My Baby
When I opened my eyes.
The first thing I felt was a soft texture.
“…?”
Something warm and squishy beneath my head.
“…A lap?”
“!”
I froze instantly.
A lap pillow for someone like me, who hadn’t even held a girl’s hand in my previous life… It was too much stimulation.
I was so startled I tried to get up, but… the warmth radiating from the lap was so comforting. Even though I knew it was wrong… I kept my eyes closed, pretending I hadn’t woken up yet.
…….
…….
…….
As a quiet silence filled the room.
Rustle.
“Haa!”
I let out a gasp before I could stop myself at the sudden touch stroking my hair.
“U-um…”
“Yes. My baby. Are you awake?”
“…Yes?”
B-baby?
“I’ve been waiting and waiting for you to talk to me, my baby.”
!!
“E-excuse me… did you… already know I was awake…?”
“Of course. You even held your breath with a ‘hup!’ in the middle, and then your face turned beet red and you started squirming. You were so cute.”
I was so embarrassed that I covered my face with both hands, feeling the intense heat of my cheeks through my palms.
‘It was that obvious? Is it because I’m in a woman’s body now?’
She seemed to find my reaction incredibly adorable, as she stomped her feet in excitement before pulling me into a tight embrace.
…….
It wasn’t the kind of behavior expected from someone who had been pretending to sleep, but I forced myself to push her away.
“…I-I’m scared. Go away.”
In truth.
In truth, I didn’t hate it at all.
If anything, her hug, which was so tight I could barely breathe, felt incredibly warm and happy.
But.
There’s no way she’d be nice to me for no reason, right?
Everyone had always been like that. Because I looked like an easy target. Because I was disheveled. Because I only wore cheap clothes. There was no reason for anyone to show me kindness.
And yet, she was being kind to me?
There had to be some ulterior motive. She was probably going to shake me down for money, make me act as a lookout, or order me to steal something.
Just like always.
Or maybe…
Maybe someone asked her to do it.
It was right around when I started middle school.
With my messy hair and smelly clothes.
I was an eyesore to the kids my age who were just starting to take an interest in their appearance and dressing up.
Naturally, the bullying began.
Even in that hellish time, the class president was the only one who took care of me and acted friendly.
I was so grateful, and if it was something that kid said, I would have followed them like a dog.
Yes.
Until I found out the class president was receiving volunteer service points from the teacher in exchange for being friends with me.
For someone like me, who was struggling from being bullied at both school and home, that fact was a massive shock.
After school, I couldn’t hold it in and asked the class president.
“The reason you were nice to me… was it because of the volunteer points?”
The class president was momentarily flustered, then immediately wore a look of contempt.
“…Ha. If not for the points, who would ever be nice to you? Isn’t that obvious?”
The attitude was as if they were stating an absolute fact, like ‘1+1=2’.
Those eyes, which had looked at me kindly just a day before, were now twisted as if looking at trash. Ever since that day, I’ve had a hard time looking people in the eye.
So… you, who were hugging me just now, must definitely have a ‘reason’ too. Because I don’t believe in selfless acts of kindness.
Her eyes, which I glared at, were shaking as if she had received an unexpectedly huge shock. Her hands, too, were hovering, lost.
It was an attitude as if she wanted to reach out to me but was forcing herself to stop for fear of startling me.
Right. Someone like me wouldn’t know how to dare to refuse. She probably thought I’d just be intoxicated by human warmth and fall for it, all dizzy and oblivious—
Grumble.
……!
“Pfft.”
She couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore and started heading out of the room.
“…W-where are you going?”
My voice was very small, embarrassed by how firmly I had pushed her away just a moment ago, yet still speaking as if to tell her not to go too far from me.
“My baby needs to eat, right? If you wait here patiently, I’ll bring you food, so you have to stay put, okay? And don’t you d~are open the door for anyone else.”
After giving me strict instructions several times, she muttered something incomprehensible at the door and left the room.
Seraphina headed to the kitchen with a pleasant smile.
‘She was so incredibly cute…’
She knew well, having come from the slums herself. Children raised in that hellish place usually fell into one of two categories.
Either they sharpened their thorns like she did to survive, or they lost even the will to resist and everything crumbled away.
The girl seemed to be the latter.
Even she, who had clung on desperately, had found it so difficult. A girl with such a striking appearance…
She even seemed weak-hearted.
How much must she have suffered to smear dirt all over herself and hunch over that delicate body so people would mistake her for a boy…
Usually, a child just rescued from the slums would be looking for food nine times out of ten.
‘Big sister. Thank you so much. There’s really no one like you. I love you…!’
As she imagined the girl receiving warm food and smiling brightly at her, a deep flush spread across Seraphina’s face.
“Who is cooking at this late hour—”
Late at night. Sometimes the newcomers in the kitchen would secretly turn on the lights and practice, saying they wanted to improve their skills.
Their attitude of trying was commendable. But as the head chef, they should have done it secretly without getting caught.
