Ascendance of a Bookworm

Three days had passed, and finally, my fever began to subside. I was slowly able to swallow a little food again.

The meal was a very lightly salted soup with finely chopped vegetables floating in it—good for a sick person, but once I was healthy again, matching my palate to it would be tough.

Besides that, I was getting used to being called Myne. From now on, I had to live as Myne. It was better to give up and get used to it quickly.

"Myne, are you done?"

"Yeah."

I handed the empty dishes to Tulli, who came to clear them away, and obediently lay back down on the bed.

"Make sure you get plenty of rest, Myne."

Actually, I hadn’t left the bedroom for these three days!

Isn’t it awful that if I stepped off the bed anywhere besides the toilet, I’d be forcibly sent back to bed?

Also, the “toilet” was just a chamber pot used in the bedroom. Such a humiliating ordeal.

By the way, the family also used chamber pots in the bedroom, and they’d throw the contents out the window!

And, of course, there was no bath.

I couldn’t hold it any longer and had someone wipe me down, but they made an incredibly weird face.

I can’t take this anymore! This kind of life!

Even if I can’t bear it, a sick little child suddenly running away from home won’t lead to the life I want. My mental age is adult-level after all, so I understand that much. No matter how much I hate it, I won’t run away without thinking about the consequences.

Looking at this house’s situation, the outside doesn’t seem safe either. I don’t even know if child protective services or shelters exist, and whether my life would improve at all.

Most likely, I’d run away from the filth only to scream as filth pours from above, wandering around desperately until I die outdoors.

I just have to recover quickly and improve my living environment.

My first goal is to be able to get out of bed without being scolded. — What a low bar!

And above all, books.

Books are the first step to improving my living conditions. With books, I think I can tolerate many of the unpleasant things, or rather, I will endure them.

So today, I decided to explore the house. I hadn’t read any books for so long that I was starting to experience withdrawal symptoms.

Give me books, rawr! I’ll cry! A grown adult will cry shamelessly in front of others!?

Since I have an older sister named Tulli, there should be about ten picture books somewhere in the house. She probably can’t read the letters, but maybe I can imagine the story by looking at the pictures and guess the words.

"Myne, are you sleeping?"

Tulli suddenly opened the door and peeked in. Seeing me quietly in bed, she nodded with satisfaction.

Every time I regained consciousness, I tried to sneak out of bed to look for books, only to collapse again, so the nurse Tulli was fully on guard.

Tulli, who was asked by our mother to watch me during the day while she worked, was desperate to keep me in bed. No matter how much I tried to escape, my small body couldn’t win against her.

"Someday, I’ll definitely ‘overthrow those above’."

"Myne, what did you say?"

"…Huh? I just want to grow up."

Tulli didn’t notice the true meaning behind my softly wrapped words, and smiled awkwardly.

"When you stop getting sick, you’ll grow. You’re always ill and can’t eat properly, so even though you’re five, people often mistake you for three."

I see, so I’m five years old. And weak and small. I learned that for the first time.

I didn’t really celebrate birthdays in my memories. Or maybe they celebrated, but I couldn’t understand the words?

"Tulli, are you big?"

"I’m six, but people often mistake me for seven or eight, so I’m kind of big, right?"

"I see."

So this is the size difference between siblings born a year apart.

It seems ‘overthrowing those above’ is difficult. But I won’t give up.

I’ll take care of my meals and hygiene, and get healthy.

"Mom’s gone to work, so I’ll wash the dishes. Don’t get out of bed, okay? You won’t get better if you don’t rest, and if you don’t get better, you can’t grow."