Being Loved for the First Time Chapter 9

Even allowing for shifts, wouldn’t three or four have been more than enough?

 

They might have felt disillusioned, but every knight of the ducal household was thoroughly professional.

 

When the one who looked like their leader knelt, the other knights in their formal uniforms followed in a rush.

 

“We greet the youngest princess.”

 

They smelled of medicine, as though Father really had trained them to exhaustion.

 

I merely flapped my short little legs and stared at them.

 

After being worked to the bone because of me right at the start of the new year, wouldn’t swearing loyalty to a baby make them question their lives?

 

Especially when the person to whom they were swearing loyalty couldn’t even babble properly.

 

“Anastasia, these are all knights assigned to you. From now on, they’ll devote their loyalty to you.”

 

But Father spoke to me with a serious expression.

 

“Give them a few words of encouragement.”

 

No, Father. What are you expecting from a six-month-old baby?

 

But what was even more absurd was the knights’ attitude.

 

“We humbly ask for your favor, Your Ladyship!”

 

“My liege!”

 

Excuse me…? Hello…?

 

“We pledge our loyalty to you, young lady!”

 

Haven’t you all just been worked half to death because of me?

 

Even for knights, this is…. They all look completely sincere…?

 

‘I’ve been a knight myself…. More than once or twice, too….’

 

I’d thought I understood their feelings to some extent, but apparently my experience was sorely lacking.

 

Faced with the expectant gazes of Father and the knights, I gave up and opened my mouth.

 

“Ooh, ah-ooh….”

 

Yes, I’m counting on you.

 

I moved my mouth as earnestly as I could, but only babbling emerged.

 

Ha. I was beginning to question my own existence.

 

But for some reason, they were delighted.

 

“We shall do our very best, Your Ladyship!”

 

“We look forward to serving you!”

 

They swore loyalty to me in voices filled with sincerity.

 

And as an added bonus, Father looked proud and somewhat reassured.

 

***

 

In any case, as a result of the knight assignments, by the time I entered my seventh month, there were about two more people in my room than before.

 

‘And another two outside the door….’

 

As my body grew, sensing presences became easier, so I could tell.

 

These guard assignments had given me something to worry about.

 

‘The kidnapping was apparently just a simple attempt to get money, but doesn’t this suggest that my family isn’t in a particularly secure position…?’

 

I knew that on the day of my kidnapping, my parents hadn’t been upset solely because of me.

 

Mother had seemed restless since the night of December 30 and had left very early the next morning.

 

Father, too, had gone out looking rather uncomfortable.

 

‘And as Father said, it’s unusual for both of them to be away from home.’

 

So I suspected that as long as we were a ducal family, there must be some faction that could reasonably be described as an enemy.

 

Otherwise, there was no reason to assign so many knights to protect such young children, especially babies who spent nearly all their time inside the mansion.

 

‘It looks as though even a fairly competent assassin would be cut down in an instant.’

 

Besides, that day the defenses had only been breached so easily because it was the end of the year and the culprits were insiders—and even then, they’d been caught before they could properly get away from the estate. Normally, entering the mansion itself would be difficult.

 

‘Should I just use a little power…?’

 

I hesitated. Things had been so peaceful that I hadn’t been pushing myself to act.

 

Using power was troublesome, after all.

 

I could end up sick with a high fever for days, like last time.

 

‘If I could just get past my first birthday, I think I could at least gather information.’

 

By then, my body would probably endure it.

 

But right now I couldn’t help hesitating.

 

When my fever had refused to go down for days, everyone from Father to my sister had cried their eyes out.

 

“Shasha, don’t be sick! Big sis will be sick instead! Don’t be siiiick! Don’t hurt my baby sister!”

 

“No, Laurencia. Why should you have to be sick? Daddy will take all the pain. Why won’t our youngest’s fever come down?”

 

I truly didn’t want to make anyone worry.

 

Besides, my parents had essentially already taken the measures that were immediately needed.

 

‘Still… should I really just sit here and let everyone protect me?’

 

Me, of all people.

 

I was the one who had a duty to prevent the world’s destruction.

 

Was it really all right to do nothing simply because I hadn’t grown enough yet?

 

And besides….

 

‘That young grand duke named Mikhail is bothering me, too.’

 

I didn’t know why, but even though he was unmistakably a boy I’d never met, I felt as though I’d encountered him somewhere before.

 

And it was accompanied by an intense sense of longing….

 

***

 

For the next few days, I couldn’t decide what to do, and focused instead on standing while holding on to the sofa.

