Warning: A bit gory and bloody.
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Knock. Knock.
"Young master Ian, dinner is ready."
"Alright."
The servant who came to inform Ian of the prepared dinner left.
Ian placed a purple bookmark inside before putting down the book he was reading and got up from the carpet-covered floor.
Walking downstairs along a black spiral staircase, the white crystal chandelier hanging high on the ceiling brightly shone on Ian, blasting away all darkness.
Specially trained maids and servants lined the sides as he reached the bottom step. Ian headed towards the dining room.
After passing through a doorless arched doorway one could see more servants and maids standing with their backs to the wall, ready to serve at any time once their master calls.
Don't know when Shade suddenly appeared. He pulled out the chair at the place Ian usually sat at, once Ian sat down, he pushed the chair forward to an appropriate distance from the table.
Ian lived the privileged life of a typical wealthy young master.
"Young master Ian, should we bring out only your meal or the master's meal as well?" One of the maids asked Ian for his opinion and order.
Ian said without needing much thought, "Bring brother's dinner out too, Eliza. I'm sure he'll be back soon. He would never miss his scheduled dinner with me."
The maid nodded and ordered two other maids to fetch the meals. Eliza was the current head maid of the mansion, her family had worked for the Everett family for generations and she herself had already served them for more than twenty years. She was loyal and competent just like the past generations of her family.
Two maids expressionlessly stepped out of their formation and went to the kitchen to bring out the dinner. Coming back with a tray each. They placed the bowls and plates in their appropriate spots in front of Ian and the seat belonging to Angus the head of the house. The utensils, be they chopsticks or forks, were already laid out on the tablecloth.
Although Ian didn't want to start dinner without his brother, he felt his stomach growling with hunger. He had eaten at noon today at Sling's house and it's been 5 or 6 hours since then, naturally Ian's stomach had already digested everything, not to mention the need of his growing body for more energy and nutrients.
Thinking about it, Ian decided to eat a little and then stop and wait for his brother's return before continuing.
Taking a spoon and dipping it into the appetizing soup, Ian lifted the silver utensil to his mouth and swallowed it.
But with that life, came dangers that cannot be avoided.
The delicious taste with the right amount of sweetness and sourness made his taste buds tingle with delight. However, at the same time, Ian frowned. He tasted something amiss with the soup. Something so light and subtle that it was typically unnoticeable.
Ian stopped his movements.
He beckoned Shade to come closer.
Shade approached, leaning down as Ian gestured and sniffed the soup, even taking the unused chopstick with Ian's permission to dip it lightly in the soup and tasted the tiny amount of soup with his tongue.
Behind the harmless and normal tasting flavor of the soup hid a weird and almost disgusting taste.
His eyes flashed with alarm and danger.
Shade instinctively spat the insignificant amount of soup out of his mouth. His reaction confirmed Ian's guess.
"It's very strong," Shade informed Ian.
All light and emotion left Ian's face as his hands clenched.
A traitor!
Someone dared to poison him!
Thinking even further, a fire appeared in Ian's eyes twisting and turning fiercely, threatening to burn the world down.
Bang!
Ian slammed the table.
All the maids and servants of the household shook at the violent sound of impact. They swear they heard the sturdy dining table made of the toughest and highest quality of wood crack and break.
Everyone in the mansion felt their knees weaken and knelt to the ground with their heads bowed and shaking with fear and doubt.
Even the servants and maids outside the dining hall fell to the floor. As if afraid a surprise inspection would occur to see them not kneeling in repentance and they would be thrown out, worst, lose their lives!
Everyone was equal under Ian's wrath. Only Shade stood somewhat calmly under the terrifying aura Ian emitted.
A sudden and invisible pressure seemed to oppress everyone in the entire mansion. From the gardeners outside to the servants and maids inside to the bodyguards placed throughout the mansion.
The shaking maids and servants right in front of Ian had it the worst. The oppression they felt was the strongest and the most direct.
They would never have imagined that the sweet and innocent young master Ian who never acted rude or arrogant to the servants in any way would have it in him the ability to act in such an overbearing way. So similar to and even surpassing that of his brother's, the head of the family and the big Boss of the Everett Mafia Group.
But from what they saw of Ian's and Shade's reaction, they knew with their well-trained brains that something was wrong with the soup. But… it really has nothing to do with them!
They were innocent! None of them would dare to mess with their masters' food.
Ian didn't care whether they were innocent or not. Right now, he just wanted to vent his anger.
It's one thing if they aimed for him. But at the moment, he knows he is a pretty insignificant person with the only significant thing about his identity being Angus's little brother and the only remaining family member. Obviously people wouldn't be hired to poison him, if anything, they would kidnap him to use him against his brother. He has experienced this far too many times in both his past life and current life. So leaving him aside, there was only the possibility of his brother left, for the servants eat different food from them, their portions separately cooked from the main family's, so only he and his brother could possibly eat this meal and fall into their scheme.
Someone wanted to poison his brother! Most likely with fatal, killing poison!
Unforgivable!
Punching the table, the table visibly shook and sank, Ian shouted with a tone demanding absolute obedience, "Get the chef and every one of the kitchen staff here right this instant! Don't let any of them escape! If they do, chase after them and catch them! If you dare to lose them, you can dare to give your own life!"
