บท 491: sometimes, people do bad things unintentionally

"H...how..."

I parted my lips, trying to push more sound. But in the end, I closed them again, and as I did so, I realized that they were trembling. Natha tightened his grip on my hand, and I knew now why he was so afraid to let me hear it.

But...

"What...what do you mean?" I swallowed hard and looked at Amarein. "How could he...?"

Amarein took a deep breath and closed her eyes for some time, as if trying to see the best way of delivering the explanation to me. When her eyes opened again, they were no longer sad, but cold.

"Valen, no matter how pacifist we are, do you think it made sense for the kingdom to fall in the hands of humans while inside Mother's territory?" she suddenly threw a question--although I guessed it was a rhetorical one. "While surrounded by nature?"

No--I shook my hand and could finally voice out some of my confusion. "I thought it was because the druids couldn't bear to hurt even the aggressor, but..."