Chapter 1 …

How to Live as the Favorite of the Constellations

1 — I Am an Adult (1)

When do you think a person becomes an adult?

When they pass the age set by the country?

When they leave their parents’ care and become independent?

Or perhaps when they gain a life they must take responsibility for?

The answer is probably different for everyone.

And if someone were to ask me that question, I would probably answer like this:

“The moment I remembered my previous life.”

One day, the sensation of memories from a previous life suddenly flooding in was not unfamiliar to me.

After all, I had experienced this feeling countless times before.

“……!!”

Even so, the shock of facing the many lives unfolding inside my head was immense.

I understood intellectually that this was a natural process in my life, but my body did not follow so easily.

And so, I—

Thunk! Roll, roll—

Dropped the baby bottle I had been holding.

“Hm? Young master, are you already done drinking?”

At the sound of the bottle rolling away, the nanny who had been tidying toys rushed over at once.

“There’s still half left. Won’t you drink a little more…? I wish you’d eat a bit better, but you really do have a small appetite.”

Even though I was still just a baby, she muttered lighthearted complaints while smiling gently and patting my back.

Held in the nanny’s arms, I sank into thought.

‘Which life is this again?’

I couldn’t remember exactly. I had stopped counting after reaching double digits.

‘But I’ve never remembered a previous life at such a young age before.’

Usually, after reincarnating, I would awaken memories of my past life around the age of five or six. Never once—at least until now—had I remembered them while still an infant unable even to walk.

I looked around the room again.

‘Judging by this, the architectural style hasn’t changed much.’

However, the clothes the nanny wore were not from the previous era’s fashion.

‘That means at least ten years, at most two hundred.’

Apparently, not much time had passed.

And judging by the luxurious state of the room, I seemed to have been born into a very wealthy household.

‘A nanny… for me?’

Up until now, I had mostly been born as an orphan in the slums. Because of that, I had always been branded as someone from the slums.

But this time, it was obvious that I was a noble’s child.

‘Then this time, I can try a lot more methods.’

Resting my chin on the nanny’s shoulder, I carefully observed my surroundings.

‘Still, this alone isn’t enough to fully understand the current situation.’

Pat, pat.

Even while I was thinking, the nanny’s hand continued rhythmically patting my back.

“Burp……”

“Hehe. Our young master burps so well. Now if only you’d eat a little more.”

“Bwoo. Abubububu.”

I immediately reached toward the baby bottle the nanny had carefully set aside.

When trapped in the body of a child who couldn’t even walk properly, there was no better way to determine one’s standard of living than powdered milk.

“Oh my, are you trying to drink more? What brought this on?”

“Bwooooo!!”

“Alright, alright. But you’ll have to burp again afterward, even if it’s troublesome.”

The nanny laid me back in her arms again and placed the bottle in my mouth.

I sucked deeply from the bottle.

At once, a rich flavor spread through my mouth.

A natural sweetness, gentle and unartificial.

Neither too watery nor too thick—perfect body. Smooth going down without the slightest roughness….

It felt as though my whole body had been wrapped in a warm blanket!

‘This taste?!’

The golden bounty of nature.

A vast golden wheat field unfolded before my eyes.

Soft sunlight settled over the wheat, and the vitality of warm sunshine spread through my body like waves.

‘I know this place.’

The Empire’s widest and richest plains.

A land said to be blessed by the gods—

‘The Algrain Plains!’

Then this powdered milk could only be Harvenia, the finest powdered milk with five hundred years of history, produced in the Algrain Plains!

‘Even I’ve never tasted this before.’

Sip.

I sucked once more at the already empty bottle and thought:

‘Delicious.’

Three thousand years ago, one day—

The gates to another world opened, and strange beings began crossing into this world.

People called those powerful beings the Demon Race, and the mindless beasts they controlled were called monsters.

The demons delighted in bloodshed and slaughter, seeking to conquer this world.

And thus, a full-scale war broke out between humanity and the demons.

A conflict that repeated itself over and over again for three thousand years.

“…….”

Drip. Patter.

Red droplets of blood fell onto the map spread across the desk.

Something trickled beneath the man’s nose—a familiar and unpleasant sensation.

The man immediately pulled a handkerchief from his coat and pressed it against his nose, but the cloth quickly became soaked.

A faint crease formed between his brows.

“Haah… The map’s dirty again. I need it for tomorrow’s meeting.”

Did I have a spare map somewhere?

While rummaging one-handed through a pile of supplies, still holding his nose shut, he heard the rustling of someone entering.

“Arven, there’s something I’d like to discuss.”

“So it was you. Please, come in.”

“…….”

Arven lowered the bloodstained handkerchief and looked toward the man who entered the tent.

The man’s name was Lucian Leonhardt.

The ‘Hero’ of this generation.

