A Taste Of A Mother’s Love

I'm already a five month old baby today. Last month, I was practicing how to roll over. I'm not even fat, but it was very hard to roll over. I succeeded eventually. But this month, I started to crawl and sit on my own. It's so hard. I felt like I was exerting too much energy. This body is really inconvenient. I tried to say hard words, but I couldn't pronounce them well. But still, it's progress.

When I got bored from playing with my toys, I mostly sneaked out of my father's library. It's just right across from my room, so it's very accessible.

The first time that I got here, the guards picked me up from crawling and went back to my room. I just cried out of frustration at that time. They don't know how tiring it was to travel from my room to my father's library by crawling at a slow pace. The guards panicked. They don't know what to do. "Young lady, please stop crying. We're not going to hurt you," said one of my five knights guarding me. They all had panicked expressions on their faces. One of them decided to call Anna, my personal maid, to soothe me from crying. With a swift arrival, Anna brushed away my tears and gave me comforting words that everything would be alright. The guards stood by, looking relieved that the situation was under control.

"What does our young miss want?" Anna said with a soft tone in her voice. I immediately pointed out the door leading to my father's library. With a worried glance in my direction, she nodded and walked me over to the library, the knights trailing closely behind. As soon as we got to the library, she put me down. The room's cozy ambience, complete with the aroma of worn-out books and leather furnishings, astounded me. I immediately started to crawl around my father's bookshelves. I was looking for a book that contained the history of this empire. The former Avyana didn't study that much, and that's why I need to know the things that weren't in her memories.

I didn't find the book I was looking for on my first day here. All the books I've opened were about war tactics and strategies, past soldiers, and knights who contributed to the Great War between Ku and Lay countries. I got tired from all those crawlings and readings, so I just cried so Anna could get me to where I was. Darn this small body. I could only do a little.

Anna immediately picked me up and carried me to my room. I could not resist the ticket to dreamland anymore. Just as I let myself succumb to the darkness of sleep, I could hear Anna whispering softly in my ears. "Our young miss is truly a genius. I'm very happy to serve our beloved young miss."

A few days passed, and after searching around the bookshelves, I finally found what I was looking for. It was on the last bookshelf nearest to the room's wall. Why is it here? It seems like Dad was not even interested in these books. I pulled out the first book I saw on the shelf. I immediately called Anna to help me bring the book to my room. I was able to call her name because it's very easy. She instantly approached me and looked at me with concern in her face.

"Did you find what you're looking for, young miss?" She asked me delightfully as she picked me up and the book I pulled out from the shelf. I nodded cheerfully. Of course! The hard work I put into finding this book was really paying off.

"Anna," I said, smiling at her. I wanted to thank her, but I can't still pronounce a lot of words.

"It's a pleasure to serve you, young miss," she replied. She looked at me and smiled sweetly, seemingly understanding that I thanked her. She read the title of the book and was surprised by what she just read. She looked at me with a concerned look in her eyes. "Is it really okay for you to read it, young miss? This is a historical book. I thought you were just looking for a fairytale book."

I just looked at Anna with puppy eyes. She looked at me, wavering in her decision to confiscate the book. The smile went back to my face when she let out a sigh—a sign that she gave in to my charms.

When we got back to my room, she put me down in my crib with my book. After that, she sat down on a chair next to my crib and also read a book. She just lets me have my own thing, and that's what I like about her. She won't put her nose on other business. She just observed if I'm not doing anything dangerous. I guess that was also what my parents instructed her to do. And I'm grateful for that.

I started turning the pages right away. When I read the text, I was astounded. It was not in English, but rather Tagalog. To begin with, the book is antiquated. Does this imply that texts written in Tagalog are ancient? Let's not jump to conclusions first. I continued to flip through the pages and read the texts inside them.

According to the book, the Kulay Empire was once two kingdoms in the past. This was what Adara said to me, but she didn't give me any further details. In terms of territory, Ku Kingdom and Lay Kingdom were so close to each other that they were bound to have a war eventually. They were having fights over territory that led to the Great War. Ku Kingdom has more military strength than Lay Kingdom, but the latter produces more scholars than the former. But then, Ku Kingdom overwhelmed Lay Kingdom in the Great War. Ku Kingdom, being the triumphs in the war, combined the two kingdoms into an empire and named it Kulay Empire. The first princess of the Lay Kingdom was being married off to the Crown Prince of the Ku Kingdom. And that was the start of the ruling of the empire by the Gold family, which is the royal family now.

That was the end of the book. I think I should really read those other historical books from my dad's library. It was quite intriguing. I still have questions in my head, but I guess let's just stop for now. I happily sighed and closed the book. That was good.

"What is happening here?" I jumped at the loud voice and turned my attention to the owner of the voice. Oh gosh! It's Mom! She saw me reading the book.

"Anna, call the five guards right now. I need to talk to them, especially you." She was seething in anger. I made my mom angry. I thought she would be happy if she knew that her child was studious. But I thought wrong.

My mom cried out of anger. She confiscated the book. And because of that, I was banned from the library. I thought I could go there for other books, but I guess it won't be possible anymore. She scolded all the servants, including Anna and my five guards, because they didn't protect me properly—that was what my mom said. I tried interfering with her and defending them because it was my fault to begin with, but to my surprise, my mom cried in front of me.

I learned my lesson to not sneak out again. One wrong move, and many people would be in trouble because of me. I need to be careful next time.

"Mama," I was trying to say, I am sorry to her. I crawled towards her and hugged her feet. She picked me up and carried me with tears still falling in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, baby. I don't want you to be mature already, even though you're a genius. I want you to experience what it is to be a child. I want you to enjoy your childhood," Mom said while still crying. It made my heart throb. In my past life, I had to hustle hard because I'm left to fend for myself. But her statement made me so moved to tears. Avyana, you're so lucky to have parents like her. Since I'm Avyana now, I'll make sure that they'll live long and comfortably. I promise, I'll save you.