บท 7: Apology
Time is a great teacher and has a hell of a way of teaching a lesson. We have all had experiences that seem to teach us to value time, but we forget how much of it we actually have. And the more we spend on time without actually taking time, the less time we have.
***
After Haste ran away from the dining room, he hoped from the bottom of his heart that no one would stop him.
And instead of going back to his room, he decided to go out.
He didn't want to stay indoors. And even more, if his family was going to come and question him about his new powers.
He didn't want to tell them that he had received a blessing from a god-like figure because it would bring more problems to him than anything else.
And since he couldn't go outside of the mansion because of the guards that were positioned in front of the gates, he decided to go and hide in the garden.
The Laborde family's garden was really pretty, and they took a lot of pride in it.
In a world where the strong prevailed and where fighting was a daily thing, having some pretty places in the world was quite good since it was refreshing and calming.
So Haste went there. This garden, even though was produced by a family that he came to hate with time, was always calming his mind.
The beautiful flowers, the refreshing scent of the grass, and the calming energy it was emanating were all soothing his mind in times like this.
And unbeknownst to him, he spent several hours in the garden.
Time flowed extremely fast in this kind of situation, so it was already late at night.
'I guess everyone is sleeping,' Haste thought as he get up from where he was sitting. 'I should go now,' He walked with a smile. He didn't need to have breakfast with his family, so he will wake up early to immediately go hunting and to school after that.
And as he slowly approached the mansion, he felt a presence behind a corner.
He immediately went into a fighting stance. Even though he didn't have any weapon on him, he could still surprise who was hiding with a sudden increase in speed. Thus he will be able to punch them with a lot of momentum.
However, the person who came out from the corner wasn't the one he was expecting.
"Haste, I'm hurt. Do you want to harm your brother that much?" The person who came out was indeed Jil.
Seeing him, Haste was about to run, but what Jil said next stopped him in his track.
"Please Haste, stop being such a child. You're only pushing back what will eventually come."
"And what will eventually come?" Haste asked. Even though he knew the answer, he still wanted to hear it from him.
"Our conversation, what else?" Jil asked as he walked toward his little brother.
"What? I thought you were talking about our parents."
"This time will come too, but I do think that our conversation is more important than you talking about how you did that with them," Jil explained.
"What do you mean?"
"I know that you suffered a lot. Especially from our parents. So I know that even if they want you to become part of the family again, you won't accept."
"And how about you?" Haste tightened his fist. "Weren't you kind to me, before turning into an indifferent brother? You never protected me, even after everything they had done to me," He bit his lips.
"Yeah, you are right," Jil looked at him with a gentle smile. "And I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have acted like this."
"Are you kidding me?" Haste raised his head and looked at him. Directly in the eyes. "Do you apologize just because you saw how I fought? Does it even make any sense? Isn't the same behavior our parents will show to me in a few days?"
"It is?" Jil asked. "Well, I don't really know. But where our parents will show you interest just because they now know your value, I won't do that. I want to be your brother like before" He then walked even close to him.
Haste wanted to punch him, but he stopped himself since he knew there won't be any point in doing that. First, because Jil could just stop him in an instant. And second, because he knew that violence wouldn't solve anything.
However, since he didn't punch him, he instead tightened his fist even more. And because of that, his hands began to bleed.
And once Jil was close enough to Haste, he hugged him. He also used his power to heal Haste's hands.
"I know that what I did was wrong. And I'm terribly sorry for that," Jil began to talk as he didn't let go of Haste, even though the latter tried to push him away, be it by punching him in the stomach or even pushing him simply. "I shouldn't have behaved like this. It was very irresponsible and disgusting of me to do that. And I know that from your point of view, it seems that I came back after having seen your actions. But I swear upon the god that had blessed me that it is not my intention. However, even though I want to be a new brother to you from now on, I can't force anything upon you. It's your choice, and only you can decide what you want to do next," He then stopped hugging him and took him right in front of him.
They looked at each other in the eyes for a moment.
Haste was crying, and seeing that, Jil once again understood how hard it must have been for his little brother to live in such a house. Sure his parents were good to him, and he was thankful for that. But even with that, their behavior toward his little brother always and still disgusts him.
Sure he too acted like that at one point, but it was when they were still young. He was easily influenceable, so he naturally tried to do what his parents showed him. But once he began to think on this matter on his own, he began to understand how wrong he was.
However, even if he knew that, the scar he had left behind in Haste's heart was already too big. So he never found a good moment to tell him all of that.
So he was thankful that even with all the things he had endured, Haste still hadn't ended his life.
He didn't know what he would have become, and how awful he would have felt about himself if his little brother would have ended his life because of the harsh life he lived since his childhood.
So after wiping his brother's tears away, Jil said. "No matter what you do, from now on, I will always try to support you. As long as I can, I will do my best. Even if you don't accept my apology. It doesn't matter to me because I will still support you and cherish you from now on."
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