(Rudeus' POV).
As I woke up, I looked to my side, trying to search for Emma, only to find it was very hard to move my head. I found myself in some kind of wooden crib, left alone in a room with a wooden ceiling that had a medieval setting.
What the hell is all th...
(NO, I remember everything now. I died yesterday, and it wasn't a nightmare.) The moment I remembered everything—that I had died, that this wasn't a nightmare—I burst into loud, panicked cries. But strangely enough, my body looked blue, as if starved of oxygen.
A minute later, the maid came running, shouting for someone called Zenith. Soon after, a blonde woman appeared and said some strange words while putting her hand on my head, finishing them with the word 'Shinne.' But my skin color was almost the same. The only difference was that the pain decreased slightly. So, she repeated the chant, I think.
(Since these are magic words, not that I care if I'm going to die ASAP. Like hell. I don't think I've reached 24 hours in this world.)
But when she saw the spell had no effect, she moved to the next one, the one ending with 'X-Shinne.' (Pretty ironic: the word 'death' in Japanese sounds like 'healing' here. Any Japanese person in my place would think they were trying to kill him with radiation.) When she finished, and my breathing almost became normal, as if my brain had started to function, I soiled myself while simultaneously feeling hunger pangs.
(Skipping this part. I felt so embarrassed. I wished this period would finish fast; I can't tolerate all of this. At this rate, I'd prefer to skip this period entirely until I can eat on my own and be independent in other departments.)
Suddenly, the dark-blonde handsome man came bolting into the room like a cheetah. (How fast is this man?) He reached here in seconds. And all of a sudden, they started to cuddle each other in the middle of their talking, ignoring me, who was quite literally in the middle of them.
Well, I would ignore them anyway since I couldn't do anything in the situation I was in. Strange, even though I hated the situation I was in with all my heart. (I don't know how to describe it, but why do I feel warm? Like family warmth.)
(I hadn't felt it since 20 years ago, before my mom died from lung cancer. That damn fire took her, and Dad lived the rest of his life disabled, losing both his legs saving me and my brother, Paul. If anything, I felt I owed them both my life, and now I can't even meet them. Ugh.) Without any ulterior motive, I sighed in real life too, not just in my mind. And well, I just chose the worst time to do so. (You're going to ask me why? The answer is simple. They were kissing in front of me.) The situation tensed for a second. But then they both shrugged it off and continued anyway. (I just hope it stops at this level of what they'll both do in front of me).
.
.
Three months later.
.
I may have cursed myself by raising a certain flag three months ago. (They didn't stop at this level.) They took things to another level, right in front of me. Honestly, the best word for him? 'Animal.' No more, no less to be said. They can do it from the start of the night until dawn, and his stamina is on monstrous levels. After all of this, he can still wake up early and be active and energetic for the rest of the day, just to continue his activities at night the next day like he never used any energy last night.
At this level, I wouldn't be surprised if he could lift all the members of the house and run for an hour while lifting them, all on his own.
Well, ignoring the newlyweds (that's my only explanation for the unstoppable urge they are both in).
And I was probably something that slowed them down this last period. Because, as soon as he was able to enter, they started to do 'it.' Not caring for the very high sound they make. If anything, the poor maid, Lilia (according to what they called her before she appeared).
I can say I understand very little of this language now, like Shinne, which apparently means Healing, and X-Shinne is X-Healing, respectively. And from what I've realized, healing magic is quite common, since Mom uses it daily on me, sometimes twice a day, if my breathing is that bad.
Also now, I can fully understand the healing chants, which are: "Let the satisfying nourishment regain the lost vigor, regaining the lost strength." (Healing). And: "Mother of merciful god, heal this one's wounds and let the satisfying nourishment regain the lost vigor, regaining the lost strength." (X-Healing).
Yes, quite literally add a few words and stronger healing will happen. Well, not that I mind, but they are way too long, not the best for life-threatening situations, in which every second matters. I can't wait until I can speak, and I will spam healing magic on myself until I can breathe normally like a human being.
