Chapter 1095 Father and Son (Twenty-Four) (Patreon)

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Schiller shifted slightly to the side, leaning against Scott, so they both sat on the right side of the sofa, while Polaris, sitting on the left side of the sofa, faced Magneto directly.

Magneto gave a smirk that didn't reach his eyes and said, "Oh? When you went to the Sulphur Dwarf's planet and didn't return for three months, you never mentioned missing anyone."

Polaris's smile stiffened for a moment, but then she countered without backing down, "Actually, I miss my mother and my foster father the most. They were the most patient and loving people I've ever known..."

Magneto's smile faltered for a moment, but then he spoke in a low tone, "But unfortunately, you're nothing like your mother. She was a gentle lady..."

"Oh, really? Maybe you just never saw her true self," Polaris's teeth clenched beneath her smile. She continued, "People tend to be extra polite when they're not familiar with others..."

"But unfortunately, you lack manners even when you're familiar with people."

Scott leaned against the armrest on the right side of the sofa, while Schiller leaned against Scott's side, each holding a cup of tea. They turned to the left, watching an elderly man arguing with a barbecue vendor across the street, with only a folding chair between them.

"Dr. Schiller, should we let them argue like this?" Scott lowered his voice, looking at Schiller. Schiller took a sip of his tea and said, "Don't worry, it won't escalate too much."

"Really? They're both standing up now. Are they going to fight?" Scott's tone was filled with worry.

As he said that, Polaris stood up and walked out of the sofa area, while Magneto slowly got up, crossed his arms, and walked back behind the desk. They argued all the way.

"Do you know what they have most in common?" Schiller took another sip of his tea and asked Scott.

"Um, their abilities?" Scott answered.

"No, it's their stubbornness."

As he finished speaking, the magnetic field was disturbed again. Apparently, neither side was willing to back down, now seeking to prove superiority in abilities.

At that moment, Schiller suddenly coughed violently, and Scott hurriedly put down his tea cup, patting Schiller's back to help him breathe.

Instantly, the fluctuation in the magnetic field disappeared. Magneto and Polaris exchanged a glance, conveying a message that said, "Though we both engaged physically, it was definitely your part of the magnetic field that affected Schiller."

But as the magnetic field calmed down simultaneously, they stared at each other as if they were strangers, the message in their eye contact being, "You actually consider others' feelings?!"

Schiller coughed for a while, then stood up and said, "Miss Lorna, you've seen your father already, easing your longing. If there's nothing else, could you please refrain from disturbing me and Erik's psychological treatment?"

Polaris stood still, her head unmoving, only her eyes slowly shifting, first towards Schiller, then back towards Magneto, then she furrowed her brows deeply.

She cleared her throat and gave Scott a glance before turning to walk out the door. Scott immediately followed, saying to Schiller over his shoulder, "I'll escort Lorna back."

As they stepped out, they hurried out of the building and into the garden. Polaris was gasping for breath, clutching her chest. She widened her eyes and said, "Oh my god! Did I just hear that right? Magneto is undergoing psychological treatment?!"

Scott also seemed surprised. He said, "Why is Magneto so calm today? Did Schiller drug him or something?"

"I'm puzzled too. Though he's still as rude as ever, he actually spoke!" Polaris looked incredulous. "I thought he was mute!"

"To be honest, Lorna, you're acting a bit different today," Scott approached Polaris, pressing her shoulder, "You actually admitted missing Magneto?! Even if it's an excuse, you would never say that before..."

"Do you remember, there was a time when just hearing the words 'Magneto' or 'Erik' would make you immediately furious? Remember the last time you and Pietro fought over it?" Scott said, somewhat bewildered.

"I don't know," Polaris said as she walked briskly, running her hand through her hair in disbelief. "That room must have some kind of magic! Otherwise, in the past, after being with Magneto for 13 minutes, we would have fought at least four times!"

"Could it be... Dr. Schiller's exceptional medical skills?" Scott asked.

"Then isn't Professor X equally skilled?" Polaris sounded confused. "They've known each other for decades. If it were possible to cure, wouldn't it have been done long ago?"

"Wait!" Polaris suddenly halted, her eyes darting around before she turned to Scott. "This is actually a problem."

"You see, Magneto has always refused psychological treatment. No matter how much Professor X persuades him, he refuses. But the moment Dr. Schiller arrived, he agreed. How hurt will Professor X be?" Polaris pursed her lips, displaying an expression of reluctance, then continued, "If I knew my longtime friend wouldn't let me treat him but instead sought out a stranger psychologist, I'd be very upset."

Scott's expression hesitated too. He paused for a moment before saying, "Shouldn't we just not tell Professor X, then everything will be fine?"

"No, quite the opposite. He'll find out sooner or later. After all, he's Professor X!" Lorna walked briskly ahead, then added, "I'm heading back to Earth now. I'll tell Professor X about this, let him know what a fickle and indifferent person Erik is. He shouldn't entrust such matters to him again. If it happens again, I'll really lose it!"

Schiller stood by the window, watching Polaris and Scott leave one after the other. He shook his head with a smile, then turned to Magneto at the table. "Youth is truly wonderful, isn't it?"

Magneto leaned back in his chair, lifting his tea cup to his lips. The tail end of his eyebrows drooped like bamboo leaves, his demeanor seemingly relaxed and at ease, as if he were truly in a bamboo grove, unaware of his own relaxation.

"Charles always says I must be patient with children," Magneto's deep voice resonated in the room, as if from a distant place. "But I actually don't understand. Must one be patient?"

Schiller paused briefly, then replied, "Of course not, but parents must be patient. You can choose not to be patient, as long as you don't have children."

