503 Learning To Speak
Selma Payne’s POV:
How would one take care of a five-centimeter small child? The answer was that no one knew. This strange pregnancy didn’t make me produce breast milk, so the nurse held the bottle and pointed it at little finger’s needle-sized mouth.
Fortunately, Naiad didn’t seem to need to eat. The child’s stats had not changed since birth, maintaining a strange stability.
Rather than saying that she was healthy, it was more accurate to say that her mimicry was set to a fixed program, so it would never change. For some reason, I thought Naiad wasn’t as young and ignorant as she looked. Her eyes were full of understanding.
However, her mimicry was still immature, and her vocal cords were not developed well, so she could not say anything except cat-like meowing.
Three days later.
I was currently handling some documents in my office. The ever more elusive Maxine had been unusually clingy these few days. Of course, she wasn’t clingy to me. She stayed by Naiad’s side, just like she stuck to the wolf cub.
The wolf cub, who could walk a few steps unsteadily, was also very curious about his sister, who had suddenly appeared. He often pulled little Sunflower to sit beside Naiad’s cradle for dozens of minutes. This was already a difficult duration for a child to concentrate.
And today, I was just about to stamp a large seal of rejection on a jumbled-up government report when I was startled by Maxine’s shout.
“What’s wrong?” I subconsciously looked at her and saw her half-crouching and half-lying on the carpet. Her breathing had stopped, and her entire body was like a child’s felt toy.
“It’s her. It’s her. Naiad,” Maxine stammered. “Naiad... She... she’s on my back!”
I looked over and saw a small head the size of a cherry on Maxine’s furry back. It turned out that Naiad had somehow climbed onto Maxine and grabbed two tufts of her hair as if she were riding a horse.
I immediately walked over and tried to take Naiad down, but the child stubbornly refused to leave Maxine’s body. I feared I would hurt her if I used too much strength.
Suddenly, she said in a clear voice, “Wolfie! Wolfie! It’s soft and warm, don’t leave!”
The broken sentences made me pause momentarily, and then I cheered in surprise. “You can talk! Goddess, Maxine! Naiad can speak!”
Maxine was also quite surprised and wanted to turn her head around, but it was still a little difficult for her to see her own back due to the body structure of a wolf.
“If you don’t wanna leave Wolfie, let’s play with her differently, okay?” I comforted Naiad gently. “She’ll be in pain if you keep grabbing wolfie hair like this.”
I thought Naiad understood what ‘pain’ meant. Although it was a killjoy, she had killed many people with me after all. As expected, she only thought for a moment before she let go of Maxine’s fur.
I lifted her, and Maxine rolled her into a warm wolf-shaped cushion, letting Naiad sit in her arms. The small figure was almost submerged in Maxine’s thick white fur, making one feel a soft warmth in their heart.
“It’s incredible,” Maxine said in a daze. “Although you said she would develop her consciousness, I thought it was like artificial intelligence, which had to be guided by people. But look at her, this adorable little genius. We didn’t even teach her anything, and she can speak!”
She was even more excited than me, the real mother, and couldn’t wait to lick Naiad to show her love.
Even though I was extremely excited, I still maintained my rationality and called the doctor and the werewolf grandmasters over.
The medical results showed that Naiad’s physical condition was as good as the textbook example, and the werewolf grandmaster did not think there were any bad signs.
“Besides, we think she’s growing up.” Master Mary was away on a business trip, so Master Hayley was in charge today. “The power hook in Naiad’s body is constantly fluctuating. According to the value and past experience, this fluctuation was similar to the ‘expansion’ in witchcraft. Out of consideration for the mimicry structure, I think this is a kind of adjustment to her condition after absorbing the information from the outside world.”
“Information from the outside world?”
“Yes, mimicry is not formed out of thin air. It must have enough model references. Your Highness, think about who has been by Naiad’s side the most these few days. Then, she will most likely adjust herself in a certain direction.”
The people who spent the longest time with Naiad these past days...
I was the one who personally took care of Naiad all this time. The wolf cub and little Sunflower also came to visit their little sister. My mother even wanted to come to me every half an hour to kiss her precious granddaughter. Three out of five times, my father accompanied her.
But the time was the longest...
Maxine! These few days, she had not left Naiad alone for a single moment, and she wished she could sleep with Naiad in her arms!
Could New Flow’s final form be a wolf?