Ignoring my luck now, the progress I've made about this family is huge. The first thing I realized is how close Paul (or 'Dad,' since I wasn't sure if that was his actual name, having not heard it since the day the truck hit me) is. He is in his early twenties, I would say. His body seems fully adult, and his build appears to have years of training; either he was trained from childhood or he is at least 23. He is always carrying a sword, too. I don't know why? (Maybe he is some sort of swordsmanship fan).
As for Zenith (or 'Mom'), I only hear this name on one occasion: when I am blue from failed oxygenation in my blood. And if anyone else sees me first, they call her to come and heal me so I can breathe normally.
Other than that, Lilia (the maid) always calls her 'Madame' and calls Dad 'Husband.' (That's what I thought at first.) But it appears it has a double meaning here: 'Lord' or 'Master.' (I think.) All I can say about her is that she is a very reserved woman, who hardly talks and never speaks any unnecessary words. And as for what my parents call each other: "Dear!", "Darling!", "Sweetheart!" or "Love!".
No comments. If anything, I am now very sure they are newlyweds. Since, other than that, then this is hell. How can I call them my parents when they are always this 'hot'?
If anything, I'm sure I'll have many younger brothers and sisters incoming. I hope at least the house is big enough not to have to share a room with anyone. (Scratch that, I hope that house's walls are very thick to give me a full night's sleep. I miss them dearly).
Well, also worth mentioning that my whole body is growing at a rapid speed. Even with the illness I have, I think I need two more months, and I will be able to crawl around the house. And well, the daily cycle continues. Maybe, soon I will also start both training my muscles and even magic. (If it's possible.) I want to regain my build and to learn this healing magic which broke all the biology laws (I quite like it).
.
.
I'm five months and twenty days old today.
.
(I'm counting by the amount of days I've slept and woken up.) I have been crawling since ten days ago, and if anything, my crawling is quite fast for a kid. When I am alone in a room, I try to babble as many words as I can. So, I can talk or even chant healing magic.
Good news: yesterday, when I was alone, I finally managed to say 'Mom' the right way. So I waited and waited. Then, I said it in front of her to repeat the word.
After that, (I think), I saw her eyes sparkling with stars in them. Or maybe the illness is getting better, and I'm back to hallucinating things again.
But whatever the case, she was on cloud nine. She didn't stop celebrating and jumping until she realized she was in the middle of changing the diapers.
And the dirty diapers flew from her hands and hit the head of the passing dark-haired blonde swordsman, who was furious about the whole ordeal. And he didn't stop until I called him 'Dad.' It was like pouring water into fired soil; it turned him into the happiest man in the world.
I think he didn't mind the piece of poop in his hair. (Well, it's not my hair, nor is it my problem anymore).
Well, about how my relationship is with everyone in the house: Dad is a quite distant man. He only appears late at night, when he and Mom are preoccupied with other things, or when he is passing by to have a quick look at me. Other than that, if I didn't get out of the room myself, I would never meet him.
(But when he finds me awake, he always tries to play with me by making goofy, silly faces or giving me his hand to play with. And if he isn't free, he calls Lilia to take care of me, to avoid leaving me alone.)
Mom, on the other hand, is very affectionate and quite scary at the same time. I have to thank God for Lilia's existence in the house. If it weren't for her, I would have died long ago from Mom's hugs and demands to call her 'Mom.'
Or the fact that she's almost sticking herself to me almost all the time. She is trying her best to make sure I'm with her. I kind of understand her; she feels like she has caught something very fragile, and she is afraid that if she left me, I would disappear from her sight for eternity.
(Because of that, I decided that I'm going to stick to her as much as possible to return her love. That's the least I can do for her. At least this way, I will repay those parents. Ugh, not good, Issac. You are supposed to move on. At least focus on loving these parents.)
As for Lilia, she always puts walls between me and her and tries her best to distance herself from me, and she already set her boundaries between me and her. It is a rare sight when she carries me, like she is scared of me. But she always looks at me with sympathetic looks. After that, I understood everything: she is putting distance and waiting for my death. (But still, she tries her best to prevent it).
