Teeth Growing

Calliope closed her mouth. Nevermind her frustration, only being able to crudely say dya-bba-dya-bba was extremely disgraceful. 

"Aww, so cute!"

Not knowing her inner thoughts, Robert squealed and kissed her on the cheek. Calliope was startled for a moment before giving into the kisses that rained down on her. 

She was an adult on the inside, so she still wasn't used to skinship like this. But she was relatively alright with kisses from a young kid like Robert. 

In her previous life, Calliope very rarely initiated skinship or expressed her emotions to the point that she was called haughty for her outer indifference. So it made sense that she was still very awkward about such things despite being a baby. 

She sighed on the inside. She had many reasons why she wanted to quickly grow up.

***

"It's just not me thinking that Lippe doesn't cry much, right?"

Lucius asked Hal after leaving the room. 

"I think it's just because she has a pretty quiet personality? What's wrong?"

"It goes beyond being quiet. She doesn't even cry. She just babbles from time to time."

At first, he had thought his sister was a relatively obedient child. But seeing just how quiet she was, he was worried that it might be a problem. 

"Hm, but I don't think it really a problem?"

Horcean rubbed his chin in thought. Calliope was certainly different from his siblings when they were her age. 

"Did your parents say anything?"

"They're worried as well. She hasn't tried to leave her crib, doesn't have much of a reaction to her toys, and hasn't ever reached out a hand towards her mobile."

Of course, there was no way that his parents would say this in front of their two young sons. Lucius and Robert had been heard their conversation while passing by. Up until that point, he hadn't really known much about babies, so he hadn't thought his sister's actions were strange at all. But after that, he began to worry.

"What about the doctor?"

"They said there's nothing wrong with her physically, but it's difficult to properly diagnose an infant."

"Then the only thing you can do is wait as you watch over her."

"Yeah…"

Hal looked at Lucius with interested eyes. Though it was normal to worry about a younger sibling, to see someone who was usually indifferent to everything show a great amount of concern was a happy surprise.  . 

"Well, don't worry too much. It'll get better as she grows up. I thought Epinny had a real problem when she was a baby, though that was because she was too energetic…it was like I was fighting a war with her."

Horcean shivered thinking of those times. His three-year-old younger sister was extraordinarily talented in so many strange ways…

"Yeah, I'm sure it will."

"That's right. Lippe's gonna be healthy. Why are you worrying."

Robert puffed up his cheeks and spoke. 

"Mom said. Even though there isn't a huge response, her eyes are able to follow our movements and that she is able to grab onto our hands well. And that when she sees us, she smiles…She's so cute, like an angel."

"Cuter than an angel."

"Much, much cuter than an angel."

"You can't even compare the two."

The conversation had gone off track from their earlier discussion. Horcean narrowed his eyes and looked at the two idiotic brothers. 

'In my opinion, you guys are the ones with problems…'

He stopped himself from expressing his thoughts out loud. 

"Well, encouraging a response from the baby is important, so just keep talking to Lippe. It'll turn out okay."

Hal's advice came from having watched over five younger siblings. 

"Got it. No matter what Lippe is like, I will still love her, because she's our younger sister."

Robert pumped his fists in the air as he spoke. Lucius looked at his younger brother who was a year younger than him. Even though they were only one year apart, they weren't that close, because the two of them had personalities on opposite sides of the spectrum. 

Lucius was strict and Robert was carefree. The older brother who lived everyday perfectly following the rules and the younger brother who always slacked off were like oil and water.

"Good."

Lucius murmured as he lightly stroked his younger brother's head. 

"Wh-what?"

Robert was surprised and stepped back. Lucius didn't answer his question, turning around and continuing to walk with Horcean. 

Robert's lips bent a bit as he looked at his brother's back and felt the place where his brother had touched his head. 

For some reason, his cheeks were red.  

***

Calliope had on a long face. These days, if she wasn't paying attention, she would keep putting her fingers in her mouth and bite them. Even just now, she caught herself right before she started chewing on her fingers. 

'I can't become addicted to this so easily. Even though I'm a baby, I'm actually an adult on the inside. I must keep my dignity.'

It was normal for a baby to such and chew on their fist, but it definitely wasn't for her. She shouldn't be acting like some kind of kid that didn't know anything. 

She began to put her hand back into her mouth out of habit, but caught herself as she felt her hand touch something in her mouth. 

'Huh?'

