I remember my death.
I recall that I was an adult, and also the basic knowledge that was ingrained in my head.
Being confined in a very dark and narrow place, smelling the incense that gave me dizziness.
I remember these things, but I had no memory of who I was or why I was captured.
Who was I?
What was my name?
Why was I imprisoned just before my death?
At least I’m certain I was not a baby like this.
Is it… reincarnation?
I was confused.
But the most confusing thing is those strangers staring at me.
They were observing me as if they were scholars.
“Can you speak?”
“I clearly heard her say ‘Bu!’ earlier.”
A woman wearing glasses poked my plump cheeks in disbelief.
Unknowingly, “Au!” A strange sound came out of my mouth.
I just wanted to say I can talk, but why are my tongue and throat behaving like this?
I frowned in frustration.
And then the people,
“Oh, her face is frowning. She’s so cute!”
—made groaning sounds.
These people. Something’s not right.
"How can a human child come out of an egg? There’s nothing special about her body structure.”
The woman wearing glasses gently touched my cheek.
‘Oh. It’s so soft and squishy.’
After muttering a little, the others said, “I want to touch it too.” Then they started fondling my cheeks.
I blinked in surprise when several hands suddenly approached me.
Where the hell am I?!
Then a man asked the woman wearing glasses.
“Professor, should I report this to the Vatican as it is?”
“No. Let’s put it on hold for a while. The Vatican is too cluttered to accept this situation. Can everyone keep it a secret?”
“Yes, Professor!”
The woman and others surrounding me nodded at her words.
Professor? Is that person the head?
I spoke with my tongue as hard as I could. Where am I?
“Yeoua! Ua!”
“Uhh, what did the baby say?”
“Au! Aiaa! Ueua! (Argh, why is it so hard!)”
“Is she a very talkative kid?”
It’s frustrating!
I squeezed a fist out of my hand and hit my chest hard.
It’s so frustrating!
Everyone just stared at me with curious eyes.
I waved my hands at the behavior of those who annoyed me and made sure to express my view.
But all that came out of my mouth was a babble that even I couldn’t understand.
“Geuuaa! Au! Auung! (Stop poking me!)”
Stop poking me and saying it’s soft and squishy!
“How can you be so soft?”
“Because all kids are cute.”
“Why does my nephew look like a toad? I think she’s especially cute.”
Everyone’s annoying me.
Why do you all keep saying I’m cute?
I’m so confused!
The woman called a professor fixed her glasses and turned to the egg I broke.
“From an egg discovered in the demon’s ruins, a child was born…”
A demon’s ruins? What’s that?
I also turned my gaze to the egg the woman was looking at.
Obviously, I was trapped in a jar.
When I heard the children’s cries outside, I hit the wall hard to get out, and I ended up getting out of an egg.
The egg was pretty big. I checked the size of my body.
I can stretch my hands and feet at will and I’m not as small as a newborn baby.
It’s like the size I had when I was about four or five years old.
The woman turned to me again.
“Ah. Try it. Ah.”
“Ah—”
The woman observed my mouth with a thin wooden stick.
She pressed my small tongue with it.
“Professor, by the way. Don’t they usually talk at this age?”
Asked a student. Then the woman who was looking in my mouth replied.
“She’s pretty much the same size as Kyle, so I think she’ll be able to speak easily.”
I can talk!
But my voice just won’t come out.
I was so frustrated that I flapped my arms, saying, “Au, au.”
“There’s nothing wrong with her oral structure. It may be that she hasn’t learned to talk yet.”
“She can’t speak Rhodes’ language?”
“Maybe.”
I understand everything!
I flapped once again to let them know I understood them.
“Is she a bird’s child? The flapping is like flying.”
“It makes perfect sense, idiot.”
The students giggled and joked among themselves.
Indeed. A child was born from an egg.
It makes no sense unless I’m a bird’s child.
“Then, shall we ask where she came from after we teach her to speak?”
Another student asked the woman.
“She seems like an ordinary kid on the outside, but we don’t know where she came from, so yes. Let’s wash this child, clothe her, feed her, and teach her to speak!"
The woman put her arms around her waist and spoke boldly.
The other students responded loudly to her command.
That night, the woman called a professor hugged me and laid me on a tentatively prepared rocking bed.
I was sleepy since I just ate food.
...Am I usually very sleepy after eating something?
I guess I’m nervous because I don’t know where I am, but my eyelids kept getting lower.
The woman said while rubbing my chubby belly.
“Baby. You know, I just came up with a name. Your name.”
I tried to mimic the shape of the woman’s mouth.
I extended my mouth with all my heart and twisted my tongue again.
“...Nam!”
It’s working! I said it just about right!
As happy as I was, she smiled brightly as she watched me imitate her pronunciation.
It was a soothing smile to look at.
“Yeah, you’re a good copycat. Now, follow after me. Le-ti-cia—”
“Eticia.”
“Le, ti, cia.”
“E, ti, cia.”
“Fufu, you’re so cute. Is it hard to say because you still have a short tongue? Our Kyle can’t pronounce his name.”
Is there another baby? I suppose she’s married. She looks so youthful.
I stared at the woman.
“Leticia. That’s your name. What do you think? It means special child. Do you like it?”
The woman smiled brightly when I nodded.
It feels good to see her smile.
“My name is Beth. Beth Arden.”
Beth.
It’s a lovely name.
I grinned at the name Beth gave me. Leticia.
I died as an adult, but one way or another, I was reborn as a child with just the memories of my death.
I have no clue who I was.
I have no idea where and how I died.
Just wedged in a jar, suffocating.
No, I remember being very ill and smelling a foul odor.
It was more than that.
Ah.
I heard children screaming outside, the air was vibrating, and I felt like throwing up.
I also felt that my entire body was being sucked into someone.
In the end, I felt really lonely.
Tears welled up for some reason when Beth gave me the name Leticia.
But that sense of solitude has disappeared. At the same time, I had a strange feeling.
What is it, this longing feeling?
“Oh. Leticia. Why are you crying, baby?”
Beth’s words made me realize I was crying.
I don’t know why I’m crying.
But, I felt like I missed it so much.
The moment I saw Beth’s face, I thought of someone I couldn’t remember.
I just reached out to Beth because all I could say was babbling.
Beth gave me another hug and stroked my back as if she knew what I wanted to say.
I’m starting to feel sleepy.
Somehow, I felt like I slept for a very long time.