Everyone is free, but if someone tried to take one’s freedom, the price shall be his freedom, too. However, the norm had changed. One’s freedom could be other’s demise and since that day, freedom became slavery.
~*~
Susan gave Felix a hot cup of coffee. She temporarily let Felix in her home to make him rest after a long journey while Renata and Yner were outside, playing in the hammock.
She sighed and sat down in front of Felix. “I'm sorry that our house is messy.” She chuckled.
Felix nodded. “It’s fine,” he said, “by the way, how far is the house to the city?”
“It’s pretty far. Probably it’ll take 30 minutes or more to arrive in the city if you’ll just use your feet in transportation.” She took a sip from her coffee.
Felix nodded. “A horse will be enough to arrive earlier, right?”
Susan shook her head. “Nowadays, horses are rare. In the province, there are a lot of horses, but here in the city? You will see nothing. Horses are very expensive now but there are cars and motorcycles. We don't need horses much anymore.”
Felix was slightly taken aback by what she said. He did nothing but to nod. “I see. It's different from us. We live in the province so we used to ride a horse as a way of transportation.” He sighed. “So we shall really adjust ourselves to this new environment.”
Susan chuckled. “Maybe life abroad is happy, isn't it? The surroundings are neat and the air is fresh. Here . . . you will see pure rubbish on the edges of the roads and buildings. There are a lot of broken trees, it’s very smoky, and sometimes it also stinks! Maybe in other countries, it's cozy and it feels good, “he said.
Felix could not speak because of what he heard. He smiled. “It was peaceful, yeah . . .” Until your nation ambushed our land, but it was never peaceful, Susan. We lived in fear, afraid of the oppression your nation will bring to Atolon one day. . . and it happened. Velo died because of you and your comrades.
“That's why we are here, a bit far from the city, so that we can experience being quiet and peaceful. Constant chatter keeps bothering our peaceful rest. We almost can't sleep because of their noise.” She chuckled. “By the way, what country do you live in?”
Felix was dumbfounded, but he still answered the question, “I don’t know if you’re familiar with this place but we are from  . . . Delural. Yeah, Delural. People there are blondes, like us. “ He chuckled.
Felix sighed. They pretended to be foreigners from Delural who moved here to Madreign.
Delural is one of the famous empires in the outside world. Felix heard it from someone earlier at the festival. Civilians of Delural are blondes, which helped him to lie to Susan. However, he’s planning to buy some wigs for him and for his daughter, because he heard that the Delural Empire and the nation of Madreign aren’t on good terms. He’s so lucky that the woman in front of him doesn’t care about his race.
“Oh, I forgot. As long as someone’s hair isn't black, he lives in Delural.” She laughed and took a sip from her coffee. “I feel like I want to experience your life there.”
Felix was dumbfounded when he heard what Susan said. A scene flashed in his mind. In that scenery, there were dead people; scorching flames; bloodstained ground; people screaming in terror; people running for their lives. It was a great chaos. In that scenery, everything was destroyed.
Why . . . did that appear in my mind? Is that what they saw when the victors attempted to invade my town? Felix thought.
On the other side, Renata was with Yner. They were quietly sitting at the swing. They haven't talked to each other since the time they met. Silence conquered the area.
Yner attempted to break the silence, “your name’s Revi, right?”
Revi just looked at the boy beside her, and nodded slightly. She didn’t bother herself to utter a single word, as if she didn’t want to talk to him.
“I can push you if you want,” said Yner. He was thinking that this action could help him to be her friend. He wants to be her friend because he doesn’t have any.
Renata shook her head. “No, thanks. I can do this by myself.”
Silence reigned between the two of them. Eventually, Renata decided to return to her father. Yner followed her.
"P-please wait for me!" Yner shouted but Revi just kept walking. So he ran to her and tried to hold her arm.
Revi retrieved her arm. She violently slapped his hand and glared at him. "Don't touch me with your filthy hand!"
On the other side, Felix and Susan were having a coffee. Susan told Felix the norm in Madreign so that she can help him in adjusting to this new environment. Also, Felix told her a fake background and story about his family so that Susan could not be wary of them.
“Oh, sorry if I asked about your wife.” In Susan’s eyes, the Vigliancos looked so pitiful as Felix told her the death of Velo. Of course, he didn’t tell the truth that they were victims of Madreign. Instead, he told her that her wife died because she was gravely ill.
Felix grinned. “It’s fine. Sorry couldn’t change anything, so why bother?” He chuckled. “It’s all in the past,” he added.
~*~
“Don’t touch me with your filthy hand!” Renata screamed at Yner.
The young boy was surprised by her reaction, yet he managed to scream back, “my hand isn’t filthy!”
Revi gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. “Yes, it is!”
Yner shook his head. “No it’s not! I wash my hands often!” he defended himself.
Revi scoffed after hearing what Yner said. “Even if you wash your hands often, your sins won’t be forgiven! Those hands . . . those hands killed my mom! You can’t justify your sins made by your own hands by just washing it!” She chased her breath.
To be continued . . .