Dream

Leo and Mars didn't talk on the way home. There was a strange tension between the two, and until they reached home, Leo almost found it difficult to breathe due to the uncomfortable silence.

Soon, a shabby wooden house came into view. It was a small house with three rooms and a small backyard to tie up two of their cows. It had a straw-thatched roof, and the floor was covered in cowdung plaster.

As the sight of their house came into view, almost immediately, the two boys became slightly unsettled.

Mars was the first to move, he opened the door and glimpsed an old man with wrinkled hair and a rough face lying down on his belly. A pungent smell of alcohol and vomit entered his nose from all the stains and bottles of booze strewn across the floor.

"Father's drunk again," Leo muttered under his breath as he gazed at the mess.

This old man was Mars's father.

Sensing the commotion, the old man lifted his head to cast a bleary-eyed gaze upon the two boys. Suddenly, he chuckled, then frowned and said, "You two ungrateful brats are back!"

"Where have you brats been goofing around since morning, hah?" The old man asked in a loud voice and suddenly flung the glass bottle in his hand towards Mars.

Mars moved almost instantly, and the glass bottle smashed against the wall, smashing into pieces and spilling alcohol all over.

Looking down at his drunken father, Mars had a cold expression on his face. No filial love or tenderness resided within his gaze, a stark departure from the way a child might regard their parent.

"Tch.." He lightly clicked his tongue, his gaze filled with utter disappointment, and quickly made his way to the room across the lobby.

"Who are you, hick... clicking your tongue at? "Hah, I gave birth to you, and that's how you pay me, you disgrace of a child!" His father screamed, but Mars didn't react at all.

Leo bent down and quickly gathered the broken glass pieces while saying, "We were working on the farm, Father."

But the response was another glass bottle aimed at his face with a few curses. "Bastard, don't call me father; I don't know which hore gave birth to you."

"Leech, that's what you are, sucking up the money that could buy me more booze!"

Leo didn't take the insult to heart; it was a daily occurrence for him now. He quickly collected the glass pieces and followed Mars into the room.

In the room, a small bed was placed in the corner, and a petite lady lay on it, sleeping peacefully. Just like Mars, she had long black hair and a sharp face. But the colour of her skin had faded to yellow, and her breathing had become quite hoarse.

Despite her bad situation, a mesmerising beauty could be seen hidden deep beneath the disease that clouded her visage.

"I am back, Mom!" Mars spoke softly, running his fingers across her hair. Just for a second, a glimmer of warmth and concern softened his otherwise cold demeanour.

For the past three months, Mars's mother had been bedridden due to a strange disease that was beyond their comprehension. They had consulted with the local doctor, who suggested a herb that could cure her, but it was pretty rare in a border state like Qin City.

If they wanted to buy it then, Mars had to pay a considerable amount, which a peasant family like theirs didn't have.

Thus, to collect the money, Mars and Leo had been working in the fields of Lord Baren for the past three months, slowly saving the money to treat their mother.

Leo entered the room, fishing out a small cloth bag from his shirt. Lightly clicking the coins inside, he said with a gentle smile, " Mars, just one more week's labour, and we'll have enough to buy the herb."

Mars nodded, the weight on his heart lightening a little, and kept caressing his mother's face lovingly, while Leo brought out a chest from under the bed to store the coins.

After a brief silence, Mars spoke, "Let's go, Leo, it's time to feed the cattle."

There was no response.

"Leo, are you even listening?" Mars inquired, raising his eyes, only for words to die on his lips.

Leo's countenance had turned ashen, his gaze affixed to his chest.

"What's wrong, Leo?" Mars asked quickly, a strange dread filling his heart.

Leo raised his head and said slowly with a grave expression, "The coins we saved... they are not here."

"Not here, what do you mean?" Mars screamed and shoved Leo aside to look inside the chest, only to see it empty.

Of all the money they had saved for the past three months, not a single coin was left inside the chest.

"No, how could this be possible?" "All the money should be here!" For a moment, Mars's mind went blank, and he didn't know what to do.

Leo, too, turned paler and soon started trembling, his eyes turning red. "Did someone steal it?"

"Steal?" Mars repeated the word, and his heart sank.

"Father... Father was at home. Perhaps he saw something." If it was stolen, it must have happened today. I checked this morning; the coins were here." Leo suggested.

The two boys shuffled to their feet and rushed out.

Bang!

Leo kicked open the door and ran towards the old man, who still lay on the floor. He heavily shook his body to bring him back to his senses and asked hurriedly, "Fath... Uncle, did you see someone enter her room?"

"The money we saved isn't there!"

The old man slightly opened his eyes to look at Mars and Leo and then started laughing, "Haha."

"Hey, are you listening?" "Did you see someone near her room?" Leo asked again while shaking him, but the old man kept laughing.

At this moment, Mars took a few steps forward and picked up the bottle lying on the floor. He read the label on the glass bottle and asked, "Hey old man, this alcohol... "Isn't it the one that nobles drink?"

Mars's face suddenly turned hideous, and Leo saw another glimpse of the demon he had momentarily seen in the city square today.

