Chapter 5
Chapter 5
One year had passed since I was rescued by that mysterious boy.
So what had the baby living his new life been doing all this time?
Well, obviously, nothing much different from any other toddler.
My mind was perfectly fine, but my body was still a baby, so there was only so much I could do.
Eat, sleep, cry, poop.
The instincts of infancy repeated endlessly every single day.
The only resistance I could manage was crying whenever a male servant picked me up.
The only right I could exercise was calming down whenever the young wet nurse held me instead.
That was it.
Nothing more, nothing less.
So then...
What happened after I followed the boy?
Was it disaster?
Or jackpot?
A road of flowers?
Or a path full of thorns?
If I absolutely had to choose one, then honestly...
It was disaster and a road full of thorns.
So who exactly was that absurdly handsome boy?
He was the lord ruling over a tiny territory with a population of only three thousand people.
A lord.
Basically the equivalent of a noble from the Joseon era.
In this medieval European-style world, he was essentially nobility.
And not just any noble.
He even held the title of baron.
Honestly, he looked so young that I thought he was just some noble brat at best.
The family name was Bellark.
And the boy’s full name was Ethan von Bellark.
Apparently, the family’s history stretched back thousands of years, so they definitely were not some random lowborn house.
Sure, technically speaking they were lower nobility, and their territory was tiny and unimpressive.
But nobility was still nobility.
In a world where people with titles were incredibly rare, he was still born lucky.
As expected.
A clean, handsome face never lied.
In the end, people really did need to live well.
Good food, good environment, a life surrounded by good things.
That was probably why he looked like that.
If he had been a commoner, dirt would have covered that shining face instead.
Anyway, at this point, anyone would naturally wonder something.
If a noble took me in, why was this supposedly such terrible luck?
The answer was simple.
The Bellark family’s situation was absolutely fucked.
Originally, the Bellark family had not belonged to the Empire at all.
Until recently, they had been an independent small kingdom nearby.
A completely sovereign nation.
Which meant that the head of this tiny baron family had once been royalty.
At the height of their glory, the population was not three thousand.
It was five hundred thousand.
Their land contained hundreds of gold mines.
An unbelievable treasure trove.
And on top of that, the land itself had been fertile.
Back then, Bellark had been a small but absurdly wealthy nation.
And the reason neighboring territories never dared invade them despite all that wealth was simple.
The direct bloodline, including the family head, was monstrously powerful.
Black hair and red eyes.
They were called the Vampires of the North.
Every single one of them was practically a walking strategic weapon.
That was why neighboring nations never bothered trying to conquer them despite the riches involved.
Apparently, legends even claimed their ancestors could revive the dead.
Though honestly, that part sounded exaggerated.
Anyway, that long era of glory eventually came to an end.
It started when the former head of the Bellark family—
Ethan’s father—
Was betrayed by his older brother, Bertan Bellark.
Bertan was a man overflowing with greed.
Even though he was the eldest son, he failed to become the family head, and because of that he deeply resented both his father and younger brother.
The reason he was denied succession was his cruel and violent personality.
But Bertan apparently saw it as humiliation and discrimination.
Realizing he could never kill his younger brother with only his own followers, Bertan sold out his nation to the massive Pantheus Empire.
In exchange for giving away part of the kingdom’s mines, he received military support from the Empire.
Then one stormy day...
The former Bellark lord was murdered by his own older brother.
And Ethan, his son, survived only by swearing an oath never to produce heirs.
Meanwhile, the traitor who sold out his homeland was rewarded with the title of Duke within the Empire.
He even abandoned the Bellark family name entirely and founded a new house called Ratsbalk.
Since Ethan could never have children, it was obvious what would happen once he died.
This tiny territory would eventually become property of the Ratsbalk family.
Or perhaps the Empire would simply abandon it altogether since the land was no longer especially valuable.
To make matters worse, Ethan did not inherit the black hair and red eyes that symbolized the Bellark direct bloodline.
He was considered defective.
There was a reason the murderous Bertan allowed his nephew to live.
So this territory was, quite literally...
A sinking ship.
No opportunity.
No wealth.
No future.
Only a small silver mine remained.
That was the current state of Bellark territory.
And so, the baby beginning a new life—
Well, it was hard to even call me just a baby anymore.
Ethan and the wet nurse who fed me had given me a name.
Because they said I looked like a princess.
“Sera.”
That was now my name.
Yeah.
My new name was Sera.
And the very first words I spoke after learning to talk were:
“Ethan, you bastard.”
Seriously.
How could they give a former top contender a name like that?
I used to be a muscular man.
And now I was “Sera”?
SERA?!
Did this guy genuinely have a death wish?
At least names like Victoria or Kali sounded cool despite being feminine.
Maybe it was harsh to say that to someone who named a child...
But I had spent an entire year grinding my teeth in resentment before finally spitting out those words with all my hatred.
I repeatedly threw tantrums saying I hated the name Sera, yet every single time they just clapped and laughed, saying I was adorable.
I never forgot kindness.
But I also never forgot enemies.
The man who named me “Sera” was my sworn enemy.
One day, I would absolutely settle this grudge.
“Wow, Sera’s a genius. How did you know I’m almost ten years old?”
Unfortunately, Ethan completely misunderstood what I meant.
“I-Itun sheebsae... sheebsaeng... Itun sheebseng...!”
