Every morning, his mom carries him outside to have the sun shine on him. Johannes knows how the sunlight helps produce Vitamin D in the human body. He couldn't help but wonder if the people in this world learned about the good sunbathing did to the body, or if they knew instinctively, or if they did it just because the world seemed prettier at the start of the day. The sun shone in the sky but it was not too hot. The colors of the trees were still green, but it seemed like it were greener in the morning. The smell of grass in the morning as morning dew slowly evaporated was not the most fragrant, but the freshest of all scents that you could smell for day.
These morning walks are the only means for Johannes to see the world for now. From his spacious room, his mom would carry him out of the crib, then they would walk a long hallway. The hallway was decorated with a lot of glass windows- windows that could already show him how beautiful the outside world was. Whenever he looked out of the window, it seemed like the outside world was a painting of a farm, a forest, and gardens; it seemed like the most beautiful work of art he would ever see. After the long hallway, his mother would turn left, and then he would see a spacious foyer with large stairs in the middle. Mother would always descend those stairs, and continue walking until she reached the main door where a number of maids and menservants waited for them. Two menservants would always open the large main door for them. Once his mother stepped out of the door, he would always try to look around. He had already realized how big their house was, that even calling it a house would not give it justice. The people around him called it a Villa. Whenever he tried to look around, he couldn't establish the boundaries of their estate. He couldn't help but wonder if their home was built in the middle of a forest.
It had been three months, but from time to time, he would still be surprised whenever his mother took him to a place that he knew was within their villa, but couldn't understand how it fit there. There was one time when they went to a flower garden filled with different kinds of roses. He just thought that his mother loved roses, But no, he found out that his mother loved flowers. She really loved flowers. There was a garden for Tulips, a garden for Orchids, and a number of gardens for flowers he didn't even know existed.
Aside from these flower gardens, there was a pond for fishes. Yes, there was a pond, for different fishes. We're not talking about a small pond with 10 to 20 fishes. We're talking about ponds that house a certain species of a fish that he didn't even know existed. The only fishes he knew were the goldfish, and the clown fish (that he only knew because of that movie about finding someone). However, he knew that his mom loved koi fish. Whenever his mom felt like looking at fishes, they always went for the Koi pond. His mom always talked to him in baby speak. One day she told him that the Koi Fish came from the far east, where the people are spiritual and their power is based on how close they were with the spirits. His mother explained that these fish means good luck. It could also mean abundance, courage, or even perseverance. Aside from these symbolisms, she mentioned that the Koi has a strong spiritual power within them.
While his mother told him about these, he was able to hear her thoughts. "Johannes, I don't really believe in these things. However, if there's a trait I want you to have, that is Perseverance. Yes, you are born in the nobility, but that doesn't mean you have the right to slack off. You have to persevere, my son. You will have a lot of responsibility when you grow up. You must not give up, my child."
That happened few weeks ago, even though he thought that it was a very roundabout way to tell someone to persevere, he made sure that he took his mom's words and thoughts to heart. Even though his baby-self just answered "Gugugu gah gah", from his mindspace, he told his mother "I will never let you down mom. I will make you proud."
Today, his mother brought him to the rose garden. Whenever they went out, his mother would always be accompanied by guards and maids. He always thought his family was quite extravagant and weird. He thought that his mom might be lonely, and which was why she had a lot of people around her; or maybe this was the culture of nobilities; or maybe his dad was overprotective which would explain why there were a lot of people with them. Today was no different. However, while sitting in the garden, sipping tea prepared by one of the maids, one manservant who possessed an aura of overwhelming strength- one of that of a noble knight- walked towards Johannes mother.
"Madam, may I speak with you?"The man said.
"Yes Sir Theobald, how may I help you?" The madam answered.
Before answering, the gentleman smiled, then said merrily, "A letter from the Western Border just arrived. It has the Master's crest on it and it's directly addressed to you, Madam."
Johannes' mother suddenly turned her back to Theobald's. Johannes saw how red his mom's face was and how she was trying to hide it from the maids and menservant.
"Ah, my mother is that kind of wife huh. I wonder how long they've been together." Johannes thought to himself. We could say that Johannes didn't have a very good impression of his new father. It had bothered him that his father was not by his mother's side when he was born. "Did he not think about what my mother would feel? What kind of husband would leave his wife to suffer alone?" It is sad to think so, but Johannes had already judged his father as a deadbeat dad.
After controlling herself, The Madam tried to act composed, took the letter, and dismissed Sir Theobald. She also ordered all the maids and menservants to vacate the rose garden and to leave her and Johannes alone. Johannes tried his best not to hear his mother's thoughts. However, her thoughts were not really that quiet at the moment. Once she felt that they were alone, her thoughts came out of her mouth and she squealed, "Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, a letter from my Love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Needless to say, Johannes felt that he was going deaf, and wished that he were blind so that he would stop seeing his mom lie on the ground and flail around just because of how excited she was to read his father's letter. His mother's elegant, perfect, holy image shattered. What he saw before him was a woman, who's crazily in love with his irresponsible father.