Chapter II - Baptism

“And this is my favorite one, Runy!”

Nelya was sitting on the floor with me. Her countless stuffed toys surrounded us as she presented them to me.

I hugged my own legs, looking at her favorite one...Runy. A teddybear.

I wasn’t personally interested in stuffed animals, mainly because something else was bothering me…

“…”

...I ran my slender fingers up my knees, trying to figure out the reason behind my ghastly joints once more.

A whole week passed.

I had eaten, lived, and spent all my time in my own room – despite their hospitality, Nelya’s parents didn’t want me to eat at their table. Apparently the family was huge, a lot of people lived there. Few knew about me...and they were the servants, Nelya (who barely could keep her mouth shut about me) and her parents. In fact, I shouldn’t even have been inside Nelya’s room that day...but she sneaked in mine and begged me to follow her. I couldn’t say no – so I was there, looking at the stuffed toys to make her happy.

To this day, none of the efforts made to search for my parents in the nearby town, and the towns nearby that town, succeeded.

But I didn’t care – I wasn’t searching for a mommy to call for, or a daddy in whose arms I could have cried.

I...I really didn’t know what I wanted. I didn’t want anything. I had no scope, no objective. The only things that were stimulating my mind were Nelya’s charming voice and...the mystery behind my limbs.

“Hey...are you bored?” She pouted, dropping her dear Runy on the ground.

“E-Eh? N-No...sorry.” I shook my head, feeling ashamed for ignoring her. “I’m just thinking.”

“It’s okay...if we don’t find your parents, we will adopt you! Daddy said that last dinner!”

“E-Eh?”

I widened my eyes. What she said baffled me.

“Yes! Mommy and Daddy said you are cute and nice...they would like to accept you as our family, if we can’t find your parents!”

“...I...I don’t think it’s necessary...I-”

“Come on! It would be great if you were here!”

She hugged me tightly, squeezing my slender body. I mewled, trying to push her away.

“All my sisters are not funny, and my brothers are not girly enough! You’re nice and we’re little! We can play together.” She kept hugging me despite my attitude. What a pure soul she was.

“What do you mean…?” I asked her. “How many siblings do you have anyways?”

“I have four sisters and three brothers.” She replied. “But they don’t play with me, because they’re grown up. That’s why I like you! If you were my sister, I would be very, very happy!”

“…hahah, really?”

I giggled. She looked, sounded and acted so innocently. She was a silly girl who just wanted to have fun.

Despite our similar age in appearance, I clearly was smarter than her. I had deeper thoughts, and I generally had a better vocabulary than hers.

Where did all that knowledge come from? I didn’t know.

In any case, Nelya was deeply convinced I was bound to be adopted, even if it had been only a week of searches…

...and that was because she needed me.

I didn’t understand that at the time, sadly.

If only I had known earlier, many things would have gone differently.

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After hanging out a little more with Nelya, I sneakily hurried back to my room.

The silence was comforting, yet a bit sad. Nelya’s voice had filled my ears for many hours...and then everything stopped.

I walked over to the mirror and stared at my body.

I had to take a bath, so I removed all the things that covered my body. And it wasn’t just my limbs. It was everything.

Every single part of my body looked like it was made of a shiny porcelain – a intricate system of pieces, all attached by joints. My hips, my arms, my chest...everything looked fake. I didn’t even have any reproductive organ, nor proper breasts.

Then I looked at myself in the real world. I was a nude girl...with a functioning and female-like body.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Then why? Why do I look like this through this mirror? What’s the meaning?

My daily life convinced me the mirror was lying. I had been to the bathroom multiple times...I ate and did everything a human does. If I really was a doll, a puppet…whatever I was...I wouldn’t have been able to do all those things…that was my reasoning.

I quickly dressed back up and turned the mirror around...making it face the wall.

I sat on the bed, looking at my body again. I needed to affirm to myself that I was human...and what the mirror was saying was a hurtful lie.

I didn’t even care about what was the cause – scientific or magical, the reason behind that sick joke didn’t have any right to get to my head.

“I am real.” I said. “I am a real girl. I have a real body.”

After that, I looked right out of the window. It was nighttime. Dinner was bound to come, and a maid would have entered this room very soon.

I didn’t want to cast any suspicions...so I turned the mirror back to how it was, feeling rather stupid for moving it in the first place.

And it was right at that moment, in which I had the chance to look at myself bit more closely while I moved the huge, heavy mirror…

...something was written on my neck, right under my jawline. It was so small that I had to squint my eyes to read.

