Words

Austria, August 17th 1788

11:12 PM

Everyone but the housekeeper and Lukas's mother had already left the room, she was removing a towel full of blood from under Lukas's mother, who is holding him right now. She smiled.

"Thank you very much, Olivia. I do not know what I would do without you."

Olivia chuckled.

"So, Mrs. Von Neumann is a pretty good-looking, smart and young woman, she would hire another housekeeper and would be perfectly fine."

She said all that while settling the pillows behind the lady.

The lady laughed while placing her hand in front of her mouth and even blushed a little.

"You think too high of me, I bet I would not last a week without you."

"So, Mrs. Von Neumann, do not say that, I already told you not to think too little of yourself! I know you since you were a little child! I know what I am talking about!"

Olivia said it proudly.

The lady chuckled.

"I know, I know. But you know how I am, I have always felt like I am not enough."

Her face saddened, so Olivia tried to cheer her up.

"Mrs. Von Neumann knows that is not true! Do not think like that just because of things that happened ages ago. Now you have a son! Focus on that! And remember: Frida Von Neumann is an amazing woman, never forget that."

Frida smiled and nodded.

"I know... you're right. I have to focus on that! Nothing else."

Olivia put her hands on her hips.

"That is the spirit!"

Frida looked at Lukas who was opening and closing his left hand as fast as he could... for some reason.

'If I can close my hand real quick I can grab that woman's necklace, take it off and then I'm free!"

"...Yes! I have to stay well... not just for my own sake but also for this whole house's sake and most importantly for Lukas's sake."

Olivia clapped her hands slowly.

"Well, apparently giving birth to a child helped you, Mrs. Von Neumann! I knew you were going to be okay without me!"

Frida chuckled.

"Well, Lukas has already been breastfed and cleaned up, now I just need to put him to sleep."

Olivia nodded.

"I can do that for you, Mrs. Von Neumann. You are probably tired due to the childbirth."

Frida shook her head.

"Leave it with me. I can do it. He's just a baby, not a demon. Besides, Dr. Richter said he was pretty well-behaved."

Olivia crossed her arms and raised her brow.

"Yes, but Mrs. Von Neumann knows how apparently calm children are when they cry. It's a total rampage."

She sighed.

Frida chuckled.

"I know, Olivia, but I can do it. Trust me."

Olivia smiled and nodded.

"Okay, then I'll leave you both alone. Good ni-"

"Wait, Olivia."

Olivia looked at Frida.

"Can you... try to call Elias one last time? I really want him to see Lukas."

Olivia nodded calmly but her blood was boiling, she never liked Elias, actually she never liked anybody from the Hügel house.

"Just a moment."

"Thank you."

Olivia walked down an alley and stood at a door, after a few moments staring at the door, she sighed and knocked.

"Mr. Hügel! Ms. Von Neumann insists that she wants you to see the baby! It's a boy! His name is L-"

"And I insist I don't want to see him by now, so please, don't bother me anymore."

Olivia really felt like dragging him to Frida's room right there and then but she just clenched her fist.

"O-Okay, Mr. Hügel. Good night!"

Olivia walked back to Frida's room and shook her head.

"He still does not want to see young master."

Frida sighed.

"Thank you anyway, Olivia. You can go."

Olivia wanted to say something, but she didn't know exactly what, so she just nodded and walked to the door.

"Good night."

"Good night."

Frida sighed again and looked at Lukas with a sad face.

"Don't worry, Lukas, the problem is not you. Your father has been through a lot lately, that's all."

Frida sighed

"Well, honey, it's time to sleep."

Right then, Lukas yawns.

Frida smiles.

"How can you cheer me up so easily?"

Frida started lulling Lukas who took only one minute to fall asleep.

"Good night, my loved one."

Frida kissed Lukas's forehead and then placed him beside her on the bed.

Austria, August 18th 1788

8:00 AM

Frida wakes up and stretches herself, when she turned to see Lukas sleeping she was surprised to see Lukas already awake and trying to roll over and crawl. Is it normal for newborns to do this?

Frida giggled

"Good morning, Lukas! You apparently are an energetic one."

Frida got up and held Lukas.

She started talking sweetly to him.

