Rydan opened his eyes.
The world to him, at the moment, consisted of his mother, father and the midwife who doubled as a maid. Right now, Rydan is a day old, still tiny, still weak on the exterior. But his mental age was even older than his parents; back in his previous world, Rydan was a 60 years old cunning old fox of a politician who reached the peak of power.
Rydan stared out of his crib curiously. Even though he was just born, he still wanted to know more about his new family, and new life. After all, it wasn’t every day that someone got the chance to live in another world. The room wasn’t bare, contrary to his expectations. He thought that his new family was poor, based on his father’s attire and their bed. It didn’t look as if they were well off, rather, it looked as if they were struggling to survive. But his room was decorated, there were bookshelves that were actually filled, a table with a flower in a vase on it and on the floor there were objects that looked like mini-swords and mini-daggers, made of wood.
I wonder why it is necessary to give the children of this world this kind of toys...do parents expect their child to be able to fight too in this world?
Rydan recalled that in his previous world, there were some colonies that were established on the fringes of the galaxy, and their planets had ferocious creatures living on them. Rydan once visited one of those planets, and there, even children were expected to know how to use a pistol, and it was necessary for teenagers around the age of 13 to be able to fight at close range with the creatures too. The martial culture there posed a huge threat to his troops on land, but ultimately, they were no match for Earth’s superior spaceships. Rydan would have preferred to live a peaceful life in this world, instead of a life filled with strife and blood. Still, he was not disheartened, for at least he had another life.
There were no lights in this room. At least, Rydan couldn’t see any. There was also no evidence to show that there was advanced technology here.
The clothing my mother wore was similar to what “noble ladies” of the early part of the second millennia wore, Rydan thought. But my father...his clothes were no doubt a “peasant’s”. This doesn’t quite add up, I wonder why?
In his previous world, Rydan had been smart. Well, that was probably an understatement. Rydan was the all-time highest scorer in the Earth Maturity Examination, with a near perfect score of 1199/1200 for the mental capability component which consisted of history, mathematics, linguistics, engineering, and various sciences ranging from computing to medical. Of course, he wasn’t just smart, his physical component was also way above average, at 790/800. Rydan was probably the most intelligent and capable student Earth had ever seen, but he knew that it was because he was willing to work hard for his ambition. As a famous scientist in his previous world once said, “Success is 99% hard work, and 1% of talent.”
Which was why Rydan felt that the disparity between his parent’s clothes was odd. His hypothesis based on the surroundings was that the new world was at a stage similar to that of the early second millennia in his previous world, the medieval times. He knew from historical simulations and lectures, that during this period of time, class mobility was very limited, and “nobles” and “peasants” don’t marry each other. Hence, his parent’s relationship was odd. Rydan was very interested in the reason behind this. Perhaps, his hypothesis was wrong, and people actually weren’t restricted by their status in this world, though it was unlikely as even during the period he lived in during his previous life, class mattered when looking for a lifelong partner.
I’ll find up when I grow older...for now though, I’m famished…
With a growl originating from his stomach, Rydan thought about how he can get fed.
Babies...Cry when they’re hungry...right? There was a hint of black humor as Rydan thought. He was after all a 60-year-old man and the leader of humanity. But what choice does he have when it came to food as a baby?
“Waah...waa…”
He waited for someone to come. But after a few minutes, all was unchanged, and he still remained hungry. He was becoming impatient.
Maybe I was too soft? How embarrassing, though…
“Waaa...WAAH...WAAAAH!”
Ugh...if I could blush, my face would be redder than a baboon’s ass now…
But at least his cry was answered, for the door was opened, and his mother looked at him with some panic in her eyes. Quickly realizing that Rydan was hungry, she cradled Rydan as she shoved her left tit at his tiny mouth. Eyes widening, his thoughts were filled with embarrassment. Still, it was a novel experience, being breastfed, that is. He never experienced this before in his previous life as he was an orphan. Warm milk flowed down his throat as he slowly fell asleep, with a full stomach and a satisfied smile.
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His last thoughts before he fell asleep was, I’ll learn more about this world later...for now, I’ll be a baby pampered by his family…
A year passed in a blink of an eye.
Rydan had long been weaned off milk and he had even started walking with his mother’s assistance. When his parents had found out he could walk, they celebrated by kissing his cheeks, his mom on the left and his dad on the right. At that point in time, Rydan felt as if love itself was liquid chocolate gushing out of his heart. This was his first experience at being loved as a child. Today, Rydan sat on his mother’s lap as she read books for him. During the past year, he had already started to understand how to speak this language as well as read it. But he refrained from speaking so soon, as he wanted to live a normal life so there was no need to be labeled as a genius.
Other than that, Rydan had learned a great deal about the world he lived in. His father was named Kristen and his mom was named Lysha. Lysha Dawnstone was everything he expected of a medieval noble. Proud and elegant, she once showed him the family tree of House Dawnstone. Though she expected him to be unable to comprehend it, she showed him that to let him recognize his grandfather’s name and portrait. Rydan Dawnstone was a man with blonde hair and blue eyes, and Rydan could tell that he was a handsome man just by looking at the picture. House Dawnstone was indeed a noble house, going back about 8 generations, and Lysha was the ninth generation.
Kristen, on the other hand, had a completely different status from his wife, Lysha. He was the last scion of the disgraced House Skyborn until Rydan was born, of course, which according to the conversations his mother and father had, was disbanded forcefully by the King himself. Though he didn’t know why just yet, he wanted to find out as soon as possible. Since House Skyborn was disbanded, it also meant that Kristen was a fallen noble, the same as a peasant in status. By marriage, it also meant that Lysha was a peasant. Perhaps that is the reason why our house is devoid of possessions except my room, they probably sold them all to continue living here, Rydan thought when he first knew their status. Being a noble had its privileges, and one of them was having a decent house in the Noble District, his mother had told him with a sad voice one night.
His mother had finished reading the book. Thinking that there couldn’t be a better timing, he glanced upwards at his mother, instantly capturing her eyes with his blue eyes.
“Mother,” he said and instantly regretted his words.
Well, shit. I should’ve said “Mama” or something dumber. That was way too unrealistic for my first words. I actually forgot that my first words had to be dumb...
Shock flitted across his mother’s face. She immediately carried him to her bedroom beside his, where Kristen was reading a letter by the candlelight.
“Dear! Rydan just said his first words! He called me ‘Mother’!”
“What! Really? Come here Rydan,” Kristen cooed, “Come to papa. Say ‘pa - pa’, ‘papa’!”
Oh well, since I already did it, I might as well do it again, Rydan thought, resigned. Besides, being a genius does has its benefits too...though it may be troublesome at first.
“Father.”
“Dear! Our child is so smart! He actually already knows how to say ‘father’ and ‘mother’! When I was younger, I was nearly 2 years old before I said something other than ‘papa’ and ‘mama’. Our son will definitely be a smart person!”
“Hahaha, he’s my son after all!”
Rydan wanted to roll his eyes. But in the end, he decided he couldn’t be bothered and went back to sleep in his mother’s cradle.
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Author's Comments:
For now at least, the story will be focused on some snips of the background setting. Mostly, I'm trying to bring across a personality, but I'm not sure how well I've done it. Short chapters until the parts where it really matters. Next chapter onwards will explain the world better. Also, yes, it is fantasy. I'll be using third-person limited for now, which a friend recommended until a better alternative comes. Some chapters though will be in first person. But that will be later on, probably second arc onwards. Thank you for reading.