2 Who am I? Where am I?

The winter season was approaching, bringing cold winds down the warm land. The weather wasn't too warm nor too cold, but the commoners walking along the streets, couldn't help but shiver, due to the slight low temperature of the day.

Some commoners looked ahead for the winter season, while most of them lamented in deep thought .

While the residents of Titan Empire were actively preparing for the winter season, the Lisanthium palace was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.

"Eight children, you say?", a woman, who looked above the age of 25, leisurely sat on her chair and sipped her black tea.

Even though she was slightly old, she didn't show any signs of being ugly. Rather, she was beautiful in an unique way.

With her wavy red hair tied into a neat bun, she raised a brow and asked with a tint of curiosity, "Did the Emperor visit any one of them?".

Surprisingly, her maid nodded. Placing the tea on the table, she asked with a tint of curiosity, "Who's the lucky child?".

As far as she knew, the Emperor had never bothered to visit the children after their birth.

He wasn't busy, but rather he disdained kids. Mostly the female children.

"It's Consort Sophia's daughter", the maid said indifferently. Her voice held a tone of grievances. Fiona held the cup and raised her brows in amusement.

'A girl? How interesting?'. She didn't know whether it was just out of curiosity or jealousy, she stood up and walked toward consort Sophia's palace.

She wanted to see the child, who made the cold-blooded emperor leave his important work and visit the new born child. When she reached the palace, she was greeted with the fresh fragrance of lotus and lilies.

Plastering a gentle smile on her face, she went and opened the extravagant door of consort Sophia's chamber.

"Fiona, what a pleasant surprise! come in", a silver haired woman looked up and smiled warmly. She stood up, with her arms holding the new born child.

Even though she had given birth a day ago, she didn't look worn out. Rather, she was filled with excitement and energy.

Her cheeks were flushed while her eyes were bent into a crescent, causing her surroundings to brightened with gentleness.

Fiona grinned and walked in. Seeing the new born baby girl in her friend's arms, she nodded, "Not bad. Since the emperor came for the child, I thought that she would be a beauty. But she merely looks normal".

Inspite of the harsh words, consort Sophia laughed in amusement. She slapped her friend's shoulder and said in a fake enraged tone, "What do you know? My baby girl will be the most beautiful girl in the Empire. Don't spout nonsense".

She knew her friend was a straightforward person, so she didn't mind the rude words. Her friend was better than those fake women, who came previously for currying favours.

Fiona simply chuckled and said, "Ok ok. Let me carry her for a moment. You can take some rest".

Saying so, she took the wrapped baby from her friend's arms. Smiling softly, she nuzzled her nose, "she looks like my son".

Sophia once again smacked her friend's head, "Are you kidding me! In what way is my baby similar to your naughty son?".

Fiona's son was 5 year old, but he was so naughty that he needed five maids to make him sit properly. It also wasn't an easy feat for Fiona, who was apparently the boy's mother.

Fiona dismissively waved her hand, "of course they are similar. After all, they both have the same colour of eyes".

Looking at the baby's squinted light blue eyes, she gently smiled. Her son and her friend's baby had similar kind eyes.

"What's her name?", She asked while caressing the child's cheek.

"Alice. Her name is Alice Sophy Kaiser Lisanthium", Sophia raised her chin and said proudly. Fiona looked at her friend and laughed.

To immediately receive the name of Lisanthium, it shows the Emperor's recognition of the particular child.

The name Lisanthuim wasn't just a recognition from the Emperor, but it also means that they're officially part of the royal family and they would be regarded as the descendants of the Lisanthium Emperor. The remaining children were considered as illegitimate and good for nothing. The difference in treatment could be considered as hell and heaven.

So far, only 16 out of 78 children were recognised as Lisanthium, and after adding her friend's child, it was 17/78.

She's jealous. Ahhh!

Sophia looked at her friend's dazed expression and sighed. She took her baby from her arms and asked, "how many did he-". She didn't want to continue the question, because she knew. She knew the final result.

Fiona snapped out of her thoughts and smiled wryly. How many did he kill? The answer was well cleared.

