Glimpse of Eternity [A Reincarnation Isekai Fantasy]

"Bleeeeeh~" Viktor Suprana, Aizen Kingdom's strongest Knight, made a funny face as he stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes. He was also widening his nostrils in an attempt to add more humor to his already 'funny' expression.

"Gah!" Reivan exclaimed in feigned surprise, then giggled happily while he reached out. 'Yeah, that's right. I'm cute as hell and I know it.'

"Hahaha!" Viktor laughed. Making his nephew giggle was surprisingly entertaining. During the past few weeks, aside from their flying sessions around the capital, he had been trying out different ways to get a titter out of him. He had done acrobatics in the air, surprising him by peeking out from unexpected places, dancing in a silly manner, and all manner of other things. "Wonder what face I should make next..."

'Doesn't he have a job or something...?' Reivan wondered. Of course, his uncle hadn't spent every minute with him these past few weeks, but he'd still spent an average of ten hours a day or so. From what he had gathered from the conversations of those around him, his uncle was the strongest Knight in the Kingdom. 'Can the supposed "Strongest Knight" just slack off so much...?'

Just as he had that thought, a maid came bursting into the room. "L-Lord Suprana...! The King is calling for you! He said that you shouldn't shirk your duties so much..."

"Urgh...!" Viktor groaned guiltily. He looked down as he smiled at Reivan while speaking kindly, "Well, it seems that we won't be seeing each other for a few days, lil' Rein... Uncle has to go do some work now. Even though I don't really want to..."

"L-Lord Suprana, it would be really troubling for the country if you were to just take a leave right now..." The maid hesitantly remarked.

"I know! Geez..." Viktor walked out, the wolf ears on the top of his head visibly drooping. The maid that had come to fetch him followed after him from behind.

'Well, that's about what I expected.' Reivan nodded inwardly. He was amazed that the country could just afford to let their strongest Knight be idle for weeks, but it seemed he had just been slacking off, after all. As he watched his uncle go, he suddenly felt that he was a bit hungry.

"Waaaaah~!" Reivan cried. It was the only thing he could do to let the servants know that he was hungry, or rather, it was his only way of letting anyone know anything at the moment. Not even ten seconds passed before a maid came over and picked him up gently.

"Oh my, Prince Reivan, are you hungry?" The maid, who was actually the wet nurse they had hired after his mother had left for who-knows-where, slipped off part of her uniform to reveal her right breast. She then proceeded to push it onto Reivan's mouth, to probe if he was hungry or not.

"..." Reivan didn't waste any time, he immediately latched onto the nipple with his lips and began sucking. 'Mm. If my mom's milk is a twenty out of ten, then this is just a seven. Bleh.'

As he wished for his mother to return quickly, Reivan continued to drink as he closed his eyes in relaxation.

*****

 

"Ohhh! Amazing, Prince Rein!" One maid clapped as she exclaimed.

"Go, go! Oh, but please be careful!" Another maid also cheered, but warned in a worried tone quickly afterward.

"Gah!" Reivan cried out, as he tried to balance himself. It was already six months since he was born, he had started crawling when he was only three months old and now he was trying to walk. He had repeatedly fallen on his butt a lot, but a maid would pretty much always be there to catch him, so it was okay.

'I'm getting the hang of it...' Reivan thought, as he tried to put one foot in front of the other but then fell again. As a maid caught him and gently set him down, he couldn't help himself from frustratingly complaining inwardly. 'Damn. Why is this so hard? I've been walking for twenty-three or so years! Why is it so hard to adjust to this?!'

"Geez. Why are you all getting so worked up over this?" One of the maids said with a hint of exasperation.

'Oh. It's fucking Judith.' Reivan thought, as he tried to stand up again.

The maid was one of the newer hires who — from what Reivan surmised — got in through connections. Unlike the other maids, who worked hard and treated Reivan almost as if he was their son. Judith had been doing the bare minimum of what was expected of her and didn't seem to like Reivan very much.

When it was her turn to watch Reivan, she would always slack off. Judith would let his soiled diaper stay on him until the next maid came to take over. She was also unbearably slow in calling over the wet nurse, who obviously couldn't stay with Reivan all the time. As such, Reivan didn't like Judith, at all.

'Fuck you, Judith. Just go away. Get reincarnated in another world!'

Just as Reivan was about to give walking another try, a strict and ancient-sounding voice spoke out from the entrance to his room.

