Mencius’ Mother’s Three Moves – A Lesson on the Importance of Environment in Education*
Mencius’ mother moved three times despite their poverty to ensure her son had the right educational environment.
Even without such dedication, it is only natural to remove anything harmful from a child’s surroundings.
“Why not?! I promise I’ll be a great teacher! Just trust me this once, okay? Duke?!”
“……”
“You were going to allow it at first, weren’t you? So why are you suddenly saying no?! This isn’t fair! Are you saying my swordsmanship isn’t good enough? Is that it? You know how hard I train every day! And I’m really good at teaching too!”
Ian watched calmly as Hamil threw a fit, demanding to be allowed to become a teacher.
He had been silently observing for the past ten minutes, waiting for her to tire herself out.
Yet, Hamil’s energy seemed endless.
“I don’t care! I’ll stay right here until you make me a teacher at the academy! I’ll even lie down on the floor if I have to!”
She dramatically flopped onto the study floor.
‘I should’ve turned her away from the start. I should’ve trusted my bad feeling and told her not to come.’
Ian closed his eyes tightly.
“I don’t care! I’m not moving from here! I’ll eat here, sleep here, and even… do everything else here!”
“…Princess Hamil.”
“I’m not a princess! I quit being a princess a long time ago!”
“Can a princess just quit like that?”
Hamil nodded vigorously.
“I submitted a renunciation letter. My father said that if I did it one more time, he’d accept it for sure! So isn’t it fine? Just let me do it! I’m really good at teaching! I’ve trained so many people! Back in my kingdom, I was famous for being a great sword instructor!”
“Then go teach in your kingdom.”
Hamil’s eyes darted around nervously. She was clearly hiding something.
Ian clenched his jaw.
“What is it? Don’t tell me you can’t return to your kingdom.”
Hamil slowly turned her head away.
That was definitely the reaction of someone guilty of something.
“Speak now before I put you in a carriage and send you back immediately.”
At Ian’s stern warning, Hamil hesitated, fidgeting with her fingers.
“If I tell you, will you promise not to send me back?”
“Tell me first.”
“…But if I tell you and you send me back anyway, then it’s better if I don’t say anything.”
Ian reached for the bell cord.
“I’ll have you sent back right awa—”
“Okay! Okay! I’ll talk!”
As Ian let go of the cord, Hamil cautiously observed his reaction before speaking again.
“So, um… you know how I submitted the renunciation letter?”
“Yes, you did.”
“Well… since I did contribute to the kingdom…”
She stretched out the last word, eyeing Ian nervously.
“…I figured I deserved a little reward. So I kind of… took the national treasure sword with me.”
I brought a disaster into my domain. Have I lost my mind?! I really let trouble in!
As Ian rubbed his face in frustration, Hamil quickly stood up and tried to explain.
“My father won’t reach out as long as I don’t return to the kingdom! So don’t worry!”
She pounded her chest confidently, as if to reassure him.
“Princess Hamil.”
“Ugh, stop calling me that. I’m not a princess anymore.”
“I want everyone in my duchy to live peacefully.”
Hamil nodded enthusiastically.
“Me too! On my way here, I talked to some of the people, and they were all so kind and pure-hearted! I really want them to live happily for a long, long time.”
“…I don’t think they’ll have peace as long as you’re here.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Are you really asking that?”
Hamil shuffled forward on her knees, getting closer to Ian.
She waved her hands frantically, trying to explain.
“It’s really not a big deal! Sure, it’s a national treasure, but it was already my sword! My father even said he’d give it to me! So it’s fine! Nothing bad will happen!”
The problem isn’t the sword—it’s you.
Ian let out a deep sigh before speaking calmly.
“I’m sorry, Princess Hamil, but—”
Knock, knock.
At the small knocking sound, Ian’s expression hardened instantly.
Hamil’s eyes darted around before she suddenly grinned.
‘No way.’
Ian quickly reached out to stop her, but Hamil was faster.
She jumped up and dashed to the door.
“Princess Hamil—”
The door burst open, and a girl as lovely as a flower fairy, Rose, spread her arms wide at the sight of Hamil.
“Sister!”
“Rose!”
Hamil pulled Rose into a desperate hug.
“Rose, save me! Talk some sense into your uncle!”
Ian rubbed his forehead in exasperation.
Completely unaware of his distress, Rose tilted her head in confusion.
“Huh? What’s wrong? What did Uncle do?”
Hamil sniffled dramatically.
“He wants me to go home. I want to stay here and be your teacher, but he keeps telling me to leave.”
Rose’s eyes widened in shock. She turned to Ian with disbelief.
Her expression clearly asked, Are you really going to send my sister away?
“…Rose.”
At the mere sound of her name, Rose clung even tighter to Hamil’s neck.
“No! I don’t want Sister Hamil to go!!”
Ian rubbed his face again, then stepped toward Rose.
But before he could get close, she shrank back as if he were some terrifying plague.
“Rose…”
“I don’t care! Uncle, you’re mean! Don’t send my sister away! I love having her here! No! I refuse!”
“W-wait, Rose?”
Hamil was caught off guard by Rose’s extreme reaction.
She hadn’t expected her to be this upset.
Quickly, she picked up Rose and patted her back soothingly.
“Rose, Rose. Don’t cry. I was wrong. Your uncle and I were just joking, okay?”
“Don’t gooo! I don’t want you to gooo! I want to stay with Sister Hamil! Waaahhh!”
“Alright, alright. We’ll stay together. There, there. No more tears, okay?”
