TMKWPL CH 6

Chapter 6

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Accidental Parenting

Lucia hurriedly opened the door upon returning to the training camp quarters. Convincing the emperor hadn’t taken as long as expected, but the process itself had dragged on because she had registered the child’s birth with him as the guarantor.

It’ll be quite amusing to see his reaction when he finds out the child he guaranteed is the Saintess.

She had deliberately let the birth registration slip in front of him, yet he’d bitten the bait without a second thought.

Even if the emperor was not heavily involved, she believed she had to take responsibility because it was he who first entangled her in the plan to seal the saint before her regression.

Lucia's lips curled up at the thought of the emperor’s furious face.

As soon as she arrived, Lucia hurried to the bedroom where the child was likely to be.

But the bedroom was empty, the living room was empty and the kitchen was empty.

Seeing no sign of the child anywhere, Lucia recalled the voice she’d heard from the bathroom just before she left.

Don’t tell me she’s…still in there?

Opening the bathroom door, the child was precariously standing on the edge of the slippery bathtub, reaching out as if desperately trying to grab something.

Startled by the sudden opening of the door and her presence, the child looked over—and eventually lost her footing.

Lucia quickly caught the child. The child in her arms opened her tightly shut eyes and looked at her. She looked at her in amazement, as if she couldn't believe she hadn't fallen to the ground.

As Lucia gently set her down,

“Why are you still here?”

“...Tow…el...”

The child mumbled, cowering where she set her down.

Lucia’s gaze immediately shifted to where the towels were usually kept.

“......Oh.”

The bathroom towel was placed on a shelf, far too high for the child barely half her size to reach.

And looking at her now, she was still completely naked—and it had already been half a day. If the saintess were an ordinary child, they could have caught a cold by now.

It was her careless mistake, she felt the child's gaze on her from a distance. When their eyes met, the child looked anxious and cautious, as though she had committed some grave offense.

At Lucia’s feet, above the clogged bathroom drain, tiny feathers and filthy residue floated lazily across the floor.

They smeared her glossy black boots, making it look as if she’d jumped straight into a mud pit.

The child watched Lucia with trembling pupils, seemingly worried about having made the place dirty.

But—

I should probably take off my shoes quickly.

Unfortunately, Lucia failed to notice the child’s true feelings. After all, if you washed something dirty, wasn’t it only natural for filth to come off?

As she brushed off her boots, the child finally couldn’t hold back her tears and began to cry bitterly.

From her perspective, it was a sudden outburst of tears. Lucia was flustered, unable to understand the reason for her tears.

Oh, right, I should have given her a towel first.

She hastily grabbed the towel and wrapped it around the child's body. But instead of calming down, the child backed away even farther.

Lucia blinked as she looked at her.

Is this not it? I’m sure you’re supposed to wipe your body after washing.

Thinking back, she had never lived independently since childhood.

She’d grown up as a noble’s daughter, then as an imperial knight after severing ties with her family.

Except for time spent on the battlefield, she had never gone without attendants—even well into her nineties. In other words, Lucia has zero life skills aside from swordsmanship.

As she reflected on her life, a big question arose.

…Me. Raising a child?

Lucia, who just regressed in a day, began to grasp what she had done.

She suddenly sensed that this fate would be far more difficult than all the achievements she had amassed over ninety years.

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The child was now wearing Lucia’s smallest blouse and was still too large for her. She was sitting across the table looking very intimidated.

Bread, meat, fruit, and a mass of leafy greens.

Perhaps because the greens looked more like freshly uprooted plants than food, the child didn’t touch anything at all—despite clearly being hungry.

Lucia felt a slight frustration looking at her.

She saved the saint.

She decided to become a mother.

And yet—

At this rate, could the child even grow up properly until awakening?

Moreover, leaving aside the matter of life skills, the most pressing concern is—

How much does it cost to raise a child?

Looking back at the past, she had never worried about money before her regression.

Even after severing ties with her family with nothing to her name, the salary she received was enough for her to employ maids, and she was rich from the war bonuses even after retiring early, even refusing the titles and territories that were given to her because she found it troublesome to manage them.

