Chapter 9

“Ugh…” I pushed myself tirelessly to crawl forward on the marble floor, my speed three times slower than usual. The pain was hard to bear.

I decided it would be better to sneak into the kitchen rather than attempt to collect fruit with these short arms and legs. I could fill my stomach a bit and still have time to collect food for a stockpile after. And there should be fruit in the kitchen, at least.

Although I had yet to memorize the layout of the entire house, I assumed this to be a fairly standard mansion. Kitchens were usually somewhere on the first floor, so that’s generally where I needed to be. Moreover, kitchens were often directly connected to the outside. That narrowed down the places I had to search. As long as I looked around the building’s perimeter, I would find it.

The more I searched, the more intriguing the mansion became. This seemed like the main building, but I rarely saw a servant. In fact, except for the maids who occasionally entered my room, I hardly sensed any human presence.

I sucked the pacifier as I crawled around. It was such a quiet mansion that no one ever noticed me even though I was out in the open. People passed by occasionally, but no one seemed to see when I ducked behind decor or potted plants.

After approximately thirty minutes of desperate crawling, I finally found a door that emitted a delicious smell. It was firmly shut, but opening doors was no longer a challenge for me.

Check your surroundings! Lie down on the floor! Lift your arms and legs and give it some force! I followed the steps and my magic slowly flowed. The door handle clicked as if it were about to open.

I slowly opened my eyes. The door handle turned halfway, but the door didn’t open.

“Argh!” Finally, I made an odd grunt, and the door popped open.

I rolled over and got up on all fours. A pleasant smell wafted through the gap in the door.

What does a baby usually eat, anyway? Normally, I would be fed milk. But I can probably eat fruit since I have some teeth, right? Recently, two of my upper teeth and one lower tooth had come in, meaning the pacifier should soon be softened and improved.

Curse this piece of cheap trash! I wondered how long it had been rolling around gathering dust. Since I couldn’t immediately get my hands on some slime, I had no choice but to suck on it in its current state.

Will I still need this pacifier even when I grow up? That would be truly horrifying.

The chefs were taking a break. I snuck behind the island in the middle of the kitchen, where I wouldn’t attract attention unless someone deliberately looked down or turned around.

The kitchen was filled with the savory smell of soup simmering on the stove. My mouth began to water, but there was no way I was equipped to eat hot soup at the moment.

Tilting my head back, I looked around the room. Luckily, there were potatoes and apples piled up in a corner. They might be a tad firm, but maybe I soften them up by throwing them a few times with my magic. Maybe that would make them too mushy… No, I should focus on filling my stomach for now. Then I can go look for some fruit outside.

I got ready to levitate a potato and an apple into the air. I assumed position by… Well, let’s skip the details for now. As I lay on the slightly damp kitchen floor, I could feel my hunger pangs worsen.

I lifted the potato and apple, then dropped them. Looking at the food on the floor, I suddenly felt troubled. It seemed impossible to carry them both back at once. After thinking for a while, I attempted a different approach.

Holding the apple with one tiny hand was too difficult, so I tried grabbing it with both hands and tucking it into my clothes. Useless.

I held my breath as my frustration started to boil over. I fought back the urge to swear. Now was not the time to throw a tantrum.

No matter how I looked at it, the apple was much too big for a baby to carry. I couldn’t even tuck it securely into my clothes, despite struggling with both hands. Normally I would hold the apple in one hand and use the other hand to pull out my shirt, but now that was impossible. I wasn’t even strong enough to tug on my clothes. I could only roll the apple on the floor.

I rolled the apple as quietly as possible across the kitchen floor. It was painfully slow. I wondered if anyone would notice the effort I put into silently grabbing for it every time it rolled. I clenched my fists until my little knuckles turned white. My whole body was trembling.

I took a couple of deep breaths before quietly pushing the apple aside. Then, I went after the potato. I rolled it a little way, holding my breath again.

Switching the apple for the potato didn’t make much of a difference. Just roll, damn it! After staring down the produce, I finally grabbed the apple and sunk my teeth into it. I slipped out through the gap in the door, hooking my finger into the ring on the pacifier to prevent it from rolling away.

I felt increasingly irritable as I crawled down the hallway with the apple between my front teeth. It was almost as big as my face and kept falling out of my mouth. Eventually, I got so fed up that I started pounding on the floor. A little magic even leaked out.

