Chapter – 03Ā
Secret Training!
“To be honest, I never wanted this job in the first place.”
Grinning unpleasantly, Millicent changed my diaper.
I wanted to give her a piece of my mind…
But all that came out of my mouth was,
“Baa… buh… bah!”
Nothing more than dissatisfied baby babbling.
“Yes, yes. Just stay still.”
Her face wore a pleasant smile.
Well… “pleasant” wasn’t quite the right word.
It was more of a nasty smirk.
And behind that smile…
“…Don’t make any more unnecessary work for me.”
There was unmistakable malice in her eyes.
“I should have been hired as the wet nurse for the young master of House Carlisle instead. They’re one of the Four Grand Ducal Houses too.”
From what I’d overheard my parents discussing, Millicent was supposedly an exceptionally skilled wet nurse.
And that much was true.
Her hands moved expertly.
Ignoring my squirming protests, she replaced my diaper in no time at all.
When it came to childcare, she was undoubtedly a professional.
But her personality…
Was absolutely rotten.
“I hear the Duke and Duchess are attending another ball tonight. Honestly, don’t they just make everyone uncomfortable whenever they show up?”
Millicent smirked again.
(Well… if Father with his intimidating face and Mother with that icy expression walked into a ballroom…)
…Yeah.
That would be terrifying.
(Even though they’re both so gentle at home… everyone outside only knows them as the Cold Duke and Duchess.)
My visit to the royal palace had made that crystal clear.
At first I’d wondered if they were simply putting on an act.
But the instant we returned home and the tension left them, their stiff expressions melted into relaxed smiles.
That ruled out the possibility.
Those two…
Were simply hopelessly awkward around other people.
Because Father was the kingdom’s strongest mage, people feared him.
Add their naturally poor social skills on top of that…
And thus the infamous, unpopular ducal family was born.
A genuine tragedy.
“People call the Duke the strongest mage in the kingdom, but that’s the only thing he has going for him.”
“And the Duchess was known at court as the Iron-Faced Lady. No one wanted to marry her.”
“When those two finally got engaged…”
“Every noble in the kingdom breathed a sigh of relief.”
I see.
No one wanted to marry either of them.
But because they were such high-ranking nobles, refusing them outright was difficult.
When they married each other, all the other aristocrats were relieved that they no longer had to worry about becoming their spouses.
(What an awful thing to tell someone’s child.)
Seriously…
This wet nurse had an awful personality.
“Now then, Young Lady, hurry and go to sleep.”
“The sooner you fall asleep, the sooner I can relax.”
With that, Millicent casually rolled me onto my bed.
Then she elegantly poured herself a cup of tea and began reading a book.
Incidentally…
She had forbidden the other maids from entering the nursery, claiming they distracted her.
Alone in my crib, I flailed my tiny arms and legs.
Before long, I gave up.
Even if I cried…
She’d probably just ignore me.
Normally…
Mother would gently hold me and softly pat my back until I fell asleep.
I felt lonely.
But more than that…
(Complain all you want… but at least do your job properly!)
I was furious.
My parents had entrusted me to her.
Yet she treated that responsibility so carelessly.
Anger welled up inside me.
And at that very moment…
A strange warmth bloomed deep within my abdomen.
(Huh…? Could this be…?)
This time, I intentionally tightened my stomach.
The warmth grew stronger.
Something invisible…
Something mysterious…
Existed inside my body.
The sensation felt familiar.
(Mana!)
Apparently…
I possessed magical power too.
It was probably inherited through my bloodline.
(This is what becomes magic, isn’t it?)
Well…
No harm in trying.
(Burn!)
I concentrated with all my might.
Nothing happened.
(…Maybe using magic requires some kind of special training.)
When I relaxed…
The warmth slowly shrank…
Until it disappeared entirely.
(I wonder if there’s some way to learn how to use magic.)
If I could use magic…
Maybe even this tiny baby body could accomplish something.
(Like teaching that horrible wet nurse a lesson…)
Still…
Babies need sleep.
Imagining Millicent collapsing in shock after receiving her comeuppance…
I drifted off to sleep.
Starting the very next day…
I began devising a plan to study magic.
Unfortunately…
I couldn’t think of a single good idea.
Being a baby made everything impossible.
(If only I could watch someone using magic…)
Almost all of my time was spent in the nursery.
Occasionally someone took me into the garden…
But only briefly.
Besides my parents and Millicent, I hardly met anyone at all.
That left only one option.
Experiment with the mana inside my own body.
Fortunately…
I had seen Father use magic once.
I tried recalling exactly how the mana inside his body had moved.
If I could imitate that…
Perhaps I could discover how to cast magic myself.
(Though I’d better do it when Father and Mother aren’t around.)
They were supposedly exceptional mages.
If they discovered my secret training…
They’d definitely think something was strange.
Ever since Millicent arrived…
I only spent a little time with my parents each morning.
After that, Millicent handled only the bare minimum of childcare before leaving me alone.
Ironically…
That worked in my favor.
(It’s the perfect opportunity for secret training.)
The moment we were alone…
I began my secret practice.
Day One
Just like yesterday…
I expanded the mana inside my stomach.
(When Father cast lightning magic, I think he gathered mana inside his body first.)
Surely…
The more mana I accumulated…
The stronger the magic would become.
Being careful not to accidentally poop…
I strained my stomach.
My mana continued growing…
Growing…
Untilā
Pfft.
It suddenly collapsed.
Apparently there was a limit.
Still…
On my second attempt…
I managed to gather even more mana than before.
(Maybe if I keep practicing, I can increase my limit.)
I decided this would become part of my daily training.
Day Two
Today…
I tried moving my mana to other parts of my body.
At first…
Nothing worked.
But after repeating the exercise countless times…
I gradually got the hang of it.
I couldn’t move large amounts of mana.
But I managed to move tiny portionsāabout the size of a fingertipāinto my arms and legs.
Wherever the mana moved…
That part of my body became pleasantly warm.
Moving mana into my feet even helped me sleep better.
Day Three
I made an incredible discovery.
When I moved mana around my eyes…
My vision became noticeably sharper.
When I moved it into my ears…
I could hear distant sounds much more clearly.
That was a huge breakthrough.
Day Four
I tried sending even more mana into my eyes and ears.
If I could strengthen them further…
Perhaps I’d be able to observe all kinds of things without ever leaving the nursery.
At the same time…
I continued increasing the amount of mana I could send into my hands and feet.
(If mana can enhance my eyesight and hearing… maybe it can improve my limbs too.)
Three days later…
That theory proved correct.
Day Seven
For the first time since becoming a baby…
I successfully moved my fingers exactly as I wanted.
“Aaah! Babu!”
Seeing my own hand form a perfect peace sign…
I couldn’t help shouting in excitement.
But…
I decided that would be the end of this particular experiment.
Just making two fingers move independently had completely exhausted all the mana in my body.
(The efficiency is terrible. I’d better wait until my body grows before trying this again.)
Training other kinds of magic would be far more worthwhile.
And so…
Day after day…
I continued kneading, shaping, and manipulating the mana inside my body.
Then…
Two weeks later…
I noticed something unexpected.
(Wait… don’t tell me…)
(Whenever someone praises me… my mana actually increases!?)
