Volume 2 Chapter 33: Birth and Confinement【The Aristocratic Council Arc】

It was Kelphine, pacing back and forth in the corridor.

He, the current head of the Kelphine family, was present at the moment his first child was born.

Because of that, he walked about restlessly.

“Master, even if you’re so flustered, the situation won’t change.”

“I’m not flustered. This is my first child. I just wonder if it will be born without any issues…”

“It will be alright. It is the child of you and your wife.”

“……That’s right.”

Admonished by his aide, he slightly calmed down.

For this occasion, he had made the utmost preparations.

Believing that nothing should happen to his wife and their unborn child, he had surrounded himself with mages capable of the most potent restorative magic.

Those assisting with the birth were true veterans.

They spared no expense, ensuring that the preparations were beyond compare.

Under no circumstances would the worst outcome occur.

“If possible, a boy. But a girl is fine, too. What we need is a child who can protect and further prosper the Kelphine family—in the sense of continuing the bloodline.”

Aristocratic society remains a male-dominated world.

Almost all heads are male; even if a woman takes over, it is only temporarily—when the husband has passed and the child is still young, serving as a caretaker head.

Even so, Kelphine would not treat a daughter with neglect.

He would continue the Kelphine name.

He would preserve their status as one of the four great aristocratic families.

While he indeed carried that duty, he was also about to become a parent for the first time.

Surely, he could not help but rejoice at the birth of his own child.

But that warm emotion would soon turn to ice.

“Mas-Master…”

“What’s wrong!? Something happened to the child… to that one!?”

When an exhausted midwife emerged from the room where his wife was, Kelphine hurried over in a panic.

Preparing for the worst, his heart turned cold.

Fortunately, the midwife shook her head.

“W-Wife is unharmed. Her health is good. With rest, she should be able to move about soon. B-but…”

“…The child?”

“Y-yes…”

Stillbirth.

That was the first thought to cross Kelphine’s mind.

But if that were all, it would be strange for the veteran midwife to appear so exhausted.

After all, if it were merely sorrow, that might be understandable, but her state of exhaustion was something else.

Just as Kelphine was about to ask…

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

The scream that echoed was that of his wife.

Kelphine immediately ran over and forced open the room where his wife was required to remain in complete rest.

“You! What’s wrong!?”

“A-ah, you… Th-this child…!”

His wife was unharmed.

He felt a momentary relief, but when his eyes fell upon the infant, he too stared in shock.

A cute baby, sleeping soundly with gentle breaths, without a single cry.

Already, hair had begun to grow.

Yes, hair as white as snow.

“Wha…!? A cursed child…!?”

White hair at birth—there’s no other explanation.

If it were silver hair, Kelphine wouldn’t have been particularly bothered.

But white hair.

And, even its skin was of a translucent whiteness.

Though its eyes had not yet opened, if they were red…

“U-unbelievable! My child, a cursed child…! Such an absurdity…!”

Kelphine was stunned.

A cursed child, one that spreads misfortune all around, had been born bearing his blood—and that left him utterly dumbfounded.

In the midst of all this, one of the aides, unable to bear the thought of being cursed, was the first to act.

“Master, if we don’t take care of this quickly, we’ll all be cursed!”

“Wait!!”

He attempted to stop the aide, who had drawn a small knife and was approaching the infant.

But it was too late.

“Gah……!？”

In no time at all, the aide’s body began to waste away.

Before anyone noticed, the infant’s eyes had opened—and they were, as expected, red.

Without a cry, the aide simply stared at his own weakening state.

And in less than a few minutes, the aide collapsed.

It wasn’t the sound of a body hitting the floor, but rather a light sound like paper crumbling.

“T-This is the cursed child…！”

He was utterly dumbfounded.

It was unthinkable that a mere baby could singlehandedly overcome an adult intent on causing harm.

Moreover, to completely turn the tables was anything but normal.

This was, without a doubt, the cursed child—shunned and feared.

“W-what should we do, you!?”

“…If we can’t kill it, we have no choice but to confine it. We have never had a cursed child among us. It’s simply so frail, too weak to show itself in public.”

There was no other option.

I refuse to let this end as it did with our aide.

Then, the only solution is to keep it confined for the rest of its life.

“U-ugh… How did it come to this…”

“It’s alright. You are not at fault. The blame lies with…”

Kelphine, by his wife’s side—exhausted in body and mind from the birth—stood there.

Though he claimed she was not to blame, if even the next child were to be cursed, he would spare her no mercy.

But more than that, what was worst of all now was…

“This, the cursed child!”

A potent malice was directed at the pure, innocent infant.

◆

The cursed child, named Izun, was confined as Kelphine had decreed.

In a detached building of the mansion.

She never spent time with the family; the only ones around her were servants with fearful expressions.

Even so, Izun recognized the notion of parents and understood the concept of family.

When her parents occasionally visited, they looked at her with utter disdain.

At the very least, they did not treat her as their own child.

Nonetheless, Izun cherished those rare visits from her parents.

No matter how much she tried to speak, they never responded.

Yet she would cheerfully recount her unchanging daily life in confinement to them.

“I see, so that is what happened.”

Desperate for that kind of response, she repeatedly tried to engage them in conversation.

Of course, having received no education, her speech was halting.

Denied recognition and continuously ignored, there was no one around with whom to converse.

In other words, she learned language at a painfully slow pace.

“Dad, today I did this!”

“Mom, I drew a picture, so look!”

“Thanks for always taking care of me!”

To her rarely appearing father

And to the servants who always looked at her with fear.

Izun continued speaking bravely.

Of course, no reply came.

Thus, the miserable conversation—yielding no results—went on.

“Well… well done!”

A new child was born into the Kelphine family.

Not a cursed child, but Izun’s little brother.

That meant there was no longer any need to confine Izun.