8 Christmas (1)

Austria, December 22nd, 1788

2:55 PM

'My household is kinda depressed,' was all that Lukas could think as he laid on the sofa and engaged in the third stage of his body dexterity improvement, which was: complex drawings.

Lukas would start drawing complex things, and by complex, he meant: anything which is not just a random geometric shape. Now that he could draw basic geometric shapes quite perfectly, his drawings that demanded a bit more of complexity were also close to flawlessness.

Why Lukas thought his family was depressed? He got to know about a celebration that was coming up soon, the "Christmas", which apparently was pretty important, but nobody in the mansion really bothered about celebrating it. Frida did give some gifts to all the servants in the mansion, which made Karl go crazy... well, even more.

He said that servants were inferior and that they didn't need it, all they had to do was serving them because they were nobles and the servants were not.

Lukas thought a lot about what determined whether someone was a noble or not and the only answer he could come up with was: birth. It all depended on whether you were born in a noble household or not. Nothing more, nothing less.

While Frida and Karl were arguing, she said something that intrigued Lukas very much.

'The Enlightenment defenses that all humans are equal!', Lukas remembered that sentence.

The "Enlightenment", as far as Lukas could be aware of, was an idea that states that all humans are equal, however, it apparently wasn't very popular, or at least not popular enough yet, since the distinction between nobles, clerics and peasants still predominated.

Lukas couldn't complain though, he was a noble, after all. He didn't really know how people could care so much about what other people felt, people they didn't even know.

'That sure is meant to convey an image of a good person, I don't think it's possible for someone to be so empathetic.' Lukas thought as he finished his drawing and looked at it with a doubtful expression.

Now that Lukas had a vaster array of things that he could draw, he started feeling pleasure as he drew again, he even stopped procrastinating completely.

'Well, let's wait until the Christmas comes for real to see whether or not my household isn't celebrating it as it should. I really would like to see more people once in a while.'

Lukas then shook his head as in a way to pull himself together.

'What am I thinking? I am four months old! It's pretty obvious I am not going to celebrate with them!'

Although Lukas had advanced quite a lot, mainly in his physical skills, he was still treated like a baby, and he was actually fine with it, he liked to be spoiled.

Everyone had already noticed Lukas was pretty advanced for his age, Lukas was already able to crawl without major problems, which was pretty early, he was just less than four months old. Not to mention the fact that he already drew much better than many adults.

Although it was against Frida's volition, Lukas was already known as a prodigy all around the mansion, however, nobody dared to say it in front of Frida. Lukas only knew it because he spent a lot of time alone with the servants.

'Oh, well, although it pisses me off a bit, I am fine with being regarded as a "prodigy" and still not be taken to the celebration. I am not even sure if my family is going to go! I guess it's better like that... even though I wanted to go... damnit.'

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Austria, December 25th 1788

2:28 PM

Lukas woke up to a lot of loud noises. There seemed to be a lot of people and they were apparently celebrating.

'Oh, so they are actually celebrating Christmas. Well, I should've known already, it's a religious celebration, after all.'

Lukas decided to keep laying in the crib, he relaxed as he placed his hands behind his head. He tried to understand what they were saying there, but there seemed to be quite a lot of people there and they apparently were talking all at the same time.

Lukas sighed.

'Oh well, I guess I'm going there myself, then. Curiosity is killing me!'

Lukas sat up and picked one of the pillows he had in the crib. He managed to make it go through the bars of the crib and make it fall on the floor.

'Alright! Next move!'

Lukas tried to stand up as he held the bars of the crib as a support. He looked up and tried to reach the top of the crib as he tiptoed.

'Just a bit more...'

Lukas then gave up.

'It's useless! I'm not tall enough!'

Lukas recovered his breath as he tried to think about other strategy.

'Alright, I'm only lacking a few centimeters to reach the top of the crib, what should I do?'

Lukas stopped moving completely as he thought.

'Screw it.'

Lukas flexed his legs as he propelled himself up. He managed to reach the top of the crib and hang in there.

'Well done! That's what I've been drawing for! Now pull yourself up!'

Lukas tried to pull himself up as he wiggled his legs in an attempt to push himself as he finally managed to make it to the top. He held himself on the top of the crib with his elbows.

'Ok, now...'

Lukas made one last effort to make the rest of his body leave the crib, however, as his body left the crib it flipped forward, making Lukas fall on the pillow he had placed before.

Lukas breathed intensely as he felt a relief.

'I guess I dirtied my diaper.'

Lukas sat up as he gave one last hard breath.

'Alright, let's go!'

Lukas crawled to where the sound was coming from. His sight was much better now, so he could discern the many places of the mansion a bit more easily.

As Lukas was reaching his destiny, he turned at a door and bumped into someone's legs.

'Shit! I guess my sight still needs to improve a bit... or maybe I was just inattentive, yes that's more likely.'

As Lukas opened his eyes too see what he had bumped into, he saw a young girl, who seemed to be around fourteen years old. She had golden blonde hair and blue eyes, just like Frida.

'Oh well, I guess my journey ends here.'

The girl's lips curled up as a blush appeared on her face.

