Being Loved for the First Time Chapter 13

Chapter 3. The Chick at the April Festival

In my hazy consciousness, I struggled desperately to come to my senses.

But for some reason, my body kept moving closer and closer to the bound baby.

‘I have to wake up. I have to wake up…’

I tried desperately to repeat those words to myself, but they had little effect.

My mind refused to clear, as though I’d been forced awake after staying up for three nights straight and sleeping for only a couple of hours.

—Please, save… me.

Why should I, when I don’t even know what you are—

Yet, regardless of my thoughts, my hand naturally reached toward the baby.

A baby that was practically a mass of divine power.

A being whose very existence would be absurd if it truly were alive.

What are you?

I tried to question the baby while desperately struggling to restrain my uncontrollable body.

However—

—I am your only… one who understands you—

What kind of bullshit is that…?

Have you lived for three thousand years or something?

What gives you the right to casually claim you understand me?

Frustratingly, however, my body showed absolutely no intention of obeying me.

Golden light gathered at my fingertips as I touched the baby’s body.

At that moment, the chains and cloth tightly binding the baby came undone with a flutter.

The tiny baby, which looked as though it had only recently been born, opened its golden eyes and gazed at me.

It looked extremely satisfied.

“You are…”

Feeling as though my breath had been cut off, I tried to question the baby.

—Don’t forget, Anastasia. I am your only—

That soft, gentle voice was surrounding my ears, trying to spout more nonsense, when—

‘—by!’

Along with a voice I heard from somewhere, my hand, which I’d been unable to pull away from the baby, suddenly broke free.

The baby’s face, which had been wearing a faint smile moments earlier, twisted sharply.

—Interfering… again…

Its voice was tinged with irritation that didn’t suit it at all.

“Baby!”

A boy with damp golden hair and violet eyes shook me, pulling me back to reality.

‘Mikhail?’

No, Mikhail wasn’t the only one beside me.

My entire family was looking at me with faces full of worry.

My sister’s eyes were as red as a rabbit’s from crying so much, and her eyelids and the area around her eyes were terribly swollen.

Even my brother looked ready to burst into tears at any moment.

‘What…? What’s going on?’

Father’s eyes were sunken, while Mother had her hands clasped together, as though she’d been praying continuously to someone.

“Anastasia, my baby.”

Mother lifted me straight out of the baby bed and hugged me tightly.

“Do you have any idea how worried Mommy was when your fever wouldn’t go down for an entire week?”

What? A week?

I’d been sick for a whole week?

I blinked in disbelief.

“Shashaaa, sniff, are you still, still sick? Sister, Sister will… be sick instead, so can’t you stop being sick?”

My sister spoke between sobs.

“Laurencia, if someone has to be sick, it should be me. I’m the older brother.”

My brother said it with an expression that made it clear he wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen to my sister.

Father’s eyes grew moist as he watched the two of them, and he embraced them tightly.

“My babies, if someone has to be sick, it should be your strong daddy instead.”

Then, looking at me in Mother’s arms, he burst into tears all over again.

“Thank you, thank you so much for waking up, Anastasia. Really, truly… I was so afraid something might happen to you…”

Then Father immediately stroked Mikhail’s hair.

“Thank you, Mikhail. It’s all thanks to you.”

“It was nothing, Your Grace. It was something I could do.”

As Mikhail answered maturely, Mother passed me into Father’s arms.

Then she took a towel from a maid and personally dried Mikhail’s wet hair.

“This isn’t something you should brush off, Mikhail. With the rain pouring down like this, you traveled all the way to that distant grand duchy and brought back your family’s heirloom within a week.”

An heirloom?

Only then did I notice the blue orb Mikhail was holding.

It was a magical artifact—no, it was such an intricate object that calling it something as simple as a magical artifact almost seemed inappropriate.

“…When the priest said Anastasia seemed to have fallen under an unidentified curse, we were all so terribly frightened.”

The object Mikhail held was capable of partially dispelling curses.

I recalled the baby I’d seen in my dream.

‘That situation was completely absurd.’

In my ninety-ninth life, I’d deliberately shut myself away in a room and done nothing but breathe.

I’d moved so little that my body had felt stiff when I finally stopped the world’s destruction.

But until relatively recently—about two hundred years ago—I’d continued honing my abilities.

I’d been too stubborn to give up.

