The child's name was to be Rudeus.
He was an uncanny child, never crying or fussing.
At first, she assumed his body was slightly weaker, and that taking care of him wouldn't require much effort.
But, such a notion only occurred at the beginning.
After Rudeus learned how to crawl, he started to move everywhere in the house.
Everywhere in the house.
Kitchen, back door, storage, cleaning equipment place, fireplace..... etc.
He even climbed onto the second storey, though one couldn't imagine how he did so.
Either way, he would disappear whenever nobody kept an eye on him.
But, he would always be found somewhere in the house.
Rudeus never left the house.
He would occasionally look outside the windows, but it seemed that he was still scared to go outdoors.
Lilia was instinctively afraid of this baby, and one had to wonder when it began.
It was probably the moments when she found him after his disappearances.
Most of the time, Rudeus would be smiling.
Sometimes he'd be looking at the vegetables, staring at the flickering candle flames, or just looking at panties that were yet to be washed.
Rudeus mumbled sounds and showed a smile that made people feel simply disgusted.
It was a smile that naturally disgusted people.
When Lilia was working in the inner palace, she'd had to go to the main palace for her missions, and the higher ranked officials nobles that she met there had similar smiles.
They were bald, had pudgy bellies, and were leering at her when they stared at her breasts.
Very similar to a baby that was born not long ago.
It was exceptionally scary when she had to carry Rudeus.
His nostrils would flare, the corners of his mouth would rise, and his breathing hastens as he buried his face into her chest.
And then he would make strange noises, 'Huuu' and "Orhhh', seemingly laughing as he made these sounds.
At that instant, Lilia's whole body was dominated by a terrible shivering cold.
And she had the urge to throw the baby and smash him into the ground.
This baby was not cute in any way.
That smile caused fear in others.
It was the same smile the high ranking officials had when they bought many young female slaves.
He was supposed to be a baby who was just born.
Lilia felt unbearable discomfort and even experienced feelings of peril when she thought things over.
This baby was very strange.
Could there be that there was something bad possessing it?
Or perhaps it was something similar, like a curse.
Having thought this through, she started to feel extremely anxious.
She went to the item shop, and spent the pitiful amount of money that she had to buy some necessary things.
When the Greyrats went to sleep, she did her home's ritual to chase evil away.
Of course, this was kept from Paul and his family.
The second day, after carrying Rudeus again, Lilia understood.
It was useless.
And he was still as disgusting as usual.
It was eerie that a baby would show such an expression.
Zenith said, "When feeding this baby milk, he will lick.."
This had become just outrageous.
Paul had no restraint when it came to women, but never did he become disgusting to this extent.
This was too strange to be dismissed as hereditary.
Lilia remembered again.
She had heard of a story in the palace.
In the past, an Asuran prince was possessed by a demon.
To revive that demon, he would crawl around on his limbs every night.
And when an unsuspecting maid hugged him, the prince stabbed her with a knife hidden behind him, killing her.
It was too scary.
Is Rudeus something like that?
There was no doubt.
He was that kind of devil.
He's still obedient for now, but one day he'll awaken, and when everyone is asleep, one by one he'll.
Ahh.....
It's too early, too early to decide this.
I shouldn't have taken this job.
"I'll get attacked sooner or later."
Lilia was a person who seriously believed in such superstition.
During the first year of her work, she was still afraid of him.
But she didn't notice when Rudeus' unpredictable movements started to change.
He didn't disappear as and when he wanted, and usually stayed in Paul's study on the second floor.
Speaking of the study, it was just a room with a few books.
Rudeus stayed there without leaving.
Lilia secretly observed him, and found him mumbling to himself while reading a book.
It was a meaningless mumble.
Or was supposed to be, at least, for it wasn't a commonly used language in the Central continents.
It was still too early for him to be learning how to talk.
Of course, he had yet to be taught alphabets.
He was just an infant looking at a book and making random sounds.
Or else it would be just too strange.
Lilia always had the feeling that those sounds carried meaning and structure.
Rudeus seemed to understand the contents of the book.
It was too frightening.....
Lilia always thought that, when she observed Rudeus from the gap in the door jamb.
However, she never felt disgusted with him for some inexplicable reason.
Come to think of it, that unknown source of discomfort gradually disappeared from the moment he confined himself to that room.
Though he occasionally showed his disgusting smile while she carried him, it didn't feel unpleasant.
He wouldn't bury his face into her chest, and he wouldn't suddenly pant.
Why had she always found him scary?
Recently, she began to feel that he was sincere and hardworking, and didn't want to disrupt him.
Zenith seemed to share her sentiments.
After that, Lilia felt that not to care for him was better.
It was an idea that went against common sense.
In fact, it was abnormal for human beings not to care for a child that was born not long ago.
But recently there were signs of knowledge in Rudeus' eyes.
He showed only "chikan" eyes a few months back, but at this point, there was a strong will and dazzling knowledge in them.
What should she do?
Even though she had knowledge of taking care of children, the inexperienced Lilia found it hard to discern.
She couldn't remember whether it was her guards-maid senpai or her mother back in her hometown who said this, that there was no one correct way to bring up a child.
At the very least, she no longer felt disgusted, uncomfortable, or frightened.
So she decided it was best not to disturb him, and let him revert back to how he was originally.
Let's just leave him as he is.
Lilia finally concluded.