New World, New Life: I Became A Bigshot In The Ancient World
Chapter 203: CLEVER CHILD

Chapter 203: CLEVER CHILD

The next day, the occupants of the Viscount’s house rose earlier than usual; both the servants and the masters.

"Waaah~ waaaaaah~ waaaaaaaaaah!"

It was a high-pitch, intense crying. Valen’s cries reverberated through the halls, breaking the quiet of the early morning.

"Shh... hush, little one..." Vasily’s voice was weary as she rocked Valen in an endless rhythm. Exhaustion was etched on her face.

"Ugh...!" She winced as his cries grew even louder, piercing through the quiet of the night. Her tired eyes scanned the room for help.

The baby’s room had turned into a makeshift crisis center. Almost everyone was awake and almost all the adults had tried to coax him to stop crying, their faces drawn with concern.

"What’s wrong with the young master? Is he hungry? Thirsty? Or has he dirtied himself?" One of the maids wrung her hands nervously, glancing at the older maids and madams for guidance.

They, however, were also clueless about what was happening.

Vasily sighed. Her forehead was damp with sweat despite the slight chill in the air. "I’ve tried everything. I fed him, had him changed and cleaned... even walked with him. Nothing’s helping. If anything, he’s getting louder!"

"Why won’t he stop?" Ross asked as he paced near the hearth. His usually playful now frowning deeply face showed how worried he was. He didn’t know what was wrong with his son.

Everyone in the room looked worried. The elderly Roxanne, seated in a chair, shook her head with a frown. "He’s not calming down. It’s puzzling. Maybe he’s too cold or too warm?"

"I don’t think so," said Catherine, shaking her head. "Vasily would have noticed if that were the problem."

"Could it be his ears? Perhaps it’s an earache," Maxim asked from where he stood near the window.

"An earache wouldn’t cause him to pull his legs up like that," Catherine replied, pointing at Valen. Her face was pale from the sleepless night.

She glanced at the children. They were all awake, wondering why Valen was crying without ceasing.

"Poor Vasily must be overwhelmed," Alistair added softly, standing beside her husband. As the mother, Vasily would be the one most affected by her baby’s discomfort.

She then turned to Ross. "Ross, do you think we should call the physician now?"

"I already sent for him," Ross replied, his pacing showing his worry. "But it’s the still quite dark and it’s too cold outside. I don’t know how long it will take him."

Worried voices rang out amidst Valen’s wails.

"I feel so sleepy," Lilith muttered. "Why does he keep crying?" She was just a child. Being derived of sleep made her doe eyes red.

[I know, right? I’m so damn sleepy!]

Aristia rubbed her sleepy eyes from the stool she was sitting on and observed the chaos. Her braided hair was slightly undone from tossing and turning through the night.

She had been woken by the crying too. Valen had been crying nonstop for hours, and the tension in the house was thick.

She tilted her head, studying the baby carefully. Because her sleep had been interrupted and she was both irritated and annoyed, she hadn’t paid attention to Valen.

But now, looking at Valen, she noticed that just like Catherine said, he kept pulling his legs to his chest, making his tiny face red from the effort. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Could it be his stomach?" She said quietly, getting up and walking toward Vasily. Her question drew the attention of everyone in the room.

"His stomach?" Vasily’s gaze shot to her. A mix of desperation, surprise and hope showed in her eyes.

Yes. Aristia was brilliant. Maybe she could think of something.

Even if it wasn’t accurate, maybe it could provide a clue.

"Yes," Aristia nodded, standing beside Vasily. "Sometimes babies get ga— too much air inside," she couldn’t think of another word for gas. "And it makes their stomach hurt. A book I read said it could make them cry for hours. Let me try something that might help."

[Book, my ass. This happened to the triplets often enough. I’d be blind not to recognize the symptoms. The triplets taught me more than any book ever could.]

Everyone went quiet as Aristia gently took Valen with confident but soothing movements.

"What are you doing?" Ross asked with a bit of curiosity, stopping his pacing.

"Helping him," Aristia said calmly.

She sat down and placed Valen on her lap, supporting his head gently, and began to slowly rub his tiny belly in a slow, clockwise motion.

"Are you sure that’s safe?" Alistair asked, hovering over her.

Catherine and Wilson kept silent, like they already trusted their six year old daughter to know how to handle a child just because she said she read a book.

"Absolutely," Aristia replied. "It’s gentle and meant to help release trapped ga— air."