Also, she appears to be the most mature among all of them. It is safe to say, without her, my parents both were going to cuddle me without taking into account the other essential details, and Dad would continue making goofy faces and Mom would hug me until I'm dead while they were watching, not understanding what to do.
"Rudi, Rudi! Rudeus! Where are you?" (Yes, that's my name, Rudeus. A nice English name, if you ask me).
"Jeez, the moment you take your eyes off him, he vanishes!" Mom said with a sad smile and her overdramatic behavior.
(She dropped her arm and lowered her head, trying to look sad to make me feel bad and return by myself).
"It's not like you can't find him; you'll always find him almost five feet away from where you left him. And after that, all of his energy will be lost," said the disappointed dark-haired blonde swordsman.
(Hey! You are not the only one who feels down because of the illness I have, but at least respect my feelings. I'm pretty broken because of how I can't crawl fast or long.)
"But I wish for him to stay with me more. I feel like as soon as he can run, he will leave the house," said the blonde woman with an animated pouting, while sitting heavily on the chair after she saw me.
"Then you don't need to worry, Madame, he will never leave you. Because you don't give him a chance to breathe with your tight hugs," said the very stoic maid.
".." ".."
(Wow, that's harsh and unexpected. I never dreamed in my wildest dreams that Lilia would talk back to Mom, or share her opinion about me, or about anything. And did she just interrupt a talk between Mom and Dad? I think today will be a very interesting day.)
Nothing happened other than Mom went to where I was sitting. Then she carried me and demanded, as usual, to call her 'Mom,' and after that, she gave me a very tight hug, then stopped for a second before she hugged me very tightly again. (She never learns.) And after that, she thanked Lilia for her advice.
Then she looked at me and said that: "I will never stop hugging you, Rudy. So never leave me. Kay!" She said the last part after she kissed my forehead.
(I think she didn't understand what Lilia meant by what she said, because she did the opposite. I held the urge to face-palm very hard). Also, if you didn't realize, I have become almost fluent in this language. (I should).
And it is my fastest record in how fast I learned how to talk in a new language; the previous one was in two years. Also, my crawling speed is high, but my energy is low, which I already expected. My breathing isn't working the right way; it's very unstable and uncomfortable to describe. And it's really annoying.
But other than that, my daily exposure to healing magic from Mom had become a once-a-week occurrence.
I think when Mom uses X-Healing, after that, my lungs function like how they're supposed to be for four days. Then, I think in the later days of the week, its effectiveness decreases over time, and the maximum amount of days to stay without healing for me is nine days. Any longer than that, I will start to turn blue. (I'm starting to think I'll turn into one of Avatar's characters one day because of my lungs.)
Anyway, today is a big day.
(Not because I'm almost sure I'm seven months old today, nor because today was my first day to stand up with the help of a table's leg). But because I can finally finish full sentences of conversations. (Of course, without any people around. After I stood up, Mom hugged me tightly, then danced or jumped happily—I don't remember, all I remember is that my eyeballs shuffled at a very high speed.)
After five minutes of pure hell, Mom left me to brag about it to Dad, who was seeing the whole thing and didn't help me. (That traitor!) She ran, then jumped into his arms, kissing him before saying: "Kyaah! Our Rudy is amazing! Isn't that right, Dear? He could stand up on his own." Mom spoke too fast, while jumping left and right.
Dad tried more than once to talk but couldn't. And finally, he raised his pointer finger, trying to explain that I stood up with the help of the table's leg and that didn't count as standing up on my own, but she didn't give him a chance.
After he failed to talk many times, he sighed and surrendered to her and nodded surrenderingly. So, the day continued where she put me in the spotlight for the whole day, draining my energy very fast.
(Making me delay any new words I was planning to repeat in front of them. I was already able to finally repeat any words without the sluggishness of the first time talking).
Tonight, I will try healing magic on myself. So, I stayed awake in the crib. After Lilia put me down and left, I used the fact that Mom and Dad were away and recited the basic healing magic chant. "「Let the satisfying nourishment regain the lost vigor, regaining the lost strength.」 『Healing』" (As soon as I finished the chant, I lost consciousness).