It wasn’t that it was strictly forbidden. It was that they were supposed to be smart enough to do it ‘well’ without getting caught.
The scene that greeted him when he opened the kitchen door, intending to give them a very stern scolding this time, was.
Seraphina, humming a tune while cooking.
The head chef felt goosebumps rise on his arms in an instant. Wherever that woman went, a major disaster always followed.
She didn’t care about the other person’s rank or background. Did they just offend her? She’d throw a punch immediately.
There were even rumors that she had been cursed out directly by the Pope.
‘Well. If it wasn’t to that extent, there’s no way she’d be stuck in this backwater with that level of holy power.’
Was she tired of punching and trying to resort to poisoning now?
However, contrary to his thoughts, her face while cooking looked incredibly happy.
“Hmm~”
The sight of her stirring the ladle with a bright smile was… more than enough to ignite the heart of a 36-year-old lifelong bachelor head chef. Even though he knew in his head that she was a devil in human skin, as a man, he was instinctively swayed by her appearance.
The moment the head chef gathered his courage and took a step toward her.
“C-cough. Excuse me.”
“Hey.”
Her expression froze coldly in an instant.
“Y-yes!”
“You’re in the way, so get lost.”
Startled.
He could feel the unspoken killing intent that she would break his neck if he didn’t get lost immediately. In the end, the head chef could only sit quietly in the corner and watch her cook with bated breath.
“Hey. I’m taking this dessert.”
“…!”
No, that’s the top-tier dessert to be served to the Bishop tomorrow?!
The head chef’s eyes began to tremble like an aspen tree.
‘I, I have to risk my life to protect at least that!’
“Answer me.”
Her voice was as cold as ice.
“Understood!!”
The head chef had no choice but to offer the dessert to her without a second of hesitation.
‘I’ll just get scolded a bit tomorrow…’
Left alone in the room, I began to examine the door, wondering what on earth she had done to it.
I tried grabbing the handle and pulling, pushing, and even tried kicking it.
But the door didn’t even budge. It wasn’t just that the door was heavy; it was a sense of hopelessness, like facing a giant mountain—yes, a mountain.
Of course, there was no way it would open with my minimum-rank strength stat, but I felt it instinctively.
It felt like I would need to consume all sorts of elixirs and become something like a Berserker from Astral Saga with hero-grade equipment to open it by force.
It was clear that it couldn’t be opened by simple physical force and required some special ‘energy’.
‘How do I know something like this…?’
Just as I was wondering.
I felt an immense energy swirling outside the door. An energy so overwhelming that even the mountain-like door couldn’t withstand it. The moment I sensed the danger and tried to run away from the door.
Trait: Beauty is Short-lived triggered.
A bad event is occurring.
Attempting resistance……
[Luck Stat: 5]
An absurdly low luck stat!
Resistance failed.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed right where I stood.
BOOM!!
The door was split in two in an instant, and I was swept away by the brutal shockwave and bounced into the corner of the room.
“C-cough.”
Just as I was writhing on the floor, clutching my stomach in agony.
“A-are you okay?!”
She had approached at some point and pulled me into her arms. Soon, a warm energy began to flow into my body. The blood pooling in my mouth subsided, and strength began to return to my whole body.
I almost let my guard down, intoxicated by that warmth, but I came to my senses and pushed her away roughly.
“D-did you attack me?!”
She froze as if my shout had hit the mark. Did she think I was an idiot? Did she think I wouldn’t know something like this? Did she think I’d just go along with it if she gave me a beating and then offered a cure?
But she seemed to have no shame, as she hugged me even tighter, as if to crush me. I should push her away. But this energy flowing into me was so… warm that I couldn’t bring myself to push her away.
Seraphina, holding food in both hands, was incredibly excited at the thought of seeing the girl soon.
‘I haven’t seen her for a whole 20 minutes and 24 seconds…! I’ve lost half my life!!’
A sturdy barrier she had set up in multiple layers so not even an ant could get in besides herself.
Because she prioritized security over immediate convenience, even she, who had set the barrier, couldn’t enter immediately.
Seraphina, who had to offer several prayers to undo the barrier.
‘Right.’
She decided to just smash it with force.
After gathering her strength for a moment.
“Hup!!”
BANG!
With a brutal tearing sound, the door split in two, and through the thick clouds of dust, she saw the girl collapsed on the floor, clutching her stomach.
‘Oh!?’
Seraphina rushed over, pulled the girl into her arms, and poured her holy power into her. Then, the girl, whose condition had improved, trembled and opened her mouth.
“D-did you hit me?!”
…!
Seraphina’s heart shattered. Right. To survive in those filthy slums, she must have had to act like a boy, even if it was forced.
But to think she still firmly believed she was a boy even after being rescued…
The sight made her heart ache as if it were being torn apart.
So much so that she hugged the girl until she was nearly crushed without even realizing it.
And so, the two remained huddled together until the food she had brought had gone cold.