It sent shivers down Leo's spine and, for a moment, numbed his whole body.

Mars's gaze swept the room's expanse, taking in the sprawl of twenty similar bottles strewn across the floor—some intact, others fractured, and most drained of their contents.

Listening to Mars, the old man let out another fit of laughter and eventually said, "Hick, you bastards... "You really thought you could abandon me and only care about your mother, that old hag, who is destined to die, Haa?"

"I am your father, Mars; you should work your ass off to pay me back for giving birth to you, and you only cared about her!"

"Yes, I spent the money you two brats worked to save—all of it!"

"Hahahaha, this booze is the finest one that nobles drink."

"Kekeke…"

In the empty house, only his laughter echoed, and both boys went silent.

Suddenly, Mars, who was standing silently, lunged at his father, a crazed expression on his face. "I WILL KILL YOU!"

Swinging his arm, he brought the glass bottle over his head.

Crack!

The sound of shattering glass marked the impact, crimson blossoming like a morbid flower upon the old man's head. A guttural howl erupted from his lips, the agony tearing through the room, "Ahhhhhh!"

"Mars …." Leo wanted to stop Mars. but he simply pushed him aside and climbed over the old man.

He glared at his father and roared, "I have had enough of you, just die, you bastard!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

His arms moved wildly, and Mars started punching his father's face with all the strength he could muster.

"Damn you, old man!"

Eventually, when his face was filled with blood, Mars took a broken shard of the glass bottle and brought it down towards his father's throat.

"Die!"

Mars, in a crazed state, didn't care if this man was his own father or not, he just wanted to get over with it, but... His hand came to a sudden halt when he saw Leo putting his face in between him and his father.

"Get aside, Leo; I will kill him!" Mars screamed; bloodlust eminent in his voice.

Leo saw the shard almost poking his head and shuddered slightly, but soon he clenched his fist and said, "Don't do it, Mars!"

"If you kill him, you will be forever riddled with the guilt of killing your own father, it will kill the humanity in you, Mars!"

"Guilt, why would I feel guilty for killing this scum?"

"Don't you see what he has done, Leo? It was our hard-earned money, and all of it is now gone. Now, Mother... There is no way we can save her!"

"Get aside, Leo!" Mars screamed.

"We will find another way, Mars. Just as you said this man is scum, don't dirty your hands with his blood, please." I beg you, Mars, for me. "Just calm down," Leo said again, a tear dripping down his cheek.

Mars's gaze shifted from Leo to his father's battered visage, the realisation of his own precipice dawning upon him. A heavy exhale escaped his lips, his frenzy slowly relinquishing its grip.

A tremulous sigh followed, and Mars found his bearings once more. He rose from his father's broken form, his steps leading him toward the exit.

Leo too sighed in relief and followed him, only to see Mars lying on the ground, his gaze fixed on the starry night sky.

Today was a full moon; the heavens were tinted silver, and at night, the City of Qi was mostly silent, apart from the enormous walls that still rustled with soldiers.

Mars was silent for a while, and Leo could feel that he was calming himself down. As the moments slipped by, a sense of renewed composure seemed to settle over Mars, like a tempest finally abating.

Eventually, when he felt somewhat better, Mars suddenly asked, "Leo, if you could dream of anything you wanted, what would you dream of becoming?"

Leo was surprised by the sudden question, but he realised that Mars was serious right now.

He thought for a few seconds and said, "Well, maybe, being bestowed upon the rank of baron with my own city and a huge house where you, me, and Mother can live happily,"

"Kek, if you are dreaming, why not dream bigger?" Mars asked after a slight chuckle.

Leo scratched his head and then said, "Well, a Viscount maybe?"

"Higher…"

"A Duke?"

"Higher…"

"What… Well, let's say the "King." As he said that, Leo felt slightly uncomfortable.

If not for Mars mentioning it, Leo would never even dream of becoming king. Commoners like them weren't allowed to dream of such things.

Mars gazed back at Leo, a strange glint flashing across his eyes. "Higher...."

"Higher…! "There is no one above a king; he is the epitome of status and power. "What are you saying, Mars?"

"An Emperor, Leo," Mars replied.

"Emp... Emperor!" Leo gasped in surprise.

"Someone who rules over every human that lives on this bloody land, someone who is the epitome of status and wealth."

Mars clenched his small fist that didn't quite match his lofty dreams and said, "That's my dream, Leo."

Mars recalled Maia's face, the moment of betrayal and the look of pity on her face, his sick mother's face, his helplessness in curing her, and his father's face.

They were complex emotions that Mars hadn't completely processed. But he didn't know why, the more helpless and inferior he felt in this world, the more this strange fire burned in his heart.

The desire to trample this world between his feet

"Someone who could get any woman he wants, someone who can save his loved ones and never faces a shortage of money, someone who could kill anyone he wants without batting an eye."

"That's my dream."

And as those words echoed in the quiet of the night, Leo couldn't help but feel a mix of awe, concern, and an inkling that the path Mars sought would be one laden with turmoil and challenges beyond their imagination.