'This place is enormous. Is it really made of gold?' As Lucian was carried by a maid through the long corridor of the mansion, he couldn't help but be captivated by the complex patterns and designs that seemed to shimmer as if they were crafted from pure gold.
The radiant light emanating from the mana lamps added to the illusion, giving the entire space a glow even at nighttime.
He recognized those as mana lamps of this world because of the conversations he had heard from that couple, who, in their excitement, shared all sorts of information in a whirlwind of storytelling.
All those memories were still fresh, but he knew very well that he would definitely forget some pieces of them if he didn't write everything down on paper.
But here he was, stuck in a baby's body.
How would he even get a pen, let alone move his body under this weight, where even his neck could hardly move due to the heaviness of his head?
Thinking about his body's present state while his head lay freely on the maid's shoulder, he recalled the reason for this body's condition.
Or, more specifically, the illness.
'Am I really going to explode?' Lucian found himself ruminating over the reason for his current condition—his body was not normally overweight but instead was rapidly moving toward a stage where he would burst like a balloon.
To be precise, he had a condition called Mana Absorption Syndrome.
As straightforward as it sounded, this unique condition allowed his body to absorb the surrounding mana and convert it into fat.
Essentially, it was much like how a human body stores excess calories from food as fat for later use.
In his case, however, the mana he absorbed would be turned into an unwanted layer of flesh if not utilized.
But wouldn't the solution be to simply use more mana?
Not quite.
The real issue was that he had no clue how to harness or manipulate mana in the first place.
Let alone mana, he was entirely at a loss, especially since he didn't understand the language of this world.
Forget about even learning the language; the bigger problem here was the words those couples had said to him.
// Oh yeah, Kassidy was so kind to give her most cherished healing potion to her newborn after an accident. //
As those words came back to him, Lucian felt that he needed to understand what kind of accident he would go through.
But at least because of those people, he initially had a positive image of Lucian's mother. That image was instantly shattered the moment she hung him by his legs.
Of course, it was possible that he was an orphan, so he didn't know how a mother treats her newborn.
Maybe they all lift their newborns upside down?
Bullshit!
Lucian knew very well that woman was definitely not how those couples depicted her.
Even this world's language, which should have been English since that novel was written in the same language, was something else.
At least with the vivid sensations he could feel on his body, he knew he was in a real world, not some dream.
So, he assumed that maybe some facts from the novels could be true. But he couldn't just believe them blindly.
Through his observations, the way those maids and even Lucian's mother looked at him felt as if...
"We have arrived," suddenly, the maid holding him in her embrace called out, prompting his attention to sift towards the scenery around as he noticed that they were slowly descending from a staircase, accompanied by five other maids, who seemed calm without showing a hint of worry.
He understood that the Duchess was most likely present to intimidate the maids. As those maids moved forward to the center while carrying Lucian, he also noticed the expressions of the maids standing in the corners of the hall.
'Something is wrong here.' His eyes darted between the maids, and from their expressions, he could see some holding smirks, some laughing while looking at him as if he were some kind of object.
Not even a living being.
All he could see was disgust, hatred, mockery, and even killing intent.
He felt confused.
Given that he was a newborn, what might he have done to deserve such hostility from these maids?
'!'
Suddenly, his eyes widened as he felt his body grow increasingly stuffy, as if something were entering from all his body parts. He felt a discomfort he definitely didn't like.
'wait, WAit, WAIT!' inwardly he yelled as the uncomfortable feeling kept increasing, as though something were trying to devour him.
It was like his body was gradually getting bigger, not in a way you could actually spot, but it was definitely going on.
He felt his heart rate increasing within and experienced chest pain.
'Fuck! STOP!' His body was instantly assaulted by sudden pain, causing him to inwardly exclaim, and without any hesitation, he began to wail reflexively.
"Uwaaahhhhh!!! Uwaaahhhhh!!!"
Right now, the most he could do was cry aloud, feeling that this was not the right way for things to go.
He felt threatened for some reason, and the pain was slowly starting to take hold of his body.
He could feel his muscles begin to cramp, and the body, which was already overweight, was burying him, as if...
His weight was increasing.
'no, NO!, not mana! NOT MANA!' Inwardly he yelled. The moment he felt his body getting heavier and saw a blue light nearby filling the place, he realized that he was getting exposed to mana.