“Are you alright? You don’t look very well.”

“It’s nothing new. Please don’t concern yourself with it.”

“……Still.”

“You know this already. Ordinary humans have difficulty enduring lands occupied by demons. Even if this is only the border, it’s impossible to avoid the effects completely.”

Arven quietly examined Lucian.

Humanity had made countless efforts to resist the demons.

One of those efforts was periodically selecting and dispatching a ‘Hero.’

And not only humans—transcendent beings from all races had united to defeat the Demon King.

Arven was the only ordinary person in that party of transcendent beings.

A completely normal human with no special powers.

‘Why do all Heroes wear the same expression?’

Truthfully, this was not Arven’s first time experiencing this.

Arven had lived countless lives. And with every reincarnation, he had belonged to the Hero’s party and fought the demons.

As the sole ordinary human.

No matter how transcendent those beings were, none understood the Demon King and the demons better than someone who had reincarnated hundreds and thousands of times like him.

That was why his knowledge was always invaluable to the Heroes.

“More important than my condition is what you came here to say. What happened? Judging by how late at night you came, it can’t be anything trivial.”

“There are disturbances occurring at the eastern barrier. It seems the monsters are gathering. No one else has noticed yet.”

“……Earlier than expected. I thought we had at least three days.”

“That’s why I think we should move the plan forward. Once we enter, they won’t be able to move carelessly either.”

“That makes sense. We’ve already finished preparing anyway.”

In truth, Arven had intended to move as soon as disturbances were detected.

After a moment of thought, he nodded.

“Then let’s prepare as quickly as possible. At last, the final battle.”

“……!! Understood. Then I should prepare for deployment immediately as well!”

Lucian clenched both fists, his face full of confidence as he turned to leave the tent—then suddenly stopped.

“Hey.”

“What is it?”

“……I think we were able to come this far because of you. And I’m sure everyone else thinks the same.”

Lucian turned around and looked at Arven.

“So even if you can’t join the final battle, you are still our precious comrade.”

“…….”

“I’ve wanted to tell you that for a long time, Arven.”

With a bright smile, Lucian left.

Arven slowly closed and reopened his eyes before cleaning up the bloodstained map and the clutter around him.

Two days later—

The Hero’s party departed for the final battle.

And then—

The moment they left, a demon army attacked the place where Arven remained.

Not a single survivor was left there.

Blink… blink….

‘It was a dream.’

The dream I had just seen was the final memory of my previous life.

I lifted my heavy eyelids.

After drinking my fill of powdered milk and sleeping deeply, I was hungry again.

“Uuung……”

A child’s body was terribly inefficient.

When full, I became sleepy. When awake, I became hungry. There was no time left for any other thoughts.

‘At this age, trying to accomplish anything is difficult anyway.’

In the end, all I could do was follow the instincts of a baby while waiting for time to pass and for myself to grow.

As I yawned drowsily, my body suddenly floated upward. The nanny must have picked me up.

Then the nipple of a bottle slipped into my open mouth.

“Our Arvian. You seem unusually happy today?”

“I think he’s happy because he saw his mother after so long.”

“Do you think so? Honestly, I never want to be apart from him, but I keep having to leave… I was worried Arvian might forget me.”

“There’s no way. Babies instinctively recognize their mothers.”

Arvian blinked and looked at the woman holding him so dearly.

He had thought she was the nanny.

But she wasn’t.

A woman with soft light-brown hair and vivid green eyes like summer grass.

The gaze she directed at him was incredibly warm.

Without realizing it, Arvian stared blankly back at her… his mother.

‘Mother…? Mother? The woman who gave birth to me is alive?’

So shocked was Arvian that he forgot to even suck on the bottle and simply opened his mouth.

A noble household and a nanny were one thing, but he had never imagined his mother would exist too.

“Oh my. Look at those wide eyes. So adorable.”

“Young master’s eyes are exactly like milady’s. Especially the shape. And his nose really resembles the count’s. He’ll grow into a very handsome man.”

“Every time I have a child, it amazes me. How can something so tiny and lovable exist…?”

The hand stroking his cheek was unbelievably gentle.

‘Impossible.’

Were parents not beings who were always dead?

“Come to think of it, when will the count return? I’m sure he misses the young master terribly too.”

“He said tomorrow or the day after. While he was away on inspection, he kept saying how much he missed Arvian. Once he arrives, he might run here without even washing first.”

The milk in Arvian’s mouth dribbled down the side.

‘There’s a father too?’

Not only a mother, but a father as well.

And from the sound of it, his parents were deeply in love.

“You must be full. Since you’ve eaten, should we sleep now?”

His mother gently wiped away the milk running down his chin and hugged him close, patting him softly.

Arvian was still confused.

And because he was far too confused—

“Gururuk… Blegh!”

“Oh my goodness!”