Valen’s cries faltered for a brief moment, then resumed.

Maxim raised a brow and looked at Catherine. "She’s quite confident, isn’t she?"

"That’s to be expected," Catherine muttered with a tinge of pride in her voice.

"Shh... It’s alright, Valen. You’ll feel better soon," Aristia whispered.

She continued the gentle massage, then shifted his legs into a bicycling motion, her hands steady despite everyone’s gaze. She carefully mimicked the actions the triplets’ pediatrician had taught her long ago.

The wailing softened into small sobs, and the heavy, worry filled air in the room began to ease. Vasily watched intently, her hands gripping the armrest of her chair.

Her cousins watched curiously to see what would happen, and the adults paid more attention.

After a few minutes, Valen let out a loud burp, followed by a tiny, relieved sigh. The room was so quiet that one could even hear a pin drop. Everyone just stared.

"Ah," Vasily whispered, relief and confusion washing over her. "That was it? He needed to... burp?" She asked, her eyes wide.

Aristia smiled a little and handed the now-drowsy Valen back to his mother. "Babies sometimes swallow air when they eat. If they don’t burp, it can hurt their tummy. They need to burp, especially after eating. You can help him burp by massaging his stomach like I did, holding him upright on your chest and patting his back, or placing him on his tummy for short periods with someone watching him, to help release the air."

When she was done, Liam and Lauren nodded with their mouths open a bit. Their gaze on Aristia looked as if she contained all the knowledge in the world in her head.

Alaric and Lilith looked at her with stars in their eyes. Tia had just made Valen stop crying! They could finally sleep!

The old Viscount Zender leaned forward. His eyes showed approval. "Remarkable. A child solving what we adults could not."

Rulia smiled. "A brilliant child indeed."

Ross finally let out a breathy laugh. "We owe you, Tia. You’ve saved us all from going crazy!"

Vasily hugged Valen close, more than a bit exhausted. She sighed with relief and nodded at Aristia with gratitude. "Thank you. I was beginning to think I was failing as a mother."

After all, she couldn’t find what was wrong with her own child.

Aristia shook her head.

"You’re doing wonderful, aunt." She reassured her. "Even the best mothers need a little help sometimes." She said seriously. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Look at you, talking like an adult." Claire laughed, prompting the other adults to laugh too.

The household slowly began to return to its normal morning routine, and the air was lighter now that peace had returned and the mansion’s young master had quietened down.

"Her Highness is amazing. She saved a great deal of trouble today. Who knew the young master just needed to burp?"

"She’s so smart for her age!"

"And she has a lot of knowledge. She’s always reading books!"

"Who knew reading books would be so helpful."

"Her highness is not only clever, she’s also kind and helpful..."

As the maids left to resume their activities, they whispered to each other in hushed tones.

Aristia rubbed her eyes again. She didn’t pay any attention to the whispers and chatter. Her gaze drifted to the fireplace, where Maxim and Catherine were discussing.

"Clever child," Maxim murmured, shaking his head with a small smile.

Catherine nodded with a soft expression. "Indeed, she is."

"I don’t think anyone reads books more than Tia does," Ross joked. "She finds so many practical knowledge that I don’t know what kind of books I read. Perhaps I can borrow some books from you, cousin?" He asked Catherine this since the books Aristia supposedly read would obviously be from their home in the Grand Duke’s Mansion.

Everyone burst into quiet laughter. No one wanted to wake the sleeping baby Valen.

[Uh-oh. This topic is veering into a red zone.] Aristia thought.

The adults couldn’t suspect anything and even if they did, they wouldn’t find anything.

Where else would they find out she got her knowledge from if they investigated if not for books and intelligence? It wasn’t like they could find out she wasn’t part of their world, right?

But then she stood up, successfully grabbing everyone’s attention. "I’ll return to my room. Goodnight," she left those parting words, leaving without looking back.

It wasn’t only a distraction to divert their attention— she had barely slept a wink. She deserved a long nap after all that commotion.

Everyone looked out the window at the brightening sky.

"Goodnight?" Lauren asked, feeling amused and confused. A second later, she yawned tiredly, before realizing the reason for Aristia’s words.

She turned to everyone too. "Goodnight." She said, and rushed after Aristia. "Tia, wait for me."

The adults were left behind, feeling amused.

One by one, Valen’s room became empty as everyone returned to their rooms to make up for the lack of sleep from earlier.

As soon as Aristia’s body met with the bed and snuggled with Millie’s form, she was long gone.