It was obvious that, given his body's condition—where he was absorbing mana from the surrounding air—if he were exposed to a denser source, it would be inevitable that his body would explode from rapid absorption.
He was just a newborn, without any ability to utilize or control the mana.
Given his physique, made in such a way, it was a death sentence for him.
The pain was increasing, but even more than that was the fear of death causing him to scream, "Waaaaaah! Waaah!" His hands struggled as, not caring about the weight right now, knowing it would only increase, he tried to escape the arms of this maid and run away from this place.
It didn't matter that he was a newborn; this was too close, and for a moment he even thought maybe if he got injured then they would at least take him away from this place.
There was a hope that they would at least think he was a newborn with injuries, prompting him to lean his body to the side.
Being cornered in this body, he could only try to trigger their emotions like pity, guilt, or whatever it was.
Given how even he tried to struggle due to weight, it wasn't much effect.
So, using his own body weight, he leaned, and as he did...
swish
'!?!'
Thud
"Arghh!" He fell on the floor.
*I apologize, Duchess, it suddenly slipped on its own. *
* It's fine; even with broken bones, he should still be able to take the test. Bring him here. *
'....M-maybe now.' Lucian wished only to escape this place, knowing that even though his body ached from a rough fall, the overwhelming sensation on his skin from mana absorption felt even more excruciating.
It was so intense that his skin was reddening from exposure to such a concentrated flow of mana.
His head hung heavy, lying on the floor, unable to lift it because of its weight.
Still, he clung to the hope that someone would come to his aid.
In the end, he was a helpless newborn, devoid of any strength.
'Help—?!' Lucian desperately anticipated that among the crowd, someone would take pity on him and rescue his life.
Not just him, but rather, he pondered how they were all currently gazing at a newborn baby.
Though he had caught glimpses of their disdainful glances directed at him, he remained optimistic that, out of dozens of onlookers, perhaps just one would step forward to help him stand.
Then, maybe he could be saved.
But as he lay there, staring at the feet of a woman at the center—presumably the Duchess—his perspective was limited.
From this low angle, he could see only her feet, and it became painfully clear that everyone present was not even lifting their feet.
Let alone others, the very mother stood static there, not even trying to lift her own son up.
'Haah...really?', While drenched in pain, he shut his eyes tight as he realized how wrongly he judged these people and expected some pity.
His mind at this very moment remembered the words that the old man in his orphanage always used to tell him.
Every child deserves a mother, but not all mothers deserve a child.
At that time, he thought only about how old man was consoling those children who were not adopted by people who preferred newborns over older ones.
But it appeared that this was all true.
There were indeed these kinds of mothers who existed in this world.
Not only humans, but they were not even animals—since at least even animals took care of their newborns for some time.
'Wait.....' Realization dawned upon Lucian as he grasped the gravity of what those couples had murmured about.
This was precisely the accident they had mentioned, where Kassidy had given her child a 'precious' healing potion.
Having been raised in an orphanage, Lucian had always been acutely aware of the world around him and had honed his ability to read social cues without needing many hints.
Observing all the maids and this woman not caring at all, even while a newborn was lying on the floor in intense pain, it became clear that all these women and the one leading them were cruel and merciless bitches.
Without his mental fortitude, he would have lost consciousness.
She was literally attempting to kill him.
* What's happened? *
Kassidy questioned the maid, who had yanked her hand back after touching the newborn. She squinted her eyes, scrutinizing the maid.
* D-Duchess, he's burning like fire. *
The maid glanced at her hand, rubbing it to soothe the sting she felt after making contact with the newborn's body. He was so warm that it felt as though he was on fire, inducing a painful sting upon touch.
* Enough, you all are useless. *
The Duchess, realizing the maid was of no help, decided to take matters into her own hands. She wanted to hasten the process, eager to get it over with. Leaning down, she grasped the newborn's tiny hand.
Shhhzzzz
As she did, a sizzle accompanied by smoke erupted from it, clearly confirming the truth in what the others had said—he was indeed burning.
However, thanks to Kassidy's awakened ability, she remained unaffected.
With determination, she pulled the small infant towards the orb, dragging his fragile body across the floor.
"Aaaaaarrrrr!" Lucian screamed, every nerve in his body ablaze.
