William frowned at her mother's words. He thought that his mother's advice was contradicting his father's, who wanted him to stand up proudly and slay his enemies.
'Why does Mother want me to be a coward?' he mumbled inwardly while he creased his brows. For a second, he didn't think that his mother was giving him bad advice; he trusted her that much.
'Maybe mother was-' Before William could finish his internal monologue, a ball of light hurled at him at astonishing speed and hit him right in the guts.
BANG
"Ack!" William yelped in pain as he was sent flying like a broken kite to the other side of the training ground.
BOOM
He fell on his back, creating a crater. "Ahh!" he yelled in pain as his back arched.
"Never take your eyes off your enemy," Ara muttered solemnly. Her amethyst eyes stared at her son in seriousness, but her hand was curled into fists and her nails were digging into her palm. Her serious eyes wavered when she heard her son yell in pain.
William slowly stood up from the crater and stared at his mother in disbelief. Not because he was upset that he was attacked when he wasn't ready, but, "Mother is so cool!"
"Eh?" Ara almost lost her strict persona at William's abrupt praise. Her cheeks reddened a little in happiness as her son praised her. Unknowingly, she lifted her head up, her nose pointing toward the sky.
AHEM
She cleared her throat and turned toward William and said, "Remember, William. The world will not wait for you to understand everything, so you must act even when you are uncertain."
William seriously nodded his head while taking mental notes from his mother's teachings. He didn't get any chance to train with her before, and finally, he got the chance—a chance he wasn't going to waste.
"All right, we will end this here and start again in a few hours."
"Eh?" This time, it was William who was confused; he was raring to fight his mother and was full of energy about this.
"What? Why?" he asked; he clenched his fists while squinting his eyes.
"You have learned something, something that has nothing to do with the battlefield but with your mind. Reflect on what you have learned and come back. The world may not wait for you, but I will," Ara answered with a smile.
"But-"
"No buts! Go and reflect on what you have learned!" Ara scolded.
SIGH
Williams sighed in defeat and dejectedly began to walk out of the training ground. He began to reflect on what he had learned from the fight and was stuck on his mother's earlier words.
'From what I understand, Father wants me to be a man and face my problems head-on. But Mother says that I should run away. What should I do?'
William's mind raced, trying to solve his dilemma as he fundamentally misunderstood his mother's advice.
As he trudged through the halls of the mansion. He heard someone walking toward him while whistling.
WHISTLE WHISTLE
He looked up to see Orion walking through the mansion halls while whistling some tune.
Orion glanced at his little brother, who looked defeated. He stopped whistling while furrowing his brows and began to walk toward William.
"What happened, William?" he asked as he placed his hands on William's shoulder.
"It's nothing," William answered dejectedly; there was no energy behind his voice as he knew that whatever Orion said would most likely be a lie; after all, he had lied about complimenting women.
"Oh, come on! Why don't you tell your big brother here? I swear I will do whatever I can to help you," Orion said while smiling; he then put his arms around William's shoulders, nudging him to talk.
William looked up to his brother while squinting his eyes; he half believed his words, 'Should I tell him? But what if this turned out to be a lie to?'
Noticing William's walls crumbling, Orion persuaded a little more by saying, "Didn't I take you when you asked to go outside the mansion? Trust your big brother a little more, will you?"
William hung his head at Orion's words, 'That's right, he did take me outside when I asked him. All right, I will trust him one last time.'
SIGH
He sighed before telling Orion about his dilemma, "Father told me to be a man and fight my problems head-on, but Mother told me to run away like a coward. I don't know which I should follow."
Orion frowned as he listened to his brother, 'Why would mother tell him that?' He wondered. He didn't know which of his mothers had advised his brother; he knew that his brother had misunderstood what she had said.
"William, tell me exactly what she said," Orion instructed. He perked up his ears while looking at William intently, not wanting to mishear anything.
"Well, mother said that I should do whatever it takes to win, if it means using underhanded methods. She said she would want a living son who had no honor rather than a dead son with honor."
Orion tilted his head in confusion as he couldn't find any contradiction in their parents' advice. "And what is wrong with the advise?"
"What do you mean, brother? If I don't face my problems head-on and solve them, I cannot be a man. But while solving my problems, I might face enemies that I can't defeat; then wouldn't I die? But from mother's words, she said that I should run away. From father's advice, he said I shouldn't run away from my problems."
SMACK
"Ow!" William exclaimed as Orion smacked the back of his head. "Why did you hit me, brother?" he asked, his voice containing no respect but clear annoyance at his brother's actions.
"That's because you took Mother's and Father's advice literally," Orion answered while rubbing the place he had hit.
"What do you mean?" William asked in reply, 'wasn't I supposed to take them literally?'
"What father said was to be brave and courageous while facing your problems. I know it because father had told me that story too. What he meant to be a man was to take responsibility. And what mother said was to take that responsibility cautiosly."
William frowned as he didn't understand his brother's words at all. His eyes darted around as he tried to make sense of his brother's words before Orion continued.
"What I mean by taking responsibility is, let's say you face a person who is far stronger than you. By your understanding of father's advice, you will clash against him head-on, right?"
William nodded his head in response to his brother's question.
"And that's where mother has warned you about. Sure, you would get a lot of honor as people would talk about how bravely you clashed against a being who is stronger than you. But you would surely die in that clash; it may be your responsibility to fight that being, but that doesn't mean you have to die. You have to retreat and fight him when you are stronger. Yes, people might call you a coward, but you will have your life."
"So, all mother is saying is to postpone the responsibility?" William asked as he understood the gist of it.
"While it's not the best way to put it, yes, you can say it like that," Orion answered sincerely. "All your problems were a misunderstanding, William. What Mother advised is to use caution and strategy rather than clashing head-on recklessly."
William bobbed his head up and down while he understood what his brother meant. He then turned toward his brother and said, "Thank you, brother. I thought you would lie like always."
GASP
Orion gasped at William's words; he jumped back dramatically while pointing his finger at William. "When have I ever lied to you? Take that back right now!"
William was startled by his brother's overly dramatic actions: "Y-You lied to me about women liking compliments!" He stuttered while accusing his brother.
"But women like compliments!" Orion replied back.
"No, they don't! I complimented Seraphina and Achlys, but they said that there was no need for that and that they were already smitten with me."
"Oh!" Orion's entire demeanor changed as he listened to his brother's words. An amused smile tugged at his lips while he teased, "So my brother has already bagged two beauties, huh!?"
"Huh!?" William exclaimed in confusion, but then his cheeks reddened lightly as he recalled the girls kissing his cheeks.
"Hahaha, looks like my brother has indeed become a playboy, good! Good!" Orion said while laughing. He then began to slap William's back, which caused the poor guy to cough voilently.
"Now let me tell you some secrets I have learned about women from my experience, little brother." He began as he pulled his brother near him. He put his arm on his shoulder and began to whisper into William's ears.
.....
Ara smiled lovingly as she watched her two sons bond with each other. But her smile almost broke when Orion began to mutter nonsense into William's ears, 'I should break his legs, when I train him, hmph!' She snorted at Orion and turned around.