Ian reached out to take Rose from Hamil.
However, the moment his hand touched her, Rose clung even tighter to Hamil’s neck.
“Ugh! Rose! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! You’re choking me!”
Hamil gasped, struggling to loosen Rose’s grip, but the little girl only screamed at Ian.
“I hate you, Uncle!!”
***
The pen in Ian’s hand froze midair. The document in front of him remained untouched, the page unturned for a long while.
His eyes stared blankly at nothing, completely unfocused.
In the silence of the sitting room, the soft clink of a teacup being placed down echoed.
Even then, Ian remained frozen, staring into space.
“You must be really shocked that Rose hates you.”
Ian flinched and snapped back to reality. He set his pen down and rubbed his face with both hands.
“When did you get here?”
Edelmar glanced at his wristwatch and answered casually.
“About ten minutes ago. But since you’re clearly getting nowhere with your paperwork, why don’t you come over here?”
Ian sighed and trudged toward the sofa, flopping down.
Edelmar poured him a cup of tea and spoke.
“So tell me—why exactly were you trying to send Hamil away?”
“She’s a bad influence on Rose.”
“A bad influence?”
Ian took a sip of tea before explaining.
“This morning, Princess Hamil told Rose that since she had a hearty breakfast, she would surely become the greatest bandit of all time.”
“…What?”
“And then Rose proudly declared that she would become a bandit.”
“Pfft—”
Edelmar barely held back his laughter.
Sipping his tea elegantly, he suddenly choked and sprayed it out.
Ian scowled and handed him a handkerchief.
“What are you doing?”
“Thanks. I just—this whole situation is absurd.”
“Not as absurd as it is for me.”
Ian sighed heavily and slumped deeper into the sofa.
“I don’t expect Rose to grow up into a perfectly refined lady. But I’m worried that if she keeps getting influenced by Princess Hamil, she might go down the wrong path.”
“Are you seriously worried that a five-year-old saying she’ll be a bandit will actually become one?”
“She may be five now, but what if she keeps saying it at fifteen or nineteen? I’m trying to take precautions.”
Edelmar wiped his mouth and took another sip of tea before responding.
“That’s an overreaction. Rose doesn’t even know what a bandit is—she’s just repeating the word because it sounds exciting. As she grows up, she’ll learn who she is and what she truly wants to do.”
“And how can you be so sure?”
“I’ve seen it happen before.”
Ian tilted his head in confusion.
“When the crown prince was four, his dream was to become a pirate. And Eugene, at four, wanted to be the King of Thieves.”
“……”
“The crown prince decided to become a pirate because he saw his father struggling with piracy issues and wanted to help. Eugene, on the other hand, wanted to be the King of Thieves so he could steal the best jewels for his mother. Do you see now why I called your fears an overreaction?”
Ian let out a deep sigh instead of responding.
“Princess Hamil may be eccentric, but she’s not a bad person. Even if Rose admires her, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And don’t forget Rose’s personality—she might pick up a few rowdy habits, but she’s not the type to go too far.”
“……”
“Besides, Hamil’s passion for swordsmanship is real. She’s even trained knights in her kingdom.”
“Do you realize that the sword she carries is a national treasure?”
Edelmar raised an eyebrow.
“So, did she mention that too?”
“You already knew? Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because it’s nothing important. If she told you it’s a national treasure, she must have also told you it was hers to begin with.”
Ian nodded.
“She also mentioned submitting the renunciation letter.”
“Then that’s everything. Neither the renunciation letter nor the national treasure sword is something to worry about. If there were a real problem, I would have told you myself.”
“…..……”
Seeing Ian’s silence, Edelmar smirked.
He had always been composed, no matter the situation.
But for someone like Ian to be shaken this much…
Rose is going to be quite the influential person in the future.
As Edelmar refilled Ian’s tea to offer some comfort—
Knock, knock.
A loud, energetic knock echoed.
Ian instantly felt another headache coming on.
He didn’t even need to ask who it was.
He really didn’t want to let them in.
But since they already knew he was inside, he had no choice.
“…Come in.”
The door creaked open just slightly—quite unlike Hamil’s usual dramatic entrances.
Instead, it was Rose who stepped inside hesitantly.
“U-Uncle…”
Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and she kept looking down as if afraid to meet his gaze.
Ian felt his heart ache.
“Come here, Rose.”
He spread his arms, and after a moment’s hesitation, Rose ran into his embrace.
Then, in a tiny whisper, she said,
“Uncle, I’m sorry. I love Sister Hamil, but when you told her to leave, I got mad. I’m really sorry.”
Ian gently stroked her back.
“It’s okay, Rose. It’s my fault for not explaining things properly. There was just a misunderstanding.”
Edelmar chuckled softly at Ian’s response.
Just moments ago, Ian had been determined to send Hamil away.
Now, he was blaming himself for a simple misunderstanding.
He really is weak to Rose.
Edelmar’s eyes gleamed with amusement as he confirmed Ian’s greatest weakness.
🍓; *Mencius’ Mother’s Three Moves (孟母三遷) is a famous Chinese story about the mother of Mencius, an ancient Chinese philosopher. The story highlights the importance of a good environment for a child’s upbringing.
According to legend, Mencius’ mother moved their home three times to find the best environment for her son:
1. Near a cemetery – Mencius imitated funeral rites, so she moved.
2. Near a marketplace – He mimicked merchants’ bargaining, so she moved again.
3. Near a school – He began studying diligently, so she stayed.
This story is often used to emphasize the influence of one’s surroundings on personal development.
