It’s a few weeks before I manage to figure out that I am now a baby. It’s weird though, the fact that in my last moments of life all I could think about was wanting all the pain to end. But now, I think I regret doing it.

If I had not been reincarnated or whatever into this new life, who would there have been to remember them.

Why did it have to be me? Why couldn’t it have been one of them who gets a second chance? I can’t waste this opportunity and I won’t make the same mistakes that I did in my previous…

Oh, what’s that spot?

I ended up staring at a dot in the ceiling for ages. Yeah, my brain is either fucked or this is how all babies are.

I was finally broken from my trance when I heard the door open and closed my eyes pretending to be asleep. “Ash Honey, it’s time for mummy’s milk.”

She picks me up and brings me towards my supper. I can barely move so I just began to drink. I feel like I should be embarrassed but it just did not come to my mind.

I finish and she pats me on the back while I let out a little burp.

She then lays me down, in the cot on my back.

I am now exhausted from all this thinking, so I almost immediately drift off to sleep with a full stomach.

…

It’s now been a few months and I’m finally able to sit-up. I’ve also figured out my name is Lashonda, though the nickname Ash is the same as my previous life.

Oh, its mum. I like her.

She is pretty and delicious.

Ah, teething is gonna be a pain.

I wonder where we are going.

Oh, I’ve not been outside before.

Yes, I’ve missed feeling the sun on my skin.

It smells nice as well.

Wow…pretty colours.

I was put on a blanket on the grass.

I ended up just staring at the flowers in the garden for a few minutes before my brain became a bit over-whelmed and I fell asleep again.

…

Well, it’s started and let’s just say I’m glad that kids don’t remember how painful this is.

I’m currently chewing on a rag that Celine gave me.

I like Celine. Not as much as mummy but…

She has long purple hair and looks to be about ten years old.

From what I’ve guessed she is meant to watch over me when my mummy is busy.

They either have some really skilled hairdressers in this world, or it is totally natural.

Her hair was neatly braided but each individual hair had a different colour to it.

The main colour was a dark purple with highlights of violet, indigo and lavender.

It’s far prettier than my mop of thick brown hair.

…

My father comes and sees me every now and then, but he seems very busy.

Celine had just changed me. Yeah, I’m just going to ignore the fact that I have no control over my bowels. She was now taking my gift package to be cleaned.

I hear the door open, and I look up expecting to see either Celine or Mummy. But instead, I see her…

My sister, Anna. I don’t like her.

She comes over and starts poking me. Anna is about four and has shoulder length light blue hair.

I begin to cry, and I see mommy come after a few minutes.

Anna has stopped poking and is trying to get me to be quiet.

Mummy comes in and drags Anna by the arm out of the room.

“You are in so much trouble. How many times have I told you to leave him alone when your brother sleeping?” My mummy says in outrage. I like mummy even more now.

“Sorry, Mother.” Says my big sister in sadness. Who I don’t not like as much anymore.

The language is weird it sounds like a mix of Spanish and Hindi, I am slowly beginning to understand simple things. It has taken so long because the syntax is all over the place. The semantics don’t make it any easier because they just so happen to be backwards.

I am frustrated at myself for that. I mean it took me three months to figure that out. I’m meant to be a genius. I guess that is to be expected with a less than one year old brain.

…

Huh, so I am in a Marquises Family. I kind of guess we were nobles by the fancy room and gardens but it’s good to know.

I have now begun to crawl. Yeah, now that my brain has developed a bit, I’m bored out of my skull.

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I mean it’s fun but there are only so many flowers to look at and block to stack.

…

Anna is nicer than I thought. She comes and plays with me sometimes.

I guess you’re okay.

…

I thought my brother didn’t like me. He would never smile or laughed when I play with him. But today while I was helping him with one of his toys. He let out a bright smile and a long line of gibberish. I think he likes me now.

…

Was I just lucky or is this one of those grimdark novels where the author takes a downtrodden character, and he basically tortures me for the whole book. God, I hope not.

Oh, look a butterfly. Must. Eat.

I was sitting on my blanket when a butterfly the size of my palm landed on one of my toys. I lunged for it, but it took off.

It was a mottle pink and lime and left a trail of what looked like glitter behind it.

I got up and chased after it on my little legs.

“Ash, get back here. Don’t run off.” Shouts Celine as she runs after me.

My brain is in chase mode. Its colour is so mesmerising.

I swat at the butterfly multiple times while she tries to catch me.

When I’m about to reach the tree line, I manage to graze it’s wing it just lands on a random tree trunk above where I can reach.

A few seconds later, Celine catches up to me and picks me up. I’m still looking at the butterfly when I notice another one land on it.

Celine is still checking if I’m alright before she looks at the now over two hundred butterflies on the surrounding trees.

She gulps before running back to the house with me in her arms.

I look back and now see a swarm of butterflies charging towards us.

Even though Celine is going through a growth spurt she is not fast enough to out run the swarm.

She shouts as we are about to be engulfed. “Close your eyes.”

I do as I’m told. But instead of being eaten. I feel a slight tingling all over my skin that is exposed to the air.

Once it stops, I open my eyes to see me, and Celine coated in what feels like sticky glitter.

The horror…

“Don’t you ever do that again, got it.” She says staring directly into my soul.

I just my head while saying my first word in a squeaky voice. “Sooorry.”

