Yep, life as a new-born was definitely hell.

I couldn't move, I couldn't open my eyes, I fell asleep far too quickly and even worse, I couldn't control my bowel movement. The best I could do was cry and listen to my surroundings, mostly listening to my surroundings as there wasn't much reason for me to cry.

Of course, this caused some level of worry for Lisa. Or at least, that's what I think people call her. I wasn't certain so maybe it would be best to call her mother. Yeah, that didn't feel too bad. Mother would frequently have someone come over to check up on me and make sure I wasn't sick.

"Like I said before, there's nothing wrong with him. He may just be a quiet child.", The doctor, I assume, reassured my mother once more of my health. This was the third time, I think. The doctor must've been sick of us already.

Mother liked to take me out for walks. I hope we've been going out for walks through the town, because if not, I think my mother just might be the best person at impressions. People would usually make comments on how cute I was or how I looked nothing like Roland. Oh yes, the man from earlier is called Roland. He is currently my mother's husband, but I doubt that will last long. It's only a matter of days now.

Oh, oh! I made an achievement today! I managed to finally open my eyes. The light and blurriness weren't so bothersome now. This was the result of my constant attempts, of course, but the pride that I felt from it was immeasurable. Possibly the most amount of any emotion I've ever felt.

Mother was elated to see my eyes open. It felt like her scream of joy would rapture my eardrums. However, her mood dampened when she looked at me for too long.

"Red… eyes…?", She muttered, disbelief drawn all over her face.

Did she mean that my eyes were red? Was there something with babies born with red eyes? Like a witch hunt being done for them? Was I some sort of cursed baby? Oh crap, were they going to kill me? I didn't even get the chance to ensure that this was my last life. What the hell was I going to do now?

"Whatever. Even if Roland doesn't believe me, I know that you are his first-born son."

Oh? Looks like she was thinking about something else completely. Maybe I didn't need to fear being burnt on a bonfire for being a witch baby. Being burnt really hurt.

Now that I could see, I could at least get some of my bearings right. From the looks of things, I wasn't born on Earth this time too. Looks like that was a one-off deal. Unfortunately, this world was similar to Elecryea, meaning the level of technology may be at the medieval level. Either that or hopefully mother was just broke and we had no choice but to live out in the forest, in a house made of stone with no electricity.

Here's to hoping that we the latter was the case…

It was the former.

Mother took me out on one of her walks through the town. All I could see were stone cottages, people dressed in simple clothes and children running about playing with sticks. I was still in Elecryea. We'd failed in our attempt to end the curse.

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We walked around the town in search of someone, asking several questions.

"Oh Lisa. You're out with Belfry again?", One woman called out to us.

"Ah, yes. I was headed to Lola's for a check-up.", She responded kindly. One of the women snorted at us.

"Lola was making her daily rounds. She went off in that direction.", The first woman pointed mother in the way of her target.

"Oh, thank you then.", Ignoring the snickering women in the back, mother proceeded towards her target.

I was unable to get a good look at any of the women because of my short vision. Not like it mattered either way. They were just gossiping neighbours. No one liked those people. We returned home after simply walking around for some time and failing to find our target.

By then, I'd pooped on myself.

"We've uh, got another emergency, mother. You know the drill.", I called out to her.

"Oh, Bel… you sure do make some really bad stinkers.", She pegged her nose as she came to clean me up. I couldn't help but laugh while she did.

"Yeah, yeah. Real funny. You're lucky you're adorable."

I really enjoyed her company. It was sad that she would wind up dead any day from now. I often wondered how I would survive when she died. Like for instance, what would I do for food? Would some other woman have to breastfeed me? Would anyone even be willing to take me in? From the looks of things, mother doesn't really have a lot of friends if she spends her days chasing after the town doctor to come take care of me. Sometimes I worry for her like a father worrying for his daughter.

Most of my days were peaceful like this. Then there were the days that weren't so peaceful. If mother was a radiant angel, Roland had to be the very definition of useless scum.

I didn't see him most of the time, and whenever I did see him, he reeked of alcohol. His face always looked lifeless and haphazard, like a homeless man with nothing going on in life for him.

Whenever Roland was around, it was constant arguments about the most mundane things. I'd honestly assumed the two would split after mother had me, but for some reason they were still together. Maybe it wouldn't sit well on Roland's conscience to leave a mother and her new-born out in the world to survive from themselves. Either that or he must have gotten some sense of superiority from sheltering us.

Roland was a confusing one. I never could truly get him. Maybe I needed to spend more time around him to get him, but then again, I doubted he'd care much for a kid that wasn't his and a wife that cheated on him.

Well, whatever his reasons were for allowing us to stay, I could get by it. At least, mother wasn't going to have it too hard since he was providing money, I think. I wasn't sure if Roland was even bringing money home. If he was, what kind of profession did he have?

With his well-toned body, I'd assume he's been tilling the ground for quite some time. He was most likely a farmer, considering how crass he was sometimes.

Either way, Roland, although understandably difficult, wasn't impossible to live with.

*Slap*

That sound silenced the entire house as mother fell to the floor.

Nope. Forget him being confusing, Roland was straight up unforgivable. He really was scum!

"You dare to look at him and still call him my child? I should've let your family beat you up more. Then maybe you wouldn't be so stupid!"

Oh… oh no, mother. You don't have to keep up the lie. No one would fall for it anyway, considering the number of people who say we look absolutely nothing alike.

I had to hand it to her. Her adamant refusal of the truth almost made me want to believe in her story. That maybe she'd somehow conceived a baby that looked nothing like both parents even though she hadn't ever cheated on her husband. The odds of your baby being born that way were really low.

Then again, the odds of your baby being a reincarnation was even lower. Maybe I really was Roland's kid? Haha. Yeah, right. As if my reincarnating into this body could've had some sort of unforeseen effect on the body and changed it in a way that I looked nothing like both parents.

Oh…

Well, that doesn't matter. Child or not, a man who treats his wife in such a way is lower than scum!