NOVEL NEXT Chapter 56: Sad Whale (Part 1)
Kai and Mei lay sprawled across the narrow bed in the Safe House, their bodies heavy and unmoving, as if the weight of their pain had chained them to the mattress.
The room was dim, curtains drawn tight, allowing only thin streaks of dying daylight to bleed through the cracks. Their breathing was shallow, uneven.
In the next room, the atmosphere couldn't have been more different. Lily sat with her back pressed neatly against a chair, her posture prim.
The maid uniform she wore was painfully tight, hugging every curve with deliberate precision, the glossy fabric pulling against her chest each time she inhaled.
Across from her, Miyuki leaned casually on the armrest of the sofa. Her black bunny outfit clung like a second skin, accentuating the sharp contrast between dark satin and the pale glow of her flesh.
The fishnets wrapped tight around her legs, crisscrossing patterns over the firm lines of her thighs, leading down to the sharp glint of her heels.
Aristocrat, white gloves gleamed faintly when she flexed her fingers, the motion elegant and deliberate. Above it all, the tall white rabbit ears twitched ever so slightly.
Miyuki crossed her legs, the sound of the fishnets scraping lightly against each other filling the silence. She tugged her glove tighter then tilted her head, eyes locking on Lily with quiet intensity.
"So…" she drawled, her lips curling into something between a smirk and a threat, "did you find the diary?"
Lily's fingers nervously tugged at the hem of her skirt, the frills twitching under her restless grip. Her white thighs pressed together, tense, almost trembling as she forced herself to meet Miyuki's gaze. The weight of those sharp eyes was unbearable.
"I-I sent a t-team to search the ruins where Vorenhart died…" Lily stammered, her voice thin and shaky. "B-but… they didn't find anything…"
Miyuki didn't move at first. She simply crossed one leg over the other again. She leaned forward just enough for the satin fabric of her bunny suit to catch the dim light, her gloved hand resting elegantly against her knee.
"Someone probably took it before you," she said in a calm, velvety voice. No judgment, no anger—just a cold, simple truth.
"I-I'm sorry!" Lily cried, her voice breaking as her head dipped low, silky strands of hair spilling forward to hide her flushed face.
Miyuki exhaled softly, not in annoyance but almost like a sigh of inevitability. Her bunny ears twitched faintly as she leaned back into the sofa.
"You shouldn't apologize to me…" she said, her tone calm, smooth, with no sharp edge this time. "The siblings should have taken it the moment they defeated Vorenhart."
Normally, the failure would have lit a spark of anger in her — she hated wasted chances, hated incompetence — but now she couldn't bring herself to feel it.
The memory of Kai and Mei's broken forms in the other room, their hollow eyes and trembling breaths, softened the frost in her heart.
The siblings were still trapped in their black-and-white world, their bodies motionless yet their eyes locked, as if searching for answers in each other's hollow reflections. Every breath felt heavy, every blink like a silent question neither dared to voice:
"How had it come to this?"
Then, without warning, a sound slipped into their world. At first it was faint, almost too soft to notice, but then it grew. The notes curled gently through the stillness, their quiet sorrow weaving itself into the siblings' hearts. Each melody sank deep, resonating with wounds they hadn't spoken of, yet both felt.
It wasn't just background music — it was as if the world itself had chosen to mourn with them. Its rhythm perfectly aligned with the despair in their veins. It was beautiful, and it was cruel — because it reminded them that even their suffering could sound like art.
Miyuki felt a faint vibration shivering through the floorboards beneath her heels. Her animal senses picked up the tiniest tremors.
Her snow-white bunny ears twitched at the faintest hint of sound — a voice, soft and mournful, carrying the edges of a melody that seemed both distant and impossibly close.
Lily's head turned sharply, eyes scanning the dimly lit room. The source of the singing was elusive, as if it were drifting from nowhere and everywhere all at once.
Swallowing, she stood. She moved toward the door that led to Kai and Mei. She saw them — still lying motionless on the narrow bed. Finally, with a quiet resolve, she stepped outside.
"Where is that sound coming from?" Lily asked in confusion. She sank back onto a chair, the frills of her maid uniform brushing softly against her thighs as she tried to steady her racing thoughts.
Miyuki's posture shifted subtly, her long legs crossing with the grace. Her bunny ears twitched, angling instinctively to catch the faintest hint of resonance in the air.
"Ravenwood Lake…" she said finally.
Kai's eyes snapped as if the haunting melody had pierced through the fog that had trapped him. His world seemed to click back into place, every sense suddenly alive. "I like that sound…" he whispered.
Slowly, carefully, he pushed himself up from the bed, his right arm still in a cast and strapped around his neck.
Mei's gaze followed him, hesitant at first. She blinked, taking in her surroundings and only then did her mind catch up.
The song… that melancholy, winding melody… it wasn't just noise; it was a call, an echo that seemed to reach deep into her bones. "The song…" she murmured.
Kai pushed the door open slowly, the creak of the hinges echoing faintly in the quiet hallway. His eyes darted to the empty chairs — Lily and Miyuki were gone.
Then he noticed the other door slightly ajar, light spilling out in muted streaks. With careful steps, he moved toward it.
As he stepped outside, he saw Lily and Miyuki. Both were standing a few feet apart, frozen in place as though caught between curiosity and disbelief.
Lily's maid uniform clung neatly to her figure, the white stockings glinting faintly on the light, while Miyuki's black bunny outfit and gloved hands added an almost surreal contrast, her snow-white ears twitching lightly with every faint note in the air.
Mei stepped lightly behind him, her gaze instinctively tracing the same path.
From the crest of the hill, they should have seen the familiar shimmer of Ravenwood Lake stretching out before them, reflecting the pale sky. But instead, their eyes fell upon something unthinkable.
The lake was gone.
In its place yawned a massive depression, its edges jagged and raw as if some colossal force had scooped every last drop away.
In the center of the desolate lakebed lay a colossal whale. Its skin was a deep, almost surreal shade of blue.
Kai's eyes locked onto the giant being with a mix of awe and determination. Ignoring the sharp pain that shot through his arm, he began his descent down the slope.
Miyuki froze where she stood, her bunny ears twitching uncontrollably. She could barely tear her eyes away from the enormity of the creature, the way the melancholy of its presence seemed to resonate with the lingering notes of the song.
"W-where are you going?" she stammered, her voice tight with confusion and a hint of panic. Her gaze flicked to his injured arm, then back to his determined posture. "You're still injured!" she shouted
But Kai didn't waver, didn't even glance back. His focus was absolute, his mind set on the whale before him.
Kai and Mei carefully made their way down the slope, their eyes fixed on the colossal whale that dominated the empty lakebed.
Lily's gaze shifted nervously from the siblings to Miyuki, who had her back turned, ears twitching as she listened intently to the faint vibrations of the ground.
"W-what is that?" Lily asked, her voice barely above a whisper, edged with fear.
Miyuki turned slowly, her expression calm but her eyes still reflecting a flicker of fascination. "Sad Whale…" she said, her voice steady. "...a Calamity, but it's not very dangerous, rather… passive," she explained.