Diar Pines POV (Flashback) 8 years ago continued.

The Next Day came around.

DING! DING! The morning bell rang.

“Wake up young master, it’s time to wake up,” said maid number one loosely dangling the bell with as few fingers as possible but with enough grip for it to not fall.

I twisted and rolled myself around my bed “Hmm five more minutes” I said in between a big yawn and protracting my body forward and then back down.

Maid number two walked around my bed with a mission, her first stop was to rip my window curtains in half.

“Noooo!, my eyes!!! please turn it off” I said letting out a loud sound of frustration. “Ugh, It's too bright in here now.”

I sprung up from my bed, sitting upright with my back touching the backboard. I calmly watched as the maids worked, they must have been extremely young when they first started but now they know exactly what to do.

Here she comes the youngest, maid number three, with my school uniform laid in her arms. She reaches the bed and expertly places it in the corner of the bed.

“Are you ready young master? The bath is already drawn” she said standing straight up with her arms behind her stone blue uniform dress.

My eyes scanned the room, left then right, “I want to bathe and dress myself today” I said to the room then the room froze.

Maid number one and maid number two both quickly turned their bodies away from whatever they were previously doing to just look at me with disbelief.

Their bodies froze in place only allowing their eyes to move to give each other worrying looks and stares.

Maid number three was the most still and stiff. Like a statue, barely moving her body, she slowly attempted to look at maid number one signaling for help with her widened eyes.

Leading by example, maid number one takes the first step forward to break the unrelenting silence. “Uhh, young master may I question why you want to bathe alone? You’ve never requested something of that nature.” She said sternly taking three steps closer to the bed with the other two maids turning to me for an answer.

I should have expected this reaction from them after all, their job is to make sure I do nothing on my own. So how do I make them feel more at ease about leaving me alone for a long enough time so that i can prepare for what I'm about to do today?

What lie is both believable and non-threatening to their jobs as my maids?

“I'm not a baby anymore, I'm a grown man, I'm turning eleven soon I don't need three girls giving me baths every day anymore, I can do it myself,” I said with a pretense of frustration and confidence, silently holding my breath and waiting for their response, was my lie convincing enough?

All three of them simultaneously turned to look at each other with their brows raised, eyes squinted, and lips perked. Within seconds all three started walking towards the door, with maid number one leading to the exit and the last to leave was maid number three.

Before she gently shut the door behind her, she took a last peek into the room and said “If you need help with anything use the bell to signal us to come in, and when you’re finished the lady of the house prepared breakfast downstairs.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Then came the loud whispers and chuckles behind the door until they slowly faded away the further away they got.

Whew, they're finally gone. Now I can plan and prepare. I quickly rolled off my bed, took off my pajamas, walked into my bathroom, and went in the lukewarm bath. The bath created the perfect environment for my brain to peacefully think and scheme.

How am I going to be able to follow ellie around all day? We both are always being watched either by the maids at home, our drivers, and even all the teachers at the academy.

If I do anything suspicious or extraordinary today the first thing everyone will do is call my parents. And it's not like I can just disappear or wear a disguise, if I'm not seen for even thirty minutes this whole city will know about it and chaos will rise.

Wait! What am I even doing this much work for? I have absolutely no proven reason to think that someone is trying to hurt Ellie. I'm overacting and going this far for some simple cold symptoms and some pills. Really? That's all it took to trigger this in me.

I shook my head, No, I can't just let this feeling that something is wrong go, it's my job as Ellie's older brother to make sure that everything is ok with her, I need to confirm it myself.

If thirty minutes is all I have I might as well use those minutes to the best of my ability. I can pretend to be as normal as possible and not make anyone suspicious of me, then at the last minute take action.

To watch ellie I need to be as close to her as possible. I can sneak into her car again like I did yesterday, this time to watch her instead of annoy her.

We’re already set to eat together for breakfast, wait I need to get down to get breakfast before her.

Panicked, I quickly rushed out of the oversized porcelain bathtub, splashing the water every which way. Slipping then getting back up and then out.

As I stood on the bathroom floor soaking the room with water I realized that I'd never done this before. What do I do next, where is everything? I know that they usually cover me with clothes, some fluffy fabric but what is it called?

I walked out of my bathroom, entered my room, and saw the clothes that maid number three left on the edge of my bed. My uniform, this will have to do.

I quickly and confidently follow the instructions for clothes, and my limbs go in the provided holes, that is simple enough. And out the door, I went.

my plan was now in full effect, step one was to act normal and be suspicious. Step two was to stay close to ellie and watch who interacts with her. And finally, step three was to figure out who or if anyone wanted to hurt ellie and why. That should be easy enough.

Mom's food is never great and today was no exception. She makes us all eat what Ellie eats to make her not feel left out and sad about her illness. When ellie started getting sick the family doctor recommended a strict diet to help her get better. But her health came at the cost of my taste buds.

Everyone in the family knows that I hate moms cooking so this is the perfect time to start step one of my plan.

“Ugh, Mom why is this yogurt so bland and tasteless, yogurt is meant to be sweet, not this.” I then pushed the bowl of yogurt towards the center of the dinner table and used the nearest napkin to wipe the yogurt residue off my face. No reaction. This is expected. Everyone including Dad just sat there quietly and continued to scope and eat their yogurt.

After I reached out both of my hands to grab the bowl of the disgustingly looking green and cold soup, I took a sip of the broth and immediately spat it out on the floor when it accidentally splashed and ricocheted everywhere across and around the table. The person who was sitting on my right, Ellie, got the worse.

“Eww! diar! you got it all in my hair” she yelled while she frantically used her napkin to tap off the green soap broth off her perfectly styled hair that was now ruined.

mom immediately jumped up off her seat and ran to Ellie. “DIAR PINES!!” She yelled, “Why did you do that to your sister? I just finished doing her hair, now I have to redo everything. “Mom’s face was angry but Ellie’s was furious.

She looked at me with pure anger and annoyance, to her this was the worst thing i could have done to her.

I tried to reach my hand out to help fix the issue but Mom, who was hovering over Ellie and me, flicked my hand away from Ellie. I looked down at my rejected hand for a second then looked back at Ellie and said “I’m sorry Ellie, it was an accident”

“Don't lie, you wanted it to hit me on purpose” she states then quietly under her breath she says “Why do you hate me so much.”

Silence then broke. If we weren't so close to each other I could have easily missed the last part that she said. There I saw the tears building up in her eyes, her nose started sniffing and I knowing what came next said “I'm so sorry Ellie, I didn’t mean to do this to you, please don’t cry, let me help” I partially begged.

“That’s enough,” said my father who was still sitting down across from me at the dinner table. “Diar go to your car and tell your driver to take you to the academy, you’ve already done enough here”

“Yes Father” I responded with my head held down as I stood up off the chair.

(Chapter not finished)