Being Loved for the First Time Chapter 7

 

Part 2. They Say Friends Grow Alike

 

By the time more than four months had passed since my birth and I was entering my fifth month, my range of movement had expanded beyond my cradle.

 

I’d finally succeeded in rolling over, and though it was more like dragging myself along on my belly, I could crawl to some extent.

 

That wasn’t all. Now I could babble instead of only crying.

 

Well, it was just as impossible to communicate what I meant.

 

‘I really am like an ordinary baby.’

 

How fascinating.

 

Instead of being chased by people threatening my life, I was peacefully struggling to roll over and devoting all my strength to crawling on my belly.

 

‘Although the more amazing thing is….’

 

The existence of my family, who had allowed me to be this carefree.

 

Only a few weeks ago, when I’d successfully rolled over for the first time….

 

‘Shasha wowwed over! She went whoosh and wowwed over!’

 

‘Oh my, you’re right!’

 

‘Mother, I think our youngest is exceptionally agile. She seems to have rolled over earlier than most babies.’

 

‘I think you’re right, Damian. We should hold a celebration for Anastasia rolling over.’

 

From my sister to my mother, brother, and father….

 

They had clapped, made an enormous fuss, and cheered.

 

And they’d actually held a party….

 

‘At least they took the fact that I’m still a baby into consideration and made it a family-only party….’

 

Whether something that lavish could be called a small family party was another matter.

 

That day, I wore an elaborate dress for the first time.

 

It was a tiny baby dress no bigger than a palm, but it was so frilly and carefully made that whoever had created it deserved praise.

 

‘Oh my, our youngest lady is so adorable!’

 

‘How can you be so lovely? This dress must have been made just for our youngest.’

 

My family and the maids beside me had been more impressed by me wearing the dress than by the dress itself….

 

It was somewhat embarrassing, but somehow I liked it.

 

‘Even when I was born into an imperial family, I never wore a dress like that.’

 

Well, back then I’d had enough trouble merely staying alive.

 

In any case, to celebrate my first successful roll, my parents laid out a magnificent feast and paid generous bonuses to the servants.

 

Somehow, they’d even arranged fireworks that embroidered the night sky before the event was over.

 

All the servants enjoyed themselves enormously and kept praising me, so remembering that day made my face burn.

 

‘As expected of the youngest lady! What an amazing accomplishment, rolling over so splendidly!’

 

‘It’s an honor to be serving you.’

 

Of course, I knew perfectly well that their praise had more to do with the generous bonuses my delighted parents had paid them than with pure celebration.

 

After all, was a baby’s first roll really something that warranted this much fuss?

 

‘But this place does seem a little unusual.’

 

No matter how much people loved children, I thought they would usually just be happy for a moment, not turn everything into such a commotion.

 

‘Everyone here is simply overflowing with affection.’

 

Enough to make me worried about the future….

 

Still, watching everyone look so happy was pretty enjoyable for me, too.

 

After all those noisy events, snowflake decorations began appearing one by one in my room, as though announcing winter.

 

Mother watched me wriggle across the floor, pushing myself forward on my stomach like a tadpole, and spoke with a smile.

 

“Our Anastasia, just keep growing up healthy like this.”

 

To think that was all she wished for.

 

‘Not for me to be obedient, or to become successful.’

 

It was the first time I’d heard such a modest, truly motherly wish.

 

***

 

It was the last day of the year.

 

‘Yesterday really was noisy….’

 

To mark the end of the year, my parents held a party to thank everyone for their hard work.

 

It was apparently the custom in this ducal residence for the servants to divide into two groups and take turns going on holiday from the final day of the year through the second week of the new year.

 

“Young lady, we’ll be back soon. What if you grow enormously in the few days we’re gone?”

 

“Please don’t grow too quickly, all right? I’m worried you’ll start walking while we’re away and we’ll miss it.”

 

Before leaving on holiday early that morning, the maids had spent quite a long time arguing with me over it.

 

‘If I absolutely had to walk right now, I suppose I could.’

 

If I used magic to assist me, that was.

 

But otherwise, an ordinary baby wouldn’t go from crawling to walking in the space of a week.

 

‘At least, none of the ninety-nine examples I’ve seen so far did.’

 

Even an early walker would probably have to be approaching her first birthday.

 

‘No one wants me to grow up quickly more than I do!’

 

As I approached my sixth month, life had been astonishingly peaceful.

 

It would have been nice if I could simply savor that peace, but habits were frightening things.

 

‘Getting attached to my family is an entirely separate issue.’

 

When everything was as still as a calm lake on a clear day, I felt as though someone might strike me in the back of the head at any moment.

 

‘And today, it’s not only that so many people are away on holiday. My family, too….’

 

My room seemed particularly spacious today.

 

Perhaps because it was the end of the year, both my parents had left the mansion.

 

That might have been unavoidable for a duke.

 

My brother had an important lesson, and my sister was asleep in her room with the beginnings of a cold.

