The Baby Land Lord Is Retiring - Chapter 1

I felt a great pressure pushing me away, and I burst into tears as a loud cry left my throat.

“Uwahhh!”

I know what this is about.

Because I’ve already experienced it before.

‘Was I reincarnated again?’

This is already my third life. It’s so tiring that I hoped I wouldn’t be born again.

But where’s my mom? Mothers usually give their babies milk, don’t they?

I wanted to find something, but my ability to recognize things was too poor.

Thud, thud, thud.

I can only hear busy footsteps and people’s voices.

“Oh, no, M’lady! You have to open your eyes!”

I heard a woman’s loud voice. With that, the surrounding area has become noisier than before.

“Is she going to be okay?”

“She doesn’t have a chance. I don’t see a way to save her.”

Hmm? Something’s not right.

“Call the messenger!”

“The road to the estate is blocked with water, so no one wants to go there.”

“Then you should at least call a wizard!”

“It’s too late.”

“What?”

“The lady just died.”

…I only lived bad lives, but this time, it felt bad from the start.

* * *

Before I was born again, I lived two lives.

In my first life, I was born in Korea in the 90s, and I was a hard worker.

It was an environment where people had no choice but to work hard.

My divorced parents cut off all ties with me and abandoned me at my grandmother’s house.

My grandmother, who took me in at a moment’s notice, dropped me out of school to become a factory worker.

All I could do was study, so I studied, proudly received a full scholarship, and entered the architecture department of a prestigious university.

I won three architectural contests, my grades were always A+ for five years straight, and I was scouted by the nation’s largest construction company upon graduation.

However, I died in vain because of a traffic accident on my first day of work.

Then I had a second life.

In my second life, I was born in a very poor family in another world.

There were many days when I starved, and drunkards often beat my father for no reason at all.

My mother forced me to marry a butcher who was 20 years older as soon as I turned 14. For your information, we didn’t get married.

I escaped from that house. I couldn’t give up my longing for my dream job and became an architect’s assistant.

However, after a year of hard work, I had barely started from scratch when I died again.

That was because the tyrant leader ordered all architects in the country to be executed.

My fiancé sneaked into the secret passage of the imperial family, where the architects were imprisoned and scheduled for execution under treason.

With my dog-like death at hand, the last gift from my family was really impressive.

It was an old, stale bread and a terrible letter.

– If only you got married to that butcher, you could’ve fed your family, and you won’t have to die. Fool.

‘Is this for real?’

It was the most impressive thing I ever received in my second life.

I tore the letter to pieces and gave the old bread to a hungry, pregnant woman who died later on.

Come to think of it, the pregnant woman gave me a ring to repay me…

“Huh? Why is this stuck in my hand?’

My third life is a lot more… weird?

* * *

It has already been quite a while since my third round of life began.

“Nnggcha!”

I struggled and reached out to the bread on the table.

Perhaps I didn’t grow taller because I don’t eat well. The bread that I can almost touch was hard to reach.

“No…”

I stretched my fingers desperately.

I haven’t eaten since yesterday.

My belly, which had become so thin that it almost looked like it was stuck to my back, growled constantly.

I’m famished. To the point that I kept getting dizzy.

I jumped hard thinking that I could grab the bread.

“Euuchacha!”

Eventually, my hand was able to grasp the bread. Although the night before yesterday, I accidentally dropped it on the floor and was unable to eat it.

“Finally…”

I took a big bite of the bread, overwhelmed with hunger.

“Whew.”

As I had expected, it didn’t taste good.

The old bread was dry and hard. I even felt stuffy because of the accumulated dust.

However, that person said she wouldn’t give me anything until tomorrow evening, so I had to endure it.

I don’t know if I did anything wrong.

She was very capricious. She bothered me whenever she wasn’t in the mood and punished me unreasonably.

“I’m hungry.”

I ate all the bread, but it wasn’t enough. Unfortunately, no matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t see anything to eat.

Tears quickly burst out of my blinking eyes.

“Hiing…”

In the meantime, I’m trapped in this narrow room, and I only had enough food to survive.

I don’t know who I am, how old I am, how long it has been since I was born, and who was the woman, the only person I’ve met since I came to my senses? I don’t know anything.

At first, I cried loudly for my life, but no one reached out to me.

The woman who takes care of me gives me my meals.

However, she would just put them on the table, she won’t even change my diapers.

There were many days when she just checked whether I’m still alive or not, then she will leave the room. Sometimes, she won’t even give me water.

One day, I barely opened the window and drank rainwater. The next day, the floor was wet and she was making a lot of fuss.

But fortunately, she is not my mother.

“I wouldn’t have taken care of that stupid girl if I did not owe Audrey a debt! Ah, this is so annoying!”

Since then, I have thought every day.

Who’s Audrey? Maybe it’s my mother’s name?

Did I get abandoned by my parents again? When will my life cycle of abandonment end?

“You thieving cat!”

I was surprised and curled up at the sudden shriek.

“What else did you steal and eat?”

I didn’t answer her. She glared at me fiercely and raised her hand.

“You’re wiping the crumbs on your mouth, are you trying to fool me, you little brat?”