But what about now?

She’d been estranged from her family for nine years—right in the middle of a five-year special training period.

Moreover, all necessities were provided during the training period, so she had given her unnecessary salary to the Knights' Order for operating expenses.

Although she will receive salary in the future, she currently had no savings at all. Looking at the child wearing her clothes, Lucia felt another wave of frustration.

But, if she hadn’t saved the saint today, she wouldn’t have been able to bring her here without any problems.

Alright. Stay positive. I burned the documents, and her identity wasn’t exposed. No mission was assigned.

Eleven years exactly until the day the child turned sixteen and awakened. Until then, she must hide the child’s existence with the control stone; work as an imperial knight; gather information; and gradually eliminate the group related to the sealing the saintess.

...Even so.

 Right now, I have to worry about what to eat for tomorrow.

This training camp was a secluded facility solely for training, separate from the secular world. Even the maids who have worked here so far have only come to work when there are no people, she had never once seen their faces.

Which meant that the moment her parental leave began, those services ended. The good thing in this misfortune is that neither the child nor Lucia was ready to meet other people.

If I hire a maid, she’ll have to call me ‘mum’. But forcing her to do so feels wrong. And I can’t cook right now either...

As countless worries piled up, Lucia’s expression hardened, the child lowered her head and spoke softly.

“...Annie… go back...”

Lucia doubted her ears .

What?

Since they’ve come this far, didn't she agree to stay together?

But come to think of it, the child had never once said that she would stay with her. She was flustered, but calmly asked,

“Do you mean the orphanage? Why?”

The child glanced at the dirty white gloves she had left on the table and then bowed her head again.

In truth, she didn’t want to go back. Warm water, smooth and clean bathtub. It was brief, but it was full of things she had never experienced in her life.

But what lingered more than those things was this sweet moment when a woman who resembled the mother who had only existed in her dreams offered to become her mother.

Was the dream supposed to end now?

Then she remembered, the adult's serious face, the long sigh the woman exhaled while looking at her. All of this was exactly the same image of an adult described by the children of the who had been returned to the orphanage after doing something wrong.

Unlike noble children, children from orphanages learned two things as they learned to read.

How to take care of children and how to help with household chores and farm work.

Children as young as five years old were adopted after the war ended to fill the labour shortage.

Weak girls were adopted to act as nannies or maids to help with household chores and care for younger siblings; boys were adopted to help with the labour force. Instead of being adopted by a normal family, Annie was sold to be a janitor in a dirty, uninhabited warehouse.

In front of Lucia, who said she would adopt such a worthless child. The child who knew her situation understood it even more.

She must have done something wrong. Like waking from a dream, it was time to go back.

So when Lucia asked for her reason, the child didn’t lie.

“...An-nie. Dir-ty. No stay here.”

Her limited vocabulary was unavoidable.

At the child’s sullen words, Lucia looked around.

I see

Indeed, this is the training centre of the Imperial Knights.

Decorative weapons hanging on the wall, and apart from the parlour and dressing room, it was a very barren place where even the common sofas and furniture were nowhere to be seen. Furthermore, due to today's work, the usually clean floor got dirty, making this place feel like an old office.

So, just like the child said, it is absolutely not a place where a five-year-old child could live.

“I see, you’re right.”

“...!”

The child was shocked as if they had been hit by a stone from the sky.

She had expected the adult in front of her to think that way, but hearing it in person was entirely different. Her soft little chin began to tremble as he struggled to hold back tears.

Then, this time, Lucia, who was watching the scene, was flustered.

She just agreed with what the child said, but it looked like she was about to cry at any moment.

Did I make a mistake?

Lucia reflected on the situation. So far, the only place the child has been in this accommodation is the bathroom. And in the situation where she burst into tears...

Lucia looked at her dirty military boots and pondered the child's words again.

Don’t tell me… by ‘dirty’, he meant herself?

It's was an unthinkable suspicion, but that was the only thing she can think of. So, she decided to directly ask her.

“Was it because the bathroom got dirty...?”

As soon as the word that had been bothering the child came out of Lucia's mouth, the tears she had been holding back burst forth.

