Throughout our entire way home none of us spoke even once,
My mother looked unimaginably angry, it was as if she would burst anytime now, as for my father, he looked unbelievably calm and silent, he looked as if he was thinking about something extremely important, I, on the other hand, didn’t know what to do or say, so I just kept silent throughout our way home.
We reached our house and settled in the living room. Dad sat on the sofa and I sat on the floor,
It was then that my mother started shouting,
“Patrick! Why didn’t you arrest that headmaster!?”
'Agh!!! Stop shouting so loudly in front of your kid!' I wanted to say but I was afraid that she might beat me up so I didn't say anything and silently endured the hellish noise pollution.
I could see her eyes going red from anger, they looked as if they would pop out anytime now.
My father looked at her with an expressionless face and said,
“Because that headmaster was not wrong and any more ruckus would have brought us trouble down the line. Such a big trouble that we might not have been able to get rid of it for our entire lives”
Not wrong? Seriously!? And what does he mean by trouble!?
“How can you even say that!? Do you really think our son is a potentially dangerous element? Do you really think he's going to become a criminal or something!? He is such a good child, don’t you remember how he gave away his toy to Brutus when he was just an infant!? And how would a child who’s barely even 4 years old ever incite anything even close to discrimination in the school?”
My mother didn’t seem much convinced with my father and kept on arguing with him. I thought they might get into a big fight but contrary to what I thought, the two of them didn’t get into any fight as my father got up and hugged my mother,
“Kristen, don’t worry. It’s fine that Peter didn’t get admitted into this school”
He separated from mother and looked at her
My mother still baffled asked him,
“What do you mean by that?”
"Didn't you understand the hidden meaning behind the headmaster's words? He threatened me by saying that he would report Peter as a potentially dangerous element. What do you think would have happened to us and to little Peter if the headmaster were to do that?"
My father said in a deep voice, to be honest, I didn't really get what he meant by that, but for some reason, I had a hunch that if my father hadn't retreated from there then it might have cost us heavily.
"What are you trying to say, Patrick?"
My mother asked him in a serious voice. Never in my life had I ever seen her look so serious before.
"It is said that the government has established a few institutions throughout the nation for people who have been designated as 'potential dangerous elements', these institutions are called the Moderation Centres"
He continued,
"On the surface, these institutions are there to provide a better environment and education to people who have been designated as potentially dangerous elements so that they might change their way of thinking and become ready to join the mainstream society and contribute to the overall development of the country, but in reality, it is nothing more than a concentration camp for dangerous and potentially dangerous elements. People who go there never return back. Do you want Peter to go to such a place as well?"
What the hell!? What kind of place am I living in?
Aren't nobles supposed to be the rulers or the ones who discriminate against the commoners? Then why the hell in this case the nobles are the ones being discriminated against!?
What is this, some kind of Reverse-Dystopia universe!? Why the hell was I ever born here!? (Reverse-Dystopia from Reverse-Harem)
"Patrick, hahaha y-you must be joking"
My mother said in a shaky voice, looking at my father with hopeful eyes. As if all that she wanted in her life was for him to say 'yes, I was joking' but contrary to her expectations my father never said a thing, he just kept on looking at mother with serious eyes.
Color faded from my mother's face and she hugged me tightly as if I would disappear somewhere.
To be honest, even I was afraid of all this Moderation Camp thing, it's not like I discriminated against the commoners or anything, I was just aggrieved that the government was not fair to me.
But if being aggrieved meant going to some kind of an internment camp then I would rather just become mute and live my life without making any noise. I was never a revolutionary-kind of person to begin with, so as long as I get to live a respectful life I would not mind keeping my head low and living a modest life.
"Those pigs...! They wouldn't dare to touch my baby, would they!? Tell me, Patrick! Tell me Peter's going to be safe, please!!!" My mother said in an almost crying voice.
I patted the back of her head to comfort her, when I did that mother silently started sobbing while hugging me tightly. I could feel how terribly scared she was, her entire body was shivering from fear and it seemed to me that she might break if she is not handled properly.
My father didn’t reply to her, he just looked at her, smiled, and shook his head implying that she didn't have to worry about it.
After that, he looked at me and called me over,
I left mom and ran towards him,
He held my hand in his hands and asked me,
"Peter, are you scared?"
I tried my best to feign confidence and shook my head.
But I underestimated a parent's intuition, as my father just put his hand over my head and I don't know why but beads of tears started rolling down my eyes as soon as he did that.
“Peter, would you like to go to a big city?” he asked me with a smile on his face.
A big city?
“Patrick you…”
My mother was about to say something but when my father looked at her she stopped midway.
“I don’t get you, papa”
I said in a voice that was cracking due to me trying to hold back a cry to which he just smiled and said
“I mean would you like to live in a big city? There you can get admitted into a better school and also find better friends. And yes… when I say big city I mean the capital of Magnolia, Santa Magnum, you have read about it, right? It’s a great place, would you like to go and live there, Peter?”
'Why are you asking a 4-year-old this kind of question? How am I supposed to know what’s better for me? Aren’t you supposed to decide my future?' is what I would have said in any normal situation but I knew that this time I won't be able to play it off as someone else's responsibility.
But well, going to a place like the national capital couldn’t be bad, I guess. And I really want to get admission into a school as soon as possible too, I don’t want to become a NEET, after all.
So I decided on my answer and then without any hesitation said,
“Yes I want to”
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