Ethan was growing up in the Duchy of White in a mansion that was on the outskirts of the capital of the Duchy.
The capital city of the Duchy was called the city of Adenberd, it was in the center of the duchy and was surrounded by mountains and valleys which made it incredibly hard to invade.
It was said that even if the whole duchy is captured yet if the capital has enough provisions and preparation then it can still withstand for at least two years with minimum manpower due to its incredible geography.
The geographic location was so good that it was worthy to be the capital of the kingdom itself.
Anyhow, it had been a month since Ethan was born into the world. Mostly, he was always wrapped in a cloth or under constant surveillance by the maids and Aisha.
Ethan also noticed that he was being raised with extreme care and extravagance as if he were a prince of some kingdom. He understood that the White Family was very rich and powerful from what he saw till now.
Ethan got to experience firsthand how hard the life of an infant truly is. He had very less energy in his tiny body so he would pass out just after moving his limbs around for a while. And that wasn't even the worst part, he had no control over his bladder whatsoever.
It was extremely embarrassing to wet his pants so he would make a ruckus whenever nature's call came. Most of the time though it didn't work as everyone thought it was just the baby's behavior.
But everyone gradually started to notice that Ethan was not like other babies who cried all day, he only cried before pi*sing or shi*ting himself so everybody understood that Ethan would 'let it go' whenever he cried.
Another thing that Aisha and others noticed was that he was just too quiet... like he did not even make the sounds that babies usually made. He would also turn his head whenever it came to breastfeeding, such behavior was strange and baffling which worried Aisha endlessly and she in turn showered him with more attention and love.
All this created some rumors that Ethan was extremely intelligent, strange, eccentric, and quiet. As the Youngest Master of the White Family who was recently born, Ethan had quickly become famous among the peasants and the rumors made him out to be some kind of natural genius and handsome prince which soared his popularity even more
The rumors of Ethan's strangeness were spreading mouth to mouth and they were getting more and more ridiculous with each turn. Everywhere in the town people would talk about it and the rumors were even starting to spread throughout the whole Duchy and then the Kingdom by extension.
Ethan had expected this to happen to some degree but he didn't expect such an outrage. But it was necessary as he couldn't just piss himself all the time and do nothing about it.
Living as an infant was harder than one would imagine as you couldn't move, couldn't talk, and basically, there was nothing to do but lie in one place.
Ethan tho, did not mind this as he was used to doing nothing and it wasn't boring for him in the slightest, on the contrary... He was rather enjoying his new lifestyle where he would just sleep and eat.
Sometimes Naenna, his grandparents, and his mother would play with him and it was good for entertainment. It was rather amusing how Ethan played all of them like a fiddle, when he smiled all of them cheered and when he acted gloomily all of them made weird faces to make him laugh. And as a mentally 21-year-old this was very hilarious to him.
But Ethan was not stupid, he knew how important it was for him to learn more about his surroundings as he seemed to be in a medieval era of some completely different world.
He could also somehow understand the language but had no idea how was this possible because as far as he knew, the letters in the language were totally unfamiliar to him.
And that's why he was carefully observing the world around him as much as he could. He was also getting information about the new world and his new family at the same time as he listened in to various conversations of servants, maids, and his caretakers.
He got to know that the White Family had a long history in the Atrana Kingdom and was one of the most powerful families. He also came to know that the Atrana Kingdom was one of the most powerful Kingdoms in the whole continent and even had a hegemony among the Western Nations.
The White Family consisted of Albaer And Aisha who were his parents, his grandpa and a grandma, his uncle Alier White, and three siblings called Naenna who was his 4-year-old sister, Shirin who was nine years old, and Luceryc who was three years old.
Ethan couldn't understand how Shirin had tanned skin when Aisha and Albaer were both fair-skinned with western features, there was also the question of Luceryc's mother who seemed to be missing.
Unfortunately, no one around him talked much about these topics as if it was taboo so he had no choice but to wait and see until he would be able to talk or some information would be revealed in some time. It wasn't that important anyways.
One day, Ethan was with Aisha in her room and she was feeding him milk with spoons. Ethan just wasn't able to bring himself to drink milk from her breasts when he was completely conscious and was mentally 21 years old.
"Slowly now...Fuu fuu.... Do you like it?" Aisha said and fed Ethan some milk after blowing some air on it so to make sure it wasn't too hot, she patted Ethan's head lovingly. The maids chuckled.
"There is nothing to like about drinking milk," Ethan thought and swallowed the spoonful of milk, "This is just too slow... I wanna sleep." He thought further.
Suddenly a female servant came in and bowed, "M'Lady, Lord Alier wishes to see you." She said.
"Tell him to come in," Aisha said and fed Ethan another spoonful of milk. The servant left and shortly after, Alier came in wearing his usual pleasant smile.
"Brother Alier, what can I do for you?" Aisha asked.
"Forgive me for the intrusion, I come to inform you that one month has passed since we opened up our granary in the name of Young Master Ethan on the occasion of his birth and all the people are very happy thanks to your generosity," Alier said with admiration.
"Oh, you jest. Although it was my idea you are the one who arranged it. I hear you're even taking all its financial burden on yourself. There is no need for doing so.." Aisha said with gratitude. Ethan's ears perked up and although he looked like a completely normal baby just drinking milk from outside but he was carefully listening in to the conversation.
"Why not? I can at least do this much for my lovely nephew, can't I?" He said and clapped. A few servants came in with various wooden and marble toys, luxurious small clothes, etc.
"This is for my dear nephew from me." He said and looked at Ethan with an adoring smile.
"This... You have my gratitude." Aisha looked around at the various gifts and said with gratitude.
"Hahaha, there's no need for gratitude between family, Lady Aisha." He said and rubbed the back of his head as if embarrassed.
'Woah! This guy sure seems a bit too nice huh." Ethan thought and looked at Alier and giggled. He then looked at the various gifts curiously pretending as if he was interested.
Alier smiled with satisfaction and suddenly jolted as if he remembered something.
"Silly me, I mainly came here to inform you that Lord Stuart is leaving in half an hour back to Stuart Earldom." He said.
"Oh, then excuse me..." Aisha hurriedly got up and as she was about to leave, her attention went toward Ethan.
"Allow me, if you don't mind." Alier said offering to look after Ethan, "Of course not. Please look after him." Aisha said and left with her handmaids.
"Leave us," Alier said, the servants and maids bowed and left.
With a smile, Alier picked Ethan in his arms and lovingly played with him for a moment, he tickled Ethan's stomach and made weird faces to make him laugh.
'What a kind uncle...' Ethan thought and chuckled.
Alier suddenly stopped playing with him after a few moments passed, and a strange silence fell in the room where no one else but Ethan and Alier was. Ethan strangely felt rather uncomfortable all of a sudden as he looked at Alier.
Alier's face suddenly turned cold and the loving smile on his face vanished, his eyes became fiery and full of scorn.
"My dear Nephew.... " He said and halted for a second and then proceeded to say in a very cold, calm, and detached tone, "Tell me... Why didn't you die like you were supposed to?"
"Oh boy... "
Ethan thought dumbfoundedly and blinked several times as he looked at Alier's cold gaze.