“Oh, no, no. It’s just…!”

I closed my eyes tightly in anticipation of what was to come.

“Kyaaa!”

“You little liar!”

The woman began to yell at the top of her lungs.

My heart hurt so much that I couldn’t stand crying.

What did I do wrong to get in trouble like this?

I’m so tired, I can’t stand it anymore…

“Hick, heuk.”

Tears streamed down my face.

In this situation, the memories of past lives were not helpful.

No matter how much experience I’ve had in my previous lives, I am just a baby right now.

And, just like in my previous lives, my mind is adjusting to my age.

That’s why I feel so sad right now, so tired and distressed.

“You’re too noisy…!”

The woman shot at me a glare with her livid eyes, annoyed by my cries.

I crouched instinctively as if to defend myself.

But then,

“What are you doing?”

An unfamiliar voice was heard from the door.

I lifted my face, which was ruined by tears, from between my knees.

“Y-Your Grace, Duke!”

She staggered back. It was only then that I could see who appeared out of nowhere.

‘The duke?’

I looked at him from head to toe. He’s tall.

He has wide shoulders and a fine body with muscles sticking out.

Next, I could see his disheveled silver hair that shone brightly.

His silver hair looked similar to mine. Even though mine was shabby because it wasn’t washed and brushed properly.

“Why is he here? Is he the one who can save me?’

The man looked at me with his red eyes that looked as if rubies had been embedded in them. Then he moved his eyes toward the woman again.

The jewel-like eyes threw her a sharp look.

“……Does her stomach hurt?”

“Oh, it’s just a misunderstanding, Your Grace. Please hear my explanation first.”

She stuttered an excuse.

“Before that.”

“The clothes she’s wearing are very old.”

“Well, that’s…!”

The woman looked at me with a perplexed look before she answered while trembling.

“Children are usually playing outside, so their clothes are quickly worn out. That is what happened after I changed her clothes this morning!”

The man questioned the woman with a look of skepticism.

“Why is she so skinny?”

“She’s very active, so no matter how much I feed her, she doesn’t gain weight.”

It was clear that her excuses did not fool the man.

The man stared at the woman with a colder expression and asked in a low voice.

“…Are you trying to play games with me?”

The atmosphere in the room suddenly felt heavy.

I thought I was the only one who felt it, but the woman fell to her knees while holding her neck with both hands.

“There is no way I would, Your Grace. This is unfair.”

The woman seemed to feel more pressure than I do.

“Please f-forgive me! Please!”

The woman, whom I’ve always found scary, who only looked big, bowed low and begged.

“I made a mistake because there were some issues and it was difficult to look after her, but I took care of her with all my heart and soul!”

“With all your heart and soul…”

In an instant, the pressure in the air disappeared.

At that moment, my brain, which had failed to think because of the fear I felt, began to work again.

Silver hair similar to mine, and the way he questioned her of my poor appearance, and the rank of a ‘duke’.

‘He’s the one who can help me.’

I don’t know what our relationship is, but I know that this man is the only one who can save me.

I shouldn’t let her lie and have him leave me here.

“S-sh-she is lying.”

At my words, the man and the woman looked at me at the same time.

“She’s not telling the truth. She’s been tormenting and starving me every single day…”

I wanted to explain why I shouldn’t be left here.

I wanted to show my desperation to the man who seemed to have the power to help me.

“I’ve never been out. I’ve always been locked in here.”

But in the end, the tears I tried to hide poured out.

“I’m as bad as I look. I’m dressed in weird clothes… but I’ll be better off if I could just wash up and eat something.”

“…….”

“I’ll do everything.”

“I’ll do everything you ask me to do, so please…”

I cried harder and couldn’t continue talking. I clung to the man as tears continued to leave my eyes.

“Heuk, heuk, please take me with you.”

My cries did not die down.

Even when I tried to hold my breath, I could not stop crying.

This is my body’s reaction, my body that had been sick and crying in sorrow. My will was not enough to stop it.

Meanwhile, the woman crawled to me and covered my mouth.

“She’s lying because she’s still very young. Children at this age lie a lot…”

No, I’m not.

I’m not lying. This woman is lying.

I wanted to shake off her hand that covered my mouth, but I didn’t have the strength to do so since I never ate proper food.

I looked up at the man with eyes that begged him to believe me.

But the man just looked down at me and did not speak.

‘Does he not believe me……?’

It’s hopeless.

It was so hard, but I still tried my best. I thought I was finally getting out of here.

“How dare you.”

It was when I was about to shed more tears, unable to overcome my sadness.

“Where do you think your hand is holding?”

“Huh? D-Duke, don’t believe in this child.”

The man strode towards me.

He stopped when he was in front of me.

I felt his touch as he lifted me, and my field of vision suddenly grew higher.

“She’s light.”

He murmured to himself.

“What should I feed you?”

I looked at the man with tears in my eyes as I sobbed.

“……Take care of that thing.”

He ordered the knights next to him. The knights approached the woman.

“D-Duke. Please have mercy on me…!”

The woman screamed and the man holding me covered my eyes.

At that moment, as if my life had been a lie, I fell into a deep sleep.