Despite the extreme stress and frustration, I eventually made some progress. I manifested as much magic as I could and focused it into my teeth. With the magic concentrated in my mouth, I could bite the apple without dropping it, though I had to take breaks to occasionally suck on the pacifier.

Nevertheless, I carefully kept the apple between my teeth and returned to my room. I had hoped the maid had come and gone while I was away, but there was no sign of any visitors.

The harrowing first day of my survival was complete.

* * *

Phew. I looked down at the floor outside the crib. The abundance of food filling the nursery was incredibly satisfying.

For the past two weeks, no one had cracked the door to this room. It was astonishing. If I were an ordinary baby, I surely would have perished by now. Even a commoner child wouldn’t be ignored this badly, and I was supposed to be a child of nobility!

I was sure the maids wouldn’t dare gamble with the life of a noble child just to get revenge. I figured there must have been a miscommunication that led to this situation—although the maids didn’t look very kindly on me in the first place, of course.

Still, thanks to the food I’d been collecting bit by bit over the past two weeks, I was keeping myself well-fed. The only issue was bowel movements, but I dealt with it myself.

I don’t even want to think about it. I was once the Great Magician Hela, but my life had become a disgrace. Tears welled up in my eyes. My whole situation was pretty depressing.

Nonetheless, I had basic survival covered for now. I had gathered some leaves, a pile of small red fruits, and flowers that I could suck honey from. I had also used a levitation spell to move my crib to a corner of the room where sunlight wouldn’t directly shine in.

Time for a stroll. I also kept to a regular schedule. To grow up healthy, I went out once a day for a routine crawl. It gave me a chance to get some fresh air and clean my pacifier.

The saying “babies grow like weeds” appeared to be true. Judging by my itchy gums, it seemed like it was about time for more of my teeth to pop out. The more my gums itched, the longer I spent sucking on the pacifier.

I quietly crept outside and slowly scanned my surroundings. The estate was quiet again today. Maybe this wasn’t the main mansion after all, or perhaps my most active hours happened to coincide with times when only a few people were in the building. Either way, whether I had developed some calluses on my knees or whether my wounds had just scabbed over, the pain of crawling around was thankfully lessened.

As usual, I crawled out to the backyard. Over the past two weeks of surviving on my own, I had become familiar with the layout of the estate. Because of that, I had figured out how to move more inconspicuously behind the bushes and other hidden areas.

Sniffle…

Once again, I heard soft crying coming from Charente Klaune’s garden. I hesitated for a moment before crawling forward.

All the flowers and fruits I had collected were from Charente’s garden. Quite a variety of plants grew there—not only decorative plants, but also edible plants that even a baby could safely eat. It made for a food warehouse.

Passing the spot I’d ravaged during my last expedition, I noticed the plant’s stems had been neatly trimmed.

Hmm, I guess I’ve been found out. Charente is truly a terrifying man. Even though I had intentionally torn off the innermost leaves to avoid attracting suspicion, it seemed like he had noticed. It crossed my mind that I might really get my neck wrung if I kept frequenting this place.

And the kid’s crying again… Even though I had met the boy once before, I just ignored him as I went about my business and left. If he was around, it meant I couldn’t collect any fruit and only got to wash my pacifier.

I glared at the brat with eyes full of disdain. What was his name again? I vaguely remember him introducing himself. Anyway, one thing was clear. He was definitely Charente Klaune’s son. For simplicity’s sake, I could just call him “Mini-Charente.”

I heard the sniffling and snorting sounds of nose-wiping. Despite feeling his intense eyes on me, I deliberately avoided looking at Mini-Charente.

Ugh, he’s annoying. I had no interest in hearing more about Charente Klaune’s failed marriage.

Sniffle…

“Hey, little guy. Are you busy?” he asked, seemingly disappointed that I didn’t meet his gaze.

Without bothering to look up, I nonchalantly dipped the pacifier in the water. With my feeble grip, it was challenging to keep hold of it and rinse it properly. At this rate, I’ll never get this thing clean. I sighed heavily.

Sniffle…

Wiping his nose once again, Mini-Charente crawled over to me.

As he got closer, I noticed his curly hair. Considering Charente’s hair was as straight as his personality, I wondered if it was his mother’s genes that were responsible for the curls. Feeling a little suspicious, I edged away from him.

“Um… Hey, little baby. Do you want me to clean that?” he asked.

Well, I was about to edge away, until I heard his attractive offer. Now that my fingers were sore, I was certainly glad for the help. I quickly pulled the pacifier from the water, sucked on it a few more times, and placed it in his hand.