Chapter 6:

6: They don't see me rolling

I was Born the Unloved Twin


I have a roommate now!

There are two reasons for Lilyanne moving into the nursery with me.

One is that it's the custom here for noble children. Since her feeding issues have been resolved, there's no reason to stay elsewhere. Mother has been relieved and can now take a good rest. Besides staying there would do nothing for my sister's hunger, which is comparable to my own.

The wet nurses are surprised but ecstatic at her matching gluttony.

The second reason is that when it was time for me to return to my room the maids couldn't get Lilyanne separated from me. Not without her busting out into pathetic tears at least. How very touching though equally annoying.

Once again our mother was more than a little depressed over that.

"Oh, she wants Rosalia more than me..."

"Don't be silly Lady Maria, the twins should stay together. They're both your children. no need to be down. Now you can get a good rest yourself with peace of mind."

And no crying babies in the room. As you can clearly can afford it, use the help mother. Otherwise what's' the point in being rich? Do you know how many working mothers, or anyone with kids in general, would kill to be in your position?!

And so the nursery was reset up for two. There the almost matching bassinets were set up a foot apart from one another. One in neat white with pink details while the other one oppositely colored one was overflowing in pillows and blankets.

Just guess which one is mine.

Time passes peacefully. I admit I sleep a little less since Lilyanne moved in. She's a typical baby after all, bent on making noise and getting attention. If she's not sleeping then she's always trying to get me or a maid to come play with her. She makes a very good sounding board to talk off though, always reacting so positively.

It's nice to have a little audience to play along, even if no one understands what I'm saying.

Mother visits when she has time but she's weak and still recuperating. There are also social matters to attend to and household management for the lady of the house to see too.

Since Lilyanne moved in I also see Father more often. He tries to come at least once every other day, or so I hear. Realistically he can only visit us early in the mornings or late at night since he's off at "court". A typical working man, even in this world.

It's a little sad how he only really started to visit the nursery after Lilyanne came.

I'm here to you know? The favoritism is showing strong early on. I should be used to it but it is a little shocking. Aren't babies innocent?

More importantly, we've only been visited once by that crazy person, Grampa.

He came with mother, all bright smiles and looking absolutely harmless. Took turns cradling us at the time, squealing about our cuteness in a voice no grown man should have. I can read nothing from him like this. All baby talk and sweet nonsense.

This sucks, no clues to gather and I get treated like a damn teddy bear.

"So cute so cute so cute! Yes, my granddaughters are the cutest things in the world!"

"Oh my papa, they'll get dizzy!"

"Oh they love it don't they, upsie daisy!"

Realistically I know this man will not drop us, but who spins and flings little babies like this!? Be more careful you crazy old coot!

Lilyanne is giggling and enjoying herself though, typical. The sound of her laughter spurs grampa on and he doesn't stop with the baby tossing, it's honestly kinda fun I can't deny. Better than getting bear cuddled to death in his pecs and muscles. Also impressive things I admit, but not comfortable at all!

Only when the laughing caps off and Lilyanne and I are both seeing nothing but swirls does he set us back down like limp sacks of flour. Dizzy dizzy flour.

Is it my nauseous imagination or was he much rougher with me?

I can still make out mother and grampa making pleasant conversion over tea and refreshments. Isn't that nice, I'd love to be a part of it eavesdropping if I wasn't so damn dizzy.

"whe heha bla he"

And somehow Lilyanne is still enjoying herself, truly an innocent baby.

That was the only time I saw grandpa so far. Not very useful at all but I suppose I have time. With these forced family relations, he'll show up again eventually. I feel that only he would be able to answer the growing questions I have.

Right now I have nothing but time. It's just sleeping, eating, growing, and playing around like a baby. Sometimes with mother and the maids but mostly it's with Lilyanne.

She's a, uh, very ditzy drooly baby. To be honest it's not too different from her future self. It's a little worrisome for her to stay this way but also somewhat comforting to see how some things don't change. I don't expect any backstabbing from her, aside from the whole falling for my fiance thing. But that's more of a punishment for her than me.

Seriously what terrible tastes! Of all the guys in the world, she fell for that? That senseless piece of-

And I'm not thinking about it la la la~ not thinking about it!

That is really my plan, not thinking. This is a problem for future me when I'm less of a sleepy useless baby and more in immediate danger of my terrible fate. I do have some guidelines I suppose, they go something like:

1. Let's take care of Lilyanne! Because oh no there are very few things I legitimately care for and she may be one of them....it's complicated. Siblings you know. She just needs....a lot , a hell lot of help. Besides, her future is detrimental to my future!

2. Investigate "grampa", I'll get you eventually old man.

3. Not dying. Just try not to die. Avoid all red flags. Avoid all yellow flags. Let's just not die!

The rest is essentially doing whatever I want. Which includes raising hell for the fun of it. What is the point of being born into a wealthy household if I can't just do what I want? Hallelujah, I'm rich!

And today I want to get out of here.

Lazing around is fun and all, I'd love to laze around and nap all my life really. Babies really do have it the best.

But I am not really a baby and my mind wants something more stimulating. You can only stay in the same room with the same faces for so long without getting bored out of your mind. The maids take care of us and occasionally cuddle with us but that's about it. I haven't even heard a bedtime story.

There's a secret technique that I've been practicing. What the maids don't know is that while they've been gossiping or playing with Lilyanne I've been mastering rolling over.

What's so special about rolling over? All babies can do so eventually.

You're right, there's nothing to learning how to roll over early. I'm just too bored with myself at this point.

The maids aren't expecting me yet, in fact, they've been increasingly distracted with Lilyanne. And I've been such a good child so far, so peaceful with all my naps. No one has to worry about me.

The me of the past was so neglected. While it's not as bad yet as a baby I can only prepare for my own independence. Might as well take advantage of the lack of attention, let's go.

On a sunny afternoon, only one maid was on duty. She had just finished changing my nappy when Lilyanne distracted her to rush over.

This was my chance.

Free from my bassinet and without supervision I take off, rolling myself towards the door. The potential dizziness is nothing compared to what that crazy grampa put me through.

I successfully rolled out the door and into the hall. Keeping myself close to the wall for stability I roll steadily, giddy on my progress. The nursery is a peaceful wing so no servants are currently present to witness or stop me so long as I don't pass the hall where guards are stationed.

I manage to get past two doorways when I hear the maid's first scream. That is my cue to speed up and find somewhere to hide, they won't find me that easily.

After rolling into the next room I take my time finding the most nap worthy spot to settle down, might as well get comfy.

Not too long following that comes of scramble of shouts and banging. Sounds like a fun time out there.

"How did you lose a baby?!"

"I don't know, she was just here!"

"And no one came by?"

"No one I swear."

"No one else passed through the hall either."

"Then search every corner, she couldn't have gotten far!"

"The Lord will have our heads for this."

"Oh god where could she be?"

The increasing sound of panicking searching servants is the most fun I've had since I've been born. Even the head butler is joining in! Not bad of a ruckus for a baby.

It took too long to find me since I did end up falling asleep. They only found me sometime late as the sun set, my lumpy silhouette showing behind the curtain.

"How in the world did she get this far?!"

Not bad, but I can't wait to see how far I'll go next time!

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