"There, there. I bet you're hungry, I'll just ask Olivia to change your diaper, okay?"

Lukas looked at her.

'What's this? Look how this woman is communicating with me! Does she think I'm a retarded?'

Frida started lulling Lukas.

'And by the way... "Lukas"? What can it be? I guess she said "G-gutan morrgan, Lukas"? What is it? Hum... Okay, she always says Lukas looking at me, right? Is it what I am supposed to be called?'

A knock on the door is heard by both in the room.

"Come in!"

Olivia entered the room.

"Good morning, Mrs. Von Neumann! How was your first night with young master?"

Frida sighed while smiling.

"It was good, very good to be honest, I didn't hear him the whole night. I slept like a baby, even more than him actually. When I woke up he was already trying to roll over."

Olivia chuckled.

"Don't be silly, Mrs. Von Neumann, babies only start trying to crawl at around 6 months old. Young master was born yesterday."

"I know, I know. But he truly was trying to roll over."

Olivia frowned.

"Really? It's said that very proactive newborns come to be geniuses."

Frida looked at Olivia with a displeased look.

"I know, Mrs. Von Neumann, I know. You don't like the word "genius"."

Frida has always been compared to her sister, who has always been called a genius. She had learned to speak at 2 years old and to write and read with just 4.

"Yes, I really don't. And I don't want Lukas to be called a "genius" even if he starts walking tomorrow, that's a word that only pressures children to be better than others and makes it much harder from them to socialize with other people!"

Frida took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Olivia, but I just don't want Lukas to be as pressured as my sister was."

Olivia nodded.

"I perfectly understand, Mrs. Von Neumann. And I'm sorry, I guarantee it will not happen again."

Frida smiled.

"Thank you."

Frida looked at Lukas.

"Oh, could you please change Lukas's diaper? I need to breastfeed him, but I would like him to be clean first. Oh, and give him a bath too."

Olivia smiled and nodded.

"Yes, Ms. Von Neumann."

Olivia picked Lukas from Frida's arms.

"Come here, young master. Olivia will take care of you."

Lukas looked at Olivia.

'What? This woman is picking me once more? I hope she'll clean me up again, I'm feeling rather uncomfortable.'

Olivia walked through the door with Lukas.

"I'll be back soon, Ms. Von Neumann."

Frida nodded.

"Alright. Byebye, Lukas! Mommy will be next door."

Lukas frowned.

'Ok, this is definitely my name. Why's she yelling my name so loud?! Does she think I'm deaf?"

Olivia walked through the alleys of the mansion. Despite Lukas's sight still not being very neat, he still looked rather curiously at the whole architecture of the mansion. There were a lot of paintings in the long alleys, besides there were long carpets all over its flooring. The interior of the structure seemed to be made of wood, a very dark one, which made a really nice contrast with the colorful carpets, but Lukas still couldn't notice it all due to his still limited eyesight.

Olivia looked intrigued at Lukas.

'This boy indeed is very strange. He looks at everything so attentively. He seems rather aware of his surroundings for a newborn. I know Ms. Von Neumann doesn't like it, but I really am starting to think this boy is not like the others.'

Olivia and Lukas arrived to a room. Lukas was placed on a counter and Olivia started taking off his diaper.

'Well, I guess this woman is the one who cleans me up... wait, shouldn't it be the lady who gave me birth? Because she... well, gave me birth!'

When Olivia finished cleaning up Lukas, she picked a gallon by the counter and filled a little basin with water from it. Olivia picked Lukas.

"There, now I'll wash you, okay?"

Lukas looked at the basin full of water.

'H-Hey, miss, you are not placing me there, are you?'

When Lukas noticed Olivia was truly going to put him there, his eyes widened.

'H-Hey! C'mon, miss! I just met you yesterday and you are already going to do this to me?! C'mon, I don't want it! It's pretty cold over here!'

Despite Lukas's mental complaints, Olivia dipped him in the basin. Lukas moaned with the coldness of the water. Olivia was startled by Lukas's complaint.

'W-What?! I'd never seen a newborn doing this! He would usually cry, but he'd never complain like a grown-up person who just can't speak. W-Well, I'll just give him the bath. He's just a newborn after all.'

