Chapter 9

9

"Ugh..."

I crawled forward on the marble floor at a pace three times slower than usual.

It was, quite painful.

With these short limbs, I decided it would be easier to infiltrate the kitchen rather than collect fruit.

I could gather food after filling my stomach to some extent; it wouldn't be too late.

'Well, there should be some fruit, right?'

Although I hadn't memorized the entire layout of the house, the structure of a castle should be more or less the same.

The kitchen is often located somewhere on the first floor, so I just needed to move in that general direction.

And the kitchen is often connected to the outside, which would naturally narrow down the areas I needed to search. I should look in the corners or at the ends.

This mansion was increasingly fascinating the more I looked at it. It seemed to be the main house, but there were few people around.

In fact, even on a normal day, I rarely heard any sounds other than the maids entering the room.

Creak.

Perhaps because the mansion was so quiet, even crawling around openly didn't draw any attention.

People occasionally passed by, but I could hide behind decorations or flower pots, and no one noticed me.

After about 30 minutes of desperately crawling, I finally found a door that emitted a delicious smell.

The door was firmly closed, but opening it was no longer a difficult task for me.

After looking around and lying on my back, I lifted my limbs and exerted force!

My mana began to stir.

The doorknob made a creaking sound, hesitantly moving as if it were about to open.

I slowly opened my tightly closed eyes.

The doorknob turned halfway but didn't fully open.

"Ugh..."

After making an embarrassing sound, the lock finally clicked open.

I rolled over and stood up on my limbs. A fragrant smell wafted through the slightly open door.

'But what do babies eat?'

Usually, they are given formula.

'With my front teeth, I should be able to eat fruit, right?'

I recently got two upper teeth and one lower tooth. The more teeth I have, the softer and better the pacifier should be.

'Cheaper wooden pacifier!'

How much have I rolled around?

I can't get any slime right now, so I have to make do with what's available.

'Hopefully, I won't have to suck on a pacifier even when I grow bigger.'

That would be truly terrifying.

Inside the kitchen, the cooks were taking a break.

I was right behind the counter, so I wouldn't be noticed unless someone deliberately looked down or turned around.

The kitchen was filled with the fragrant smell of cooking soup.

My mouth watered, but I couldn't eat the hot soup right away.

I tilted my head back and rolled my eyes around.

Fortunately, I could see a pile of potatoes and apples on one side. They might be hard, but if I use my mana to throw them a few times, they might get mashed.

'Then, there might be too much juice.'

First, I need to fill my stomach and then find some small wooden fruits.

I made a potato and an apple float in the air. The details of the process... I'll skip.

Although I was lying on the slightly damp kitchen floor, I was too hungry to care.

After placing the potato and apple on the floor, I became anxious again.

It was clearly too difficult to carry both. After much deliberation, I managed to stuff the apple into my clothes with a lot of effort.

With one small hand, it was impossible to hold, so I tried to push it into my clothes with both hands, but it didn't work well.

I tried to suppress the frustration rising in my throat.

The apple was too big for a baby's hand. No matter how much I struggled with both hands, I couldn't get it into my clothes.

Normally, I would hold it with one hand and stretch the clothes with the other to push it in, but that was impossible for me.

Since I couldn't stretch the clothes, the apple just rolled around on the floor.

Thud.

"..."

Thud.

"..."

Who would appreciate my efforts to catch the apple without making a sound as it fell?

My clenched fists turned white, and my body trembled.

I took a deep breath twice and gently placed the apple down.

Then, I changed my target to the potato.

Thud, roll.

"..."

Thud, roll.

"..."

Changing the target from the apple to the potato didn't change the situation much.

Damn it.

After staring at the potato and apple for a while, I finally bit into the apple and squeezed through the door.

I stuck the pacifier to my fingers to prevent it from falling.

With the apple, as big as my face, clamped between my front teeth, I felt quite uncomfortable crawling down the hallway.

The small mouth and small teeth made it hard to keep the apple from rolling and falling.

Eventually, I got so frustrated that I started hitting the floor, and even my mana was being used up.

