I had just turned six today, which, under normal circumstances would've been cause for celebration, however, circumstances right now are anything but normal.
For the past eight months, my mother has undergone some significant changes.
One, her personality has shifted from cold to cranky. She would get mad at our poor maids for the slightest mistake they make. She especially gets mad whenever one of our maids is late with one of her odd cravings she asks for.
Speaking of cravings, recently, she's been ordering our servants to go out of their way to get her odd meals for her to eat. One time, she asked for 'land dragon tail ice cream' from Esther, my own personal maid. Since I hadn't been around at the time, poor Esther ended up having a brain malfunction from the order.
I made sure to comfort her afterwards. Poor girl was traumatized.
Lastly, her body has grown in size, specifically her breasts and especially her stomach. I've led you around long enough at this point, so I'll just spit it out, my mother is pregnant yet again.
Around a year ago, Father and Stella have gotten closer, almost as close as he is with Mother. Now, Mother doesn't have a problem with how close Stella is with Father, it's actually quite the contrary. However, at times, she will get a bit… competitive with Stella.
One random day nine months ago, I suppose Stella kissed Father right in front of Mother, and that made her a little jealous, so she put on a lewd outfit and tried to seduce him later that night.
Father, being the man he is, simply couldn't help himself from pouncing on my mother, and to be honest, I can't really blame him. Anyways, it's because of his goofy ass that we've all had to deal with Mother like this for the past eight months.
"Alright, doctor's in," A woman wearing a white coat and a black full-face mask walks into the room holding a clipboard, "I've been briefed that our queen is due today, is that right my king?"
My father, who is at Mother's bedside holding her hand nods, "Yes doctor. The, uh… the thing happened about twelve hours ago."
"Hmm," The doctor put her hand to her chin, "well, you know the drill I suppose. Please stay by her side for the time being while I get my medical equipment."
With those words the doctor exited the room, leaving my father, mother, Stella, and I alone.
Father had been on Mother's left at bedside, holding her hand as she slept.
Stella, on the other hand, was on Mother's right holding her other hand. She was casting a form of light magic to comfort mother as she slept.
As for what I'm doing here? Well, I wanted to be a part of such a big moment.
According to the novel, Alice Knightford is to be born two days after my sixth birthday. Now, I've been keeping track of my birthdays, unlike certain members of my family, and this day correlates with recent… events.
Now that Mother has been rendered bedridden, and I have just turned six, it should be about time for her birth.
As I sit in my chair, I patiently await for something to happen.
An hour passes, two hours.
After six hours, I feel myself beginning to doze off.
Father must've noticed, because he turns to me with a tired smile, "You know, Raine, you don't have to force yourself to be here."
I take a moment to think about his words.
While this is getting boring, something important might happen in the meantime. I really want to be here when that happens.
As if reading my mind, Father places his large hand on my shoulder and continues, "Go ahead and play with your siblings. We'll send someone when something happens."
Unable to think of anything to say in objection, I give a simple reply, "Yes, Father."
I proceed to hop off the chair and move to the door. I wave to Stella and Father before opening the door and leaving the room.
As I walk through the castle halls, I have a realization. I still have nothing to do .
Now, I understand he said to play with my siblings, but I really don't plan on visiting those twins right now. Especially considering how hard they have been studying for the ethics exam I urged them to take.
"How unfortunate…" I sigh as I wander aimlessly through the halls.
While walking, I find myself stepping out into our castle's garden. It's a massive and beautiful park-like area with many types of flora ranging from flowers to even trees.
I look around at the magnificent and colorful sight. Although I suggested this place to Everett as a nice date location a couple years ago, I've never actually been here myself.
As I stroll through the garden, I notice a girl dressed in a maid uniform leaning on a railing. Through the bangs of her short hair, I could see two shining reddish brown eyes casting a long glance upon a bed of violet flowers.
It was Esther, my personal maid.
After the assassination attempt on Stella, Liara had retired from being a maid at the castle and had instead opted to focus on training advanced swordsmanship to young nobles at Knightford Academy.
Liara's retirement from maid duties, however, left Esther as my sole caretaker. She does a great job as my maid. She keeps me good company and I have a lot of fun messing with her sometimes.
I really don't know what I would do without her.
As I watched as my adorable maid had her attention completely absorbed by the flowers, I had the idea to mess with her a bit.
I used spatial magic to teleport behind her and I hid the sounds I made with sound magic, a subclass of wind magic.
As I inch closer to her, I had a feeling that this wasn't such a good idea. It was a while ago, but I remembered Esther having some crazy skills or something? Oh well, it's probably not that important.
I come within arms reach of Esther and I extend my hand to tap her shoulder.
With a lightning quick response, Esther spins around, murderous aura seeping out, and draws a hidden blade to my throat.
"Master Raine!?" With a flustered reaction to seeing my face, she immediately retracts the blade into her sleeve and apologizes, "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize it was you!"
Ah, I guess I'm never doing that again.
"Ah, no need to worry. It's my fault for sneaking up on you." I give Esther a small smile as a response despite being traumatized and attempt to brush off what just happened.
We quickly move past the incident and take a seat on a nearby bench together.
"So, what brings you to the garden, Young Master?"
Well," I sigh before leaning back into the bench, "Mother is in labor and I have nothing to do in the meantime."
Esther's face goes pale white at the mention of Mother. Poor girl must still have some leftover trauma from that one time.
"W-well, why not visit Head Maid Sophie in the meantime? I'm sure you'd much rather learn a couple lessons than spend time with a maid like me."
I shiver at the thought of spending my free time with that demon of a head maid.
I lean forward and let my head fall into Esther's soft lap.