She lightly touched that same spot in her mouth with her tongue. A lower tooth had began to form in the middle of her mouth. 

'That's why my mouth has been itching recently.'

It was all because of her growing teeth. It definitely wasn't just because she wanted to suck on her mouth. She had no choice because she was teething. Well then. 

"Miss, it's time to eat."

As her nanny approached, Calliope wondered. Should she show her that she was teething? 

But she didn't want to open her mouth widely in front of someone to look inside. 

'I've done a bunch of other embarrassing stuff already though, what hasn't my nanny seen…'

She thought of all the other shameful moments she'd had in front of her nanny and her family. It was quite painful to remember. Seeing the mumbling infant, her nanny patted her lightly on the back. 

Since Calliope couldn't talk, she decided to communicate through body language. 

"Hmm? What's the matter, Miss?"

Calliope opened her mouth with an 'ahhh,' and pointed inside towards her teeth. As the nanny looked inside, the baby's cheeks reddened. 

"Why, your teeth are growing!"

Her nanny was surprised with joy. 

Seeing her smiling expression, Calliope felt satisfied, but she still felt embarrassed nonetheless. She closed her mouth. 

"How can our Miss be so smart, letting me know like this! Ah, I should let the Madame know about your teething as well!"

'Is this such a happy event?'

Calliope tilted her head in thought. It was an obvious fact that babies would teethe. And since she was now 8 weeks old, she was beginning to grow teeth right at the average age of babies as well. 

She wondered if it was too extreme of a reaction, but her nanny continued to snort with pride as she hurried over to the countess's office.   

***

"Oh it's you, Lippe! …Well then, why don't we approach the mostly general aspects in that way, and then discuss more on methods for more specific parts."

The countess hurried to wrap up her meeting after seeing Calliope. 

"Did you come to see Mommy, Lippe?"

The countess approached her nanny and received Calliope from her arms. She kissed each soft cheek as the nanny prepared to share the news. 

"Madame, the Miss….!"

"What about Lippe?"

The countess's face was instantly covered in worry. Calliope was so different from what babies were normally like, that she still held a constant worry for her daughter. 

Now that she thought about it, it was worrisome that Calliope had come at a time she usually didn't visit at throughout the day. 

"The Miss is teething!"

"Really?"

Her darkened expression immediately brightened. 

"Our Lippe is already teething? Let's see. Okay Lippe, say ahhh."

Calliope moved her mouth but didn't open it. She hadn't been able to prepare her heart to open her mouth and show the inside yet. 

"Hm? Ahhh, come on, try it. Ahhh~."

After being repeatedly encouraged by her mother, she opened her mouth. Her face blushed at her mother's close inspection of her mouth. 

"Dear me, it really is true."

She could see two small bottom teeth sitting side by side in the center of her daughter's mouth. After looking at the white baby teeth for awhile, the countess hugged the baby tightly. It was always so touching to see her child grow up. 

"Mom!"

The door was opened as Robert ran into the room. The count's stern voice sounded behind him. 

"Robel, I told you not to run. On top of that, you entered the room without even knocking. For a week, you will practice face to wall training."

"Euk…"

Robert let out a whining sound as he groaned. His least favorite training method was face to wall training, which was just standing still and staring at the wall. 

Though his body might be most comfortable and relaxed during this exercise, he was always itching to do something, so he couldn't stand staying motionless. The true name of this training might as well be "time-out punishment." 

"I heard Lippe started to grow teeth?"

Lucius, who had entered the room at some point, quietly asked. The countess laughed inwardly at her son's actions and nodded her head. 

How could she not laugh. She could tell that at this time, training was probably in full swing and most intense. Her eldest son, who never left the training grounds until practice time was over, had scurried over here as soon as he heard the news about his younger sister. 

"Do you want to take a look?"

At her question, three pairs of eyes focused onto Calliope, who broke out into a cold sweat. Letting her nanny and mother see was her limit. 

'How did it end up like this…'

She didn't want to. Showing others the inside of her mouth was disgraceful. In her past life, Calliope had learned to take small bites when eating and to cover her mouth when she laughed. 

Now that she thought about it, wasn't it sort of rude to look into another's mouth? 

Calliope looked at her rule-abiding father to save her from her situation, but the count's attention was placed too much on seeing the inside of her mouth that he didn't notice.

'I was wrong. This man is not the one who taught me to treat others respectfully. Definitely not.'