I awoke to the sound of the bell. I had been sleeping, but the capital had a large church with a bell, so I figured it must be noon already. The church rang the bell 3 times for morning, noon, and night. There was no more darkness left in the sky, so it must be noon.

When I was 5, I got my own room and a large brand new bed. When I was a baby I slept in my parent’s room in the crib, but they had bought all that furniture so I could sleep on my own. There was even a large and wide window in front of my new small desk, brought in for my own private use. I really liked it.

“Altis-sama, your mother has prepared dinner.”

Opening the door, Mich.e.l.la informed me while I slept on my bed, looking at me expressionlessly. She may have been 70, but her back were in good shape, and her teeth were beautiful. And like always, she approached without warning. I answered her with a simple ‘yes’, but she had turned around and left the room without even listening, and I watched her go until she was out of sight. She always acted with haste. Or wait, did she just walk fast maybe?

On the breakfast table was Mom’s specialty: a line of Hamus sandwiches. The Hamus meat had a chicken-like texture, with a sweet and spicy sauce and vegetables, and was sandwiched between two slices of bread. It was pretty delicious.

“Oh, Al you’re up? We’re just about to eat, so go wash your hands.”

I nodded in acknowledgment, then hurried off to the washstand.

There was a magic circle inscribed to the spigot so that when you turned the handle, water would come pouring out. Easy-peasy. I wasn’t quite tall enough to reach yet, so I used the small step stool that Dad had made when Jörg was younger. Solis had used it as well.

The face reflected in the mirror was utterly different from the one in my previous life. I had inherited my mother’s golden hair and drooping eyes. When I was born, my eyes had been blue like Dad’s, but now they were violet. It was a side effect from the onset of my Excessive Magic Disorder. Still, purple eyes weren’t altogether uncommon, so it was fine.

And as always, the one thing I couldn’t get used to was my own charming pretty boy looks. I tried not to think about it and washed my hands so I could finally eat my Hamus sandwich!

I rolled up my sleeves to wash my hands, and also gave my face a wash since I had just woken up. Okay, I should be fine now. I hopped off the step stool (about 50cm/20in), then headed off to the living room.

My mind was full of sandwich thoughts, so when I opened the door to the living room and found a person was there, I was so surprised that I took a step back. At my small stature, I couldn’t even see the person’s face when I looked up. But just seeing the moss green skirt and white ap.r.o.n, I knew it was Mich.e.l.la.

I wondered if she was going to say anything. Then the words that fell upon my ears were…

“…What an atrocious amount of magic, you vile child.”

Cold and painful words.

I hardly remembered the taste of the sandwich that I’d been looking forward to. Before I realized it, I was already back in bed.

Mom had been in the kitchen at the time and hadn’t heard what Mich.e.l.la-san had said, and I was torn on whether that was a good or bad thing.

Well, I already knew she loathed me, so it’s fine if I hate her right back. Even though I settled on that, for the first time since I was born into this world, my body trembled at the memory of those hateful eyes.

This is why I didn’t like people. You never knew what people were really thinking. It’s why I never involved myself with other people.

I hid myself away in my bed, and even though I took it every day after my meals, today I completely forgot to take Dr. Safi’s medicine.