"You fucking useless bitch!!"
The kick hit Lilia's back and she cried out in pain. "I leave for one year, and you have a child?!"
Another kick. Then another. Lilia curled her body protectively around the infant in her arms, shielding him as best she could.
"Please, Resol, I didn't mean to—"
Her voice cut off as Resol yanked her up by the hair. "I don't want your excuses, bitch." He leaned in close, his breath hot and foul as drool slipped from the corner of his lips. A twisted grin stretched across his face.
"You know… ever since a little whore threw me in jail, I haven't had anyone to scratch the itch…"
Lilia's eyes widened in terror. She shook her head frantically.
"I'll forgive your sins," he whispered, licking the side of her neck as tears welled in her eyes. "If you don't resist this time."
His iron grip stayed locked in her hair. Lilia stared into his eyes, frozen, her jaw trembling. "Resol, please... I just gave birth. I... I can't handle it..."
His expression twisted into disgust as he flung her aside—uncaring of the baby in her arms.
"Tch. Useless bitch."
One final kick landed in her ribs before he turned away, stomping over to the dented drawer. He rummaged through it, finally pulling out a pouch heavy with coins.
"Well, well… seems you and that mutt of a child have been saving up. For what, I wonder?" He laughed and tossed a single coin at her.
"Here—don't starve before I get back."
Then he slipped past the curtain and out of the hut.
Silence fell. Lilia remained crumpled on the ground as the baby began to cry. The shrill screech of the curtain drew back again—this time, it was Nessa, tears streaking down her cheeks, who rushed to her mother's side. Lilia smiled weakly, patting her head as Nessa clung to her.
Aric emerged from the bedroom, his expression grim. His tiny hands balled into fists as he stared at the doorway Resol had just walked through.
"There goes our bed savings," he thought bitterly, approaching Lilia.
He and Nessa had gambled by hiding. It was the right move—Resol might've turned to them too. Still...
Aric's teeth clenched.
He walked over, gently hugging Lilia, offering what comfort he could. Then, his eyes drifted to the infant in her arms—brown hair like Resol's, black eyes like Lilia's.
He was wrapped in the same white cloth Aric had once used. The same cloth Aric had loved as a baby. It was certainly a shame. He grew quite attached to it, but, 'it must be passed on I guess'. He thought.
Another thought came into his mind.
'Is it normal for women to be pregnant for eleven months in this world?'
Yes, it had been 15 months since Aric's reincarnation. 11 since Lilia had been pregnant. Strange, but… this was a new world.
Weird was expected.
Still...
He stared at the baby. Tristan. That was the name Lilia had given him.
***
A few days had passed since Resol's unwelcome guest appearance, and Aric was once again lying belly-down on the floor, legs flailing like an overturned beetle as he glared at the book in front of him. His lips moved in a constant mutter as he tried—tried—to pronounce the cursed words of the Hsil language.
This language pissed him off more than he was willing to admit. And for good reason.
It had started off like any normal language—just learn the alphabet, right? WRONG. Hsil had 73 letters. That's right. Seventy. Three.
And if that wasn't enough to make a grown man cry, each letter had an average of FOURTEEN accent marks. Fourteen! Aric wanted to go back in time, find the person who invented this language, and stitch his lips to stop 'this' from being created.
Still, over the course of the year, he'd made progress. He'd tagged along with Nessa to Elvis' place so many times the old man basically started expecting him. And at some point, Elvis realized that the one-year-old babbling baby talk was actually a tiny genius in disguise.
Of course, Aric couldn't just casually say, "Hey, I am actually reincarnated." So he just played the part of "gifted child," and Elvis, bless his scholarly soul, decided he wasn't going to let Aric grow up to be one of the semi-literates that are in Durvarn.
Now, Aric could actually understand people when they talked! Sort of. Sometimes. Maybe.
The hardest part of learning Hsil wasn't the absurd alphabet. No, it was the fact that Aric had no base language to compare it to. When Elvis pointed at something and said a word, Aric had to just guess what it meant. Was it "hand"? Was it "five"? Was it a "banana"?
He didn't know!
But lately, things were finally clicking. He could even read basic novels now—slowly, with lots of squinting and mental screaming—but still!
And today… Today was special.
Aric closed his book as he got up from the floor and waddled over to the tall cabinet to put it back.
Then he stared at the top shelf.
Too high.
He raised the book with both hands and tried to throw it up there.
The book didn't move.
He grunted, shifted his tiny legs for leverage, and heaved.
The book moved… straight down. Gravity was a traitor.
"Useless hunk of wood," he grumbled, giving the cabinet a dirty look before setting the book gently at the bottom.
"Fine. Stay there. Be useless."
He turned and scanned the room — If you could call it one — until he spotted Nessa, completely absorbed in carving her little wooden figures like the world outside didn't exist.
"Oyyyy," Aric called.
No reaction.
"OYYYYYY!" he shouted louder.
Still nothing.
Aric narrowed his eyes. 'She is doing it again…'
Aric marched his way to the chair Nessa was sitting on before biting her thigh. "Oww!" Nessa yelped, dropping her sculpture onto the table as she picked Aric up by the head and yelled,
"What do you want, you brat!"
Aric went limp, deadpan expression and all. "Come. Let's gwo."