📖 Chapter 2 …

“Is this… that thing?”

The way she spoke—treating a person like an object. Still the same.

The aide beside her bowed respectfully.

“Yes, that’s correct, Head of the Family.”

“And the Power of Water?”

“Th-that is…”

The aide hesitated, then shook his head.

‘Power of Water.’

It referred to the special ability passed down through the Orca family.

With this power, aquatic beastmen could use 100% of their strength even on land.

For aquatic beastmen—whose strength weakened the farther they were from the sea—this was an incredibly important ability.

Moreover, the stronger this power became, the more it allowed nearby aquatic beastmen to also use their full strength.

And if it reached its peak, it could even grant this buff to all aquatic beings.

‘…I reached that level.’

In my previous life, I obtained a treasure from the original story.

With its help, I awakened the Power of Water and pushed it to its limits—eventually becoming the head of the family and even uniting all aquatic beastmen to wage war.

‘Those bastards were the ones who started it, calling us fish that stink.’

Honestly, when I first read the novel, I also thought all aquatic beastmen were irredeemable villains.

They tried to kidnap the cute squirrel heroine, forced drugs on her to use her healing powers, and even attempted to kill her later.

The Orca family—the final villain faction—was no different.

But after actually entering this world…

The real thugs were the land-dwelling animals.

It wasn’t enough that they took all the fertile land on the continent—

They drove aquatic beastmen out to salty, barren lands where even farming was difficult, and mocked them for it.

Saying we should just eat salty fish like ourselves.

‘As if they don’t reek themselves…!’

Even if our true forms are aquatic, in human form we still have to eat like humans.

And in those harsh lands and islands, aquatic beastmen lived fiercely.

That probably made them more ruthless. Of course it did.

‘…I can’t deny there was some desire for revenge in my last life.’

Before I turned ten, I was sold off to another family every time.

In my first life, it was the Black Panther family.

In my second, after causing chaos, I got entangled with the imperial family where the original male lead was.

Either way, I lived as something to be sold.

After dying over and over, I got angry—and in my last life, I ran away.

I built up strength, came back, beat my brothers, and became the family head.

‘Damn it, what was the point of becoming that strong?!’

I even started a war against the land beast families that looked down on aquatic beastmen—and we were on the verge of victory…!

‘But that insane male lead provoked the Dragon Duke—who had been minding his own business—and dragged everyone down with him.’

The cheat key of this world.

The Dragon Duke, who originally served as a mediator between land and aquatic beastmen.

‘…But one who goes berserk once every 10 years.’

The current Dragon Duke only wished to live quietly.

Even in the original story, he barely interacted with the heroine—just giving wise advice occasionally.

But when the male lead realized they might lose, he provoked that quiet duke into rampaging—

And it resulted in a total annihilation ending.

And in that last life, I made a decision.

This time, I would return home.

‘No matter what, I have to become the Dragon’s Bride.’

That resolve was good and all, but…

The first obstacle was staring right at me.

Hmm. How do I stop that grandmother from disliking me right away?

“Tsk. You brought something useless.”

Grandmother clicked her tongue and spoke in an icy voice.

“Head of the Family, the child’s name is…”

“Calypso. I’ll name her Calypso Aquasiadel.”

“Yes. I will record it as such.”

‘The naming process is the same this time too.’

Calypso—a name like a water spirit.

She threw me out in every life, so why give me such a precious name?

‘Is it a shred of conscience or what? Tch.’

I used to resent her deeply, but now I simply stared at her without emotion.

That was because of something one of my retainers said before dying in my previous life.

“…Lady Calypso, the former Head of the Family… regretted it until the day she died.”

“What nonsense are you spouting? Have you gone senile before dying?”

A retainer who had served the Orca family for generations wouldn’t say something like that lightly.

“Haha… She said she should have gone to see you… at least once… that she should have brought you back…”

Of course, that didn’t make me forgive her.

But it did make me curious.

Why was she always so desperate to drive me away?

