Living Happily After

69: The Sir Siberus

When they reached Machtig, it was already afternoon, first they did was look for a place to stay at.

As they walked straight through, they wondered why there were only shops, stores, and restaurants. Not being distracted by that fact, they kept on walking, as they did that, both of them caught something out of the corner of their eyes; eye for Gilbert though.

"Violet, can i-"

"Gilbert, I saw-"

They both said, simultaneously. Gilbert spoke first.

"Let's meet up at that cafe over there?"

Violet nodded, "Alright."

Gilbert went to a store, but it wasn't really the store that caught his attention but rather the person he saw walk in it.

As he looked another glance behind him towards Violet, he went ahead and opened the door.

The first thing he noticed when he walked in was the smell of wood. And the first thought he had was that it may be a carpentry workshop, even though it's quite small.

And the first face he saw was the man standing a few feet in front of him.

Suddenly, he remembered back to when he was enlisted and introduced to his most memorable superior in the military.

He remembered what he felt when he first met that man.

Gilbert stood tall and proud, and never afraid of what's ahead of him, just like what his father taught him, but that was before he knew what what was ahead of him, as well as behind him. That was before he knew what his actions might become, and how people can use it against you.

His father frowned at his mistakes and often said things that were along the lines of...

"If you are a Bougainvillea son, you should never make mistakes, especially ones that will tarnish our name. But more so will you not be shamed for your mistakes and taken advantage of, you should know to be better than that. Don't make the same mistakes I did."

But his superior, or rather, the major told him;

If you make mistakes, learn from them, and take the consequences of it to your name.

If the mistakes you've made are ones you've done intentionally, you shall walk with it for the rest of your days.

You will not be taken advantage of if you know what you did was right.

There's no limit to being good nor bad, so just keep on being good.

Mistakes are different from sins, so don't forget to never sin, for that would be unforgivable and out of the hands of humans.

If you can't come to terms with your ally, then how can you stop a battle with your enemies?

And that if Gilbert wouldn't take it through his head, he said, he'll never be an honorable soldier, and even more so an honorable person.

Up until now, Gilbert remembers his Major's words.

"Major Siberus. Nice to see you well again."

"...are you Bougainvillea?" He asked, and was replied by a short nod. "It's good to see you are still alive."

"Yes, thanks to your wise words, I was able to crawl my way out of death..." Gilbert said, with full intent of his words.

"Haha- you're still very funny, Bougainvillea." Siberus chuckled, to that remark.

"I said that without an intent to make a joke, Sir Siberus. Your words truly did help me in dire needs. I must thank you for that, I'm grateful." Gilbert said, nodding his respect.

Sibelius smiled, "Well, if you've found my words useful then I'm quite proud of myself. I thought that my teachings didn't linger on to you or your batch because of my early dismissal."

He continued, "I'm happy to have helped. I'm sure your father would've been proud if he saw you."

Gilbert was about to say something, but his mind stopped him. He didn't really know what to say regarding his father. So...

"...thank you." He smiled sincerely.

Then...

"Bougainvillea, I'll have to stop you for a minute. Before we carry on, it seems a young lady is being harassed from across the street." The sir said.

But one quick glance was all it took before Gilbert was a step out the door.

The poor Sir Siberus was left in confusion, and after a few moments, he followed behind Gilbert's tracks.