1 Into the Woods (1/2)

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”Life is such a mystery. One must not be complacent about anything that has not transpired yet. Everything has its purpose and meaning. Life is not set in stone. Life is unpredictable. Join me unravel my quest to an unfamiliar world of possibilities. Are you all ready?” Said the huge man with the crown of light lavishly showing its elegance to the white-winged girl, patting on her head while she nervously intertwined its hand. ”I, I will come wherever you will go, Father!” she said.

Every night I feel that I could be somebody else. I always thought that this might be because I don't feel myself. I am an unusual person. I'm always having a dream that I am somewhere, in the middle of the crowd. A place where bustling crackles of noises can be heard, dancing lights in the middle of the road can be seen, crowded and throbbing one another.

... and there's this another dream of people talking to one another that I can't remember.

On a clear night, where you can see twinkling specks of light above. I woke up thinking about the dream I had. How I wonder what could it be like to have the entire place lit with moving lanterns and torches that don't burn. Unlike this region surrounded by trees and fields everywhere. Every night is as dark as a lump of burnt coal. Our home is located in the Southern part of the region where you can see the large area covered chiefly with trees and undergrowth - the Forest of Krane. Mostly, this is where they hunt creatures and acquire logs to build new houses and firewood.

I was born and raised in the countryside with a huge family member where we can only eat grains all day. Although we are doing our decent means to survive. I am not wailing, though. It's just that everything is not adequate. I mean, yea, these are not the things that we should complain about as long as we have a roof to live and a portion of food to eat but this lamentable way of living is at its finest. Why do we have this kind of categorization of a group of people? Why can't we live independently from the institution or people higher than us?

I am the fifth son of a serf. Serfs were the lowest of the peasant status and were a classification of a slave. Lords owned the serfs who resided on their territories. In exchange for a niche to live, serfs managed the land to cultivate yields for themselves and their lord. In addition, serfs have directed to labour the farms for the lord and of course pay rent.

Yes. We serve the Lord in this small town of serfs. We don't have names here except the freemen of the Lords and handful of Knights, but they call me Twig. I am assigned to get branches or twigs to be used as firewood while my parents are working in the fields of white and golden grains but I do unusual things other than that. I clandestinely wander in the deep of the forest oftentimes. I have a small treehouse built to store the creatures I caught. Training my body to become what I want.

I yearned to be a squire but I guess I am not qualified to even purchase my freedom. My friend Morning Dew envied the same but we are just hopeless rugs. We are only bound to wither in this territory. I don't dislike this place. I am only frustrated with the things I can't get. As you see, I am rejecting the fact that I hate this crappy way of living. I can't complain, so what can I do? We are slaves to the Lord. What I can do is appreciate that our good Lord Heinzall Badrick will stand longer for us.

He's a very kind Lord. They say he was a bastard of the lowest noble in the Kingdom of Darathos. Son of a concubine and a baron. Although, he's the second son. whatever the status and privileges of the concubine, they were always inferior to those of the wife, and inherently neither she nor her children had rights of lineage. So, they were only provided with this land. The Lord has been with us since his adolescence and is very intelligent in planning the supply of sustenances.

Sometimes, these leads to a grain trade to nearby lands. Where did I know these pieces of knowledge? I have a friend from the Lord's enormous stone house. He's a squire and is nominally the knight's servant. He travels everywhere with the knight and does what is asked of him. Nonetheless, he is also the Knight's son and represents, with the knight, the noble class, and the warrior class. This guy is an exemption, though. He told me that he's a son of a merchant whose friend is a Knight.