"Y-Yes!" All the servants and maids shouted in unison and hurriedly rushed out of the dining room towards the kitchen, not one was willing to fall behind the other.
Ian sat back in his seat, his face pale, lips purplish, sweat coming out of his body.
"Kek!" A sound uncontrollably slipped out from between Ian's lips.
'I was careless. I trusted the people working for us too much.' Ian gritted his teeth in hatred as he felt his stomach churning from that spoonful of poisoned soup he drank. 'I won't make that mistake again. I'll tell brother to let me check every one of the personnel working for us to prevent such incidents from happening ever again.'
"Master, what should I do?" Shade asked for an order from Ian. He did not ask Ian if he was feeling well because without asking he could tell that Ian was enduring a lot, that poison had been very potent despite the small dosage Ian swallowed.
"Nothing. Just wait here," Ian said lowly as he endured the pain coming from his stomach that's slowly spreading out towards the rest of his body.
Worried, Shade couldn't help speaking out again. "Shall I call for the doctor?"
Ian paused, thinking about it for a moment, and then nodded.
Shade quickly took out his phone and called the Everett family's private doctor to come quickly for an emergency, then hung up.
In the kitchen.
The head chief and other cooks were grabbed tightly by the servants with the maids wrapping ropes around them that bound them so tight they found it a little hard to breathe. Other kitchen staff also had the same treatment.
While some were confused at what was happening, with a few being cooperative, some others acted panicked and guilty, demanding to know for what reason they were being treated like this.
Regardless of how much they screamed, cried, insulted, and cursed, the servants and maids made quick work of them and threw them in front of the much better looking Ian who was not as pale or purplish as before.
The poison inside him seemed to be weakening and slowly disappearing. No one present at the scene noticed such an unbelievable, magical event happening, all too focused on saving their own hide and throwing all the blame and responsibility onto the kitchen staff.
"Young master Ian, they are all the kitchen staff who were in today. We tied every one of them up, none of them escaped," head maid Eliza reported to Ian.
"Good." Ian dismissed Eliza who stepped back into the crowd of maids and servants.
Feeling his energy coming back and the pain almost gone, Ian stood up, his chair screeching sharply behind him as it scraped against the ground.
The harsh screeching sound made the kitchen staff tied up on the floor all tremble as if they were squeezed between the floor and the chair legs.
Stepping in front of them, Ian looked over them with superiority at a taller height. Scanning one face after another, Ian could clearly analyze their thoughts and natures, especially the probability of which of them carried out this act.
Among the mass of faces, Ian chose one.
Stalking towards that person, Ian crouched down and grabbed the man's chin with an iron-like grip making the other party gasp from the pain transmitted to his brain.
"Who ordered you to do this?" Ian's voice was deadly calm as he spoke this sentence, but the undercurrent was anything but calm. Despite the apparent calm of Ian, the kitchen staff who cooked the soup who was accurately picked out by Ian gulped nervously, he could subconsciously feel that if he were to admit it, never mind dying, the period of time before his death would be hell on earth and after his death, his body would be torn to pieces and fed to wolves.
Unfortunately, the man miscalculated. Whether or not he chooses to confess, Ian would never let him go since he was sure this man was guilty.
Seeing the man not speaking, Ian couldn't care less, he didn't actually care who was behind this. He only wanted to show them the result of their mindless, foolish plans.
See if anyone dares to do such things in the future.
In front of all the house staff, Ian ordered Shade to bring him a pair of disposable gloves.
After putting the gloves on, Ian again squeezed the man's chin to face him.
"Open your mouth."
"Stick out your tongue."
Command after command came out of Ian's mouth as his light purple eyes glowed a deep and magnetic purple. Gone was his usual deceptive soft and polite appearance, what appeared before them all was the return of a vengeful ghost full of hate towards all those who dare to harm him and his loved ones.
The man found to his surprise and horror that his mouth automatically opened and his tongue slowly stretched itself out. His eyes widened with tangible fear at what he guessed was about to transpire.
Without looking at any of the servants and maids and the other kitchen staff, Ian spoke a warning that was about to be backed by a terrifying scene, "This is what happens if you dare to betray my trust."
With no hesitation at all in his movements, using all his strength, Ian swiftly and forcefully plucked out the man's tongue.
The man seemed to scream but no sound came out as he choked on his own blood.
Blood gushed out over Ian's face, making him look like a horrifying murderer. Dirty, crimson blood sprayed onto Ian's beautiful purple locks of hair, staining them red and murderous.
What made the servants and maids even more traumatized was the emotionless look in Ian's eyes, as though what he had just done was nothing but gutting a pig.
A murderous aura surged out of Ian as the expression in his eyes turned twisted and dark, an aberrant feeling once again infected him. A feeling so familiar and close, having felt it for the longest time in his last life.
The bodyguards who came here due to the commotion—some of whom were already stationed here—witnessed everything from beginning to end. They stood petrified at the unbelievable scene happening before their very eyes.
More cruel and merciless than even their boss. With not a hint of remorse or fear at seeing blood.
Ian Everett. The younger brother of their boss Angus Everett.