Chapter Two: Woes of Babyhood
Being a baby is harder than what most would think. Most of my days were spent sleeping, eating and suppressing the urge to cry. All bits of information I could get were by word of mouth. But I was able to confirm that I was living in the Vosta Empire, the fictional Kingdom that held both knights and magic. I still needed a lot more information to figure out the story's timeline.
If only I could get my hands on a couple of books. Yet nevertheless, I could barely move. Hell, trying to flip over was hard enough. I needed to train my body as soon as I was capable, I didn't suffer twenty plus years in my past to be reduced to malleable squishy flesh once more.
Though I won't lie, it's been nice not having to wake up to the drill sergeant schedule I was so accustomed to.
In the past nobody really paid any attention to Ginerva Taylor. Nothing I did was considered impressive enough. In fact, the feats that I did manage to complete were held as expectations. But things were different here.
With a horde of servants and one peculiar nanny, they had their eyes on me constantly. Oohing and ahhing over how smart I was. I mean, it's not like I was doing anything too out of the norm for a baby. Or at least that's how it seemed from my perspective.
My mom - well, mother was the one that spent the most time with me. She coddled me against my will and doted on me to the most extraordinary lengths that I couldn't help but be embarrassed.
"She doesn't seem to cry much does she Greta?"
If only I could nod my head but alas, the weight of it was too much and I knew I didn't have enough of a spine yet to move about on my own.
"The young missus is good natured unlike her brothers," Greta remarked fondly.
My mother placed me against her shoulder, patting me on the back awaiting for the familiar sounds of a gassy burp to exit my mouth. It was nasty business but I guess all babies went through it. I was just lucky enough not to remember the first time around.
"Indeed, Silvain had quite a temper as a baby but mellowed out now while Lawrence, that boy was so sweet ... alas, he's taken upon some mischievous habits," Greta sighed, shaking her head but a smile still remained upon her old wrinkly features.
"The two used to always fight but whenever they see Aveline, they stop their nonsense almost immediately." Mother chuckled.
"No doubt the young miss is lovely and sweet that her brothers can't help but adore her."
Greta wasn't wrong.
If I could keep track of the time that had passed, it was almost nine months since I was born and whenever the two pretty boys showed up, they'd cease their bickering and would watch me from my cradle. I knew in the original novel the De Bourbon family was written to be a rather disorderly household. Aveline's personality was depicted as a spoiled brat that got on the nerves of her brothers. I mean, to be honest most of her purpose in the novel was to act as the third wheel to the romance of Rosalina and Prince Theopold. It didn't help that her behavior made her sound like a whiny idiot. Her brothers were cold toward her and didn't trust or believe her since most of her past time was spent scheming. And they were also fond of the protagonist who (in retrospect) if I reread parts of the story sounded like one hell of a Mary Sue.
My own personality was hardly comparable to that of the beautiful but frivolous antagonist. I spent my last life skimping money by harshly budgeting my paychecks so that I'd have some savings. And yet, all of that had gone to waste. Life's truly a struggle no matter how many times it comes around.
Perhaps I'd be as reckless as the original Aveline if I knew I could live my life as haphazardly like her with little consideration toward consequences. But the fact that the plot would progress toward my inevitable death has me already planning my every step. I needed my family united. Indifference wouldn't do any good. And thus began a project to charm the pants of my brothers.
I started small.
Every single time the two started arguing, I'd launch my booming voice in shrieks until they found themselves hushing each other.
"She's crying again."
Silvain looked at his brother with irritation, "that's because you're too loud."
"Am not."
"Are too."
Cue the cries.
"Shh!" Lawrence stuck his hand over the cradle, the small palm of his hand began to pat on my stomach. As a baby, the effect of such an action had soothing remedies and it helped me calm down. I mean, I knew I could calm down but what he was doing was making it go faster.
As a reward, I smiled. No matter what anyone said, a baby's smile could bring down a thousand ships. This stuff was probably more potent and powerful than beauty itself.
"She's smiling at me Sil," Lawrence was beaming, his own cheeks flushed.
My own eyes peered over at Silvain who looked like he had eaten a sour grape. Ah, the kid was jealous. It was cute. Fear not, I already had another plan in action to win his heart. Just as Silvain was about to do the same as Lawrence and pat me, I managed to use my tiny little hand to grab onto his index finger. My own grip was stronger than I thought and the action had seemingly surprised the boy. I cooed, imparting yet another glorious grin for him too.
"Hah, she likes me too," Silvain said nearly flustered. He was quick to regain his shyness, a familiar look of pride masking his youthful face. "She seems to like it when we don't fight, don't you Ave?"
I wish I could've nodded or said hell yeah but alas, being a baby was a tough job and the most I could do was gurgle some sounds and laugh.
Their visits became more frequent and slowly I had the two wrapped around my finger.
It wasn't long after that my parents followed suit. What can I say? I've become the apple of everyone's eye. It was nice but I've never received so much attention as I did my previous life. It was partially stifling, I can't help but confess that I did enjoy it. There were moments when I wondered what had happened to my mom, dad and sister but knowing that there was no undo button to this whole thing was enough to quash those thoughts.
Meanwhile, it seemed as if the whole household was distracted by my upcoming birthday. Was unbelievable that nearly a year had gone by and I was now in this world forever. It wasn't completely terrible but I was already missing some basic necessities ... most being the technological advancements that had been made. Life wasn't entertaining without tv, or laptops or music. There was no such thing as instant food here either. I missed binging shows at 3Am with my mouth chewing on toasted bread and coffee in hand. But at least I wasn't a commoner.
It could be way worse if I thought about it. At least the rich seemed to have some sense of hygiene. It was decent but it could be better and I'd be sure to emphasize that the moment I could communicate on a higher level of intellect rather than mindless babbles.
Due to the birthday bash that was being thrown in my favor, I had plenty of time to entertain myself. When the many maids and servants weren't looking, I'd find some ledge to grab onto and stand up. The most I could do at the moment were baby squats. My muscles weren't strong enough to go forward - or so I thought.
I made a couple of steps before I undoubtedly found my butt landing on the ground. Naturally my instinct was to cry but my 28 years of cultivated pride suppressed such foolish urges.
I made walking into a personal challenge. When left to play, I practiced, right foot, left foot - one step at a time going forward with each move. I was counting in my head mentally and today was an amazing feat - I had made it to ten. But my victories were too early to claim as triumph.
My thoughts were interrupted by the familiar voice of one particular nanny. She loomed in the doorway, her hands clasped over her mouth in seeming shock as I stood there looking like a deer caught in headlights. With the way she was looking at me, you'd think I committed a crime. My natural instinct was to raise my hands up but my arms were still unused to the strenuous task of lifting. And so I stood there, Greta looking like a tourist while I looked like an exotic zoo animal caught doing something scandalously wrong.
"Oh my goodness! The young missus is walking! She's walking all on her own! Madam!"
Ah great, now they were all going to come.