Eve stared at the blank paper in front of her, thinking of how she should write her proposal and presentation.
‘The study of what shapes one’s personality… or maybe the study of human behavior?’ She was pondering on a more appropriate title for her research, since the first one she came up with sounded too poetic for a research topic.
‘I’m sure that the more beneficial the research is for the kingdom, the easier it is to get a permit to conduct the research… but it can’t be a repetition of a study that has been done… at least if the topic is the same, the approach should be from a different perspective... or uses a different method,’
Eve then glanced at the books she had gathered as references for her proposal.
The Relationship between humans and the environment
The mind of the noble and the poor
Society vs individual
The rise and fall of kingdoms
The society that shapes the norms
These were the few books Eve thought might help her figure out the focus of her research. She also had several research proposals stacked on another side of the table which she borrowed from the public library. This was to help her design her proposal as best as possible since the girl has never written a research proposal before.
At every moment possible, Eve was constantly reading a book and taking notes. Even when she was eating, before sleep, after classes, a book was always near her. It was to the point that she would perhaps die out of starvation if her personal servant, Yeve, didn’t threaten to feed the girl if she kept on saying ‘later,’ whenever the food was about to be prepared.
From her intense reading which made her mind feel like it was about to explode because of how there were many researchers whose book was difficult to understand (the kind where it feels like only them and God would understand the contents of the book), it seemed like a specific topic would be better for her research since most of the books she had highlighted specific aspects of human relations.
So, if Eve were to come up with a specific topic that includes the study of what makes her family look crazy in outsiders’ eyes while also giving her the opportunity to observe children her age…
“The measurements of good and evil,” Eve mumbled.
She lifted her pen as her thoughts became flooded with words.
When a person steals out of desperation, they might receive a lighter sentence than a person who steals out of laziness to work.
But there are also cunning people who camouflage their stealing in a way that goes unnoticed by most people, packaged so it would look like they are doing good.
They are all conducting the same act, the act of stealing, but they do not receive the same judgement.
When it is war, killing becomes a medal to the brave warriors who defended their country. But when someone kills another person during peace, depending on their motives, the judgment upon them also changes. And when it is time for someone to receive their death sentence, the act of killing is celebrated by many who are against that person.
They all involve the same act, taking away the life of another person (regardless of whether they are prepared to die or not).
“But one might receive cheering from the people, while another might receive a life worse than death because of their act,”
Eve spoke in front of the mentors present to listen to her speech. They were listening while also keeping her proposal paper opened in front of them, taking notes and marking certain parts of her proposal every now and then.
“If one were to say, stealing is bad… killing is bad… then surely all act, no matter what reason there is, should receive the same judgement?
But the reality is, the judgment upon a certain action differs vastly based on the many factors which led to that action and came out of that action. We can see how important this fact is simply by looking at the existence of the judge pillar.
If the guilty deeply regrets their action, they might receive lighter punishment, as long as the victim’s side is forgiving enough to allow it.
But if the guilty does not see its act as something wrong, then no punishment would be enough to change their mind.
Just as the famous scholar, Sir Lekhai said, ‘it is easier to tell a mountain to move than it is to change a person,’
What if someone righteous was deemed guilty because of the schemes of the guilty who is trying to escape persecution. Or worse, deemed guilty for holding moral values that the majority sees as wrong?
What if in reality, evil prevails and is twisting the innocent’s perception of what is good and what is not?
Fooling people into believing that the plank they’re walking on leads to happiness, when truly, it leads to despair and eventually... Eternal death.
That was how the ancient kingdoms, Ral, Adom and Horra came to ruin.
How can we truly be sure that the values we hold today are truly good, when history shows how laws change from time to time. What used to be seen as wrong is now good, and what used to be seen as good is now wrong...
I’d like to conduct a research that focuses on the various kinds of moral values there are in the world today and see what those values produce upon the people. It's impact on a micro and macro scale in hopes that we might learn from the many examples and utilize that knowledge to improve the lives of the people in our kingdom. Thank you,” Eve closed, bowing to the examiners.
The mentors seemed to be in deep thoughts, including Sir Atlea who was also present. The ones who loved researching difficult topics, especially the ones where truth is the main pursuit of their study seemed interested as they were examining deeply the little girl’s research method.
A mentor lifted his hand, causing everyone to pay attention to him, “it says here that the first research will be conducted in the Junior Department... why do you think it’s important to start there rather than anywhere else?”
