Chapter 26: Ciaran's sick day

The morning of the next day Ciaran woke up refreshed. His family had decided not to discipline him in any way. Now he only had to wait for his official punishment.

Lucky for him, the Academy had given its students the week off.

"A few sick days should mellow out the ones who are still angry at me."

He truly believed that as technically he had not harmed them much. Now if there was someone who would be stupid enough to target him, with the pretext of revenge, for a little burn on their body, then he would be forced to show them what real harm was.

The boy smiled as he envisioned the fun times that awaited him. For today though, he was to remain at home. Later in the day, the teachers would arrive to give him his sentence.

"Expulsion would be bad. Without access to the Academy, I can't study magic, not legally at least."

"Well, I can always tag along with my dad to the Desert and ask to enroll with their institutions. Call it a diplomatic mission and I might even come back a hero to my country." He said to the maid who was now in charge of helping him prepare for the day.

Usually, that would mean she had to assist him with dressing up and grooming him for the arrival of the academic staff, but that was far from her job. No, they were in what looked like a chemistry lab, working on her latest experiment. And in this, he served as her assistant.

She was once a distinguished scholar in the Capital, but a few bad investments here, another mass poisoning there and she ended up on death row. There she was given a choice, death or servitude. And as a benefited genius she chose life. One could always run away of course.

'I should have just hanged around in the Capital.' She snickered, before a horrified look appeared on her face, as she realized this place was getting to her.

Outside she was a dangerous individual, a valuable asset no matter where she went. Here? Here she was the newest maid, and outside of young master Rayon was probably the most harmless.

She was a regular person, no Warrior or Mage. And she might take some liberties with her experiments, but she had never considered setting hundreds if not thousands of children on fire.

'And not of them even cared. We burned the innocent, and these maniacs just asked why he was caught.' She was thinking, ignoring her young master's rumblings behind her.

She felt responsible for his actions, even if the scoundrel in question didn't. He asked her for a method to make "flames that did not burn "and she told him. He didn't tell her why he needed them, or even ask for her help, so she just thought he wanted to impress his friends at school with his knowledge.

"- and this time we are going to make the whole school drink acid. Give them a real reason to cry about."

"WHAT?" She screamed. A bad call.

"Just making sure you were listening. I wouldn't really do that. Unless of course you were willing to teach me a method with which we can make it so, without too much damage done to the lab rats." He said, with what she knew was his I am only joking if-you-refuse-me voice.

"You are a real menace kid." She told him.

"Flattery would get you nowhere. I am too young to be seduced vixen." He said as he covered his body with his hands.

The other staff had told her on her very first day, there was no point in trying to make any of the Clades adhere to common sense. That was a losing battle. She didn't understand then, too busy planning her escape.

Two weeks in and she had understood. One month in and she gave up on her escape. There were scarier things than death, and they usually wore friendly smiles. Most of them lived in this house. Some of them came to visit regularly.

In service of the Clades, she had met high-ranking officials, other merchants, and even royalty. She thought she had seen the vilest bastards in the Capital's dungeons, but they were harmless quire boys next to those pieces of garbage. And her masters dealt with them daily.

Her other colleagues were no better. From mass murderers to big-time crooks, Master Liam loved to employ the most colorful of people.

Her 'favorite' was the chief of guards. A former Lieutenant General from the wars with the North. This particular man was known for keeping prisoners as rations for his own man. Now, his favorite activity was playing chess with Ciaran before the boy went to bed.

"Ciaran, did you know that when I came here, I wanted to run away?" She asked her assistant.

"You gave yourself a week at best if I had to guess. Gave up on month two, maybe three." The boy guessed.

"Most of the staff is like that. The more patient ones plan it out for a year at least. The smart ones give up, and the rest no longer work for us. Cant employ dead people I'm afraid." He told her matter-of-factly.

"Don't misunderstand. We don't kill them off, we simply allow them to run away. You see, dad likes competent people, but he absolutely loves competent, desperate people, the kind who are down on their luck."

"Then all he has to do is give them employment and provide them with both safety and the means to do what they love. The benefits generate themselves." He smiled at her.

She hated this. She hated how this boy was growing up groomed to become so manipulative. She knew his words were true. She knew there was no place better for her than this Asylum. Yet, she didn't like what the boy was becoming, and that she had a part to play in this.

"Do you know why dad assigned you to be my personal maid and I your only assistant?" He asked her out of the blue.

"He did it because of the way you look at me right now. Because unlike the rest of the family, and the staff, you and grandma don't like what I am becoming. So your job is not only to teach me science and to fold my clothes. It is also to rub off on me, and limit my impulsiveness."

She didn't know what to say, so she just stared at him.

"I will not give you poison ideas, but if you mix vinegar and bleach you should get your results."

"Mixing vinegar and bleach can produce chlorine gas, which is highly toxic and can cause respiratory problems, coughing, and eye irritation. Chlorine gas can also be deadly in high concentrations. Therefore, it is strongly advised not to mix vinegar and bleach."

"Another option would be vinegar and baking soda. Mixing vinegar and baking soda can produce carbon dioxide gas, which can cause a chemical reaction that produces foam and fizz. This reaction is often used for cleaning purposes, but it can also be dangerous if the mixture is contained in a closed container, which can cause pressure buildup and potentially result in an explosion."

"You know, if you ever want to send a message to your enemies in toddler school." She said deadpanning.

"I didn't mean you are soft." He said, but she ignored him.

As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She was chosen because she didn't want to see the boy become a monster like the rest of them. She had tried to make him interested in science, the help the common folk live a better life kind, and not everything is a bomb if you are brave enough kind. As a result, she got attached to the twerp and he set his classmates on fire.

Worse still, she admired his work, especially the chili part. It was not even your usual kind, imported from the Desert. The idea was, that it would do the job and it would not mess with the other properties of the chemical formula.

She would not praise him for his work, as much as the scientist in her wanted to. As a scholar of the Imperial Academy, she had her principles. That being said, when she was a student she had done far, far worse for much less, not in her First Year though, definitely not in her First Semester.

She still stood by her principles, as long as she had time and access to the kid, she would try to stir him on the right path… or give him more ideas for mischief. Either way, they only had a few hours before her work as a maid could begin properly, and her noisy assistant had distracted her enough.

"It is time to finish up the last phase of this experiment Ciaran, get ready. And no talking now, this is important." She ordered, and her faithful assistant obeyed.