"And what in the world are you all doing here?" An old maid that was dressed a bit differently than everybody else sternly scolded the maids in the room. "There is work to be done! Why are you all here playing with the Prince!?"

"Head Maid Isadora!" One of the maids squealed in shock, a hint of fear appearing on her face.

"We're very sorry! We just wanted to watch the Prince's first steps!" Another maid tried to make excuses.

"I-It wasn't my fault! I was coerced into joining!" And another maid tried to claim innocence by foisting the blame onto her co-workers. As expected, the others eyed her in irritation.

'Woah woah. Not cool.' Reivan thought as he shook his head inwardly.

"Hmph! I don't want to hear it! Get out!" Head Maid Isadora commanded, and all the maids scurried away from the scene of the crime. "Except for you, Judith. If I recall correctly, you were supposed to be the one to watch the prince now."

"Ah. Yes, Head Maid Isadora." Judith stopped walking and bowed respectfully. She was the type who would be weak to the strong and strong to the weak. This Head Maid had enormous influence in the Castle, not to mention that she was the direct superior of the hundreds of maids that were under the employ of the Royal Family. Judith would naturally not reveal her usual self to the Head Maid if she wanted to work here in peace.

"And you, Prince Reivan..." The Head Maid then turned her eyes to Reivan, who was still trying to walk properly despite the fiasco happening around him. Isadora smiled warmly when her eyes fell on the adorable Prince. She gently caught him as he fell down yet again, then picked him up carefully. "I admire your determination Your Highness, but you mustn't overexert yourself."

'Aww. But I'm not really tired or anything!' Reivan protested, but only managed a slightly annoyed-sounding "Gah!", which only made the normally stern Isadora smile even wider. He was quickly deposited into his crib, which, as expected of something meant for use by royalty, was incredibly comfortable.

"You can try again tomorrow, Young Prince." Head Maid Isadora said placatingly. She gave Reivan a tender pat on the head, then turned to face Judith. Her expression had quickly changed to her professional expression again. "You are to watch His Highness until your shift is over. Which should be in about an hour."

"Yes, Head Maid Isadora." Judith courteously said as she bowed.

"Hm." Isadora nodded firmly and then walked out after giving Reivan one last doting look.

"..." Judith remained bowed until she was sure that the Head Maid was truly gone. She sighed in relief and then started cursing Isadora under her breath. "Hmph. Old hag."

'Real nice, Judith. Real~ nice.' Reivan thought, mocking the maid in his head. 'If you hate it so much here, why did you even choose to work here? Just find some rich guy and leech off of him or something. Even if your personality is trash you're at least a seven out of ten. You'd be able to pull someone decent for sure.'

"God, I have to watch this baby for an hour. Well, it's the easiest job, since I don't really have to do anything. If he craps his pants I just have to pretend not to notice, so the next maid has to handle it." Judith complained out loud. She looked over to Reivan, only to see him staring back at her. Judith frowned. "What... What's with that look? Are you making fun of me? Huh?"

'You fucking bet I am, you stupid bitch.' Reivan thought as he smirked. 'What are you gonna do about it? Huh?'

"Wow. A baby can smirk?" Judith huffed to herself, exasperated with this situation. "Hey stop looking at me like that."

Reivan stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry. 'Yeah, bitch. You mad? I've been pissed off at you for so long! Always bitching and whining! Get the hell outta here and leave me alone with the maids that actually want to be here!'

"Wah, really." Judith's eyes flashed in irritation. She really wanted to teach this baby a lesson by beating him or something, but even she wouldn't do that much. Excluding whether she would actually succeed in doing so, she wasn't sure she'd be able to leave the Castle alive if she did. And even if she did manage to leave the Castle alive, she wouldn't be able to outrun or hide from anyone sent to pursue her. All of the citizens of Aizen were aware that their country held the most elite troops in the continent, maybe even the world. There was even someone insanely scary living in the back mountain. Even if she knew all of that though, Judith just couldn't stop herself from venting out a bit of her frustration. She extended her hand and pinched Reivan on the cheek. Hard. "There, you like that, you little shit?"

"WAAAAAAHHHHH" As you would expect from a baby that just got its cheek pinched so hard, Reivan started wailing loudly. Naturally, Reivan wasn't just any baby. Although that pinch did hurt, especially since his skin was so thin and sensitive, he was someone who had to endure a much greater pain for most of his life as Ken Kagami. He exaggerated his crying and used his lungs and vocal cords at full capacity as he sneered inwardly. 'I'm gonna get you in so much trouble you piece of shit!'

