I Became the Bastard of the Duke's Estate (2)
I Became the Bastard of the Duke's Estate (2)
Three days later.
Right after the other maids got off work.
"Waaah!"
In front of Kanna, whose face had gone completely pale, I let out another hearty wail.
If it hadn't worked the first time, I just had to keep at it until it did.
Every time Kanna was on night duty, I cried hysterically.
Of course, as time went on, their concern waned, but they never left me alone at night.
And the looks directed at Kanna gradually grew strange.
"It seems like the Young Lord and Kanna don't get along, doesn't it?"
"It only happens when Kanna is in charge."
When Kanna wasn't around, the other maids whispered even more.
"Could Kanna be doing something wrong when she's alone with him?"
Some maids even started subtly badmouthing her.
After I burst into tears for the fourth time, Kanna was eventually reassigned elsewhere.
'That was exhausting.'
After soothing my sore throat, I bid Kanna farewell in my mind.
'I hope she goes off and drops dead somewhere.'
That day, a new message window popped up before my eyes.
[The crisis has ended. A new 'Save Point' has been set.]
Yes! Yes!
It appeared. This was a Save Point.
As expected, dying didn't mean I would automatically return to the very beginning.
Once the life-threatening situation was resolved, a new Save Point would be created at that moment.
What a relief. It really was a relief.
If I had to return to the starting point every time I died, I would have thrown in the towel.
Starting over as a baby every single time—there was no hell worse than that.
"Oh, the Young Lord is smiling."
"It's not a strange laugh like last time."
"Did he really dislike Kanna that much?"
The maids whispered, but I didn't care in the slightest.
Now, a peaceful baby life was about to begin again.
But those premature thoughts were shattered before even a single day had passed.
"I am Luisil, the maid newly assigned here as of today."
The new maid who came to replace Kanna glared at me when no one else was looking.
Goosebumps broke out all over my body, and my fine hairs stood on end.
It might have been my imagination, but she didn't look like an ordinary maid.
Indeed, there was no way things would end just because Kanna was gone. If one weapon broke, they just had to use another.
As long as the mastermind ordering the murders didn't stop, assassins would surely keep coming.
I kept a close eye on the new maid.
Surprisingly, though, the new maid didn't make any suspicious moves.
Her expression didn't darken, nor did she do anything unexpected.
Even during her first night on duty, she merely sat quietly in her chair and stayed up all night.
'Was it just my imagination?'
I let out a sigh of relief.
Right. An assassin wouldn't come in as a maid every single time.
After being tense all night, I was finally able to relax.
'I need to be careful, but I can't stay this tense every time. There is no assassin. If I keep this up, I won't even grow taller.'
And so, a comfortable period of time passed.
Three days later.
Once again, I was forced to kiss a pillow, and naturally my nose was blocked too.
Damn it.
I died again.
[You have died. Restarting from the Automatic Save Point.]
This was already the second time.
If there was any silver lining, it was that I returned to a different point.
"Kanna has been reassigned as of today."
I stared blankly at Kanna as she said her goodbyes.
I couldn't get used to the pain of death, even though I was a baby with a supposedly high pain tolerance and this was a simple death by suffocation.
I never wanted to experience the helplessness and futility of the moment of death again.
But no.
'Damn it, as if I'd give up.'
Once I died, at least I would know who the culprit was.
And once I knew the culprit, I could at least prevent the next death.
The next day, I stared right back at Luisil, who was secretly glaring at me.
"Oh, how cute. The Young Lord is staring intently at Luisil."
Luisil's eyes widened in surprise, and the maids whispered.
"It seems he likes Luisil. Would you like to try holding him?"
At the head maid's words, Luisil approached the crib.
No! It's the opposite!
As Luisil picked me up, I had no choice but to deploy my ultimate weapon.
"Waaah!"
"O-oh, what should I do?"
"My, he must not be used to you yet. Give him here."
Once the head maid took me back, I stopped crying.
Time passed. Nothing changed.
Three days later.
Luisil was scheduled to be on night duty alone again.
Nothing was going to change anyway.
I burst into tears once more.
"Waaah!"
The crying repeated every three days.
In the end, the new maid had no choice but to leave as well.
After that, the maid was replaced once again.
And strange rumors began to circulate around the estate.
"Did you know that all the maids who were reassigned ended up quitting?"
"Apparently, all of those maids went missing after they quit."
"They went missing?"
"In some cases, their entire families packed up and left, and in others, the girl herself simply lost contact."
"Could it be..."
The whispering maid murmured with a pale face, and another maid quickly shook her head.
"Surely they weren't killed? They probably just left the domain for some reason."
"But they were all people who left from here..."
The whispering maids glanced at me as I lay in the crib.
For all of them to go missing... Had someone cleaned up the loose ends?
There were very few people in this Duke's estate with that kind of power... Every person who came to mind was someone far beyond the reach of an illegitimate son like me, who was insignificant now and would remain so for a long time.
"You're saying they couldn't even attempt it this time either?"
"Yes. Just like before, the baby cried, and they ended up being driven away."
"That's already the third time..."
"It could be a coincidence, or perhaps the child was startled by the bloodlust of those amateurs."
"Or there might be another reason. He might have awakened a different ability from the usual ones."
"There is still a long way to go before his Awakening Day."
"Well, it's just a hypothesis."
"Shall we proceed, then?"
"No. Three times is already too many. It seems rumors are already circulating, so let's stop sending in maids. We'll use a different method next time."
"Understood."
"We should let the child experience the world for a few more months, at least."