In the end, I made some progress amidst extreme stress and frustration.

I could now concentrate my mana in one place.

I scraped the non-existent mana from the floor and concentrated it on my teeth.

The mana-empowered teeth allowed me to hold the apple without dropping it. I had to stop occasionally to suck on the pacifier a few times.

Still, I managed to bite down hard and return to the room.

I hoped a maid might have come and gone while I was out, but there was nothing.

It was a tough first day of survival.

* * *

"Ahh..."

I looked at the floor. The room was filled with food, which was very satisfying.

No one had opened the door to this room in the past two weeks. It was truly astonishing. If I were a normal baby, I would have died already.

Even if a child is neglected, as a noble's child, they shouldn't be ignored to this extent.

Maids wouldn't dare play with a noble child's life out of revenge.

Therefore, I thought something must have gone wrong in the communication process.

Of course, the maids didn't look good, but thanks to the food I had gathered over the past two weeks, I was quite well-fed.

The only problem was defecation, which... I dealt with on my own. I don't even want to think about it. It was a humiliation I never thought I would experience as a great mage.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

My life became a bit sad.

But regardless, there was no immediate problem with my survival.

I gathered some leaves and picked a few small, red fruits and nectar-filled flowers, and used gravity magic to move my bed to a corner where the sunlight didn't shine directly.

'It's time for a walk.'

I also maintained a regular routine. To grow healthy and safely, I went out once a day.

To get some fresh air and keep the pacifier clean.

Babies grow quickly, and my gums were very itchy, indicating that my teeth were about to come in.

The more itchy my gums, the more time I spent sucking on the pacifier.

Today, I calmly went outside and slowly surveyed the surroundings. The main castle was quiet as usual.

I wondered if this was the main castle. I moved during times when there were fewer people.

Still, my knees were calloused, and crawling around didn't hurt as much anymore.

I familiarly crawled to the backyard.

Over the past two weeks, I had memorized the geography around the main castle.

Thanks to this, I knew how to move without being seen and where the quiet, uninhabited areas were.

"Sniff..."

As I familiarly crawled into the garden that Sharant Clowen tended by hand, I heard crying from inside.

I paused for a moment and then continued to crawl.

In fact, all the flowers and fruits I had gathered in my room were stolen from here.

Sharant Clowen's garden had not only ornamental plants but also quite a few edible ones. It was a great food source for me.

When I checked the spot I had picked from last time, the stems of the flowers I had pulled from the inside were neatly cut.

'...I've been caught.'

Sharant Clowen, that scary guy.

Even though I had carefully picked from the inside to avoid being noticed, he had found the hidden flowers.

I thought that if I continued to use this place, he might really twist my neck.

'He's crying again.'

I had met him once before and pretended not to notice, then left.

'With him here, I can't pick any fruit and can only clean the pacifier.'

I glared at the kid with a disapproving look.

'What was his name?'

He definitely introduced himself, but I couldn't remember.

At least I knew one thing for sure.

He was Sharant Clowen's son.

So, I could just call him 'Sharant Clowen's son.'

He sniffled. The hot gaze on my face made me deliberately avoid looking at Sharant Clowen's son.

It was annoying, and I didn't want to hear about Sharant Clowen's failed honeymoon.

"Sniff, kid. Are you busy?"

Since I wasn't looking at him, he seemed to feel left out and spoke to me.

I roughly lay on the ground and dipped the pacifier in the water. With my weak grip, I could only stir it a little.

'How can it get clean like this?'

A deep sigh escaped me.

Sniff.

Sharant Clowen's son sniffled again and crawled over to me.

Up close, I could see his curly hair.

Sharant Clowen's hair was as straight as his personality, so maybe his mother had slightly curly hair?

While pondering this, I avoided Sharant Clowen's son.

"Hey, baby. Do you want me to clean it for you...?"

I was trying to avoid him.

But it was a tempting offer. My hands were starting to hurt from the effort of cleaning.

I quickly took the pacifier out of the water, sucked on it a few times, and handed it to Sharant Clowen's son.