Chapter Eleventh: "Corruption of the Nobles"

Nevales sat in the same place, where the weather was calm, but old Elias' talk was heavy.

The old man looks at him and begins to speak with a weak voice, almost unheard of in the severity of the pain: "Please forgive Ivan, for he suffered more than anyone at the hands of the nobles."

"What happened?" asked Nevales, slightly concerned.

The old man's silence was for a moment, as if words were heavy on his tongue, and then he began to speak in a bleak and sad voice, as if recalling bitter memories. "Evan... Ivan is a working-class, or as you call it, commoners."

Nevalis did not comment that his grandfather had reunited him with the nobility in his speech, as if he knew he was part of this system, so he listened silently. As the old Elias made sure of this, and learned that Nevalis was noble, he continued, despite the pain he was experiencing.

The old man said, as his features changed slightly, as if his bones had melted down, "Ivan had an older sister, Lyra. Despite the difficulties of life in our area, she was a prickly girl. She always smiled, loved and protected Ivan. But one day, the great tragedy happened..."

He darkens old Elias's face a bit, and he sighs heavily. Some children seemed to know the story, while others had eyes full of surprise, perhaps for the first time hearing this talk.

The old man continued with a heavy voice, as if the words were coming out with difficulty:

"One day, Ivan was walking around the city limits, looking for any work to do. For his luck, or perhaps for his misfortune that day, Baron Redmore's son was wandering the area. Ivan tried to get out of the road quickly, trying to avoid the wagon, but the Baron's son saw him... And he saw it as something hideous, something unfit for the eye. He ordered his soldiers to tie him up and beat him to death from the intensity of the beatings."

The old man was silent for a while, and his face was marked by deep sadness. He continued on a heavy note, swallowing his pain: "But... Unfortunately, Lyra was looking for Ivan at the moment. When she saw the scene, she ran to defend her brother. When the baron's son saw her, he decided to take her as a servant. But Evan, despite his condition, knew exactly what would happen if that bastard took her. He tried to pull back his sister, but refused. This angered the Baron's son, but he smiled as if he had found a new game to play with." Here the old man stopped for a while, and closed his eyes as if memories were dragging him into a dark place. Sigh deeply, then he said, with difficulty, "That dirty bastard ordered something... He ordered his soldiers to lay Ivan to the ground, raise his face, and open his eyes. And his eyes were full of tears, but... But they did what they did."The old man Elias raised his head and looked at the face of Nevales, with tears in his eyes. His voice was painful: Nevales looked at me and asked, "What do you expect, my son, that bastard to do?" The old man's voice suddenly rose, as if anger and sadness had gathered in his heart, to come out suddenly: "The bastard raped Lyra right in front of Ivan's eyes! He relished that psychopath, listening to the screams of both brothers!"The old man stopped, and he was crying. He said loudly, full of anger, "You think he's done there? No... He ordered his men to rape her, too! They raped her until she died. She died in front of her brother, who witnessed everything and could do nothing!" As his eyes filled with tears, the old man's voice shivered as he tried to continue: "Do you realize how painful Ivan was at that moment? Can you imagine what he was going through?"The children in the room were in complete shock. Some were crying bitterly, others were unable to believe what they had heard. Their elder brother Ivan, who always smiled at them and cared about them, had such a terrible past. Hearing that painful story, they were grief-stricken. Nevalis sat in his place, completely stunned. The words were heavy on his heart, and he could not find any answer to what he had heard. He felt like the ground shook under his feet, His mind cannot understand what has been said. His shock was so great, it was as if part of his soul had been stolen.The old Elias spoke with a voice of sadness and took a deep breath before saying, "All the children are in this room... They have tasted their share of the tyranny of the nobles. Each one of them had a bitter experience, all because of this corrupt system." At that moment, Nevalis felt something new that he had never felt, a strange feeling, a feeling of filth. For the first time in his life, he felt dirty from his title. He held the same title as that psychopath, the same title as the one who brought shame and destruction to innocent people. He felt that the word "noble" had been turned into a badge of shame, and he felt as if the ground under his feet had been polluted."I know you see that we are losers who have given in to circumstances, but the truth is more complex than it seems. We did not choose this fate, but it was imposed on us." Nevalis ponders on Elias's words, trying to understand beyond them. "How can you be forced to fail? Does not everyone have the power to change their reality through effort and perseverance?"Elias smiled sadly and replied: "In an ideal world, yes. But when you are surrounded by a corrupt system, where the weak are exploited and robbed of their rights, effort alone is not enough. We have suffered the injustice of the nobles, who see us as mere instruments to serve them, without rights or dignity." "Nobles use the army as a tool to suppress any attempt at rebellion or claim rights. We live in constant fear of oppression. Corruption was rife at every Angle, and alliances and betrayal among the nobles made the situation worse. We, the common people, suffer from poverty and ignorance, and only have patience and expectation."I have seen with my own eyes how people are treated as valueless tools. Families are broken up, children are deprived of education, women are ruthlessly exploited. All of this happens under the nobles' eyes and at times with their blessing. "The class system is ruthless. The poor get poorer, and the rich get richer. There are no opportunities for education or decent work for the public. Even children are forced to work.Nevalis sat silently, trying to absorb what he had heard from the old man Elias. His thoughts flowed in like waves, and the image of the kingdom of which he was proud began to fade, to be replaced by an unimaginable reality. He felt the weight of the words he had heard, as if they were stones falling on his chest, blocking his breathing and weighing down his soul. He muttered to himself in a faint voice, barely heard: "This is... Chaos."He looked at his hands, which he had long regarded as a symbol of nobility and power, but now saw in them only instruments of oppression of others. A sense of shame crept into his heart, like a venom in his veins. The title of "noble", which he was proud of, became a burden to him, and he felt it no longer deserved. He wished he could remove that title, as one would remove a dirty garment stained with shame. Nevalis realized that the pride he had previously felt was an illusion.