He found himself managing the pain far beyond his physical limits, bolstered by his mental strength.
Yet, the intensity was overwhelming.
As the woman dragged him, his burnt skin—melted and etched into the floor—rubbed against the coarse surface, literally peeling away.
The sensation was akin to tasting death itself.
Under any ordinary circumstances, a newborn would have succumbed to unconsciousness from this level of agony.
But fueled by his burgeoning mental fortitude and an encroaching rage towards those around him, Lucian refused to give in.
'I will kill all of you!' He grit his teeth, deliberately etching each of their faces into his memory, vowing to remember them all.
"Eaaarrgghhhh!" In that moment, he understood he was dying, his screams echoing through the air.
Yet, as he struggled to let go, the sight of their indifferent expressions—devoid of even a hint of pity—spurred him on.
He yearned to fixate on their faces, determined to one day exact his vengeance.
"Waaaaahhhhh!" he howled, pushing his fragile body to its limits.
His newborn form, under immense duress, held on with sheer willpower, but his skin burned and tore as it was dragged like cooked meat.
It was only when the woman placed his trembling hand directly onto the orb that a new chapter of his torment began.
'!?!'
The instant his tiny hand touched the orb, a raw surge of mana struck him like a bolt of lightning, forcing its way into his frail body.
"Hhhheeeeaaaarrrgh!!" Lucian's limbs trembled violently, every nerve in his body firing as though set ablaze.
The onlookers watched in morbid fascination as his skin began to redden, swelling grotesquely as if something inside him was ready to burst out.
'Ahh....mm...y.....mi...n' Blood seeped from his nose, his ears, even from beneath his tiny nails, the red staining his pale skin and dripping onto the floor below.
Even in that pain, the burning vocal cords let out the last cry as he wanted to survive this cruel hell that seemed to inevitably bring him closer to death.
But he didn't fear dying, but instead he feared not being able to take revenge on these people.
Even with his eyes bleeding and blurred, he was looking towards all those people, all those maids before finally setting his eyes towards the Duchess.
'I....wi....ll....kill' for that fleeting moment he had forgotten that he came from a civilized society where murder was a crime; right now, he only knew one thing: these people were not humans, and he wanted to resist death until he could kill each one of them.
He would not leave them even after his death.
"Maaaaa! Waaaah!"
His fragile frame shuddered, expanding rapidly with each pulse of mana that invaded him.
His skin stretched to the point of translucence, veins and sinew bulging and writhing underneath, like some horrific creature struggling to claw its way free from beneath his flesh.
"Hey… is he… going to explode?" someone whispered, fear tainting their voice. "What if he bursts all over the place?"
Several maids exchanged glances, their faces filled with a mixture of disgust and awe, leaning closer as if anticipating a spectacle.
But the Duchess suddenly disregarded all this, yanked her hand, and leaped back, her gaze narrowed, not with concern but rather confusion.
Never before had she witnessed such a reaction—no one else had ever responded to the testing orb in this way.
The phenomenon puzzled her, yet she refrained from intervening.
The mana was becoming too unstable, forming a dense dome around the child, crackling with a ferocious energy.
Instinctively, she stepped back, unwilling to risk herself when the stakes were too high.
She was soon going to secure her position as the Duchess, and sacrificing a useless child was something she could afford.
"Waaaaah! Waaaaaaaahhhh!" Lucian's cries, filled with a desperate mixture of agony and rage, echoed within the hall.
His skin stretched to unnatural limits, making him appear like an overinflated balloon, ready to pop at any second.
The tension rose to a palpable height, his body distorting, his face barely recognizable beneath the gruesome swelling.
'Yo....u ba...s...tar....' Yet, beneath the tortured screams and tear-streaked face, there remained a glint in his eye, bloodied yet glaring at all of these people—a spark of life, fueled by fury.
'A stubborn one,' the Duchess watched, a flicker of something unsettling passing over her face as she realized that, somehow, this child was enduring.
"STOP! COUNT HAS ARRIVED!" Suddenly, the head maid yelled from the gates of the mansion as the Duchess's eyes slightly widened before narrowing as she looked towards the entrance, where a man wearing armor stood with blood-stained marks on his body. His eyes were fixed on the mana whirlwind at the center of the hall, his feet moving without any hesitation upon seeing his child suffering.
"LUCIAN!!!!"
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