"However, I also know your daughter's birth was a product of your turbulent life and unfortunate times."

"In your turbulent life, fate didn't give you the chance to enjoy a peaceful existence. The successive hardships left no opportunity for patience to grow. This isn't your fault."

"Likewise, fate didn't allow your children to enjoy a happy family life or a stable environment, which would have given them the confidence to communicate calmly with anyone. This isn't their fault either."

"As for whose fault it is..." Schiller shook his head.

Magneto's fingers slowly tightened until the veins bulged between his aged fingers. It had been many years since he had spoken with such a murderous tone, uttering the word "Nazi..."

"The past doesn't need to be brought up again. Let's talk about the present," Schiller changed the subject.

"Lack of patience is a flaw, but it's not an illness. For someone strong enough, whether they have patience or not isn't particularly important."

"You've lived in such an irritable manner for so many years, and no one could do anything to you, so whether you have patience or not doesn't matter," Schiller shrugged.

"You're the most tolerant psychologist I've ever met," Magneto commented. "Even more so than Charles."

"Do you know? There are different schools of psychology," Schiller took a sip of his warm tea and continued, "My current approach is that if the patient isn't suffering, then there's no need for treatment."

"Whether someone is mentally ill depends on whether they are actually suffering from their mental condition, both subjectively feeling distress and objectively experiencing more suffering than others in similar circumstances."

"That's why I say I'm not here to treat you. You believe you're living well, with no areas of confusion, and your living conditions are much better than most mutants, so there's no need for treatment."

"The concept of normal psychology is relative. It's impossible to measure whether different people's psychologies are normal using the same standard. So, as long as there's no suffering subjectively and objectively, there's no need for treatment."

Magneto fell into thought. Clearly, today he gained a new understanding of psychology, and Schiller blew on his tea before continuing, "There's another advantage to this approach. If under the same conditions, a person is suffering greatly, then they can receive psychological treatment without feeling like they're not mentally ill enough to receive treatment."

Magneto's eyebrows trembled slightly. In Schiller and Charles, he felt a shared sense of "care."

This care wasn't directed at any individual or specific aspect but rather an effort to offer everyone the possibility of infinity care.

"I didn't expect you to deal with the issues troubling me and Charles for so many years so easily," Magneto's voice remained low, but there was an infinite sigh in his tone.

Schiller held the tea cup and turned to him. "This just goes to show that you're both intelligent and confident individuals who know they won't be stumped by any complex or difficult problems. So, they like to make every issue complex and difficult..."

"Education is indeed complex and difficult, but it's also very simple."

Schiller lowered his head to look at the tea in the cup. He noticed tiny bubbles emerging from the bottom, indicating that the tea, which had cooled slightly, was being reheated. This subtle gesture of goodwill made Schiller feel quite good.

So, he patiently explained:

"You've overlooked one of the most important and fundamental aspects of education — respect."

"You're accustomed to dealing with problems in the most crude and straightforward manner. Respect isn't the first thing you consider. You think that as long as, in the end, someone does as you say, it doesn't matter whether you give them a punch or have a proper conversation."

Magneto nodded. He didn't deny his own irascibility nor did he show any remorse. His entire life was outcome-oriented, with a strong focus on goals.

Magneto's logic was very consistent. If you couldn't break through a wall, it was because your strength wasn't sufficient. If you couldn't achieve your goal, it was because you weren't strong enough.

Mutants couldn't deal with the current problems because Professor X was too soft-hearted; otherwise, the problems would have been dealt with long ago.

But Magneto still felt somewhat puzzled by Schiller's argument, so he asked, "What about Charles? Isn't he respectful enough to them?"

Schiller shook his head. "Charles is the other extreme. You know you don't have the patience to painstakingly understand others and give them the respect they desire."

"And Professor X feels he's patient enough, but he's mistaken," Schiller shook his head again. "I was once like that too."

"I've only recently realized that helping when there's difficulty, consoling when there's sadness, comforting when there's loss, saying good things to convince everyone and arranging everything clearly, is actually a form of disrespect."

Schiller squinted slightly, and Magneto also looked at him. When the two locked eyes, Schiller said somewhat helplessly, "To be a nurturing mother who holds everyone in her hands, you have to see whether what you're holding is an egg or a fledgling. If you let go of an egg, it'll break; if you let go of a fledgling, it'll fly away."

"Charles treats every child as an egg, constantly caring about their physical and mental well-being, fearing that if he lets go, the already pitiful little mutants will be completely shattered."

"But in fact, many of them already have strong wings and unyielding bones. As long as you let go, they can soar into the sky."

"More importantly, these fledglings stay in Charles's hands because they yearn for his warmth, not because they've truly received an education."

"In terms of educating the next generation, while you do nothing, and Charles does too much, you both made your choices, and then, out of the few options available, perfectly avoided the correct answer."

Schiller turned his head to look out the window again, and after a sigh, Magneto finally heard the words Professor X hoped he would hear, from Schiller, about the future of mutants.

"Magneto and Professor X, Erik and Charles, the two most powerful mutants, the leaders of mutants worldwide."

"You've devoted your entire lives to the future of mutants. Over the decades, no one has been able to convince the other of the direction mutants should take in the future."

"But if you truly want mutants to have a future, then let go of the pursuit of a perfect future."

"If you want every mutant to have the future they desire, then don't insist that they follow the future you desire."

"If you hope that in every era, great leaders like yourselves will emerge from mutants, then stop being leaders and become fathers instead..."

"Fathers who are willing and capable of educating."

Everyone was guessing about Stark father and son, Odin father and son, but no one guessed about this "Father and Son", right?

Give me a minute, I'm going to laugh my head off.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 1096 Father and Son (Twenty-Five)