"Y-y-young Master!?" Esther squeaks out in response.
I look up at Esther's face, which has been dyed a bright crimson, "Please, I'd much rather you kept me company, Esther."
"Y-yes sir…" Esther looks away, face flushed in embarrassment.
I do hope she isn't feeling uncomfortable when I'm like this, but her reactions are just too cute.
As I lie on Esther's lap, she does her best to regain her composure and begins rubbing the top of my head. The sensation sends a ripple of tranquility through my entire body, causing my body to relax.
"You know," Esther began while stroking my head, "I was a mistake born from an affair between my father and a human."
I look up at Esther, a glint in her maroon shaded eyes could be seen as she rubbed my head. Her voice was steady as she spoke about her past, "But he never treated me as anything other than his daughter…"
"After his death, I really didn't know what to do with my life. For a moment, I considered ending it all, but I was stopped by Mistress Stella, who convinced me to continue on living, if not for my own sake, for hers."
"I've spent a long time carrying out whatever tasks Mistress Stella had for me, be it assassination, espionage, or even regular servant work with little regard for my own feelings," She turns and looks down at me with a sullen smile, still stroking my head, "But, now… I feel as if I can live without needing a reason to."
As I listen to Esther's story, I begin thinking about how tough such a life must have been. Her life and will being taken from her at such a young age, how hard it must have been to grow up as a tool for someone else.
I cast a glance up at her. Her soft smile as she caressed my head gave me a deep sense of comfort.
"I think after your tenth, I'll travel the world. Since you'll no longer have a need for me, I'd like to try living my life freely for a change."
No longer have a need for her? Where did she get that idea?
I try to open my mouth in protest, but she puts a finger over my lips before I can speak, "You don't have to worry, Young Master. It's what I want."
I frown at her words, but hesitantly, I nod understandingly. Perhaps this is for the best anyways. She deserves to be able to live for her own sake after all this time.
I settle my head into her lap and begin feeling drowsy.
As my eyes begin feeling heavier, I feel a warm feeling rushing through my body, making me even sleepier.
"Go ahead and sleep, Young Master. I'll wake you when it's time."
—----------------------------------------
"...Master."
…. Young Master." I felt soft hands gently shaking my shoulder.
I begin to slowly open my eyes at the call of my name.
I wake up to find myself on the same chair I had been in with my parents. Esther had been standing by my side trying to get me to wake me up, as my mother had begun giving birth.
It seems she carried me here when she got the news…
"That's it, My Queen, push!" I turn to see the doctor standing near Mother's legs at bedside.
Father and Stella had been holding Mother's hands, their faces seemed to be quite pained as they did so.
Mother's groans as she pushed could be heard throughout the room, causing me to avert my eyes in discomfort. I think I'm going to be sick. Why did I want to be here for this again?
"There, there, Young Master." Esther wraps her arms around my head to comfort me, her small chest pressing against my face.
After about ten minutes of listening to the horrors happening on the bed, the noise finally came to a stop aside from the sounds of crying.
"Waahh! Waaahh!" The cries of a baby could be heard as Esther lets go of my head.
"Well," The doctor lifts the baby up and wraps them in a cloth before handing it to mother, "there you have it. A healthy baby girl."
Mother, Father, and Stella all smile warmly at the sight of the newly born baby girl. I look up at Esther, who gestures for me to join them, which I happily oblige.
I move closer to the bed to see the scene up close. A happy couple, well I guess a happy throuple, holding their child.
Mother turns to me with a soft smile and asks, "Raine, would you like to hold her?"
I hesitate for a moment, not knowing whether or not it was a good idea, before I finally agree with a nod.
Mother reaches over and hands me the baby, to which, as carefully as possible, I receive.
The young baby girl looks up at me with two shining crystal blue eyes as I carefully hold her.
I have never held a baby before. She feels heavy in my small arms, but I secretly use light magic to strengthen my body so I don't drop her. The sight of this small child, no, my baby sister, melts my heart.
"Gyah…" She extends her small hands for my face with a giggle, causing my brain to malfunction at the overload of cuteness.
I quickly regain my composure before speaking, "She's cute…"
"Of course she," Father chimes in, "She's the product of your mother and my amazing self!"
Father stands up and flexes his muscles in a triumphant pose before getting his side chopped by Mother, "Show some humility, Barris."
"Y-yes Elise." Father holds his side as he dejectedly sits back down.
At Mother's other side, I notice Stella nervously fidgeting at the scene, as if she wanted to say something. Noticing this, Mother pokes her, "What's the matter, Stella?"
"Ah, uh…" Stella pauses for a moment before speaking up in a hushed tone, "It's just, I too would like to have a child of my own one day."
Mother's eyes widen at the response. Her mouth opens up in confusion, to which she quickly turns into a sly grin, "Well, I suppose we can help with that…"
She turns her attention to Father, whose face turns bright red at the implication, "O-of course Stella! I'd be hap-"
"Of course he'd be happy to help out," Mother cuts Father off coldly before looking back at Stella, "don't be afraid to speak your mind about these things in the future, okay?"
Stella blushes brightly before nodding.
Seems that I'll be having even more siblings in the future, however, demon-folk are very hard to impregnate, especially with human children. This may take years of trying…
Mother turns her attention back to me, who is still holding the giggling baby.
"Now then, I was going to ask Barris to name the baby," She glares at Father coldly before continuing, "I think you should name her instead."
Oh? What an unexpected development, however, I didn't really plan on naming her any differently from the novel.
I nod in response to Mother's words and look down at the baby, who was looking at me with an expectant expression.
"Alice." I smile while looking at the baby, "Alice seems perfect."