The first thing I know when I gain consciousness is people around me are noisy. People are talking in a language I've never heard before. I try to open my eyes, and the first thing I see is an old lady. The expression on her face turned brighter when our eyes met. When I looked around, I saw that I'm in a room mainly made of wood, with a lot of carved decorations, like a medieval noble's mansion from my previous life.
Then I noticed something.
Why is everyone and everything so big? Wait, they're not big, I'm just small. I tried to look at my hand, and I finally understood what's happening. I have a baby's hand and some blood stains on my naked body.
Did I just get born?
Then I felt uncomfortable all over. I cried instinctively. I didn't know what was happening, it's just my body seemed to cry on its own. I cried loudly, and hearing myself cry made me even more uncomfortable.
The old lady muttered something to me, then something happened. Water suddenly rose from a nearby bucket, then cleaned my body from the blood and other stains. After that, she covered me with a warm, thin fabric.
That was magic, right? This really is a fantasy world. I really was reborn into this world! I felt elated confirming my rebirth, but the discomfort didn't stop, and I still cried loudly.
Then the old lady carried me to a woman lying on the bed. The woman looked really beautiful—even by my previous life's standards—with her short red hair, fair skin, and delicate face. She looked like she's in her twenties.
When her hand touched me, I felt an unexplainable comfort and familiarity from her. I could see traces of tears in her eyes as her expression turned to relief. The urge to cry lowered significantly when I was in her embrace.
She must be my mother. I just knew it.
I heard the door open, and a man came close to me and my mother. He looked like a nobleman, around the same age as my mother. His expression was a mix of happiness and worry. He looked at me like I'm the most precious treasure in the world. He must be my father.
My mother and father talked to each other in that unfamiliar language. Then my father's hand approached me slowly. His expression was both worried and hesitant. Then he carried me in his hands. The sudden separation from my mother's embrace made me really uncomfortable, and then my body started to cry again.
My father's face turned grim when I cried, and my mother just smiled, amused by how things turned out.
My father quickly handed me back to my mother. I felt better when I was in her arms again. But I still felt uncomfortable, so I didn't stop crying. I think I knew why.
I was hungry.
It seemed like my mother understood why I hadn't stopped crying. She loosened her clothes and began breastfeeding me. I thought I'd feel awkward because I still had memories from my past life—but I didn't. It just felt so natural and comfortable. Then my father embraced both my mother and me. It was so warm—not only was I born in a world with magic, but I could feel the familial affection I never had from my previous parents.
I was glad I got reincarnated into this world.
My parents kept talking to each other while smiling, touching my skin. I had no idea what they were saying, but judging by their happy expressions, I was sure they were talking about me.
"I need to learn this language as soon as possible," I thought to myself, while planning for my future. But before long, my baby body grew sleepy, and I fell asleep.
I don't know how many days passed since I was born. I never saw the old lady again. I received care from my mother and some maids now.
The reason I don't remember how many days passed is because I kept forgetting what I had done. I barely remembered the important day of my birth. I kept forgetting the things I did before being fed or falling asleep. But the things from my past life were still clear in my mind.
"Maybe it's because of my baby body. Like in my previous life, I don't remember a thing from when I was a baby," I thought, trying to figure out why I kept forgetting things.
Whatever. The first thing I needed to do was understand the language. I bet I kept planning the same thing every day but kept forgetting it. Wait—how was I supposed to learn the language if I kept forgetting?
Days passed. All I could do was open my eyes, try to move around, and fall asleep again because my baby body got tired quickly. I didn't know how many times a day I kept reminding myself of the importance of understanding the language—and forgetting it.
Time passed. Now I could barely stand. I had better memory compared to the early days. I could now remember things from two days ago! I kept reminding myself and repeating things in my mind before I forgot again. The memory of how happy my parents and the maids were when I took my first step is engraved in my memory. Still, my body got tired quickly, especially after getting breastfed, and I'd fall asleep right after.
At least with a better memory now, I could understand a word or two of the language here. I kept repeating the new vocabulary in my mind. Now I understood when they talked about "feed" and "wet." Sometimes I tried to repeat what they said to inform them when I needed food or a change of clothes. But because of my body's limitations, especially my mouth, the words always came out wrong. They'd just smile and chuckle whenever I tried to speak. It's frustrating that I couldn't reach them with words, so I had to find other ways to communicate.
I always made sure to repeat the same body movement and crying whenever I was hungry or wet, so my parents or the maids would take care of me. Because of this baby body, it's impossible not to wet myself, so the best I could do was make sure they knew—because it was so uncomfortable staying in dirty clothes for too long. I bet they thought I was a crybaby because I cried so often—but I didn't care.
And the most important thing I learned is that I'm called Alvaro. In this world, my name is Alvaro.