Olivia kept washing Lukas, obviously, with a lot of complaints from him, but he eventually got used to it and even started to enjoy.

'Yes, rub me behind my ear, that's it- h-hey! It is over already?! Damn! Just when I started enjoying it!'

"There, there, young master. It wasn't that bad, right?"

'Hey! Stop mumbling at me! I don't get it, okay?! I get what you just did to me is called "bath" and what I dirtied back then was a "diaper", but I can't get it when you start talking like that!'

Olivia started drying Lukas with a towel, within one minute she was done and dressed him up with a new diaper and a blue woollen shirt.

"There. Much better now, right?"

Lukas felt good right then, he was feeling clean, it had been his first bath and he sure enjoyed it.

Olivia picked Lukas and took him back to Frida's room, however, while she was walking she stumbled upon a good-looking man. He had short black hair and light brown eyes, however, he seemed like he hadn't slept for a few days, he had dark circles under his eyes, but, despite everything, that man seemed very satisfied to himself. He had a crazy look and Olivia seemed scared of him.

"Good morning, Olivia."

He looked at Lukas.

"Is that Elias's heir?"

Lukas was on his toes while that man looked at him, he had never experienced that feeling before, was that fear?

"Y-Yes, Mr. Hügel. He is your nephew. His name is Lukas."

The man nodded.

"I see. He seems sharp. He's looking at me very attentively, besides, he seems very startled just by my presence."

Olivia looked at Lukas and she noticed he was grabbing her shirt.

"I think I'd better take him to Mrs. Von Neumann."

The man nodded.

"I agree, let me just tell him something."

The man approached Lukas, looked at him into his eyes and started talking to him. Somehow, Lukas wasn't afraid of him anymore, he felt curiosity and a bit frustrated for not understanding what this man was about to say.

"Hello, Lukas, my name is Karl Hügel. I'm your uncle. I hope my older brother takes care of you better than he took of our family."

Karl's expression showed a bit of anger, but it soon faded away and turned into a grin.

Karl then turned his look away from Lukas and moved away.

"See you around, little one."

Lukas looked back at him and he gulped. It was like he had lost a lot weight. Was that relief?

'"Name"? Is that what you call someone? Like, my name is "Lukas"? Well, I'm learning new words at least.'

Olivia sighed.

"Let's go young master, we'd better not leave your mother waiting for too long."

Olivia kept walking a bit more until both entered Frida's bedroom.

"Here he is, Mrs. Von Neumann. He's all clean."

Frida smiled.

"Oh, so good. Do you feel better Lukas?"

Frida picked Lukas and started lulling him.

For some reason, Lukas felt calmer in her arms and her voice also soothed him, he even started hugging his mother.

Frida looked at him like she was going to melt right there and then.

"Owwwwwn! My boy is so sweet! Here, you must be hungry."

Frida unbuttoned her shirt and started breastfeeding Lukas.

"Oh, I almost forgot, Mrs. Von Neumann. When is young master's baptism going to be."

"As soon as possible. I want my boy to have divine protection still this week."

Olivia nodded.

"Very well, then, Mrs. Von Neumann. I'll write to Father Schmidt and let him know."

Frida nodded.

"Thank you, Olivia. Oh, just one more thing. You seem stressed out, what happened?"

Frida waited for Olivia's answer as she buttoned her shirt back up since Lukas was already done eating.

"Oh, we... stumbled upon Mr. Karl Hügel when we're coming here."

Frida's eyes widened.

"What?! What did that monster do to my son?!"

"N-Nothing, Mrs. Von Neumann, he just introduced himself to young master. Nothing else."

Frida sighed.

"I don't want Lukas to be around him. What should I do? Maybe send him to live with my siblings?"

Olivia shook her head.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Mrs. Von Neumann. He needs his parents around. Just let him stay here. Mr. Karl Hügel will just influence young master if you let him, Mrs. Von Neumann."

Frida thought for a moment and then smiled.

"I think you are right, Olivia. I'm overthinking things. Thank you."

Olivia nodded.

"I'm always here, whenever you need."

Meanwhile, Lukas looked at them confused. They seemed upset with something. If he at least knew how to understand their communication.

'Shit, I wonder how long I'll take to be able to understand them.'