First Words?

Even though Calliope stubbornly kept her mouth closed, her family members continued to encourage her to open her mouth. Her resolve weakened as she saw her usually gruff father tilting his head in curiosity. 

'They want it this much…'

In her past life, she had wished for her family members to miraculously return to her, alive, thinking that she would do everything and anything for them. She still held these thoughts in her present life. 

Eventually, Calliope opened her mouth. She suddenly felt like her mouth had become some kind of popular tourist site. 

"There really are teeth! Cool!"

And then Robert tried to put his finger into her mouth. 

Calliope shut her mouth immediately and turned her head, frightened. Her surroundings let out a regretful sigh.

"Why did you try to put your hand in, you scared her."

"But it was just so amazing, I had to."

Robert scratched his head and mumbled as Lucius told him off. The father and his sons looked at the closed mouth with regret written over their faces. 

"Oh right! The Miss must be hungry, it's time for her to eat."

Calliope cheered up upon hearing her nanny's words, Finally she could stop being the center of everyone's attention!

"Oh, why, that's right, our Lippe must be so hungry. I couldn't have known because you didn't cry and waiting so quietly and obediently. Should Mommy feed you?"

The countess spoke to Calliope in a coaxing manner. She didn't want to part from her daughter just yet. Taking a hint at her words, Calliope's nanny ordered a maid to heat up and bring over the baby food. 

As soon as they realized that they would get to see Calliope eating, her father and brothers settled down in the countess's office. It wasn't long before a high chair and a baby table was prepared for Calliope to eat at, her baby food arranged neatly in front of her. 

"Alright, let's eat now, Lippe."

The countess smiled brightly and held out a spoon. She felt the envious gazes of the other three family members who also wanted to feed Lippe. Well, the first one to move wins. 

But instead of opening her mouth to be fed, Calliope reached her arm out towards the spoon. 

"Hmm? You want to eat it yourself?"

Her mother, understanding her actions, handed the spoon to Calliope, who triumphantly grasped the spoon. Just as she had predicted, she could hold the spoon well. As she brought the food to her mouth, she didn't spill on drop either, though that was because the baby food was sticky and didn't drip so easily. 

When she started eating baby food, she wanted to feed herself. Her hands were already so big, and she felt it was wrong to still receive her food like an infant. She could hold objects well, so she thought that holding a spoon would be a piece of cake. 

Calliope excited, something that happened once in a blue moon. Full of anticipation, she brought the spoon to her mouth. 

Her family members who were watching her mukbang1 – eating method2 – swallowed at the sight. Would she succeed on her first attempt with a spoon!

– Splat.

They heard the sound of her baby food splattering onto her cheek. The spoon had gone to the wrong place. 

"Pfft....!"

The countess couldn't stop her laugh after seeing the sight of baby food smeared onto her daughter's chubby cheeks. Robert's loud giggles followed, echoing throughout the room. Even the usually expressionless Lucius and solemn count were trembling due to holding in their laughter.

"..."

Calliope couldn't lift her head. Her small hand trembled as it gripped the spoon. 

"It must be too early for you to use a spoon. Your wrist lacks the strength for it."

The countess wiped her daughter's cheeks as she spoke. Calliope's first round against spoon handling ended in failure. 

***

Deep into the night. 

Calliope opened her eyes. She could feel the dampness of the night seeping into her. 

She could now wake up without crying instinctively. What a relief. She wouldn't be waking her nanny for unnecessary reasons.

Calliope thought back over the events of her previous life. There were more memories she didn't want to think of than happy ones. But she stubbornly continued to dig up her painful past.

Her father's death, her fallen family, her first and second brothers' deaths, her mother's illness, the war, her mother's death. 

Now that she had been reborn, these events hadn't happened yet. And though she could live comfortably if she just brushed these memories away, she didn't. 

'I'm going to protect them this time.'

In order to do that, she had to make sure she didn't forget a thing from her previous life. This was why she would over her past everyday at night while the others were asleep. 

Calliope lowered her gaze and looked at her hands. Her chubby arms and her adorable little hands. 

'Too small.'

It was still too small to be able to even hold an item. She was in a hurry to do something to change her future but she was still too small.

There was nothing she could do with this body of hers at the moment. She couldn't even properly use a spoon by herself. 

Calliope bit her lip. She felt tired being the only one up in the middle of the night. Though she was a baby, one that hadn't yet suffered any hardships, her eyes that were supposed to be sparkling with innocence was covered with shadow and grief. After being lost in her sorrow, she organized her thoughts and tucked them into the back of her mind. 

