The Ladies' Gathering (4)

Everyone was silent, there was no denying the casualties as the result of the war. Maia was only a mercenary who promised Celestine to protect one of the forts, which wasn't even the first or second fort, she had few battles, therefore, she couldn't find a way to refute Alicia's words.

Looking at Alicia, what's she gone through; losing friends, families, comrades, and soldiers into the war, it took one strong mind not to lose sanity.

"I'm sorry for your loss..." I said.

"Shut up, I don't need your-," Alicia snapped her eyes toward me but startled immediately, the other noticed, and they looked at me, everyone was surprised.

I wasn't looking at her, but my eyesight was further distance, it's like I was seeing the deep of the ocean.

"I know what it feels like... to watch the people, who suffer and struggle together with me, were torn to shred...

Heh, we were laughed together when lonely, we sang when we starved, we joked when we scared..."

I couldn't help but smile, "The youngest of us, he just proposed to a woman, they were going to get married when he got back, he never stopped talking about her during our trip, honestly annoying."

"And then I saw him, at that time I was hiding, he was ahead of me a couple of distance, I heard a familiar sound and knew what it was, I screamed at him to get away, but it's all too late... he got hit with an explosion, I saw his arm was thrown into the sky and fell right in front of me..."

"I don't sense a thing at that time, empty head, numb heart, without I knew my instinct took over, the fear for death became imminent..."

"I have to live, I said to myself... and when you did survive, but half of your comrades were not, it's when you realized how insignificant our life was... it was so fragile that it was pathetic..."

I took a deep breath and returned my attention to them, I smiled while wiping my eyes, said, "Sorry, it caught some dust."

"..." Alicia frowned, her anger was diminished.

"I know it is difficult, believe me, I do, I want the same with you, Alicia, I want the people who killed my friends to suffer, to die... but in the end I realized, it is much bigger than my thirst for revenge, had the blood kept shedding, the world would not see the sun soon..."

"It's a chain that must be broke, one of the sides had to start forgiving otherwise what of the fate of the future generations?"

I glanced at the pink-head beside Alicia, said, "What do you want for Primrose?"

"..."

"Do you want to revenge for her father, or do you want a world where she can live in peace?"

"Alicia, you can continue the war, but with me on Olga's side, you were less likely to come victorious."

Alicia's anger rose again, she sneered at me, said, "You and what army? Don't you just kill them? Or is it a blustery?"

"Who says I need an army, they are a hassle," I said, "Alicia, can you kill an ogre?"

"..." Alicia went silent.

"She can't, her swordsmanship is mediocre at best," Maia shrugged.

"Shut up, you bird, you can't also defeat an ogre!" Alicia slammed the desk with her hand.

"Yes, but I can run," Maia smirked, Alicia grit her teeth as if about to fight her to the death.

"Even I will likely consume a lot of effort to kill an ogre alone," Claudia said, well, that's the support I didn't expect would come from her.

"But I can kill one, I can kill two, I can do a whole group of them without as much as breaking a sweat, adding up with Olga and Chloe, along with the rest of the Dark Elves, who knows what can we do," I said with a colder tone, "Alicia, the truce isn't us scared of you, the truce is us giving you mercy."

Alicia bit her lips, but she returned to her seat with a snort, obviously was still upset.

At this time, Ruu-ruu opened her mouth, said, "The loyalty of my race is with Goddess Larentia, which is Celestine, do whatever Celestine decide, I will sure you that we decide the same."

"Aren't your people also suffer a lot of death?" Alicia wrinkled one eye.

"Kahaha!" the pallum stood on her seat, crossing her arms, and said, "death in war is the pride of our people, the worse our death, the more prideful we are!"

"Tch, freak..." Alicia mumbled.

After Ruu-ruu, it was Kaguya's turn.

"I don't really care..." Kaguya said, "we don't have animosity with the Dark Elf, or even the Queen, if she desires for atonement, then atonement she has."

"That's very forgiving of you," I wrinkled my eyebrows, was it that simple on her religion to forgive someone's sin?

Kaguya glanced at me with a deadpan expression, she said, "In order for her to atone her sin, she must enter a furnace with a raging fire, if she comes out alive, that means her sin has been cleansed."

Forget it, what a sadist.

Among the women, the only one who hadn't voiced out her opinion was Prim, she seemed to want to say something, but a glare from Alicia made her nervous, as well as the eyes of other people.

"Um..." Prim opened her mouth but she closed it again, she opened it, she closed it again, oh, it would take forever.

"I am really sorry for what happen to you," I said with a gentle tone, "does Prim likes fighting?"

Prim shook her head.

"How about killing?" she became pale, okay, a big no.

"Does Prim likes to stroll in the forest and play with the animal?" she pondered, then give a small nod.

"Does Prim likes Alicia?" hearing my words, Alicia blushed a little, Prim glanced at Alicia and she gave a big nod.

"Then does Prim prefer Alicia to go to the war or accompany Prim to play in the forest?"

"Play in the forest!" Primrose answered with no hesitation.

The corner of my lips curled, and then I said with the gentlest tone as possible, "Then Prim agree with the truce?"

"Yes!"

"Prim!" Alicia shouted, making the poor Prim terrified as if a puppy had done something wrong.

"Hey, she has made her decision, leave her alone," I scolded Alicia, meanwhile giving a wink to Prim, which made her cheek blushed.

"You trick her!"

"So, her love for you is a trick?" I wrinkled my eyebrows.

"You..." Alicia's body was trembling, I thought she got too much temper, she could get old fast.

Anyway, this meant there were two women who disagreed with the truce, and four women who agreed, the favor was on us, but it's still not enough, at least I should manage to buy Alicia's heart since she represented the West Kingdom, well, Prim too, but I wouldn't count too much on her support.

"King, permission to speak," Chloe said all of a sudden.