 

Incidentally, I could now sit up reasonably straight, too.

 

‘Meaning my back is finally gaining some strength.’

 

Would I be able to walk in another couple of months?

 

Just as I struggled with that hopeful thought, I heard my brother laugh quietly.

 

“Why is my little sister in such a hurry?”

 

Instead of coming closer, he crouched where he was and stretched out his arms toward me.

 

After struggling for a while with my hands on the sofa, I obediently turned and crawled toward him.

 

A month and a half ago, I’d been dragging myself along on my belly. Now I’d progressed to crawling quickly.

 

It felt strangely fascinating to observe my own development like this for the first time.

 

“Our Anastasia seems to be growing up too fast.”

 

The maids nearby laughed softly at my brother Damian’s words.

 

‘That’s not really something one child should say about a baby.’

 

He was far too mature.

 

My brother stroked my head, then murmured with a slightly troubled expression.

 

“Anastasia, you know, my friend wants to see you.”

 

His friend?

 

I immediately thought of that young grand duke.

 

“You met him before. Do you remember?”

 

“Ooh!”

 

I nodded quickly.

 

That young grand duke was one of the reasons I was considering using my power to gather information.

 

It wasn’t merely because he possessed magical power.

 

There was a more fundamental reason.

 

Over the course of my reincarnations, I’d occasionally encountered people who seemed faintly familiar.

 

Just as I reincarnated, there were people I’d met again in other worlds, even if they had no memories of previous lives.

 

Souls had their own frequencies, so when I met such people, I could tell that I’d seen them in a previous life.

 

‘But that young grand duke didn’t simply feel familiar….’

 

A strange, tingling sense of longing rose within me.

 

‘Surely he’s not that bastard I called my brother?’

 

By ‘that bastard I called my brother,’ I didn’t mean the gentle, dependable Damian, but the worthless older brother from my first life.

 

Weren’t longing and a chill down your spine separated by a very fine line?

 

‘Well, their characters seem far too different for that.’

 

That bastard would never be the sort to save anyone.

 

He might have changed after reincarnating, but in any case, it couldn’t be him.

 

Anyway, that was why I wanted to learn more about Mikhail.

 

At my answer, my brother muttered with a rather bitter expression.

 

“Mikhail has completely captivated my little sister….”

 

His voice was cold in a way that didn’t suit him at all.

 

An ordinary baby wouldn’t have understood the words or tone, but unfortunately, I heard him perfectly.

 

As my body gradually grew, my five senses naturally became sharper, too.

 

‘I’m only curious, that’s all.’

 

In any case, my brother apparently wasn’t happy that I remembered a young grand duke I’d only met briefly.

 

“A promise is a promise, so I suppose it can’t be helped….”

 

Muttering that, my brother stroked my head.

 

A promise?

 

I was curious, but I couldn’t ask.

 

Because I couldn’t speak yet.

 

“Then, Anastasia, would you like to see my friend at least once?”

 

“Ooh!”

 

I answered immediately.

 

At that, my brother looked oddly disappointed.

 

He was definitely six—no, with the new year, he’d just become a seven-year-old child….

 

‘Why does he look like an older brother sending his little sister off to be married?’

 

***

 

“At last I get to see your face, youngest princess.”

 

The young grand duke greeted me cheerfully as he entered my room with my brother.

 

Even seeing him again, his face was truly unforgettable.

 

Though he was still a young child and his features shouldn’t have fully developed, the young grand duke already had a striking appearance.

 

His straight nose, sharp eyes softened by a smile, and posture as upright as my brother’s gave him a mature air despite his age.

 

“You haven’t even introduced yourself yet. That’s rude, Mikhail.”

 

“She’s still a baby.”

 

“A baby? Our Anastasia is a proper princess of our ducal family. Show some manners.”

 

As he bickered with my brother, he instantly looked like a child his own age.

 

At my brother’s scolding, the boy bowed politely toward me—I was sitting in a baby chair, by the way—and spoke.

 

“Though it isn’t our first meeting, allow me to greet you for the first time, youngest princess.”

 

There was a hint of mischief in his voice.

 

Despite my brother’s disapproving gaze, the boy looked at me with deep, gentle eyes and continued.

 

“My name is Mikhail of the Leventis Grand Ducal House. I look forward to knowing you.”

 

With that, he carefully took my tiny hand and kissed the back of it.

 

“Mikhail!”

 

My brother called out in surprise at his action.

 

“What? You told me to show the princess proper manners.”

 

Mikhail looked as though he couldn’t imagine what he’d done wrong.