'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.