Ethan's persistence in being cautious one day finally paid off as he noticed something unusual around him. He noticed that one of the maids who were assigned to take care of him was acting strangely.
one day, Aisha was busy with something and Ethan was alone in his room with a few of his babysitters. They were just mostly keeping an eye on him and their whole job was to keep him entertained and see to his needs.
"Young Master Shirin will be 10 Yeara Old Soon." One of the maids said.
"Yes, he's such a kind brother... Did you see how he asks about Young Master Ethan's well-being whenever he acts up strangely?" Another maid said.
"Yes, he will be 10 years old soon. I will miss him when he's gone. I have been here ever since he was a small child... And now he has grown so much." An elderly maid said.
"Umm, well. I'm new here and I was wondering if the rumors about him are true-" A maid asked timidly but was interrupted mid-sentence.
"Shh! You shouldn't poke your nose where it doesn't belong!" The elderly maid scolded.
"F-Forgive me.. I'm new here and didn't know." The maid said on the verge of tears.
Everyone looked at her with strange gazes as if she had touched upon a taboo topic. Ethan was finally about to get some answers but it seemed like this topic wasn't going to be discussed further.
"Alright Alright... But don't ask too many questions from now on." The elderly Lady sighed and said.
"It's time for Young Master Ethan's meal. Selena... Go warm some milk and feed him carefully. I have work to do so I'm going. All of you... Come with me." She said and stood up. The other maids nodded and left with her.
Now only Selena and Ethan were left in the room. Ethan was always listening in on the conversations around him to gain more information and so he knew that it was time to have some milk.
He was in the Cradle but it wasn't completely closed off from the sides as it had a net-like design so he was actually able to see everything in the room clearly.
Ethan was always cautious regarding what he was being fed and always took notice of any abnormalities as he knew that the most efficient way of killing him was poison.
As far as Ethan knew, Selena was a kind and hardworking servant who had been working for the White Family for years now and her loyalty was time-tested.
But Ethan decided to be careful nonetheless as he knew human nature very well. The purest of Saints could be turned into Devils given the circumstance.
Selena boiled the milk to the optimal temperature and poured it into a container. She then came to the cradle and picked Ethan up with care and placed him on her lap.
So far nothing was suspicious until Ethan noticed that Selena was not feeding him milk and instead seemed to be shivering.
With shaking hands, she brought out a small glass bottle in which some kind of powder was stored. She seemed to be very reluctant as she slowly and with shivering hands opened the bottle cap and then emptied its contents into the milk.
"Ah shit, is this what I think it is?" Ethan thought as his mind began running full speed to find any possible solutions to his problem.
Cold sweat had formed over Selena's forehead as she dipped the spoon into the container with shivering hands. Her face was absolutely horrified and conflicted.
"Y-Young Master... Forgive me.. Please.. I- I know that it's no use saying this... But... He... My son.. He.... If I don't do this. Then..." She said between sobs. Her eyes were teary and red and her face was guilt-ridden.
"I-i asked. It will... Only make you mentally ill... You will live. Forgive me." She said and slowly brought the spoonful of milk near Ethan's mouth.
Ethan quickly reacted and acted as if he was in a mood to play and swung around his arms. 'Coincidentally', his arm happened to hit the spoon as it was thrown away and fell onto the group with a cling. The milk was spilled.
Selena sighed with relief and picked up the spoon again. She came back to Ethan and saw him giggling and extending his hands toward her lovingly with a smile. It looked as if he wanted her to embrace him.
"Owaa... Aoooo... Waaa..." Ethan then made some cute baby sounds. Although he looked like a normal infant from the outside but in reality, he was doing all this to save his own ass.
And to finally hit the nail on the coffin, he decided to gamble it all on his next move, "Waa.. Mmm.. Aaaa... Maa... Mama... Mama...!" He said in the most natural manner. This was his plan.
Selena's eyes widened as memories of her son calling her 'Mama' for the first time flooded her mind. Tears started pouring out from her eyes like a waterfall. She stood up and emptied the milk full of container in the pot of money plant.
She picked up Ethan and embraced him lovingly and said under her breath in a muffled voice, "It's fine... He said to continue giving the medicine for a year for it to take effect. I still have a year.. I will run away with my son if the worst comes to worst."
She patted Ethan's head as if he was her own son. Ethan secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
'You are a kind person Selene. I will definitely Kill that Shithole of an Uncle of mine myself.' Ethan thought.
'You said you had a son, and you were very reluctant to feed me that milk. You only needed a reason to make the correct decision Selene. Humans are like this.. When they are on the edge, they only need a slight push. Whether it pushes you toward the abyss or it pushes you away from it. That's all that matters. As a mother yourself... hearing a newborn infant calling you mother as his first words were all the push you needed to make the decision.' Ethan thought.
'I will pay back this favor one day.' He thought and closed his eyes and fell asleep. This incident had once again exhausted him.