3. New Life

When he opened his eyes, he realized immediately that something was wrong. His body felt all weird and tingly and his vision was blurry. The sounds and smells around him made him dizzy as it was all unfamiliar and too chaotic. His mind was all over the place, trying to figure out what was happening whilst simultaneously trying to stay awake because, for some reason, he felt overwhelmingly tired.

Though he tried, he couldn't hold on and eventually, he drifted off to sleep once more.

-

A couple of hours later.

When he opened his eyes again, everything had cleared up. Blinking, he stared at the white ceiling above him blankly. The last thing he remembered was protecting a kitten on the busy road and getting hit in the process. Then, did that mean he was in the hospital? Did he survive? What happened to the kitten?

He hoped the kitten survived. It was an innocent animal that was still young and had yet to reach adulthood. He would be heartbroken if it had died in the end. Perhaps he should ask someone...

Ronald then attempted to sit up to call a nurse but realized he couldn't. He tried again but his body stayed flat on the bed.

'Huh? What's wrong with me?'

At first, he feared that he was paralyzed from head to toe. He tried wiggling his fingers and toes to test them and noticed that they moved just fine. His limbs worked perfectly so why couldn't he get up?

Ron's questions were soon answered when the image of his hand came into sight.

'Eh?'

It was...small. Extremely small, like a baby's hand.

Wait...

'No way,' he thought in shock. Lifting both arms up in front of him, he opened and closed them to make sure he wasn't dreaming. When he saw them moving as his brain had instructed, he realized it wasn't a dream at all.

'Impossible! I'm a baby?!'

He opened his mouth to shout but what came out instead was a coo and a little cough that followed after.

Ronald's mind was in a state of immense shock.

He was just hit by a car, right? So how on earth did he regress to a baby? What kind of magic was this?

As his mind raced, a large shadow fell over his form and Ronald saw a towering figure peer down at him. If he could speak, he would've yelped in fear at the sudden presence.

However, his fear disappeared when he saw the figure staring down at him with kind eyes. It was a woman in her late twenties with brown hair and a gentle appearance. She smiled at him and reached down to poke his cheeks gently.

"You are awake, Young Master Dylan," she said.

'Who?' thought Ronald. 'She's looking at me...does that mean my name is Dylan?'

No, that couldn't be. His name was Ronald. Ronald Davies... 21 years old...dead parents...lived with his maternal uncle and-

'That's not right either. I used to be Ronald but now, I am Dylan,' he thought. The name 'Dylan' resonated in his heart as though it was a name meant for him. He had the memories of Ronald but he was now going to live the life of Dylan.

'Could it be...reincarnation?'

A thought sprouted in his mind. The concept of reincarnation was not something he was unfamiliar with. Ronald had read a fair amount of internet novels in the past whenever he had free time so he knew what reincarnation usually entailed. Protagonists who die in their own world and are born again in another universe.

But the thought of such a phenomenon actually happening to him had never once crossed his mind. Reincarnation was fictional! Or at least, it was supposed to be.

Thinking of the life he had lived, Ronald wondered if someone had taken pity on him and given him a second chance. While he doesn't remember meeting any sort of divine being, he had a feeling that someone had definitely provided him with this second chance.

'Whoever you are, I thank you.'

Contrary to what some may think, Ronald knew how miserable his life was. He smiled in the face of adversity not because he wanted to but because it was his way of keeping himself from giving in to the darkness that surrounded his life. He didn't want to cave and allow himself to be corrupted with bad thoughts and do bad deeds. He didn't want his heart and mind to be clouded with hate. He smiled and continued to strengthen his heart, keeping it from breaking.

He didn't regret sacrificing his life to save the kitten. However, he regretted that he couldn't live the life he wished. He wanted to complete his education and get a job. He wanted to purchase his own house, marry a wonderful wife, have a kid or two, and get a pet. He wanted to grow old and meet his grandkids and maybe even his great-grandkids.

Such things could not be achieved in his first life so Ronald was grateful for this chance.

'As for parents...is this woman my mother?'

The brown-haired lady was still watching him with an entranced gaze and was mumbling something to herself.

Ron- Dylan recalled that she had referred to him as 'Young Master Dylan' instead of just calling his name. Seeing as she used a title, Dylan made two assumptions. First, she probably wasn't his mother and second, there was a chance that he had been born into some high-class family.

"If your mother were here, she would've adored you..." the lady suddenly muttered. Her voice was shaky at the end and her eyes quickly gathered with tears. Sniffing, she rubbed them away hastily.

When Dylan heard her words, he realized what she implied. It seems that his mother was dead...before he even got to meet her.

Sadness overcame his heart.

-

The days in the hospital passed by in a blur and soon enough, Dylan was discharged from the hospital. The one who took care of his discharge was the same lady that had been visiting him and caring for him on a daily basis. It was the brown-haired woman whose name he now knew was 'Sarah'.

Sarah liked to talk and often, the times she spent with him were filled with her incessant chatter which Dylan hardly minded. It was thanks to her non-stop talking that he was able to discover information he didn't know.

It turns out that Dylan's earlier assumption was indeed correct. His biological mother had passed away due to excessive blood loss during childbirth. There were complications during the childbirth which resulted in her bleeding out. Every time Sarah had spoken of this, she would shake her head and mutter something under her breath.

As for the whole 'Young Master' business, Dylan was now confident that he had been born into a wealthy family. From what he understood, Sarah was his personal caretaker slash wet nurse. Unfortunately, she didn't say much regarding the main family or his father but her expression when she accidentally blurted out something often contorted to fear as if she was scared of someone hearing her.

This made him wonder who his father was and what kind of person was he. In his heart, he desperately wish for a father that would love and care for him and wouldn't hurt him. It was unknown whether or not his father in this life would do that. But even if he didn't care for Dylan, as long as he didn't raise a hand against him, that was more than enough.

'My standards are pretty low huh...' Dylan couldn't help but think bitterly. After suffering for years under his uncle, it wouldn't be a lie to say that he was slightly afraid of gaining a new family member. A part of him wanted attention but the other part was afraid of what troubles having attention would bring.

As Sarah strapped his baby seat in the backseat of the car, Dylan continued thinking to himself.

'Well, if my father turns out to not be a nice person, it would be better to avoid him altogether. As long as he doesn't hurt me physically, I should be fine.'

Besides, Sarah here seemed to care for him so he may not need his father anyway.

Closing his eyes, Dylan let himself drift off to sleep, thoughts of what his new life would bring fluttered across his mind.

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Word Count: 1418