“Right, I’ll be ten soon. Hahaha. Our Sera really should become a scholar. You’re only one year old and you’re already talking!”
“......”
Anyway, once I grew up a little more, I planned to leave Bellark behind.
Of course, I was grateful to Ethan for saving my life.
He rescued me from freezing to death.
And despite us being complete strangers, he provided me with food, shelter, and care.
Even someone raised in modern society like me understood basic decency.
I had sworn to live for myself.
Sworn not to tie my life to others anymore.
But even so, I still had to maintain the minimum standards of being human.
That said...
There was no way I could stay aboard a sinking ship forever.
Maybe it sounded cold-hearted.
But everyone had their own fate.
Their own path to walk.
And the path I was meant to walk was the path of a warrior.
A brutal road that sheltered noble boys like Ethan could never follow.
Maybe I would become a warrior or mercenary.
And if my talent truly was exceptional, perhaps I could even become a knight serving some wealthy territory.
But for now?
“Uwoooong...!”
I had no way to use my body or fight, so I constantly felt restless.
I wanted to punch something.
Swing a sword.
Anything.
Still, adulthood was seventeen whole years away.
Once I became an adult, I would finally obtain all the overwhelming stats I had set during character creation.
And then there were the traits I would continue accumulating.
Even I could not imagine how absurd my potential might become.
People might look down on a woman carrying a sword.
But maybe my overwhelming talent would crush even that prejudice.
“Hehehehe~”
I could not wait for the future where I left this territory and rampaged across the world.
Bellark’s future might be hopeless.
But mine looked absolutely glorious.
“Ahem!”
Ah.
I got too absorbed in my fantasies again.
But honestly, I could not help it.
Since I still could not even properly control my own body, imagining my “completed self” or my “stronger self” was the only joy I had.
Still, debts had to be repaid.
The brighter my future looked, the more grateful I became toward Ethan.
Someday I would repay him properly.
Maybe by giving him part of my salary every month like a successful child supporting their parents.
And if I really hit it big someday, maybe I could repay everything at once.
Which meant choosing my random traits carefully was extremely important.
This was a medieval world.
The value of strength did not even need explaining.
So rather than utility traits, I planned to choose straightforward combat-oriented abilities.
Now then.
What should I pick this time?
I stared excitedly into the air.
As if congratulating me for turning one year old, a new selection window appeared.
Cooldown: 30 seconds.
(Extra stat points can only be assigned while the trait selection window is open.)
...Was this actually a game?
No matter how many times I saw it, these bizarre powers felt completely unreal.
Then again, this world had magic and monsters.
Compared to that, maybe this system was not that special after all.
There could easily be people with even stranger powers than mine.
Still, the important thing right now was the selection window.
And I had just realized something important too.
Traits could apparently reappear.
That third option proved it.
A trait that simply granted stat points every time I aged.
It was the very definition of late-game domination.
The return of the king.
I had deeply regretted missing it before.
And now this beloved trait had returned to me unexpectedly.
Back then, stranded in the snowy mountain, I had no choice but to abandon it while crying because survival came first.
And now...
To meet you again so soon.
I practically threw myself into the air like I was embracing the love of my life.
Fwip!
Naturally, my arms passed right through the hologram-like window.
The rebound even caused me to topple backward.
“Heheheh.”
But the grin on my face refused to disappear.
Thankfully, the baby bed was soft enough that I did not get hurt.
The other traits were good too.
Cooldown: 30 seconds.
The two options I had to abandon.
I looked at them with lingering affection.
You two are wonderful too.
But sadly, we must part ways.
Still, there was no need to feel too regretful.
They might appear again someday.
And even if they didn’t, stronger traits might show up later.
Meanwhile, the aging stat point trait was different.
The later I picked it, the more value I lost.
Honestly, if I had not been freezing to death on that mountain, I would have chosen it from the start.
I already felt like I had wasted one whole stat point.
So before my regret grew any bigger, I immediately grabbed the trait.
“Ethan, you bastard!”
With excitement filling my heart, I selected the third option.
Ding!
Stat Points: 1
A freshly acquired stat point.
Welcome aboard.
“Uwaaah~! Uwooo~!”
I rolled around happily across the narrow crib for a moment before—
“...Uuugh.”
Damn it.
I was still at the age where babies slept constantly, so the overwhelming drowsiness was impossible to resist.
I wanted to enjoy this happiness longer.
I wanted to spend hours thinking about where to invest this precious stat point.
Wait.
If I lived to be a hundred years old and kept accumulating points...
Would I become the strongest old monster in the world?
Since aging basically worked like leveling up for me, maybe that was genuinely possible.
“Kuh—!”
There were so many things to fantasize about...
Falling asleep now felt like such a waste...
“......Ugh.”
Sleepy.
Bella, the Bellark territory’s only dedicated wet nurse, looked toward the tiny crib inside the room.
There she saw Sera sleeping peacefully after exhausting herself with happy rolling.
“Oh my, Lord Ethan. She was rolling around so much earlier, and now she’s completely passed out.”
Ethan smiled softly at the nurse’s words.
Seeing the baby stretched out with all four limbs spread wide open, she hardly looked like a proper little princess.
Still, there was no reason to worry.
“I wonder what kind of dream she’s having.”
Because the sleeping child looked unbelievably happy.