Mother

Charlie's eyes slowly opened to gaze upon a dark wooden ceiling. It was made with what looked to be planks and seemed very far away. He was a baby though so he tried to find something to reference the height of the room to. Charlie turned his head to the right and noticed he was in a white crib outfitted with a simple mattress and a small blanket. Between the bars of the crib, Charlie's eyes focused on a tall rectangular window that was split up into small square panes of glass. The panes appeared slightly warped and didn't provide a clear image of the outside scenery which was a dark shade of green.

The window was a normal size in relation to the the height of the room so Charlie just figured he was too small. Retracting his gaze from the window, Charlie spotted a dresser, a cushioned chair and the edge of a carpet that came from under the crib. His vision was limited to the ceiling and either side of his crib so Charlie didn't really find anything interesting.

Just when Charlie thought he'd work on his mana core to pass the time he heard a door open. There was a slight creak and then a quiet whoosh as the door pushed open. Charlie couldn't see the door but he guessed it was behind the footboard from where the sound originated. Next, he heard the sound of someone walking into the room and was eventually greeted with the sight of a young woman. Her face was slightly tanned and plain. Her hair was wrapped in a faded white cloth and she wore a simple indigo dress with a white frilly collar that was covered by a white apron. She looked down at Charlie for a few moments before reaching her arms down to lift him into her arms. This startled Charlie but he maintained a calm face.

——

Maid's POV:

Giselle was tasked with taking care of the baby. A baby of his age would need to be fed around twelve times a day and his diaper would need to be changed around twelve times as well. It wasn't the most pleasant job but it paid well enough so Giselle started her work.

(some time later)

——

Charlie's POV:

Charlie did not like what had just happened to him. At first, he was curious as to why the woman had laid a blanket on the dresser which she then put him on. But then he remembered that he was a baby. That moment was when the woman began to strip Charlie of his diaper. "NOPE" Charlie began to wriggle away as well as he could but it was no use. The woman simply sighed and moved Charlie back. She then removed the diaper the rest of the way and finished what she was doing.

Charlie had been against it in the beginning but he realized that this would be necessary since he couldn't very well do it himself. With a shy resigned look on his face, Charlie stopped struggling and instead looked away embarrassed. Giselle was grateful that he was no longer being fussy and finished quickly.

Once Charlie had a fresh diaper, he suddenly noticed his hunger. Coincidentally, Giselle had anticipated this and had already begun to undo the top of her uniform. Charlie snapped his eyes shut, knowing what was about to happen.

After Charlie had been sufficiently fed and Giselle was again fully clothed, he was placed back in his crib and Giselle sat in the cushioned chair. Giselle pulled out a book from a pocket in her apron and began to read.

Charlie was interested in what Giselle was reading but he didn't think that he could coerce her into showing him, a newborn baby. He stared at her thinking of ways to see the inside of the book. "Should I cry? No, I don't want to be difficult." Losing interest in the book, Charlie decided to meditate. He closed his eyes and soon felt the familiar coziness of the place he was in. He decided that he would call this place his soul space. He was currently in his mind form which could be considered his soul and he was surrounded by space if he excluded the mana particles. Charlie largely liked the term "Soul Space" because it was an alliteration but it seemed accurate enough.

The last time that Charlie had been in his soul space was before his birth. Since this time, it seemed as though something had changed. Charlie's mind/soul was now encased in a black shell of mana. Charlie guessed that this shell was the cause of the coziness he now felt. Upon further inspection, Charlie noticed that the shell hadn't so much as encased him as it had integrated. There were some small fibres of his soul that had rooted in the shell.

Charlie didn't fully understand the implications of this until he began to pull mana towards him. "Why are they going so fast!" The mana which had once crawled towards Charlie, was now moving at a much faster pace. This speed had freaked Charlie out which made him lose focus and return to his body. Giselle looked at the newborn who suddenly whipped his eyes open and inhaled sharply. Nothing seemed to be wrong so she returned to her book after inspecting Charlie.

Once Charlie had calmed down, he thought things through. "If the mana moves faster then that means that I'll be able to cultivate my core faster!" He decided to return to his soul space to cultivate. Upon starting, Charlie confirmed that his cultivation speed had increased. Whilst Charlie was now absorbing mana at a faster pace, he guessed that any kind of upgrade would take more mana than the previous level so he controlled his excitement.

The mana replenished Charlie's energy which gave Charlie the feeling that he could cultivate indefinitely without stopping. And whilst Charlie probably could've pulled off such a feat, a newborn baby definitely shouldn't be able to do so which had slipped Charlie's mind.

——

Maid's POV:

Giselle had been reading for a little less than an hour when she started to worry. The baby hadn't made a sound aside from the sharp inhale earlier, by now he should've cried for more food.

Giselle got up from her chair and put her book on the seat. She approached the crib and looked down at the baby who was entirely still except for his rhythmic breathing. She furrowed her brows and thought about what this could mean. "The baby had been born prematurely so perhaps that had caused digestive problems?"

(An hour later)

Giselle was terrified. She'd been staring at the baby for half an hour and nothing had changed. "He's barely moving! Is he dead?!" Seeing no other option, Giselle reached her hand out to wake the baby. Just before her fingertips made contact with the baby's bare shoulder, Charlie's eyes flicked open and looked right at Giselle. There was no expression on Charlie's face which made Giselle flinch back in surprise.

——

Charlie's POV:

"What's wrong?" Charlie looked into the wet nurse's eyes to discern why he'd been woken. He saw surprise as she retracted her outstretched arm. Seeing no answer in her face, Charlie looked around and noticed the window. The light pouring in the window was now much more intense than it had been earlier. That's when Charlie realized his mistake "How often am I supposed to be eating?" He then looked back at the maid's face to see concern in her eyes. "Ah, probably more often than this."

Charlie's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door to his room pushing open. Both Charlie and Giselle's attention focused on it immediately and whilst Giselle's expression seemed to stiffen as she looked at the one who had entered, Charlie was left moving his head back and forth to get a glimpse.

It wasn't until Charlie's mother had walked over to Giselle that Charlie saw her. She was approaching slowly, still weary from her labour, but her gentle smile couldn't be restrained as she saw her son. She spoke a few words to the maid in an unknown language. Giselle, in response, picked her book up from the chair, put it into her apron pocket, moved the chair next to the crib and then left. Charlie's mother waited patiently until Giselle left and then sat down in the chair. This whole time, Charlie watched his mother who was watching him in turn.

His mother lowered the bars on Charlie's crib and gently brought her index finger to Charlie's right hand. Charlie's hand reflexively gripped his mother's finger without turning his gaze. Then Charlie's mother softly spoke his name: "Charlie"