The Decision

[POV: Zerisa Zanuki]

"Is that Ares?" I asked after seeing a figure of a thin and pale teenage boy staring at the artificial lake while the wind is blowing softly making his red hair flutter.

"Yes, Lady Zerisa" Ron said smiling while trying to move his communication screen sneakily to avoid the teenage boy from sensing he was being recorded.

"Hmm he looks fine isn't he?" another girl commented.

"So is there anything that happened?" Zerisa asked ignoring the girl sitting beside her while she continue focusing her eyes on the communication screen.

"He had a nightmare last night. It might be because he saw his face in a mirror given by one of the trainee healers yesterday" Ron reported.

"..." both girls keep silent and hint the butler to keep talking.

"However, young master Ares didn't complain anything regarding that thus we just let the trainee go. It seems like he suffered from PTSD just like what the doctor suggested before but since we don't want to trigger or instigate him too much, we make sure that there will be no mirror in all the places that young master Ares go. The young master is confirmed to be discharged next week and will go straight to Kazigare Valley to recuperate and will only be allowed to meet the other family members during winter break" Ron said clearly.

"Is that an order from Grand? She's the only one who will do that" Zerisa asked.

"So how about the royal event?" the other girl asked.

"The former matriarch said that young master Ares will not be participating, in any event this year just like the previous years. Thus only you Lady Karin along with Lady Zerisa, Lady Kara, and young master Adrian will participate in the events representing the young generation of Zanuki" Ron answered.

"It seems the other noble will only think that Ares is still sick as usual thus they will not make a fuss or rumors about it. He will enroll at HGA next year so what about the preparations?" Zerisa asked.

"Everything already planned by the former matriarch" Ron answered and after saying a few more things, the call was disconnected.

"Damn that old lady is so sly. She doesn't even allow us to visit with a reason 'as not to aggravate the patient too much.' Don't you think we can help Ares remember back his memory?" Karin suggested.

"To be honest I think it's better if he doesn't remember those memories forever," Zerisa said flatly while massaging her temple.

"What! Why??"

"Because he will remember that night's incident. I know from the way Grand does thing is that she try to make Ares more comfortable and avoid anything that can trigger Ares's memory because she doesn't want Ares to be sad and scared anymore. He suffered PTSD, even if he doesn't remember, his body and his subconscious will always remember. I just want him to live normally" Zerisa explains to Karin clearly.

*(Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening, or distressing events.)

"Is that what Amma means by creating new memories?" Karin asked.

"Yes. We will have a long time together anyway thus we can create more happy memories for him"

"So what will we say to that brat, Ian?" Karin asked.

"I'm sure grandpa must have told him something. His mind is sharper than your dumb brain so he will understand" Zerisa answered straightforwardly.

"Hey don't think that I won't beat you just because you're my cousin"

"I'm going to my room to practice so tell my maids if you need me" Zerisa ignores her and continues walking towards her room.

***********************************

"So is this what we are going to do?" Anith asked her mom while her husband just continued munching on the pastries on the table.

"Yes what else?" she answered.

"Why?" Anith asked.

"My daughter Anith, you might think that I'm overprotecting that boy but I'm only giving him time to be prepared when his memory comes back"

"There's a possibility the memory will not come back" Anith retorted.

"But it's not 100% that the memory will remain buried deep inside his subconscious. There's at least a 1% chance that he will remember everything. Don't you want that kid to live normally?"

"Of course. More than half of his life fill with despair and hardship and we are also partly to be blamed for that" Anith said with a hint of regret. Her haughty and easy-going temperament couldn't be seen at the moment.

"My love, don't you know that every villain has a bad or sad past or backstory. Not every villain becomes a villain because they are evil but most of them become like that due to circumstances or what we called fate" Zen suddenly interrupts.

"Dear, what does that mean?" Anith asked.

"I'm just saying that anyone can become a villain for example he is suffering during his early life then later when he thought he already found his well-deserved happiness, it suddenly shattered as if he was born to be unlucky or unhappy thus instead of becoming a good guy, he decided to be the bad guy and spread despair to everyone else. Isn't this kind of story sound logical and realistic to you?" Zen answered clearly.

"We already have one example so I don't want another one to be born," Grand said calmly.

"Fine do whatever you want then but you must allow me or one of my sons to visit" Anith gave in.

"Sure but I forbid those four chaotic brats from visiting"

"Mom, did he ask anything from you?" Anith asked.

"Other than the books and request me to bring more food, he asked nothing"

"He didn't even ask about his parents, right? Even after he asked about his sister" Zen asked Anith.

"Not at all. Even after I told him about our family, his cousins, and his uncles, he doesn't seem to be curious at all. His reaction is more like he's confirming something" Anith answered while pouring another cup of tea for herself.

"There's a high possibility that his memory is not lost but it might be his subconscious protective mechanism that made him forget 'certain memory' " Grand said calmly.

"That's also what the doctor suggested in the report and using hypnosis might backfire," Anith said.

"So this is the only thing we can do. Tell our close and important clan members that Ares has woken up but he loses his memory. Remind them to never mention that incident under any circumstances"

"As you wish mom," Anith said.

"Are all the bugs caught?"

"We cleared every single bug except for their leader. Currently, we're interrogating them but the answer is obvious thus that one will also be cleared cleanly later" Zen answered nonchalantly.

"Those damn bugs. How I always wish I can obliterate them all but they are quite useful so that's why they still alive until now"

"I already send a gift to their owner. They will definitely remain quiet for the rest of this year" Zen said reassuringly.

"I already finish arranging his schedule so find suitable trustworthy instructors for him based on what I jotted down here," Grand said while giving a folded paper to Anith.