 

Normally, there were three or four maids in this room, along with at least one member of my family. Today, only a single inexperienced maid was keeping watch over me.

 

‘And she’s half asleep, too.’

 

The maid, who looked to be in her early or mid-teens and had been temporarily assigned to my room because of the holidays, had played with me for a while before starting to nod off, as though exhausted by her own efforts.

 

Of course, I had no intention of waking her. Instead, I was practicing crawling by myself.

 

‘An opportunity like this doesn’t come along often. I should practice as much as I can.’

 

The people around me were so overprotective that whenever they thought I’d moved a little too long, they hurried to put me to sleep or feed me.

 

I crawled toward the sofa on my belly.

 

To strengthen my legs, I first needed to practice standing up.

 

‘Does a sofa really have to look this tall…?’

 

Looking at the sofa, which was still far too high for my little body, I strained to stretch out one arm.

 

I instinctively realized that climbing this sofa would be my next great challenge.

 

No, I supposed standing while holding on to it had to come first.

 

Even as I struggled, the maid was busy catching up on her lost sleep.

 

Well, children needed plenty of sleep to grow.

 

While I quietly focused on my private challenge, the nursery door opened carefully.

 

‘Who’s that?’

 

It was an unfamiliar presence. After living here for about half a year, I’d learned to recognize the presences of those who came and went frequently.

 

But the person entering the room was someone I’d never seen before.

 

“Young lady, are you having fun?”

 

She was a middle-aged woman with a pleasant face.

 

She crept in like a thief, then abruptly scooped me up.

 

“Uh-ah?”

 

That was my best attempt at saying ‘What?’

 

I could barely distinguish a handful of vowels in my babbling yet.

 

The woman made shushing noises, as though soothing me.

 

“My lady asked me to bring you to her.”

 

“Ooh?”

 

In that case, shouldn’t you wake the maid and tell her you’re taking me?

 

She’ll obviously panic when she wakes up.

 

Thinking that, I babbled loudly.

 

But the middle-aged woman only shushed me more firmly.

 

“She seems to be asleep, so don’t wake her. I’ll take good care of you on the way.”

 

‘Take good care of me?’

 

I was dumbfounded.

 

Something about this was terribly suspicious.

 

If Mother had asked for me, she surely would have sent one of my personal maids.

 

‘She’s not one of the maids who attend me. I’ve never even seen her before.’

 

As I thrashed around and tried to shout, the woman roughly clamped a hand over my mouth.

 

“Mmph, ngh.”

 

Shit, this woman—

 

With that thought, I lost consciousness.

 

***

 

“Hah, hah, hah….”

 

I heard the sound of ragged breathing, as though someone were gasping for air.

 

When I regained consciousness, I was in the arms of an unfamiliar man, not the woman who’d carried me off earlier.

 

‘To think I was knocked unconscious without even being able to defend myself.’

 

Things had been so peaceful that I’d become careless.

 

Even though I’d been on guard, feeling as though I might be struck from behind at any moment, deep down I’d begun to feel safe.

 

‘…Although it’s true that this baby body didn’t give me any time to resist.’

 

But those were all excuses.

 

Considering my previous lives, I shouldn’t have let this happen.

 

It was fortunate these people only seemed to want to kidnap me. What if they’d come to kill me?

 

By now, I’d have been watching a real-life tragedy in glorious 4K surround sound.

 

‘It’s only been half a year. I can’t let this happen.’

 

Still, whatever the circumstances, as long as I was alive, there was a way out.

 

The man carrying me was running without even having enough breath to recover, as though someone were chasing him.

 

‘Should I let them kidnap me and squeeze out who is behind this? Or should I use my power and escape?’

 

It would be quite troublesome, but teleportation wasn’t beyond me.

 

‘Is this simply what happens when you’re born into a ducal house, or has someone figured out who I really am?’

 

Either way, it was worth investigating.

 

‘Depending on how long the journey takes, shouldn’t I be able to wring everything out of them in three days at most?’

 

My family would worry a little in the meantime, but….

 

It would make life easier later to deal with something like this all at once.

 

Yet one by one, the faces of my affectionate, worry-prone family came to mind.

 

‘…I should at least send a message in their dreams saying I’ll be back soon.’

 

Then they could relax a little.

 

And while I was at it, I could learn about this world and discover what trouble my family might be facing. This seemed the best course.

 

I’d just steeled myself to do so when….

 

Thud—!

 

“A-aaaaagh!”

 

An arrow buried itself in the ground in front of the running man.

 

Ouch. The man fell flat on his backside, and even my soft body felt a little impact.

 

“G-g-get away…!”

 

“Shut your mouth. What do you think you’re doing right now?”

 

The voice was young but brimming with murderous intent.

 

When I turned my head, I saw a boy bathed in sunset light.

 

His beautiful golden hair glowed with the orange hue of the sky, while his cool, deep-violet eyes seemed at odds with his youthful body.

 

Standing straight in front of us, the boy pointed his sword at the man and spoke coldly.

 

“That young lady has a prior engagement with me today.”