“First and foremost, most of the data related to human behavior have been collected from children and adults who have volunteered for previous research programs, whilst the data for teenagers to young adults is very scarce. So, this would be a good opportunity to add more to the data bank for other researchers who might happen to need it for their own projects.
Second, I believe that it is best to start at this age spectrum for this particular research because according to the heads of scholars in the psychology department of Yagar, (a popular department in the kingdom of Levath) the age from 12 to 17 is when children begin to learn to become independent in their thoughts and decisions, second questioning what they’ve been taught as they grew up and learn to choose the kind of path they wish to pursue. With this in mind, we would not only be able to see glimpses of how the children were raised, but also how such experience impact them upon their journey to become mature in the mind.”
The mentors remained quiet as they kept their eyes on the proposal. Regardless of the topic Eve pursued, the data she would collect from this age group would indeed be very useful for other researchers. Some were already considering introducing Eve to the researchers under them so that they may remain in contact with Eve and have immediate access to her research data. In exchange, Eve might also find some beneficial information from other researchers, especially since it is encouraged to exchange thoughts with fellow researchers to broaden each other’s perspective.
The proposal had all the extra information the mentors were curious about, so there was no need to ask any more questions related to Eve’s research.
Some even thought that the little girl had written too much information which seemed like useless decorations to fill the page.
In Eve’s defense, because she wasn’t sure of what the mentors might asked, in addition to her laziness to speak, made her just write everything that she thought might be asked after they read her proposal.
This was proven smart for her to do as the mentors who are well known for asking many questions no matter how unnecessary they are, seemed focused, reading every little explanation and footnote hoping they could find something that they can use as a question. They were so immersed in their quest until after Eve had left the room, but for now, the others were busy thinking as they waited for the head of the department to speak.
Since the examiners had also approved the recommendation letters and Eve’s academic records, most mentors were already planning inside their head on how they would introduce their researchers to Eve. Some were annoyed that they cannot offer themselves as Eve’s main mentor. They already knew that the little girl would be researching under Sir Atlea’s care, he made sure that everyone knew that the young candidate had been studying under him from when she had to learn to read and write.
His endless bragging was meant as a threat to anyone who has even the slightest interest in mentoring the young girl. But nevertheless, the procedure requires them to ask the candidate on whom she wishes to be her main mentor as well as the other mentors she was interested in taking lessons from.
“Have you decided on who you would like to be your main mentor?” the head of the department asked,
“I’d like my research to be supervised by Sir Atlea,”
‘Obviously,’ everyone thought,
“And are there classes that you wish to attend to help your research?”
“I’d like to take classes from Master Iane and Lady Mion,”
Master Iane was a grand mage who was sent by the tower to teach at the academy of Gemma. Many mages were sent to various countries to maintain the world’s knowledge of magic and dispel any kind of misunderstanding that may occur due to the lack of information. Behind that, they also had to spread into the world to look for undiscovered mages. This was to prevent any religion from hunting them down while proclaiming how those people are evil beings. The magic tower was always at odds with most religion, with a few others, their relationship was ambiguous. Only one religion was on good terms with the tower.
Lady Mion was a scholar specialized in foreign culture, she was a mixed race between the Clerian (the Kingdom Eve belongs to) and Trojuvian (the Kingdom of Troju). She was born and raised in the Kingdom of Cler and pursued this path because her household had led her to become interested into learning various cultures and how they impact each other.
“Hmm... and why is that so?” the head asked,
“Due to my limited knowledge of the people from the tower and other countries, which as written, I’d also like to include as my research subjects. I’d like to try and understand their ways of thinking. And according to my foolish judgement1, Master Iane and Lady Mion are the best mentors to guide me on this quest,”
Master Iane and Lady Mion seemed stoic as they listened to the girl’s reasoning. The head of the department glanced at the two mentors who were sitting at the far back, as if they’d rather be elsewhere than in that room. Master Iane grunted whilst Lady Mion remained still as she glanced back at the head. That silent interaction was something that only the mentors understood. As for Eve, she burned their expressions in her mind so that after further interacting with them, she may understand the meaning of their interaction.
Their discussion continued until all mentors who were interested in having Eve in their classes had spoken of their offer.
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1Foolish judgement, is the way people from Cler humbly express their thoughts in honor of the person they are speaking to, or about.
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