Chapter 1: Birth in Silence (Part 1/4)
Snow fell quietly over the outer courtyards of the Duke's estate. The storm had rolled in that morning, soaking the cobbled paths and blanketing the tiled roofs in white. Most of the servants had already taken shelter. No one liked being outside on a day like this—not unless they had to be.
In the farthest corner of the servants' quarters, the air was cold. The firewood had run low again. The window shutters creaked in the wind. Inside, a woman lay curled in bed, her breathing shallow and uneven.
She was alone. No midwife. No assistance. Just a copper basin half-filled with clean water and a damp cloth she hadn't had the strength to wring out.
Huo Yun'er had given birth two hours ago.
She held the child close to her chest, wrapped in a thin blanket she'd sewn herself from leftover scraps. Her arms trembled with exhaustion, but she didn't let go.
The child didn't cry.
He hadn't made a sound since he was born.
His eyes were open.
Unusual, Yun'er thought dimly. She remembered that newborns were supposed to rest, to cry, to seek warmth. But this one simply stared. Not at her. Not at anything. Just... still.
But he was breathing. His skin was warm. He was alive.
That was enough.
"You're strong," she whispered, forcing the words past chapped lips. "Like your father."
The name caught in her throat. She didn't say it again.
---
The child's name was Huo Yuhao.
Yun'er gave it to him without ceremony. She spoke it aloud just once, the day after he was born, while folding a clean cloth over his chest.
She didn't expect anyone else to use it.
They lived at the edge of the estate, in a room once meant for tool storage. The walls were cracked, the floor uneven. It was dry, though. And warmer than nothing.
Servants whispered behind their backs. "The maid who was favored." "The one who gave birth out of wedlock." "She should be thankful she's still breathing."
No one offered help. No one came to see the baby.
But Yun'er endured. Quietly. Without complaint. She had something to protect now. That made the cold easier to bear.
---
Huo Yuhao did not behave like most infants.
He didn't wail at night. He didn't panic at unfamiliar sounds. He stared a lot. Focused. Not in the vague, unfocused way most babies do—but sharply. Like he was studying everything.
And he was.
Inside his mind, something else had awakened alongside his soul.
> [System Activation: Complete]
[Welcome, Host.]
[Reincarnation Confirmed: Soul Binding Stable]
[Initializing Novice Package...]
– Noble Uchiha Bloodline: Fused (Curse of Hatred Removed)
– Three Tomoe Sharingan: Active, Suppressed
– Projection and Analysis Magic: Installed
– Infinite Gold Account: Available
– Basic Sword Technique: Learned
– Basic Movement Technique: Learned
– Ice Dragon Bloodline: Stored (Manual Fusion Required)
[System Integration Level: 7%]
[Host Body Age: 1 Day]
He understood what had happened. Somehow, impossibly, his consciousness had carried over—memories, reasoning, logic, even language. It was all there.
But he wasn't here to act like a hero. Or play god.
He had a mother now.
She held him with thin arms. Sang to him in the evenings with a voice weakened by years of illness. Smiled despite the pain in her joints and the cough in her chest.
He wasn't going to waste this life.
---
(Continued in Part 2...)