The secret conversation came to an end.
With those final words, a soft chuckle echoed inside the beautiful room.
'I'm free!'
After the third maid left, peaceful nights finally followed.
The maid who came in after her didn't try to kill me.
Peaceful nights. A refreshed throat.
I could finally eat, sleep, and poop with joy.
Still, I couldn't hold out with this method forever.
It couldn't be helped.
I had to become a genius.
"Waaah, ba-bbb."
"He's babbling already."
"Ab-ab."
"But isn't he babbling for a bit too long?"
"Uuu. Waaah."
My throat was completely ruined from crying so hard all this time. It hurt like hell.
But I had to start speaking as soon as possible.
So today, I continued practicing my babbling.
"Ab-ab-ab..."
Time passed, and I was finally weaned off breast milk.
My mother hadn't nursed me herself; there was a separate wet nurse, but that was only natural in a great noble family.
'Tsk, this baby food tastes awful.'
The baby food I was trying for the first time tasted unexpectedly bad.
Babies I'd seen in my past life used to gobble it up, though.
Maybe the era was different, and the culinary culture hadn't developed yet.
Perhaps I should get into the spice trade when I grew up.
I thought I would grow big and strong eating baby food like that.
But was it all just a pipe dream?
At some point, I started sleeping more and more.
I was so drowsy.
My waking hours decreased, and a fever began to rise in my face and body.
It was painful, but the drowsiness persisted.
It was strange.
The maids forced me to eat, but I threw up whatever food I managed to take in, losing my strength and wasting away.
My startled mother summoned the primary care physician and even a priest, but neither the physician's treatment nor the priest's holy magic could cure my aching body.
"What on earth is the reason the baby is sick?!"
"I am terribly sorry. The illnesses of young children have not all been identified yet..."
The physician kept wiping the sweat pouring down his face with his sleeve.
Even though healing magic was said to be advanced, the physician was clearly a quack who didn't even understand the concept of hygiene. As expected of the medieval era. The infant mortality rate was bound to be insane.
Time kept passing, but he couldn't treat me; he didn't even know the name of the illness.
"Uaa, ah-poo, ab."
At my groan-like cries, my mother stroked my face with a pitiful expression.
"If only you could tell me where it hurts..."
At her words, I let out another cry.
"Ab, ah-poo, ah-poo."
'My stomach hurts! My intestines are twisting! Damn it, the food is weird!'
Unlike the physician, I knew the reason my body was aching. But my desperate shouts sounded like nothing more than a baby's cries to everyone else.
On the final night, when all my strength was gone, my mother, who had stayed up by my side for several days, murmured softly as she looked at me.
"I'm sorry. For failing to protect you."
She, too, knew that my illness was not a natural one.
"You are this sick, yet the Duke doesn't even visit."
My mother shed tears as she looked at my sickly face.
I couldn't answer her words.
They were the last thing I heard before my breathing stopped, as if someone had flipped a power switch.
[You have died. Restarting from the Automatic Save Point.]
I died again.
A moment later, as I regained consciousness, I bit my lip.
'Damn it! I was too relaxed!'
'Genius, my foot. At this rate, I need to become an alien!'
Back at the moment right after driving away the third maid, I practiced speaking desperately.
If I was late, it was over. I didn't need any other words.
All I needed were two phrases.
And in the end, I pulled it off.
"Ah, eat this. It's baby food. Hoo, hoo, it won't be hot. Here, food."
That day, just as I was about to eat baby food for the first time, I took a bite of what the maid offered on a spoon.
And spat it out with all my might.
Pfft!
The baby food splattered everywhere. The startled maids rushed over.
"Oh dear, does the baby food not suit him yet?"
Of course! It wasn't just a matter of not suiting me.
Now it was time to show off the fruits of my labor.
Gathering strength in my abdomen, positioning my mouth and tongue correctly, and taking a deep breath, I shouted with all my might.
"Mamma!"
The maids all wore shocked expressions.
"Could it be?"
"He spoke just now, didn't he?!"
"Didn't he call for Madam?"
"I'll go fetch Madam!"
The startled maids scurried about, running to bring my mother.
A moment later, when my mother rushed into the room, I shouted once more.
"Mamma!"
My mother's and the maids' faces lit up, but I had no intention of stopping there.
Besides, 'Mamma' didn't mean mommy.
"Hurts!"
"Mamma hurts!"
At the same time, I raised my hand and pointed to the baby food splattered all over.
A baby pointing with his tiny finger and babbling nonsense with his very first words.
My mother, the maids, and even the estate's employees who heard the news were all utterly dumbfounded.
For the Duke's son to say not 'Mommy' or 'Daddy' as his first words, but 'Mamma hurts'...
It was more than enough to spark strange rumors once again.
Fortunately, my mother did not take her child's words lightly.
With her expression hardening, she snatched the remaining bowl of baby food and gave orders to the maids.
"The physician... No, summon the Alchemist!"
"Pardon? The Alchemist?"
"I believe there is one in the domain?"
"Ah, yes. There is indeed one, but..."
"Did you not hear my child's words?! Summon him immediately!"
The maids asked in surprise, but my mother—that is, the Duke's concubine, Amanda—merely repeated her command.
"Hurry!"
"Yes! Yes!"
Though she was of commoner birth and still just a concubine, her standing as the Duke's woman was by no means insignificant.
The maids rushed out in a hurry, and my mother squeezed my hand tightly.
Urgh. She's holding it too tightly. My circulation's getting cut off.
"Ah, hurts."
I had no choice but to use the first words I had learned once again.