"Five", Fiona said while looking at the new born child and smiling sadly. The cold-blooded emperor lived up to his name.

This particular month, he mercilessly killed five new born children, who weren't even able to open their eyes.

Cruel. Even the word wouldn't be enough to describe his ruthless ways.

None knew why the emperor hated children nor why he killed them. He comes, kills and goes. Every month and year has been this way.

Knowing this, Sophia and Fiona didn't speak any more. What could they do, but to sit back and see the cruel action of the Emperor.

They didn't possess strength nor the intelligent brain to compete with him. After all, he was their husband, their family, their kingdom and their Emperor.

While the women were lamenting about the innocent lost souls, someone in the palace was trying to decipher her current situation.

***

Kiko opened her mouth and wanted to speak, but blurted out baby sounds.

Wha-wha!

'The hell!'

She squinted her eyes to get a clear view of her surroundings, but she could only see a blurred shadow above her.

Kiko felt a loving gaze on her. Someone tenderly touched the back of her clenched hand.

The soft touch was as gentle as a feather, and the person clearly did not want to apply much force, as if afraid of hurting her.

Although she could not see clearly, the soft and gentle touch was very warm, giving her a sense of inner peace.

She opened her palm and grasped the finger tightly, unwilling to let go of this warm essense.

Gradually, a wave of weariness swept over her, and darkness enveloped her vision.

————

When Kiko opened her eyes again, her eyesight was still blurry, and she could only see an object of colourful bubble like things floating above her head.

Ting. Ting. Ting. Ting. Ting.

The constant light sound of the object when striked with each other, gave her a headache.

Didn't she die?

Where am I? Who am I?

Thinking of her current situation, she gradually regained her consciousness. As a new born baby, she did not know how long she had been in the bassinet nor how many times the unknown old lady carried her and fed her milk (from baby bottle).

In her memory, every time she woke up, only the gentle grandma was there. Rocking her bassinet, feeding her milk, changing her diaper and everything was done by the grandma.

Only from the grandma's constant cries and confessions did she realized that she had been here for a week...a month, two month, three months.

"Princess, your mother loves you very much. She'll be really glad that you're save and alive. Oh look, she's looking at you from the sky. Princess, sob, sob, this servant and your mother wish that you'll be happy always."

Saying so, the gentle grandma kissed her forehead and placed her in the crib. This happens every once in a week. The grandma would either cry or sob, while narrating her lady's (probably her mother) life in this palace.

Ok...she's a three month old baby. Her mother is dead and her father, unknown.

After the grandmother left the room, Kiko struggled to raised her arm and wanted to stand up to see her current status.

Despite her tries, obviously, her small body could not support such strenuous movements.

'So tired', she inwardly thought to herself. Only moving left and right caused her energy to deplete to 0. Babies life are seriously not easy.

Sighing, she looked above her head. The unknown colourful object was actually a chime of crystals. Though it was beautiful, she didn't like it.

Ting. Ting. Ting. Ting.

Black lines appeared on her forehead. The sound was somewhat annoying to hear. Pouting, she turned to the right and looked at her room.

The gentle grandma said that she was a princess, but why does her surrounding gave the vibe of a penniless family who couldn't afford a clothe.

Her room contained a single bed (which looked so old), a small cupboard, a worn out wardrobe, three legged table, broken tea cups, worn out wallpapers and spider nets above the ceilings.

Kiko subconsciously twitched her lips. This doesn't seems to be a room made for princess.

A few months ago, she had received the internship form from her ideal job, only a step away from becoming a big boss, but...

But her idiot friend had to pushed her on the middle of the road, causing her to hit a speeding car and fly to the moon and here she is.

Alive, but as a three month old baby!

This is sooo not interesting.

Imagining a picture of a toddler wearing diaper and with a baby bottle, Kiko closed her eyes in despair. This is not what she wanted.

Fuming in anger, she kicked the quilt which was covering her body. After kicking thrice, she could not muster up any more strength. This baby body was so weak.

She gasped for breath and took a rest for a while. In the end, she dozed off to sleep.

'F*ck my life'.