‘I’m practically immune to enchantment-type techniques.’

And something had managed to drag me into a dream?

Even if this world had a demon realm and the highest-ranking dream demon appeared, it wouldn’t be able to lure me into a dream.

Yet that newborn baby had done exactly that.

—I am the only one who understands you—

And it had even spouted such ridiculous nonsense.

Someone who understood me?

In all my hundred lives, I’d never once met anyone who could truly claim that.

Yet that newborn baby had spoken as though it knew me.

‘What on earth…’

I felt deeply unsettled.

Just what kind of special event had been prepared for my hundredth life?

A sense of danger began to rise within me.

The fate I’d forgotten because this place had been so warm and comforting.

The absolute rule governing my existence.

A life in which I always had to save something.

‘…I have to grow up quickly.’

My hands and feet were still far too small.

I needed to grow so I could properly use my powers.

‘That bastard. I’ve been using my powers as sparingly as possible so I wouldn’t frighten my family, and it just goes and drains all my strength without permission?’

I ground my teeth.

I’d find that thing and repay it for everything it had done to me.

Of course, for now…

“Anastasia, please, just grow up healthy.”

My priority was to be the youngest daughter of the family I’d frightened so badly.

For about a month afterward, I diligently erected a barrier before going to sleep every night for the first time in over a thousand years.

My body had grown reasonably well, so using that much power usually only left me with a slight fever the next morning.

Perhaps because of that, or perhaps because that bastard simply hadn’t approached me again, time passed without any further encounters with the unwelcome visitor.

As the signs of spring began to appear, I entered my ninth month of life.

“Come here, our little one!”

Father clapped his hands toward me, his eyes filled with both worry and anticipation.

I put all my strength into my legs.

I can do this. I can walk. All by myself!

One step.

Two steps.

And just as I took the long-awaited third step, my body wobbled.

A large, sturdy hand immediately caught me and lifted me into an embrace.

“Our youngest! Our youngest!”

Father raised me high into the air.

“She walked! She walked three whole steps all by herself?!”

Then Father turned to the knights nearby as though seeking confirmation.

“Did you all see that? Did you see our youngest walking on her own?”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

“Her movements were extremely elegant!”

“It was truly a magnificent and moving sight! To think I was fortunate enough to witness this moment!”

At Father’s excitement, the knights assigned to guard me that day joined in, applauding and making a fuss.

No, what’s so amazing about taking just three steps on my own…?!

Well, it was a major achievement.

‘Being developed enough to walk on my own means I should gradually be able to use a little power.’

With just a bit more effort, I should be able to gather information without developing a fever.

Of course, I’d already been cautiously experimenting with my powers to see how much I could handle.

‘Have you finished making the dress for the April festival?’

I’d learned that a festival would be held in the duchy in April.

‘I’ll visit the grand duchy. I’ll return by mid-April at the latest—’

I’d also learned Mikhail Leventis’s schedule for visiting his territory, though I hadn’t particularly wanted to know.

‘Oh my, cleaning seems to be going especially well today.’

I could even slightly improve the maids’ efficiency at work.

‘This Endevelan ducal family has a very long and distinguished history—’

By secretly listening in on my brother’s lessons, I’d finally learned the name of this family’s title and something about its history.

My progress wasn’t nearly as fast as I wanted, but I was relieved that I was growing nonetheless.

And while I was feeling relieved—

“Our youngest can already walk on her own, and yet are you lot even training properly?”

For some reason, Father had begun acting like an unreasonable boss.

No, what does a baby’s first steps have to do with the knights’ training?!

“Although our efforts are shameful compared to Her Ladyship’s, we are all doing our best, Your Grace.”

“We will work even harder so that we do not fall behind the young lady’s progress.”

Nevertheless, my knights answered with admirable sincerity.

Father, however, narrowed his eyes as though he couldn’t believe them.

“Hmm. I heard that when Young Lord Leventis traveled to the grand duchy last time, some of you fell behind.”

“Th-that was…”

“Spring has arrived, so it’s been a while since we last tested the knights’ abilities.”

“Your Grace, does that mean…?”

“We’ll hold a martial arts tournament during the April festival. Everyone had better prepare yourselves.”

At Father’s declaration, the knights’ expressions became complicated.

I felt uneasy too.

‘Father, did you just use me as an excuse for a performance evaluation?!’

How could Father do this to me?