I could have started talking a few months ago but have decided to keep it for a moment like this. She just stood there mouth a gasp for a few second before breaking into a fit of laughter.

We are both coated in the pink and lime glitter and look like two cartoon characters.

Celine just begins to walk towards the house. My father comes bursting through the doors and asks, “What happened there was a surge in ma…” He then bursts into a fit of laughter. “Celine, my dear. Go wash yourself and Ash please.” He then continues snickering, then calls out into the house. “Honey gets the recording crystal.” My then mother appears out of nowhere with a white crystal. The same one they recorded my first steps with.

If Celine was not coated in bio-glitter as I have now taken to calling it, she would be a bright shade of crimson from a mix of embarrassment and anger. She just went up the stairs towards the bathes.

…

It was my fifth birthday today. It seems that in this world only every fifth birthday is celebrated.

We are all sat around the table and today we are eating a special meal. The first course is a soup made from an ice boar. They are located in the north, and this one was preserved and sent by my brother Philip who I have yet to meet. It is served in a thick vinegary broth that has a chilling aroma to it.

To me it just tastes like a pork broth with a weird flavour, but when I look up to the other side of the table, I see my sister with an inappropriate look on her face for a nine year old girl.

You see last year she went through a baptism ceremony, and it was discovered she has an ice affinity. I mean I kind of guessed because of the light blue hair. But my parents explained that anyone can have a hair colour like that. And that not all mages have brightly coloured hair but more often than not if someone’s a mage and they have light blue hair they can use ice magic. An example of this is Celine. Her hair is purple, but she has no magic power. If she was a mage however, she would guaranteed to be a Spatial One,

Anyway, because of Anna’s Ice affinity, when she ate the frost boar which was a frost type magic beast, it would taste like the most divine flavour possible. She squirmed in her seat with each bite she took. I’ve become fonder of anna in recent years. I just try my best to hold back my laughter as I finish my bowl.

Once we’ve finished the bowls are removed. Anna has a pout along with a longing expression on her face realizing she ate the whole bowl. She follows the bowl with her gaze as it leaves the dining room.

Everyone at the table chuckles. At the table is me and anna. As well as our parents. Also at the table is Esther, Anna’s Magic Teacher. She joined us a few weeks after Anna’s baptism. She is in her late twenties. As well has fiery red hair which contrasts with her light blue robes.

Also at the table is Henri he has been Anna’s teacher about how to read, write and everything else a noble lady should know. He lives in the basement of the manor where he does his research most of the day. He appears to be in his nineties and wears a light purple coloured robe.

I have no clue what that colour means.

There are another two people at the table. My father’s best friend Barnabas as well as grandma Lethia.

Barnabas and Father met on the Battlefield twenty years ago during an invasion from a neighbouring Empire twenty years ago. Barnabas was a commoner but through excellence shown during the war became the second in command of the Silver Shield. It is a knights order run by the Belmont family. Recently the earlier commander of the order retired, and Barnabas is the new commander.

Grandma Lethia on the other hand is an enigma. She never leaves her room except for dinner. Stays silent the whole time and then promptly leaves after desert.

I asked father one day and he explained that Lethia was my great-great-great-great-grandmother and was whopping 179 years old and the matriarch of the house of Belmont. I had asked how she lived that long, and he just said that she was a half-elf nonchalantly. I then had asked if that makes me part elf and he said yes after six generation any effects from the elven bloodline are negligible.

The next dish came out and it was a seared carp with selected herbs. The food in this world was brilliant for a medieval society probably due to magic. The carp tasted earthy but had a hint of something in there. Probably more mana.

Another three dishes came out after that. First was a beef than it was from something called a fire-newt. And finally, was a golden apple pie. I had never heard of these but just guessed it was a type of yellow apple that existed in my world.

How wrong I was. It tasted like heaven. The apples had been cooked in their peels. The colour was a light gold that shone with a metallic lustre. The peel as well as the flesh had all disintegrated into a thick sauce. That on top of the sugar pastry and cream from a golden cow made this the best thing I had ever eaten.

I couldn’t wait for my tenth birthday since in this world the fifth birthday for family and friends. When you are eight you are baptized and either become a mage, a knight, a wizard, or a normal person.

Your tenth birthday therefore was often far more important because if you were a mage or knight then it would be an opportunity to make connections with guilds, orders and fellow Users of the divine arts. If you were a magicless person, it would be introductions to politics and who your marriage candidates are.

Unlike his earlier world where kids were married off at an early age most kept unengaged until ten to see of how much worth they are. Most often mages would remain unengaged and out of politics until after finishing the royal academy.

Some would stay like that forever like Esther and Henri.

After the dinner I was exhausted, so I went up to my room. It was customary to open the gift alone so as not to cause jealousy between givers.

…

The next morning, I was woken up by Celine who opened my curtains. She was now sixteen but still looked to be a few years younger than that.

I get dressed and then begin to open the dozen or so presents I’ve got.

Most were mundane but two stuck out.

One was from his sister and was a magical toy. All it is, is a ball with earth magic on it to make it bouncy.

The second one was a necklace from his brother Philip along with a letter.

‘Dear Ash,

I know I have not been a good big brother, but I will return once my expedition is over. In the meantime, here a Lameos gem necklace I found in a dungeon.

Yours truly Phillip.’

He picked it up from the box and looked at the blue rock that seemed like a LED bulb on the sliver braided necklace.