Later that evening after washing the clothes and hanging them to dry both Aurora and Damian sat down at the kitchen table while their mother prepared dinner.

 

Their kitchen didn’t have much, mainly just cooking supplies that were separated on one half of the room while a short table and baby chair were on the other.

 

Because of the lack of chairs, Aurora and her parents had no other choice but to sit on the floor when eating but this didn’t bother her, instead, she kept reading her book to herself having improved a lot but still wasn’t very confident and occasionally stuttered.

 

*Click*

 

“I’m home” A young man's voice called.

 

“Welcome back dear” Aurora’s mother responded.

 

Aurora’s father then walked through the kitchen door and greeted the three. he was pretty well built having huge muscles and standing at what Aurora assumed to be 6ft 3 which was significantly tall at least compared to her mother who was at least 5ft 4, he also had short jet black hair with a beard to match along with crimson red eyes just like her and Damian.

 

He then walked past the table and slid right behind their mother hugging her from behind and watching her cook.

 

“So, what're we having?” He asked in a gentle voice almost whispering in her ear.

 

“Oh, well today I’m making something very special, a dish I like to call potatoes, with a side of beef that I managed to get from Roy” she said jokingly.

 

“Ooo very fancy, I’m a little concerned hearing that you got some beef from Roy though” he replied in a sarcastic tone.

 

“Awe don’t be jealous, you’re the only one who’s beef I need” she said before leaning in for a kiss.

 

Aurora tried to tune out the sound of her parents flirting but it quickly became too difficult and could no longer concentrate.

 

“U-Um is…it ready” Aurora asked trying to get her parents to stop flirting for now.

 

After hearing her question her parents stopped for a moment and her mother answered “Almost sweetheart just a few more minutes” they then, almost immediately after went back to kissing causing Aurora to look down and sigh.

 

Later that night Aurora and her family could be seen sitting around a circular table with a small and dimly lit candle in the middle of it and their food set in front of them.

 

Aurora had barely touched her food hating the bland taste of the boiled potatoes but wanted to save the beef for last, her father on the other hand, could be seen scarfing it down having already finished off the beef and now focusing on the potatoes left on his plate having to take breaks and drink water for it to go down smoothly, her mother however hadn’t even touched her food instead feeding Damian the mashed potatoes she made.

 

“James slow down and chew properly before you choke” Aurora’s mother suddenly said without even batting an eye in his direction

 

“And Aurora finish you’re food before it gets cold” she continued.

 

After making her demands the room fell completely silent for a moment before an “Okay” and “Sorry” could be heard coming from two different directions simultaneously.

 

Aurora’s mother was like a completely different person when it came to two things money and food. If you were seen messing with or wasting either of them she would snap going from kind and gentle to harsh and cruel having no patience for that person so it was just better to give in to her demands rather than suffering the consequences.

 

because of this way of thinking she didn’t like lending money to anyone unless she was either one hundred percent certain she’d get something back from it or someone important to her was in real trouble.

 

After following and doing what she said Aurora’s mother smiled while continuing to feed Damian this made both Aurora and her father feel at ease again and after finishing his food her father started to speak”

 

“So how were your day’s?” he asked both his daughter and wife.

 

“Good” Aurora responded

 

“Good, I cleaned the house then Mary came to visit so we chatted for a little while, then after she left I left Aurora in charge of the house while I went to collect the neighbourhood’s laundry and after getting home Aurora helped me wash then dry them. You?” She responded while also trying to scoop the bit of potato that was stuck to Damian's chin.

 

“Good good, I mainly just helped Samson organise the shop and work the front counter waiting for someone to show up it was pretty boring to be honest but it should be exciting tomorrow since I have to go grab the new supplies Samson ordered from this new place near the outer middle gate”

 

In the city of Helbrum, there are five gates that lead all the way from the royal castle itself to the town’s entrance and were meant to categorise Helbrum’s citizens ranging from the poor and least important to the rich who take top priority.

 

firstly there’s the outer lower gate which is where the lowest of the low live mainly thugs and the homeless but it’s also filled with cheap inns that adventurers use while travelling.

 

the next being the inner lower gate which is where Aurora and her families are located. while not being much better than the outer gate in terms of wealth it’s much safer since people have formed little communities to help keep each other fed and safe living by the code [If one of their own is in trouble help them]

 

the next gate is the outer middle gate this is where the more stable people live having a much higher standard of living compared to the previous two gates with many more luxuries such as higher quality foods, furniture, tools, weapons etc this is the working class’s ideal gate having a good living standard as well as being realistic enough to make a reality if you play your cards right.

 

The fourth gate is the inner middle gate this gate is mainly filled with knights, high-class adventurers, merchants and nobles this is where many of the big shots lived only being there and not higher due to the rules and restrictions that prevented them from moving up.

 

And then there’s the final gate the upper gate, this gate was home to only the royal family as well as their staff, Nobles and high ranking members of the Helbrum government.

 

“Really, Huh, will you have to carry much?” Aurora’s mother asked curious.

 

“Um no actually it’s a pretty light load compared to usual”

 

“Well that’s good then, it’ll make the trip back a lot easier”

 

“Yeah it will…” her father froze for a second looking down seeming to hesitate a little.

 

“What is it? You look a little nervous” Her mother asked sounding a little concerned

 

“Ha! Not really” he said trying to play it off

 

“James, what is it” she asked again this time more annoyed than concerned

 

“Right! I’ll just get on with it then. Since it’ll only be a short trip and I won’t have to carry much I was wondering if I could bring Aurora with me?”

 

“….what?” Aurora’s mother asked a little confused.

 

“Well, I’ve been thinking and thought it would be fun and a good learning experience for her if she tagged along since she’s old enough to start learning about what it’s like to work for a living”

 

“She’s four”

 

And? I was that age when my father showed me what he did for a living”

 

“Yeah but I thought that we agreed she’d focus on marrying someone successful so that she can hopefully get out of this hell hole one day”

 

“Yeah we did and I’m still all for that but it wouldn’t hurt to teach her about manual labour just in case”

 

“Bu—….” After being silent for a moment Aurora’s mother couldn’t seem to come up with a good enough excuse, instead choosing to stay silent.

 

“I’m fine with it” Aurora said deciding to weigh in on the conversation.

 

Her mother then looked at her flabbergasted before responding “Aurora honey are you sure? I mean you’ll be out in the sun most of the day walking around and standing, you’ll barely get the chance to sit down and relax” her mother said trying to convince her not to go.

 

“That’s okay I can carry her if she gets tired” her father interjected causing her mother to shoot him a look that made his skin crawl.

 

“It’s fine, I-It’s better to be s-safe than sorry” Aurora replied while eating her beef.

 

“I guess so, haa…fine then, you can go just try not to get in your fathers way he still has to be efficient, it’s his job after all”

 

“Okay” Aurora replied before finishing off her dinner.

 

“Great! Make sure you get lots of sleep we’ll leave around five tomorrow” Aurora’s father told her before drinking water from his cup.

 

Usually, Aurora wouldn’t do something like this preferring to stay inside but she knew sooner or later she’d need to learn more about daily life for the working class and this seemed like the perfect opportunity, and even though she didn’t know how well it’d go she felt a little excited.