"Wah!" Judith exclaimed in panic. She hadn't expected such a large reaction from just a little pinch. Although she had put quite a lot of strength into it. "S-stop! You're gonna get me fired, you lil' turd!"

"UUUWAAAAAAAHHHH!!! UUUWAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Reivan continued to shriek as he thought, 'That's the point! Fuck off!'

"N-n-no... Stop!" Judith was so panicked, that she started pacing back and forth as beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead. She stopped, as she seemed to get an idea, then tried to forcefully shut Reivan's mouth, which was something an adult-like her could easily do. Some sound still came out, but it wasn't as bad as before.

'Hey let go of me, you bitch!' Reivan cursed inwardly as he struggled to break free from Judith's clutches, although he just couldn't manage to do it.

She sighed in relief as she glared hatefully at Reivan. "You little shit! Shut up will you?"

 

"What did you just say?" Suddenly, a voice so cold, it sounded as if it could freeze hell itself, spoke out from behind Judith.

 

"Wha!?" Judith exclaimed in shock. She hadn't even heard the sound of the door opening, so who could have possibly sneaked up on her? Judith turned around, only to be horrified by the person she saw. "Q-Queen Vianna!?"

'H-Holy... Since when was Mom there? Jesus Christ, she almost scared the bejeezus out of me...' Reivan thought. His heart was beating a mile a minute from his mother suddenly appearing as if she was some kind of ghost. He tried to calm his heart, but it wasn't easy since he was seeing her terrifying expression from the front. 'She looks like a demon right now...'

If Reivan, someone that Vianna had absolutely no intention of scaring, was affected by Vianna's countenance to such an extent, it was much worse for Judith. She fell on her butt as she looked at the furious Warbeast in front of her in horror. She tried to inch away from the mother and son as far away as possible, but her back eventually hit a wall, so she could only stay in place.

"...!" She tried to speak out to try to defend herself, but for some reason, she couldn't manage to make a single sound. Even her body's muscles didn't obey her command, as she sat there, paralyzed by some unknown phenomenon.

"..." Vianna just looked coldly at the terrified maid. She deftly used her tail to pick up her precious son, then brought him close to her to examine him. She immediately noticed that Reivan's left cheek was red. 

That alone caused Vianna's eyes to figuratively see red. The whites of her eyes began to change into the color of blood and her canine teeth started to get longer and sharper. Her nails also started extending by about an inch, and the veins on her arms started glowing and pulsating violently. The mist-like white smoke surrounding her body only served to increase the chill that those who saw her felt. 

She asked, in a low-pitched voice that was close to a beast's growl. "What did you do?"

"...Haah!" Judith heaved a deep breath. When she was asked that question, she suddenly felt that she could breathe properly again and that she had regained control of her voice. In exchange though, the terror she felt had intensified manifold. She hurriedly tried to make excuses. "I-I d-didn't do anything m-milady! Th-the Prince just sudden--"

"LIES!!!" Vianna interjected angrily. Her voice seemed to carry some sort of power, as the windows shattered into dust a moment after she yelled and the room shook. "Do you think someone like you can lie to me? SPEAK!! THE!! TRUTH!!!"

"Hiii...! Y-yes!! M-my apologies!!!" Judith quickly apologized. The furious Queen's roar had seemed to have made her lose control of her bladder, as a puddle of liquid had started to form under her. She didn't notice, and quite frankly, she couldn't have cared less in the face of her current predicament. She felt the dread within her growing within the second but she still honestly explained in the hopes that she would be shown mercy. "I-I may have p-p-p-pinched His Highness a bit hard..."

"'Pinched' is it?" Vianna said in a gravelly voice. "You dare pinch my son?"

"...!" Judith's shoulder's stiffened for a moment as she shook in fright. "I-I am so sorry, milady... I d-did not mean to p-pinch him so hard..."

"And after he started crying, what were you doing?" Vianna questioned in an attempt to stay calm. She knew that she couldn't rampage around as she did when she was younger. Her reputation wasn't the only thing that would be affected now, as her husband's and her son's reputation would be stained by any of her misdeeds. She didn't care that much if Rodin's reputation was a little stained, since he was the King. His having a bit of a lower reputation wouldn't have any effects, especially in this nation, where the power was centralized. But Vianna didn't want her son to suffer from anything she did. So, she tried her best to quell her anger. Her mind kept trembling though, as if it wanted to just rip the damnable bitch in front of her right now.