“...Hwaaah! I’m sorry...”

“…….”

So, it is.

Lucia finally realized the situation, albeit belatedly.

But the misunderstanding that had already begun was a difficult situation for Lucia, who was not good at speaking.

Should I tell her she’s not dirty? And tell her not to worry about it because I can just call a maid?

None of it felt right. She had no idea what words were appropriate.

Even after only a few exchanges, she couldn’t predict how the child would react.

The child’s loud cries echoed all the way to the ceiling, leaving Lucia completely flustered. Even the legendary black monster knight was powerless before a crying child.

It was then. Her shaky eyes caught sight of the open bathroom door.

And along that path, the tiny footprints clearly marked all the way to the entrance. Lucia’s eyes shifted as an idea struck her.

“The orphanage. I can’t send you back.”

The child, sobbing so hard her body shook, paused at Lucia’s firm words.

“Clean it up, and I’ll decide whether to send you back or not.”

Lucia gestured to the bathroom and the floor with her chin.

“…!”

The child looked even more shocked than she had expected, and even the tears that were flowing stopped.

How could she use household chores as an excuse to threaten this little child?

She felt guilty for a moment, but for her, who found threats easier than comfort, this was the best option.

“This isn’t something that can be solved by crying. Do you understand?”

Lucia expected her to cry even harder but instead, the child simply closed her mouth, fidgeted with their small hands, and wiped away their tears.

Even that was an unexpected reaction.

“This is not my home so it needs to be kept clean. Can you do that yourself?

The child nodded vigorously at her words.

Right now, Lucia’s words sounded to her like she will let her stay as long as she cleans. So, from the child's point of view, this was a perfect chance.

Finally wondering where this place was, the child asked.

“This place, where?”

“…Strictly speaking, this place is probably part of the Imperial Palace.”

Even with Lucia's uncertain tone, the child was surprised.

Because she suddenly recalled a memory of what her sister, Mia, once said.

“The imperial palace. It's a paradise of glittering people, where they never have to worry about tomorrow's work or what they're going to eat.”

…So it really is.

The child became sullen again.

No matter how much she said she would be her mother, the dazzling woman in front of her was a woman far from her league.

She looked into Lucia’s blue eyes.

In her mind, those beautiful and gentle eyes would disappear if she couldn’t do her chores properly here.

This was a big deal for her. The thought of losing the mother she had for the first time already brought tears to her eyes.

Don’t cry. If you cry, you’re a troublesome child.

But the tears kept welling up.

For the first time, she was worried how to not be separated from someone. Thinking about the mistakes she had made so far, there was only one way to make up for it in the mind of a five-year-old child.

Cleaning this place more diligently than anyone else who comes and goes here.

If she showed her effort, maybe she wouldn’t be scolded, and instead of a grim face, she might smile sweetly, like when she held her hands.

If she [Lucia] smiled—just a little more, a little longer—maybe he could stay by her side.

She nodded weakly, trying to hold back the tears that wouldn't stop.

Oh, thank goodness.

Unaware of the child's determination, Lucia decided to persuade the child a bit more.

“This is troublesome. I wonder how long it'll take to scrub that hardwood floor, let alone the bathroom...”

“D-Don’t worry. Annie do her best…!”

When she saw Lucia in distress, the child desperately clasped her small hands and shouted with her shoulders hunched.

Ah, how pure this child was.

Lucia's heart ached with the guilt that grew at this moment, and she almost let out a groan.

“...Okay, then remember. I am Lucia.”

“Let's make a promise while we're here. From now on, we're not going to tell anyone about what happened at the orphanage. And—”

The child kept nodding regardless of what Lucia said.

“Remember? Look here.”

“…?”

Seeing the child nodding mechanically, she locked eyes with the child as if she was going to tell her the most important thing she has to keep in mind.

“It would be best if you start calling me mum as soon as possible.”

“……!”

The child’s already large eyes widened like a rabbit’s, and she lowered her head, mumbling silently.

They still had a long way to go. But the child's hidden face was now warmly glowing red, like the sunset light streaming through the window.

Chapter 5

Chapter List

Chapter 7