"Awoo—!"
A piercing wail sounded, and the little dog, only a few months old, was kicked into the air, tumbling three or four ters away, landing on the grass, curling up in a ball, emitting painful moans, struggling a little, but unable to get up imdiately.
"Mama!" Caesar exclaid in shock, wanting to rush over to check on the puppy.
"Stop right there!"
Krista halted him, "Put that filthy thing down! Who allowed you to play with such an unknown wild dog?!"
Caesar was frightened by his mother's gaze, his steps froze in place, looking at the shivering and quietly whimpering little dog in the distance, his big eyes quickly filling with tears, yet he held back, not daring to let them fall.
He quietly defended with a sobbing voice, "It's not dirty, it's very well-behaved, it's the gardener uncle's dog…"
"I don't care whose it is!"
Krista interrupted him, "Have you finished your piano lesson for today? Did you do the preparation assigned by the Latin Arica history teacher? Did you morize the nas and relationships of those important figures I told you to rember?"
Caesar lowered his head, his eyes dodging, his voice as thin as a mosquito, "Not yet, Mama, I don't want to read those, those nas are so hard to rember… I want to…"
"You want? What do you want?!"
Krista's voice suddenly rose, she stepped forward, snatched the cloth teasing the dog from Caesar's hand, threw it harshly to the ground, then crouched down, fiercely grabbing Caesar's thin shoulders, her nails almost digging into his flesh, "Caesar tell , what should you be thinking about right now?!"
The pain in his shoulders made Caesar's tears finally roll down, he sobbed but did not dare to cry out loud, intermittently saying, "I want to paint, I want to have a little dog like other kids, the rest… Bruto brother is enough…"
"Bruto?!" Hearing this na, Krista was like dynamite being lit, a near-crazy rage exploded in her eyes, she raised her hand, "slap" a crisp slap landed on Caesar's fair tender little face.
Caesar was stunned by the hit, half his cheek quickly swelling red, he covered his face, looking at his mother in disbelief, the sobs stuck in his throat.
"Useless! Good-for-nothing!" Krista stared firmly at her son, "You think by not fighting, that bitch's child will spare you?! Ah?! I took her husband, she wishes I were dead, when her son grows up, his wings full-grown, do you think he will speak of brotherly affection with you? He will squash us mother and son into the mud without hesitation! Crush us like ants!"
Her voice trembled from excitent, carrying a kind of hysterical ferocity, "Look into my eyes, Caesar! Tell , do you believe Bruto will spare you when he grows up?!"
Caesar was terrified by the ghastly madness in his mother's eyes, he shook his head desperately, tears gushing out, "No, Mama… Bruto he… he even shared candy with last ti, he said I'm his brother… we're very close…"
"Close? It's all an illusion! It's what Belsaria taught him, to numb you!" Krista growled, she suddenly stood up, her chest heaving violently, taking several deep breaths to barely suppress the hostility that nearly burst out of her chest.
She looked at her son's swollen cheek and eyes full of fearful tears, a faint, almost imperceptible pang flickered through her heart, but was imdiately covered by more powerful survival instincts and ambition.
She couldn't afford to be soft-hearted, not for a mont.
She bent down, regardless of the puppy's weak struggles and whimpers, roughly picked it up, the puppy hung limply in the air, emitting pitiful whimpers.
"Listen, Caesar."
"This country, this land, doesn't belong only to that child nad Bruto, it was built by your father's hands! There's a share for you here too! You must fight, seize, learn everything that can make your father value you, only then, what belongs to you in the future can truly be yours! Do you understand?!"
Caesar looked at the dying puppy in his mother's hand, then at his mother's unquestionable gaze, imnse fear and a heaviness he could not comprehend at his age, enveloped him.
He opened his mouth, wanting to plead for the puppy, wanting to say he really didn't want to learn that boring history and politics, wanting to say he just wanted to quietly paint.
But in the end, all the words stuck in his throat.
He lowered his head, his small shoulders sagged, responding with a voice almost inaudible, "…Understood."
"Louder!" Krista commanded.
"Understood!" Caesar snapped his head up, almost shouting, tears once again flooding.
Krista was only slightly satisfied; she lifted the puppy, gesturing with her chin towards the main building of the villa, "Now, imdiately, go back to your study! Learn everything you're supposed to today without missing a word! I'll check before dinner, if there's anything you don't know…"
She shook the puppy in her hand, the threat implicit.
Caesar took a last look at the little dog of uncertain fate, his eyes full of helplessness, not daring to linger, he turned around, dragging heavy steps, walking towards the imnse villa that felt incomprehensibly empty to him.
The sun was still bright, flowers and plants in the garden were still vibrant, but in the heart of this five-year-old, it was as if a layer of indelible gloom had settled.
Why? Why can other classmates keep the little dogs they like at ho, can play freely, while he, even this tiny bit of happiness is a luxury? A sin?
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