"..." Judith shuddered. She now knew that she couldn't lie, so her only option was, to tell the truth. She did her best to reply as she stammered, "I-I didn't want to g-get in t-trouble, so I tried to..."

"Tried to...?" Vianna said, egging her on. Her right arm was twitching violently, and a faint icy mist was forming around it.

"..." Judith closed her eyes and bit her lips before replying. "I-I tried to sh-shut his mouth..."

"Shut his mouth, is it?"

"Y-yes..." Judith nodded guiltily before she groveled on the ground and begged for forgiveness. "P-Please forgive me, my queen! I-I won't do it again!!"

"Oh, you certainly won't." Vianna smiled as she nodded slowly.

"Y-yes! I definitely won't!" Judith exclaimed in relief. Seeing a small trace of hope.

"Well, even if you didn't mean it, as you said. You still hurt this country's Prince." Vianna said. "You know that doing so has consequences, yes?"

"Ah...." Judith began groveling again, as she begged for mercy. "P-Please be lenient!"

"Mm!" Vianna smiled brightly and nodded. "It will just be something small..."

"Y-yes...!" Judith looked up happily, as she gratefully yelled, "T-Thank you! Queen Vianna!"

"You're welcome." Vianna nodded, accepting the gratitude. The bright smile on her face suddenly vanished, as she said in a cold voice, "You just have to survive one pinch from me. That's all."

"..." Judith just stared at the Queen blankly, before stuttering out a reply, "A p-p-pinch...?"

"Yes," Vianna said, the smile returning to her lips, but not her eyes. She raised her right hand and showed it to Judith. The Queen was famed for her milky white skin, but the arm that she was showing Judith was too white. It was completely covered in a thick layer of snow-white mist, forming what looked like the arm of some demon or monster. "Just one pinch, wench. That is all."

"I-I..." Judith stammered. She had heard rumors that the Queen had gone to seclude herself somewhere so that she could attempt to Ascend. Which would mean that if she succeeded, she would be among the most powerful people in the world. A pinch from her? Judith didn't have any combat experience at all. She, naturally, held no delusions that she would survive a slightly forceful breath from her, let alone a pinch. "P-please ha--"

"Let us begin," Vianna interjected, not allowing Judith to beg for anything, as she extended a hand outwards, and pinched the air. Vianna knew that she should handle this more maturely, as the queen and a mother, but her anger had won out in the end. Her very nature was one of passion, after all. She had to punish anyone who harmed her loved ones herself. 'She was hired through connections, I think...? If that's the case, I'll have to deal with her connections afterward, too.'

"AH!!" Judith shouted as she felt an overwhelming force pushing her from above and below her body, gradually pinching her, but then the force seemed to suddenly stop.

"Oh my, Rein, I can't have you watch this..." Vianna said, as if remembering. She used her tail, which was still holding Reivan, to switch him over to her left arm, where she hugged him gently. Unlike her right arm, her left looked just like it normally did, so Reivan felt comfortable there. Vianna then used her tail to cover Reivan, so he couldn't see what would happen. "There. Let's continue. Ah, I suppose I should block off the sound as well..."

'Ah wait... I kinda wanna watch too, though...' Reivan thought, a bit disappointed. However, just like a baby would, he forgot all about it in a moment. He was being enveloped by the warmth of his dear mother, whom he hadn't seen in 5 months, so he quickly felt extremely drowsy. Perhaps all the screaming and crying had tired him out, and he had even made numerous attempts at walking before that. He quickly felt the land of dreams calling for him. Just before he completely lost consciousness though, he couldn't help but think, 'Judith's probably going to die... Damn. I didn't mean to go that far... I just wanted to get her fired, geez... Mom showing up like some horror movie ghost was really unexpected.'

Reivan momentarily heard Judith's shrill screech, but that was snuffed out in a fraction of a second, as Reivan suddenly couldn't hear anything anymore.

'I guess that's mom cutting off the sound... But really, Damn. Judith's luck is so bad.' Reivan mused. 'I guess that's what you get for being such a dumbass bitch!'

With that final thought, he fell asleep in his mother's loving embrace.

Reivan Aizenwald the Second Prince of the Kingdom of Aizen, six months old, had just killed someone for the first time (albeit accidentally, and by borrowing his mother's hand).

He felt absolutely nothing.