"You are so cute!"

'Wait, what?!'

The young girl picked Lukas and started lulling him.

"You have such a cute face! Oh! Your eyes are beautiful too! Are they complete black?! Never seen something like that!"

Since they were in a not very bright part of the mansion, it was pretty much impossible to see that Lukas eyes were actually very dark brown. In reality, it was very hard to notice it even in a very illuminated place.

'I never thought I would be caught and I wouldn't get scolded! I'm lucky. She doesn't seem to know I'm Frida's son.'

Soon Lukas heard another feminine voice.

"Helen! What are you taking so long for?!"

'Not my mother either, I should be fine by now.'

A black haired girl with brown eyes appeared, she seemed to be around Helen's age too. She had a cute face, covered with a few freckles, making her even more charming.

'I have to think about something, my mother will find out about it in no time. What should I do?'

"Mia! Look at this cutie I just found!"

Helen showed Lukas to Mia.

Mia's face blushed slightly as she saw Lukas.

"Oh God! I guess that must be the cutest baby I've ever seen!"

'Ok, I take back what I said. My household isn't depressed at all!'

The two girls started spoiling Lukas with a lot of attention and affection.

'Welp, I guess this is not too bad!'

"I wonder if we can adopt him?"

'What the...?'

"Don't say crazy stuff, Helen. It's obvious he's the owner of this mansion's son."

Helen looked at Mia with a pouting face.

"What?! Are you kidding me?!"

Mia shrugged.

"Did you really think he was an orphan who had broken into the mansion all of a sudden? Wearing such good clothes?! Actually, how did he get here without anybody seeing him in the first place?"

Helen shrugged.

"What does it matter? Let's just enjoy his cuteness a bit more."

'Actually, this is becoming kinda creepy.'

Helen gave Lukas a tight hug right before Olivia getting there.

"What's all this noise for, girls?"

Lukas raised his brow

'You are one to talk. Look at this party!'

As soon as Olivia saw who was in Helen's arms, she showed a dumbfounded expression.

"Oh, young master! What are you doing here?"

"Told ya", Mia said to Helen, who pouted once again.

Mia turned to Olivia and asked:

"Who is he, Ms. Olivia?"

"He's Mrs. Frida Von Neumann's son, his name is Lukas."

Helen nodded her head in understanding.

"Lukas, huh?"

Olivia nodded her head.

"He must be hungry, that's why he came all the way here."

Mia raised her brow.

"What? Wouldn't he just start crying?"

Olivia chuckled nervously.

"Hehe, well, young master is a bit different from other babies his age."

Both young girls frowned, but they didn't say anything.

"Well, anyway, I think I should call young master's mother. Can I count on you to take care of him while I'm not here?"

The two beautiful girls nodded at Olivia with a smile.

"Very well."

Olivia left with a smile on her face, however, when she turned, her face turned into concern.

'How am I going to explain this to Mrs. Von Neumann? I don't think she will like it! Still, I can't just put young master to sleep again! He must be starving!'

Olivia then took a deep breath and headed to the room where the celebration was taking place.

There was a lavish amount of high-quality food on some huge tables in the room. There were a lot of people, not just from the Von Neumann house, but also from many other noble houses.

Olivia walked calmly and without calling much attention towards Frida, when she reached the noble lady, Olivia whispered a few words in Frida's hear as the beautiful woman listened to everything calmly and attentively.

As soon as Olivia stopped whispering, Frida stood up of her chair and started speaking for everyone to hear:

"I'll have to retire myself for a moment, I shall not take long! Please, keep enjoying the party!"

Frida then left the room of the banquet and headed to where Olivia told her Lukas was. When she got there, she saw Mia and Helen filling Lukas with a lot of cuddles, and Lukas even seemed to be enjoying himself.

As soon as Frida saw that, she started chuckling, startling the two young girls.

"O-Oh! You are Lukas's mother?"

Frida smiled.

"Yes, I am. Hello, Helen! I haven't had the opportunity to greet you yet, you have turned into a beautiful girl!"

Helen played with her hair as she blushed.

"R-Really? Thank you, aunt Frida!"

'Aunt? Does this mean she's my cousin?'

Frida turned to Mia.

"And you are?"

"I am Mia Hekinstein, an old friend of Helen's, it's nice to meet you, Mrs. Von Neumann" Mia said smiling as she bowed.

Frida nodded in understanding.

"Very well, now I have to take Lukas, he must be hungry."

'Yes, I am. About time, by the way. These girls are two monsters, they didn't let me go!'

Although Lukas was complaining, he did enjoy his time with the two girls.

Mia nodded.

"Indeed. We understand."

She handed Lukas to Frida.

"Go back to the party. I'll be back there soon enough."

The two girls nodded and went back there. Of course, the two girls kissed Lukas's forehead before going.

'I knew it!'

Frida chuckled once both girls had gone.

"You are popular with girls at such a young age, Lukas?", Frida played.

'Of course I am! I mean, look at me!'

Frida took Lukas to a room with nobody and breastfed him. After that, she went back to the party with him. She decided to show Lukas to everyone.