‘’LILLYA’’

The text was of a faint gold, almost invisible. That’s why I hadn’t noticed it earlier.

I touched that word with my finger, it was carved heavily inside my skin, so much that I could see the depth of every letter. However, I couldn’t really feel the texture of the word...figuring out that this too was something I could only see, and only through a mirror.

It didn’t take too long – I figured out what that word meant pretty quickly.

I sat on the bed, waiting for my food. And then, eventually, someone came...but it wasn’t dinner.

Nelya. She walked inside the room giggling. Behind her a maid with a worried smile.

“Miss Nelya wanted to see you one last time before she went to dinner,” the maid bowed. “I hope she is not disturbing you. Dinner will be ready soon.”

“O-Oh...not at all.” I shook my head, getting off the bed. “Hi...Nelya.”

“Hi! How are you?” She asked me. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay here for too long. But we’ll play tomorrow, I promise!”

“...I...uhm…I actually had to tell you something.” I said, walking closer to her. “So I’m glad you’re here.”

“...hmm…?” She tilted her head, wearing that constant smile.

“...I...I remembered my name.” I said, looking down.

“Really?! What is it!?”

Nelya grabbed my hands, her eyes sparkling.

I gazed inside her eyes, took a deep breath and pronounced my name to the world for the first time…

“Lillya.”

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A month had passed since I opened my eyes in front of those gates. Every day since then, the servants of this family searched information on me, my parents or whatever could help me.

Nothing. I was a blank canvas...I had nowhere to be, nothing to accomplish and nobody to seek. And that was one of the main reasons the family decided to take me in.

I was playing with Nelya in my own bedroom – she had brought some of her stuffed toys, still convinced I had to like them at all costs.

I looked outside, the servants came back…they used to come back after every search during late afternoon.

Nelya’s father greeted them. They had the same faces they always had...the faces of bad news.

“Don’t worry...I told you! You’re going to stay with us!”

Nelya rubbed my back with her small hand as I gazed at her father outside.

What I feared most at the time was being abandoned. During that lonely month, filled by Nelya’s company and only hers, I envisioned this family kicking me out after a while.

After all, who would want to have anything to do with a random, ragged girl? I was a foreigner too...or so they said.

I was scared. I somehow feared abandonment. Was this too from my past? I couldn’t know.

And even if Nelya kept repeating it over and over – ''you’re going to be adopted! We will be sisters! You are staying with us!''...I couldn’t believe any word. She was a stupid little girl, after all. She dreamed and hoped, just like every other child.

I turned around, going back to the floor, picking up one of the stuffed toys. Nelya sat with me, giggling and trying to cheer me up as she picked up another one.

I glanced over the mirror of the room, my left knee’s joint glimmered under the room's gas lamp, hissing silently.

And this other thing...ugh…

Not only I had to worry about my imminent abandonment. I also wanted to discover why, for these mirrors, I was a puppet.

They were wrong, and I started to get annoyed by their lies.

As soon as I could start thinking about what to do against them once more, the door opened…

...a maid looked at me with a smile, Nelya immediately got up and looked at her back with an even bigger smile.

“Miss Lillya, miss Nelya, The master wants you at the living room. Would you follow me, please?”

“Yes! Yes!!! Let’s go!!!”

Nelya grabbed my hand and pulled me out, running past the maid and leaving her behind.

I was confused, almost scared.

“What is going on!?” I asked her. It appeared that she’d already understood what was the matter, and that was making me even more anxious.

“You’ll see!” She replied, giggling.

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We reached the living room in a short time. The big doors were open wide. The couches were moved, everything was cleared.

There was a whole family, standing in front of the chimney, on the other side of the room.

Girls and boys all around Nelya’s parents. They all smiled at me, their eyes gazing at my figure with delight.

The father of them all cleared his throat, as Nelya clenched my hand with force.

“Lillya. I suppose you are aware of the fact that despite our efforts...we couldn’t find your home, nor your parents. Alas, you have nowhere to go.”

I nodded, a lump in my chest started forming as soon as he said that.

Is he going to say I must go away? Is he going to say I’m a burden?

“Hence, after discussing things with my wife and my children...we’ve all decided to adopt you.”

“…!!!!”

“YES!”

Nelya hugged me from the side as my eyes almost fell out from the surprise. I couldn’t believe it – they actually had decided to take me in.

"From now on, your last name will be Rondart, and you will be part of this family.”

The mother...no...mom then walked closer, leaving the group. Her delicate, caring hand rested on my head as she smiled at me.

“Welcome to our family, little Lillya.”

And so, my new life began.