This is how we mostly spend our days here in Whitehood. I’m mostly ganged up on by my parents, but it’s all in good fun. The argument you’ve witnessed just now was nothing more than me overstepping my boundaries and trying to butt heads for no reason. They’re good parents, they can just get a bit grumpy when my future is involved.

My father’s name is Lock Grimheart, although many people call him Grim due to his stoic behavior when working. Some people even fear him, with rumors spreading about him being an ex-convict from a long time ago.

Of course, those are nothing but slander. If such a kind man was an ex-convict, then I wanna go live in the prison he came out of! I understand that he’s scary looking, but even he’s human, and I still have no idea how he didn’t let it get to him at all. Personally, I’d beat up the person who badmouthed me.

When it comes to my mother Ella though, no one dares speak ill of her. She’s a slender, petite woman who’s good at housework. But where her real specialty lies is in cooking. I consider myself a connoisseur in the culinary art of taste testing, and even though I’ve ate nearly every dish in the village, I still consider her cooking to be the end all be all.

It must be something in the seasoning, but every time I ask her about it, she replies with a sweet smile “It’s packed full of love”. Had I not known love isn’t an actual ingredient, I probably would have believed her purely because of the aura that she gives off whilst saying it.

Okay! Now that we’re done with introductions, let’s gets started with today’s main event: My 12th birthday!

***

I woke up and got dressed like any other day, pretending nothing was out of the ordinary. But what awaited me down in the kitchen was a surprise that no kid could resist.

“Surprise! Happy birthday, Lune!” My parents shouted out with joy.

My parents had decided to throw a birthday party filled with decorations, presents, and most importantly: cake! Needless to say, I was ecstatic at the mere sight of it all, and I went to give them a hug to remember.

After all the hugs we’re exchanged, we sat down to enjoy my mother’s famous recipe, her magnum opus: the Chocolate-Banana Cake! It sounds weird, but hear me out!

The cake might look like an ordinary chocolate cake, what with all the glaze and such, but in all actuality you couldn’t be further from the truth. The cake is filled with bananas, cookies, and other texturally colorful ingredients. With each passing bite, the bananas multiply the taste of the chocolate, whilst the chocolate accentuates the cookies. My mom got the idea when I was still a baby. I had apparently craved sweets, but my teeth still haven’t developed fully, so she had to find a way to feed me without having my teeth get damaged. Jokes on her, though, my first baby tooth fell off after I ate half the cake all by myself!

My father was particularly excited about today, seeing as I was now officially old enough to take on the knightly training regimen. The people who complete it are allowed to open carry around a sword at their leisure, and will probably have no trouble finding a job as a Noble’s Attendant. Of course, he was to be my instructor, so I’m probably in for a really tough challenge…

As for the presents, I was gifted a new backpack meant for school, as my old one had become quite worn. I accepted both the training and the backpack wholeheartedly, as I’m gonna be needing both of them for my plan.

You see, I had planned on leaving the village for a long time now. I had everything set up, and me and a friend of mine would travel off into the vast world. But this…is the reason I haven’t yet done so.

Seeing how happy my mother was, and how proud my father was, I just didn’t want to have to do this to them. I kept on making excuses, saying stuff like “after I complete basic sword training” or “after I finish school”. These thoughts had kept prolonging the actual departure, and to be honest, a small part of me was happy that they did.

***

Another year had passed before I knew it. I had just passed my final test in swordplay, and a large party was held for me (the three of us were still the only participants, though).

No matter how I looked at it, this day was definitely the best day to start my adventure on. If I was to postpone it any longer, then I’d best just give up on the prospect altogether. Though telling my parents was never part of the plan. At least that way I get to remember my parent’s faces as smiles instead of frowns…

As we we’re all eating our food, I could tell that the atmosphere was heavy. Something’s not right, but I don’t know what. I feel like they’re a lot more silent than they usually are. From experience I know this can’t mean anything good…

“Lune, dear, before we continue with the celebrations,” mom suddenly spoke up, “we just want to ask you something…”

“Sure, mom, what do you need?” I said without knowing her intentions.

