A Single Mother's Farm of the Gods
Chapter 77: Trauma

Chapter 77: Trauma

"As you can see, back when I was a kid, I was a mischievous one who usually didn’t listen to what the adults said. Being a kid and all, I am quite curious and I like to do fun things back when I was a kid. During that time, Elaina and Selena were not yet born in this world so I felt that I was privileged enough to do whatever I wanted. With my pet parrot Ollie, I usually play all day long without any care in the world. It also didn’t help that our parents do not care about what we do in our free time. But everything changed when I caused a very minor accident," Troy continued.

"An accident?" Princess Margaux asked.

"Perhaps you have broken a plate or a mug sometimes when you were kid, yes?"

"Uhuh. I was very sad at that time and I feared that everyone would reprimand me so I apologized right away. Thankfully they were not angry and instead asked me if I got hurt instead."

"Ha, lucky you. Things were different on my side at that time. When I was playing with Ollie, one of the favorite vases that my father usually likes to brag to his friends and visitors was accidentally toppled over, causing it to break into pieces. At that time, I wasn’t aware of how big of a mistake that was in my life and I wish I hadn’t played inside with Ollie there. I asked the maids to clean it up when Father arrived and saw the broken mess of the vases. And since I thought Father would not be angry at me with that, I immediately confessed that I am the one who broke the vase in an accident and asked for forgiveness."

"So he didn’t forgive you?"

"Yep. He was furious. To the point, I had to curl up in a corner to avoid seeing his seething gaze and anger on me. He spouted so many words that I remember some of them are cuss words. During that time, I had no idea what all of those meant but I don’t hear it often. After a while, my mother came in while carrying the cage of Ollie. She then said something to my Father about something, and he started grinning. Then he pulled out his flintlock and gave me a choice. He will forgive me if I do what he says to me which is to kill Ollie using the gun. I declined of course, after all, it was my precious pet and my only playmate when I was a kid but my father did not accept my "No" and gave me a consequence if I didn’t do it which was that he would kill Ollie himself, then he will feed me the remains of Ollie in the process."

Hearing this again, Elaina just shook her head and gave her brother a sad look. She heard of this story back then when he consoled her during the time Elaina was also scolded so badly and was battered by them and that was also the time Elaina truly understood the behavior of their parents and how she also decided to slowly drift away from their expectations. As for Princess Margaux, she gasped at hearing the choices. After all, she might have also felt the pain and sadness that my Brother felt during that time especially since she is also a pet owner.

"So, did you protest and rebelled?" Princess Margaux asked.

"No. I made the first choice. There was no delay in the choices and there was no chance for me to have Ollie escape before she was shot. I asked for forgiveness and ended up getting my precious pet dead in my arms. And that was the beginning of everything. Soon, my Father found happiness in my misery and I soon grew desensitized to everything he did to me. I even stopped caring at all but I developed a great fear of some things as a result. I got trauma from having pets as I was afraid of repeating what happened to Ollie. I also gained some trauma on guns to the point that I don’t want to see or be associated with them and I would curl up or just refuse to look at it if I happened to cross on one. I decided to focus on my work and became a professional at my job. Our parents were quick to immediately claim the honor of being a responsible parent to everyone. I didn’t say anything but I held them in contempt while they were currently bragging about my achievement that I earned on my own. And a few years after that, Elaina was born," Troy then looked at Elaina who nodded and took the helm to explain things.

"When I started to gain proper judgment and idea on what was happening around me, everyone was busy and not caring for me aside from the servants who were passively serving me and just being idle. As for me, I got a few points from my brother as well like being a curious kid and being adventurous. Brother at that time was also busy but he became somewhat of a pillar for me to lean on when I felt alone whenever our parents were not around, Despite his busy schedule, he had time for me whenever I needed it. Since I was a girl, I am more leaning on being educated to be a proper lady at most and I am being tasked by my mother to befriend many people in the process so that I get connections. Whenever I don’t agree with her, she will beat me up to the point I will collapse and lose consciousness," Elaina explained.

Princess Margaux who was just listening slowly felt sorry for the two people before her. Never in her life would she hear a story that would make her sympathize with them more than she should have.

"Although I avoided many bad things and didn’t get to develop any trauma compared to my brother due to many interventions done by my Brother himself, I still got the treatment that I didn’t like and grew hatred toward my parents. But thanks to the training and treatment that my grandparents did for me back when I was still a kid, I managed to steel through everything without a problem," Elaina added.

"Honestly, I didn’t expect Grandpa and Grandma to train you. They are quite picky on who to train and even I didn’t get to do it and yet they gave you the authority to be trained by them," Troy scratched his head.

Elaina smiled. "Well, you immediately chickened out before they can even do anything so I doubt they would do that."

"So in short, due to most interference that Mr. Troy did, you managed to have an easier life than him, then."

"Basically that..." Elaina couldn’t bear to say the other things that she experienced in their hands. She just didn’t bother to tell the other details that would cause things to be much more troublesome. Troy also didn’t say anything as well as they wanted to keep the sanity of Princess Margaux and keep her innocence intact.

"Elaina, what are you going to do now?" Troy asked.

"I won’t escape. I am not going to escape at all. Our parents might cause trouble on this farm but I will do my best to keep this farm safe and off their hands. No matter what they are about to do, I will not let them do anything here. Even if they are our parents."

Hearing this, Troy smiled. "Honestly Elaina, I am jealous of your tenacity. I wish I was more tenacious to face them. Guess I am still weak-minded due to that."

Elaina shook her head and patted the shoulder of her brother. "No. Without your support, I would never be able to last long enough.

"Wait, Sis Elaina and Mr. Troy. You two said you got a younger sister, does that mean she was also..."

"No. Compared to both of us, Selena is the one who managed to dodge the bullet entirely. She was spoiled and the golden child of our parents. It was because of that that she was oblivious to what our parents did and grew up spoiled. She did not understand the pain we experienced and some of my traumas as well," Troy explained.

"Ha, let’s not care about that anymore. Besides, Selena came out much better than most spoiled kids out there. It’s best that she remained like that until the very end."

"Hah...and yet she ruined your marriage, Elaina. Are you still soft-hearted? If I were you, I would not forgive our sister just like that."

"Nope, I didn’t forgive her. But I am not so cold-hearted to just make her feel that. And it’s not like I care anymore. I already saved my life and they don’t matter anymore."

Elaina made it clear to herself. Whatever they are planning, Elaina does not care anymore. But if it involves herself and anything important to herself, she will make sure they will not go unpunished.