As the carriage pulled away from the house, Noel, who had not spoken to his brother, suddenly grabbed him by the collar. He pulled Riven close, their faces a few inches apart.
"What do you mean this good-for-nothing will be having a chance at the academy tryouts?" he asked, furiously turning his gaze to his father.
"Noel, let go of your brother," his mother said, but Noel ignored her.
"I have spent all my life training and trying to get better so that I can be there, but now you want to give him the resources that are mine as well to train?
I won't have it. I have accommodated this waste of space for far too long. He has done nothing other than bring disgrace to the family, yet he is somehow getting rewarded?" Noel asked in anger. He grabbed on the collar even harder.
Riven didn't move. He stared at his brother. He knew that his brother was pained, and he should be. After all, he just stepped out of the blue and wanted to take what had always belonged to his brother.
"Noel, no one is giving your resources to Riven. You worked hard from childhood to get those privileges, and so they belong to you," his father said.
Riven placed his hand on Noel's hand softly and spoke, "Brother Noel, father won't be giving me anything. My path to the academy relies solely on me. It is a battle that I'll have to take on myself.
You have already earned what you have, and I have no intention of trying to take them away from you," Riven said, his gaze soft and apologetic.
But for some reason, Noel didn't like to hear that. It made him feel like Riven was saying he was better than him. He pushed Riven back and stormed into the house. Everyone watched him with a different kind of emotion.
Riven also headed inside. Today was his second day of being an adventurer, so he wanted to get prepared and leave.
He made it to his room and walked in. He left the door slightly open in a rush and started changing into his armor. He finished up and hung his sword by his side, ready to leave.
The door of his room slowly opened, the creeping sound of the hinges piercing through the quiet. He looked up and saw his mother standing there with Amber holding her hand.
"Mum," he said, confused as to why she came here. She invited herself in and walked to the bed. She sat down, and so did his sister.
She looked at him from top to bottom, as if sizing him up. Then she locked gaze with him and spoke, "I never thought I would see the day when you became someone that was worth people's attention for a good reason," she said, and then looked away. She stared at the ground.
Riven walked to the bed and sat down beside his sister. She looked at him, not saying anything, as if she didn't even know him.
He stretched out his palm. "Hey Amber, do you want to see something?" he asked. A brief look of confusion was on her face before she nodded.
A flame lit on his palm suddenly, almost making her jump, and then it started swirling and turning around. Her lips curled up into a beautiful smile. She stared at the flames for a while before looking at Riven.
"So Brother Riven has magic."
"Yes, I do. And maybe when I'm back, I'll show you more of it. We haven't gotten to play together for a while, after all," he said.
"And that's because you're always up to no good," she shot back.
Riven chuckled as he heard her response. Then he smiled innocently, raising his hands into the air. "I've changed, I promise." He turned and looked at his mum. He saw her looking at the both of them with a smile on her face.
"Mum, I know I've not really been the best son, or even an average son, but I'll be better, and that's a promise," Riven said.
His mother got up from the bed and walked in front of him. She looked down at her son, her gaze soft and warm. The beautiful light from the sun cascaded beautifully over her skin, giving her the glow of an angel.
"You are not all to blame here, Riven. I should have been a better mum for you, not made your life harder for you. But I didn't know what to do. I spent hours, the hours of every day, thinking of where I went wrong and what I should do to fix it, but nothing came.
I didn't want you to feel like you were broken or needed fixing. No mother would want that. So my reluctance to act soon enough caused you more.
I'm sorry, Riven. I'm deeply sorry for not being able to help you, and for making you pass through this all alone. It is understandable if you even hate or despise—"
Riven got up from the bed and hugged his mother, interrupting what she was saying. He wrapped his hands tightly around her. Her eyes opened wide in shock, her body tensed up by this unexpected happening.
"I could never despise you. I don't want that, ever," Riven said, tears streaming down his face.
In the instant before he hugged her, Riven recalled a memory. He remembered his mother arguing with his father back when he was a kid. He recalled the yelling that came from behind the doors, so loud that even his light novels could not drown them out.
He remembered her screams as she shouted at that beast of a man in rage for his sake. She screamed how the man could be a better father and how he was neglecting his family with his drinking and gambling addiction.
He also remembered that that was the day his father hit her till she died. The image was stuck in his mind. He could never hate his mother, not in that life or this one.