She had still been given another chance. She would save her family. She just had to start and steadily make her way to her goal. 

'First, speaking.'

Since her teeth had started growing she could now practice speaking. And unlike others who had to learn the concept of words as well, Calliope just had to develop her pronunciation. 

So she had started her pronunciation practice since a few months ago. 

"Goo goo ga ga…."

ABCD.

She had definitely opened her mouth thinking of saying letters of the alphabet, but why did it come out all "goo goo ga ga"…

'Maybe I heard it wrong. I mean, my teeth have even started appearing, so I should be able to do this.'

"Goo goo ga ga."

But cruel reality hit her one-year-old self in the face. It was too early for her. Calliope bit her lip as she took this bitter lesson to heart. Her pronunciation didn't even improve a bit. 

"Au…."

Her chubby cheeks puffed up further, and her eyebrows furrowed. Cute, round eyes teared up in the darkness. But instead of crying, Calliope let out a deep sigh. 

'Oh well, what can I do. I can only keep diligently practicing, and then at some point…though I don't know when that day will ever arrive.'

She wasn't a baby so she didn't cry over this. Really. What kind of an adult would cry just because they could only say googoogaga. Calliope clenched her hands into fists. The wetness in her eyes? Hah. She was just imagining things. 

"Huuu…"

After calming down her mind for a bit, Calliope began practicing speaking again. 

'The words I wanted to tell my family if I could see them again.'

When she could have said it to them, she didn't, and when she couldn't see them anymore, she wanted to. 

Deep in the night while everyone was asleep, Calliope whispered the words she wanted to say in her heart. 

***

Calliope pressed down on her thumping heart. Since she had been reborn, this was the first time she had felt so nervous. 

"Our miss looks so happy today."

Her nanny pushed a toy into Calliope's hands as she spoke. 

Calliope looked at her nanny with interest. She was sure her appearance wasn't any different from her usual look, but her nanny could tell her actual mood like some kind of ghost. Actually, it had been the same for the past couple of weeks. Calliope never really showed her actual thoughts on the outside. But her nanny could always tell what she wanted and give it to her. 

It was like this in her past life as well. Her nanny always watched over her. She took care of Calliope so that she wasn't cold, wasn't hot, or wasn't sad and lonely.

'And by doing that, for me, she…'

"Why is our miss looking at me in such a way again?"

Her nanny patted Calliope's cheeks that bounced due to the baby fat. Whenever she saw her miss looking at her with such a gaze, she would feel puzzled and worried. She couldn't describe what it was, but she would always feel as if her heart dropped whenever she saw such a look on her miss's face. 

She only wished for Calliope to have a life filled with happiness. But why did her baby miss already wear such a serious expression…

"Na-"

Calliope started calling out to her nanny and then stopped. She had started speaking on impulse, but she wanted to speak her first words to her whole family. Of course, her nanny was included.

So instead of speaking words of comfort, she tightly grabbed onto her nanny's finger. The nanny's face brightened up. 

"Our miss is getting cuter by the day!"

She hugged Calliope tightly, and as she continued to praise Calliope, the count returned home. 

"How is our Lippe doing today?"

The count approached Calliope and stroked her head. He no longer was afraid of approaching his daughter. 

"A-"

Calliope was about to reply to his question and then shut her mouth. 

There was something she really wanted to say to her family, and she wanted it to be her first words when everyone had gathered together. Her chest thumped. 

For the past several months she had practiced saying the words she wanted to say. The words she had shouted when no one was around to hear her in the past. 

What a blessing that she now had people who could listen to her. That the people she wanted to speak to were alive and with her. She squeezed her tingling nose and took a deep breath. 

And in front of her gathered family members, she finally said the words that she had desperately wanted to say.

"Faduh, Maduh, dank you fuh gibing bir to me. I wub you."

(Father, Mother, thank you for giving birth to me. I love you."

Her parents eyes widened, large like saucers. Wha, what did their daughter just say?

"Bwaders, I wub you too."

(Brothers, I love you too.)

Calliope continued to speak despite her family's shocked reactions. Though her pronunciation was still very off…

"I wub you too nanwy. I'm aways gwateful to you."

(I love you too nanny. I'm always grateful to you.)

Their child had spoken her first words, but her parents couldn't express immediate happiness upon this event. With many years of infantile care, they could easily understand Calliope's words. That was the problem.

Were her first words seriously 'Father, Mother, thank you for giving birth to me"....?