Morfeo was not like any ordinary child; he was special. From the moment he was born, when the doctor held him, he was conscious, as if he knew he had just been born. His body was like that of any normal infant, but his mind was far more developed. Though his physical age was only a week, his mental age was that of a one-year-old. He rarely cried, and whenever the servants entered his room, he would look at them with eerie gazes, making them afraid to go near him. However, Ottavia was the only one who did not fear him. She believed he was special rather than frightening, so she cared for him as if he were her own child.
By the time he was three weeks old, Morfeo could recognize the faces around him. Whenever Ottavia entered the room, he would smile and laugh, but if any other servant came in, his smile would fade, and he would give them an unsettling stare. This amazed everyone. Some of the servants with experience in child-rearing said they had never seen anything like it in their lives. Ottavia explained, "Gifted children with high intelligence can distinguish faces at this early stage."
His parents were overjoyed, especially his father, Vaspira, who was pleased to have the perfect heir for the family business. Vaspira was the head of Venmor Labs, the largest pharmaceutical company in Italy. He ordered the servants to fill Morfeo's room with all kinds of educational materials for children.
A week later, when Morfeo turned one month old, his intelligence had noticeably increased. As time passed, his intellect only grew. When the servants brought in educational toys, simple, medium, and difficult puzzles, they initially believed he would not be able to solve them, considering babies at that age couldn't even sit up yet. However, Morfeo surprised them. Within three days, he managed to sit up. Although he did not immediately solve the puzzles—because he did not yet understand what they were or how to approach them—he observed everything carefully.
Two servants sat with him, but as time passed, they grew bored because Morfeo simply stared at them with his peculiar gaze. They were no longer frightened by his looks, having grown used to them. Eventually, one of the servants picked up a medium-difficulty puzzle and started solving it. Morfeo paid close attention, watching how the servant completed the puzzle with great effort. Once the servant finally solved it, he proudly boasted about his achievement to his companion. But when he turned back to Morfeo, he was stunned—Morfeo had just solved another, similar puzzle with ease and in a remarkably short time.
Both servants were left in shock at Morfeo's intelligence. They sat in awe, watching as he proceeded to solve every single puzzle in the room, from the simplest to the most complex. Within an hour, he had completed all fifty puzzles, confirming their belief that Morfeo was no ordinary child.
By the time he was two and a half months old, Morfeo spoke his first word: "Ottavia." She was like a second mother to him, as his real mother, Tradita, did not know how to care for children and rarely visited him. When Ottavia informed the family about Morfeo's first word, they were both shocked and astonished—especially his mother, Tradita.
"How can a baby this young say such a difficult word?" she asked in disbelief.
Ottavia simply replied, "Morfeo is special and highly intelligent, so this is to be expected."
Ottavia was not surprised, which made Tradita suspicious—she began to wonder if Ottavia knew something about Morfeo's condition.
Two weeks later, when Morfeo turned three months old, he became capable of crawling and moving around his room. One day, when the servants entered to clean, they were shocked to find his crib empty. Panic set in as they searched for him, only to discover him sleeping under his bed. Feeling relieved, they sighed in ease, knowing he had not left the room.