"Yes I will do as you wish mom"

"Garan, what is that brat doing right now? His rehabilitation program and massage are both supposedly have already finished"

"He is currently doing a math exercise while Ron observing him with five Shadows surrounding his room" a man's voice suddenly sounded from a mana communication stone on the table.

"He is as studious as ever" Zen commented while grinning.

"I will visit him briefly before I go back to Soga Mountain. Contact me if there's anything else you want to say" Anith said before walking away.

"I hope you can understand Anith's feeling when talking about issues related to 'that person' since she always thought that everything is her fault" Zen said before sipping his tea after he finished all the pastries on the table.

"Yes I know but you shouldn't be soft-hearted as before"

"Yes mom"

**********************************

"Huh, Amma? I thought you will come during my discharge day" I asked when suddenly the room's door opened.

"I have work to do on that day so this is the only day I'm free. What are you doing?" she asked before sitting on the chair beside my bed.

"I just finish answering a few maths test samples and Ron is currently marking them" I answered honestly.

"Is it hard?"

"Not really, still bearable but I don't like it much so I choose to do maths first"

"So you can finish annoying thing first. That's a cute plan you have there" she said smiling at me.

"Hmmm, young master. Did you find the answer samples before?" Ron asked without looking away from the test papers.

"Huh, it has answer samples? Isn't it easier for me to learn if I can see the answer samples" I said confusedly.

"Hmmm what's wrong Ron?" Amma asked curiously after seeing Ron doesn't seem to listen to me.

"The way he answers these questions is kind of weird and not properly written down but the final answer is almost all correct except for a few minor mistakes that make the final answers wrong but on average young master Ares score around 90 out of 100 for these five tests samples," Ron said with a hint of disbelief while looking through the test papers once again.

"So can I skip learning maths until after I finish everything else as you promised before," I asked since I'm more interested in history, geography, and monster-related subject that I saw from books that Grand gave me?

"Wait, young master. I have to give you a more detailed test later since the way you answered these questions are different from what I taught you" Ron said energetically before he quickly went out of the room.

"I thought it will be fine as long as the answers are correct" I muttered to myself.

After looking into details on the maths syllabus, I realized that the maths level is the same level from my previous world but the syllabus makes it look more difficult thus I lazily simplify a few basic formulas but some of the simplified formulae must have been wrong since it's only a few days I started learning after finishing school for almost a decade in my last life.

"I think I know why your butler freak out like that" Amma said while showing me the simplified formula that I wrote.

"Isn't it easier? I just simplified the formula since the formula is too long. It's easier to understand using this formula but it's hard to memorize and it takes time to just write the formula" I complaint unknowingly.

"Why not you just said that you're too lazy to memorize and write those long complicated formulas"

"Yes, there's an easier way so why do the hard way" I easily admitted that my laziness is what contributed to the idea of simplifying the formulas.

"Pfttt your behavior is still the same huh. Then do whatever you want. I will tell Grand to prepare a big study room and lab for you at her mansion" Amma said grinning at me while putting back all the tests papers neatly on the tabletop beside my bed.

"Oh ok," I just agree without much thought.

"Young master. Huf huff if huff you can answer this test sample then we can go we your plan" Ron said after rushing into the room gasping as if he had run too fast.

"Huh ok hmm why is there only one question?" I asked after seeing that its only contain one question.

"This is a higher level from what you answered just now," he said confidently.

Without wasting any time, I started outlining the key points then I draw a cone and a sphere combined. The question is asking about the volume of the object and its space area.

It also required me to do integration and differentiation. The answer became long since there was a diagram provided and I have to draw the shape first before calculating it. There are also a few other sub-questions that I needed to complete one by one.

After writing down my answer for almost half an hour since it's been a while I have seen an entrance exam question like this. It is indeed a higher level compared to the previous test questions. I passed my answer paper to Ron but he only stare in disbelief.

"Ron, aren't you marking the answer?" I asked confusedly.

"No need. Seeing the diagrams young master drew and the conclusion sentence is enough to know that the answer is correct" he said while giving the answer paper to Amma.

"It does look simpler answering it this way other than using complicated research like format that they taught in the academy" Amma commented looking at my answer sheet that not only have diagrams but also a graph.

"They do use graphs with more detail explanations, not like this where you only wrote a few sentences but still the answer is correct and everyone will understand it" Amma continues saying while still looking at the paper.

"So how about my study plan?" I asked ignoring the weirdness of Amma and Ron.

This world's education system is too rigid and more research-like, different from my previous world where many syllabi are simplified to make the students understand.

"Yes you can proceed with no maths lesson until a month before your enrollment but Ron make sure you give Ares a set of maths exercises that he needs to finish every month" Amma decided.

"Hmm I think that's also fine"

"We will have a history test tomorrow and geography the next day after tomorrow so you can revise for the rest of today", Ron said while jotting down on his notebook.

"Don't study too hard. You can play with your grandpa's gifts when you're not studying" Amma suggested.

"Oh yeah," I muttered in agreement since I just remembered about those gifts.

Unfortunately they were not finished products. Maybe grandpa wants me to finish it or something.

"Ron later give me all Ares test results so it will be easier for me to find a tutor for him"

"Yes matriarch. I will give it to you after we finish all the tests except for Magic and Monster Research subjects"

"Ok send them straight to Soga Mountain," Amma said before she excuse herself.

I quickly lay down on my bed while holding a thick history books. While laying on my stomach, I write down all important notes by making mind maps or related diagrams so it's easier for me to remember the details since the book is only full of sentences from top to bottom and from the first page until the last page.

I'm not a genius who can absorb everything I read but my memory is good with pictures and diagrams thus it easier for me to remember them compared to words. That is also why it easy for me to remember people's faces for a long period but I always forgot their names after a few years of not meeting them.