1 - I Wasn’t Prepared for This!
THE Kingdom of Gaché was in Larshia, the largest of the three continents in Asdyllon. There, Duke Ophe and his family, who had blood ties to the royal family, celebrated the birth of their third child, a baby girl. She was named Nefertima, and she was ten days old.
Huh?! I’m a freaking baby! Who ever heard of a baby with this level of self-awareness?! Is this a sick joke? As if I could be satisfied with this! Grr, this is all his fault!
When I awoke, I was surprised by the fact that I couldn’t move and by the astonishingly beautiful woman before me. The beauty queen was my mother, and my father was a mega-hottie too. Shortly after, I learned I also had an older brother and older sister, and of course, they were just as attractive as our parents.
Come to think of it, how are my parents and siblings—er, my past life’s parents and siblings, I mean—doing? I left home and moved to Tokyo in my twenties, but no one would’ve guessed I would end up dying there alone. I was the healthiest of all my siblings, so it must’ve shocked everyone that I was the first to die. After all, in all my twenty-seven years of life, I never had a single major illness or injury. Heck, I never even got the flu!
I’m sorry for being such a bad daughter. It looks like it’ll be a while before we can meet again, so please wait for me.
Anyway, in the last ten days, all I’d managed to gather was that I was a baby, my name was Nefertima, and my father was a duke.
What a crappy situation to end up in! How am I supposed to cuddle fluffy animals if I’m stuck as a damn baby?!
I was in the middle of feeling sorry for myself when I learned that my family had a pet dog. The fierce-looking, wolf-like white dog was as big as a Great Dane, and she always stayed close to me, like my own personal bodyguard or something. The dog’s name was Dee, and whenever I cried, she would brush my face with her fluffy tail!
All I have to do is eat, sleep, and let my parents take care of my every need. Life as a baby isn’t all that bad… In fact, I always secretly dreamt of being an unemployed bum living in my parents’ basement!
When you put it that way, babies have a pretty sweet deal.
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BEFORE long, I could hold my head up by myself, and my mother took me for a walk in the garden, but…I got buried alive in a mountain of feathers.
I’m not even exaggerating. So many different kinds of birds swarmed around me that I almost couldn’t breathe. It was rough. My mother was shocked, to say the least.
It would’ve been a shame to die of suffocation when I’d just been reborn, so I sent a request to the birds silently, thinking, “That’s enough.” Somehow, they got the message.
Thank you, God, for this totally awesome ability! If nothing else, I’m grateful for these powers!
Though, honestly, I would’ve preferred to be reborn as a peasant, not a duke’s daughter. If I were a peasant, I wouldn’t need to waste time socializing with other people; I could sneak off into the forest to play with animals whenever I wanted! That really would’ve been the life!
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TIME passed while I did nothing but lay around all day being cared for by my doting mama and papa and entertained by my kind older brother and sister. Soon, I learned how to crawl!
Once that happened, Dee became even more overprotective. Whenever I wandered too far, Dee would pick me up by the scruff like a baby animal and bring me back.
This animal-cuddling power that God gave me is incredibly soul-healing!
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I was living my best baby-life and enjoying every minute, but in no time, I had grown up quite a bit.
Kids sure do grow up fast.
I figured I should be able to stand up by now, but when I tried, I immediately fell over and smashed the back of my head. It hurt so much that I wailed… It sounded more like a screeching dinosaur than a human child, really.
It’s amazing how such a huge noise can come out of such a tiny body. Children are mysterious beyond comprehension.
Dee, who judged this situation to be particularly dire, found someone to help.
Tears obscured my vision, but from the feeling of the arms that scooped me up in a hug, I knew it was my older brother.
Wouldn’t you usually get the child’s mother in this situation?
“Neema, are you hurt anywhere?” my brother asked, gently checking me for injuries.
Because I had lost nearly all sense of dignity since becoming a baby, his hands on my body didn’t bother me. Once my brother discovered the lump on the back of my head, he gently stroked the area for several moments. To my surprise, the pain slowly dissipated.
Once the pain was no longer a bother, fatigue overcame me.
“I’ll keep holding you; it’s okay to sleep. Next time you do something reckless, make sure someone is with you when you do it, okay?”
Okay… That sounds like a good idea. Until I get the hang of standing by myself, I’ll only practice when someone is around to support me.
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THE time has come! I’m going to do it for sure this time!
Only… Why is it so damn hard to balance in a baby’s body?! My legs are as wobbly as a newborn fawn. But I won’t give up! Once I can walk, I might even be able to ride on Dee’s back!
Determined, I planted my shaking legs in a wide stance. Nearby, my mother and Dee held their breath in anticipation as they watched. I gathered my courage and surged to my feet… Then lost my balance and pitched forward.
I’m going to smash my face this time?!
I pictured myself kissing the carpet.
Thankfully, my savior rescued me right before I face-planted onto the floor, so I ended up kissing a mouthful of Dee’s fur.
Ahh, so fluffy! Her fur smells like sunshine. I feel so peaceful.
“Daa!”
Hmm, I can’t pronounce Dee’s name properly. Oh well, I guess it can’t be helped. I am a baby, after all.
“Neema, you sure do love Dee, huh? Mama’s going to get jealous!”
My mother looked sad, so I obligingly called out “Mama” and cuddled her.
Even though my mother was an aristocrat, she didn’t just hand her children over to a nanny or wet nurse—she cared for us as much as possible. She went to the royal palace sometimes for work, though. Apparently, she was a super-talented wizard. Or magic user. Or something.
When my mother wasn’t around, my father took care of me. Honestly, it was more like I looked after him. My father was incredibly accident-prone.
That’s right! Of course, there’s magic! What kind of fantasy world would this be without magic, right?! My pain went away when my brother stroked my head because of healing magic.
However, I didn’t appear to have much magic. Or maybe I couldn’t use magic at all.
Oh well. Even if I had some strange power, I’d probably end up getting wrapped up in some kind of trouble, so maybe it’s better I don’t.