There were still many unanswered questions—but it didn’t matter.

In this life, all I had to do was survive and be sold as the Dragon’s Bride.

In this Orca family, power ruled everything.

“…Grandmother.”

I reached out my hand and called her.

My hand had become smaller than a steamed bun again.

‘Damn it, I need to be at least 10 years old to be sold as the Dragon’s Bride.’

How long do I have to wait for that?

Grabbing the railing with my tiny hands, I stood on my tiptoes with all my strength.

“Wait!”

At the sound of my chubby cheeks and tiny lips forming words, the grandmother who had been turning away paused.

Her sharp face turned back toward me.

“What did you say?”

“Grandmother!”

She frowned sharply, looking dumbfounded, and turned to the aide.

“Can it speak originally? Who taught it that?”

Understandably so.

Whale beastmen were born large and strong, but their mental development was slow.

It was a racial trait.

In other words, no matter how smart they were, they lived as “idiots” who couldn’t speak for a long time.

Even when they could speak, their pronunciation was clumsy.

“Y-yes? Your Grace, children can usually say simple words after about two years—”

“Who said this is a normal beast child? Whale children speak late! Isn’t it common for them to speak poorly until age five? Don’t go around calling yourself a fish head. You anchovy.”

“….”

Ah, grandmother’s sharp tongue. Hearing it again feels almost refreshing.

And the “anchovy” wasn’t just an insult—the aide really was an anchovy beastman.

“You. Say it again.”

I stared at her, then smiled brightly.

‘Yeah, surprising, right? I can speak properly.’

As much as I want, you old hag.

“Grandmother!”

“Hmm… It’s not just speaking—it seems to understand as well. What’s going on here?”

“W-well… we haven’t heard anything unusual from the maids or the nanny…”

Of course not. I acted clueless in front of them.

Even if you’re reborn, it’s not like you can do everything from infancy.

No matter how many times I regressed, overcoming the whale beastmen’s natural limitations—slow growth and poor speech—was difficult.

Only now had I figured out the trick.

‘Would’ve been nice if I could speak clearly earlier.’

Still, what’s done is done. I’m satisfied that I can start smarter this time.

Also, the reason whale beastmen often died young was because they had weaker immunity compared to other beastmen.

I learned that from the original story too.

They grew extremely powerful as adults—but were incredibly fragile as children.

Though, even as kids, they were still physically stronger than others.

Strong, but fragile bodies.

“Did a genius come out among these fish heads?”

“Fish head! Grandmother! Fish head!”

“….”

Her expression turned strange.

Like she was wondering if I had just insulted her.

“Did you just insult me?”

Yes, I did. You old hag.

I might be smiling now, but my resentment hasn’t disappeared.

I deliberately shouted again with confidence.

“Fish head!”

Her hand suddenly grabbed my clothes and lifted me up.

“You impudent little thing.”

I felt like a kitten being lifted by the scruff of its neck.

Her grip was rough.

“You dare call me a fish head?”

If my clothes tore, I’d probably get a concussion.

Instead of struggling, I relaxed my body.

“You look exactly like that brat Pierre, yet you’re this small. Your body is defective.”

“Y-yes… Normally, by age three, they are much larger…”

“And without the Power of Water—a half-wit. Only your brain developed faster. Brat, you understand everything I’m saying, don’t you? Can you prove your worth yourself?”

What is this old hag even saying? Who asks that to a three-year-old?

I coughed lightly, and she looked at me with disdain.

“A pathetically small and weak body. Would teeth even grow properly in something like this?”

She must have done this to my three older brothers—and even to my father, her youngest son.

And probably to all the cousins too.

She was the strongest, after all—a tyrant who couldn’t understand the weak.

“Hmph. Intelligence without a body to support it is useless in this family—”

“Grandmother! I’ll prove it!”

Pretending it was an accident, I reached out and grabbed something.

“I’ll prove it!”

Riiip—

Something was pulled out in my hand.