“Ahem, this is a difficult question to pose, but… Why do you wanna leave us?”

She had a serious, teary-eyed look on her, and my father suddenly stopped eating, realizing this is probably her cue for him to chime in.

How, though? How did they find out? I made sure not to tell anyone or leave any traces! This is bad, but if I just remain calm and explain the situation to them honestly…

“Uhhh, heheh…” I started murmuring something before clearing my throat.

I’m fumbling, I need to think up a good lie, pronto!

“I uhh…w-whatever do you mean, mother?” I barely managed to utter the words.

“You know very well what I mean!” She said as she stood up, ”You’re planning on running away from home!”

Mom’s got me in a pickle, the fact that their smiles are completely gone and are instead replaced with a serious expression proves exactly why I didn’t want them to find out.

“We tried!” she cried out, “We tried to be good parents, Lune! Did we do something wrong? Are you mad at us? Why do you wish to leave?”

My father then went to console her with a look that said “You better have a good explanation”. So, I came clean.

I was born with green eyes, but that doesn’t make me special. In fact, in this world, everyone is, because our eye color defines our beliefs. This is what we refer to as Iro. An Iro can be of a wide range of colors, each representing a philosophy of sorts. As we age, we will convert from one belief to another, starting from around age 4. Some doctors theorize that just by changing our worldview, our brain sends signals to our eyes, changing its pigments.

Now the thing that makes me special is the fact that my green eyes have stayed the same green color since birth. Indeed, I have yet to convert, and that’s purely because of the properties of the green iro. A green iro believes in the thrill of adventure. Of finding out something new. We believe that a world without novelty is a cruel world not worth living in.

So, with that in mind I had considered the village a fine place, but I’ve simply outgrown it. There is no nook or cranny that I have not explored, so I thought the only logical next course of action is to broaden my horizons.

After telling them all of this, my mother slightly composed herself.

“At least I know it’s not our fault…” She said as she wiped her tears with a defeated tone.

My father, on the other hand, was furious. For the first time in my life, my father had raised his hand against me. Namely, a single slap was all it took to shock me to my core. He told me to never mess with them again, and that the next time I make my mother cry, I won’t live to see him retire.

This threat was devastating to me. The beating wasn’t the issue, the harsh words weren’t the issue. No, it wasn’t any of those. I’ve completely ruined my relationship with them, and they won’t ever look at me the same way as they did before…

My parents, just now, disapproved of my nature. They proved with their actions just how much they dislike the idea of me doing what I was born to do. My thirst for adventure isn’t something I can control, it’s something I was born with. And hearing that they will have such a strong reaction to me trying to be myself is actually nauseating.

…………….

…I do understand where they’re coming from, though…

I have no idea how it’s like to be a parent, so I can’t say this with certainty, but if my son was to suddenly go on an adventure, I’d probably object to it too…

So with that, I at least chose to alleviate their pain a bit…

*sob*, *sob*…

One by one, tears started trickling down my face. I got up and went to hug them. They’re probably still mad at me, thinking I’m doing this because I want to get out of trouble by way of tears.

They were confused at my sudden change in attitude until I had uttered the words:

“*sniff* I’m, ugu, I’m sorry! I don’t wanna leave you! I’ll stay here, I really will! I don’t want to be a disappointment to you!”

Just then, I had felt a warm embrace, not one, but two.

Who knows how long they’ve known about this, how long they’d endured the pain. And now, they finally got through to their son, and voiced their worries.

“Son…!” Father spoke out, “Perish the thought, how could we ever live on if we were to ever consider our son a failure!”

“Yeah!” Mother said through her tears, “You’re our pride and joy!”

Yeah, I think this way they’ll at least go to sleep happy… But by the time they wake up, I will have already left. I no longer have parents, and they no longer have a child. For them to have such a washed-up son who betrayed all their expectations, I wouldn’t wanna burden them with the thought… Goodbye, guys, sorry for not being who you wanted me to be…