don’t you?”
“Can you prove your own worth?”
What is this old hag talking about?
Who says something like that to a three-year-old?
As I coughed softly, disappointment flashed across her face.
“Such a pitifully weak body.”
“At this rate, will your fangs even grow properly?”
She had undoubtedly subjected my three older brothers…
My father…
And every cousin in the family…
To this exact same test.
She was the strongest being in the clan.
A tyrant incapable of understanding the weak.
A ruler who acknowledged no one but herself.
“Hmph.”
“A clever mind without the body to support it has no place in this family—”
“Grandmother!”
“I’ll prove it!”
Pretending it was an accident, I reached out and grabbed something.
“I…”
“I’ll prove it!”
Riiip.
Something came loose in my hand.
It was one of Grandmother’s snow-white side locks.
I beamed innocently.
“Grandmother.”
“I’m good!”
“I can talk!”
Hahaha.
I’d always wanted to do this at least once.
You wanted me to prove myself, didn’t you…
You old hag?
