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Don now earned a four-pointed star on his vest after his first year. When he went home for vacation to show it proudly to his father…

All he got was a nod and a half-hearted. “Well done.”

And so, out of spite, he decided not to give his coins that he earned from busking just yet.

Let him continue sleeping in a bedroom full of cracks if he was going to he such a good father. Don had no intention on being a good child to him.

That was what Don thought…..

Until Duke Taevas’ bedroom roof suddenly collapsed.

The debris luckily did not fall towards him, and he had woke up in alertness to step away. Still, the damage was still considerably severe.

“You should have moved to another room already, Father!!!!” Don scolded him. “Now look, the cracks just continued to spread until it breaks away!”

But the old man must have been going senile, because he just said that he’ll have it patched up with some tarp or wood and it’ll be just fine.

Don was so very annoyed by this mentality.

Why does men insist to be stubborn like this, not owning up their mistakes and negligence even until it’s too late!?_.

The money he earned from busking would not even be enough to get the roof repaired, as it really needed to be fully fixed. And so, he decided to work harder during Week’s End so this silly old man he calls ‘Father’ will not sleep on a leaky bedroom.

And he decided to keep the busking a secret this time as he realized something about this incident.

His father was simply someone so hard-headed that he would have something to say and to counter Don’s opinions, despite them being correct.

He’ll probably chide him for worrying about something other than school and becoming a glorious Knight.

He also realized something more profound than that. Something relating to fate.

He wrote on his tiny journal that he had kept ever since he had studied in the Academy to serve as a record for his experiences:

[The degradation of things does not happen straight away. They do not happen like a lightning strike burning a tree.]

[Instead, they are like cracks and leaks growing on a wall or a roof. The more we ignore and endure them, the more they continue to grow.]

“That is true.” He then heard behind him. “How did you come to such conclusion, Don?”

It was his new friend, the kind older Sister Marigold Rozenaur. They shared tables in the Banquet Palace and talk about several things, as she also guided him on several things here in the Academy.

“I just noticed it now.” He shrugged. “My family’s history is a proof of this philosophy.”

“My grandparents wasted away their money in parties and extravagance, an old friend of mine told me. Until they have barely enough money to sustain their farmers and their lands.”

“Tragedy struck even worse when a plague infected to their workers, and the grounds was forced to face death of crops and famine because there’s no one left to tend them.”

He sighed, and continued:

“But my grandparents did not listen to their servants and farmer’s pleas all these years. They relied on a temporary solution, a way to patch the cracks for a while.”

Marigold raised an eyebrow. “And what is that?”

“They relied everything on their daughter to find and marry a rich man to bring back their former wealth. To hide the shame of their slowly rising poverty. They were successful, but…..”

“That rich man also made the same mistakes as them. Hiding things for reputation and appearances, yet not caring about the problems that arise and only finding temporary solution.”

“My father’s bedroom roof was full of cracks until it fell, and yet he patched it with wood.” Don grumbled. “It’s really stupid. People can be so short-sighted.”

Marigold nodded. “I agree. It’s the fall of humanity, negligence. Especially when it comes to relationships.”

“Relationships?” Don asked, not because he was surprised…..

But he wondered if Marigold also ever had or witnessed a relationship be slowly ruined by negligence.

“Yes. When relationships are destroyed, we often relate it to the final event that made a person say ‘It’s over.’ But that’s not really the case.”

She used her fork and knife to make small cuts on her beef, until it finally fully cut through. “Like this, relationships get dents over time. And yet we ignore them, possibly out of ego and denial.”

“We could not accept the tiny mistakes we made, and rather blame it in a singular event.”

Don agreed with these words, and he remembered it once again during this one fine Week’s End.

As usual, he and Cermin were challenging people into arm wrestling to gain coins as well as volunteers for the experiments.

Suddenly…..

Professor Espinella, who had been looking graver every week, finally asked Ronin:

“W-Will you speak with me in private, please?”

Ronin followed him towards the back of the wagon tent they were in. Don could not resist his desire to listen…..

As he could feel that the first crack in their relationship appears today.

Or perhaps, not even the first, but a major one. They were growing more and more distant, only a fool wouldn’t notice that.

A fool like the golden prince, who followed after him and pulled on his sleeves. “Hey, why are you eavesdropping on them when they wanted to speak in private??? That’s rude!”

“Shh!” Don just shush him, as he perked his ears to hear their conversation.

“… nothing has changed, Ronin. Yes, you are gaining more Flame—“

“Trust in me, professor. It’s not that nothing has changed, it’s that something about you had and you began to distrust me—-“

“I don’t distrust you, I simply want more results, Ronin! I feel like I’m running out of time—“

“Running out of time, how? Why are you such in a hurry to see the End? Why do you want to gain it so badly, and not trust fate to take you there—“

“Because you are not just the only one who had a ‘fate’ before you, Ronin. We must make strides for our own fate too, even us who are not special or chosen to bring a major change. A shift.”

“And what exactly is this shift that you are looking for? For what purpose….. Or perhaps the more accurate question….”

Ronin sneered at him. “For who, Professor?”

Professor Espinella gritted his teeth. “So you already know. Then you know why I’m so desperate to get this done quickly.”

“You would never understand because you do not value anyone but yourself, Ronin. Time is of the essence for everyone else, but not to you.”

ɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ And he left after that vague conversation that Don could barely understand. Leaving the eavesdropping boy frowning.

Yet even when he do not understand…..

“What are you both doing here?”

“EEEPPP!!!” Cermin faltered back once they were caught, while Don remained deep in thought. “I was just—- I was stopping Don, I didn’t mean to listen in at all—-“

“Brother, I think you need to go after Professor Espinella now and fix this before its too late.” Don told him in a hushed tone after much consideration. “Don’t let this crack grow anymore until it breaks your relationship completely.”

Ronin just said apathetically. “Why must I fix something that’s not broken yet? Espinella will not cut ties that quickly, not when he still needs me.”

He walked over to count the coins they had received, and Don could not help but feel a little frustrated yet also pity his brother at the same time.

“Ah, they all fall under the same tragedy. I just hope that when the roof falls down…..”

“That you do not regret it, Brother.”