White flags fluttered from the bastions and curtain walls of Fort Henderson.

  On the field, thousands of soldiers, lined up in columns, walked straight into the lines of the Army of the Leine. Many looked absolutely horrendous, the battle taking a toll on their uniforms and appearances. Others, who were assigned to reserve units, still looked decent.

  Even inside Fort Henderson, where vanguard units of the Army of the Leine advanced earlier to disarm the surrendering troops of the Second Continental Army, the revolutionaries weren’t yet that badly beaten. It was a testament to how well they fought even with the lopsided odds against them.

  Apparently, they hadn’t even suffered that many casualties, and many of the field commanders were planning for a bold breakout attempt that would save the army from its ruin. But Alexa’s speech, coupled with General Horatio outlining the terms of surrender using Alexa’s ability, managed to put an end to hostilities.

  It had now been hours since the Second Continental Army raised the white flag. The sky was already somewhat dark, the clouds pinkish, yet, even with such a dull atmosphere, the soldiers of the Army of the Leine held their noses up triumphantly. Soldiers cheered, danced, and sang with their hodgepodge of instruments; others played cards and gambled in their tents, while food and ale were distributed liberally.

  After all, word was that the civil war was nowhere close to the end. The Republic was now down to only two armies, the First Continental Army and the Third Continental Army. Even the 2nd Group Army alone could possibly deal with them, under the right circumstances, and the arrival of the 1st and 3rd Group Armies was now close.

  Alexa, who sat alone in front of her tent, wasn’t so celebratory. In fact, her face was solemn, and her eyes were sunk. She had been anxiously waiting for a report from Wilhelm about the casualties they suffered. It was all that mattered to her right now, enough that she resisted the allure of wanting to sleep, and it was bad enough that she was unable to eat.

  “Alexa, at least take this bread,” Adele insisted on the side, worried. “I know you have a lot in your mind, but you’ve barely eaten for the better part of the day already.”

  “I’m just…”

  Alexa looked up at her lady-in-waiting, who had been pestering Alexa to take care of herself. Unlike Phoebe, who had the job now of having to save the lives of thousands of soldiers from both sides quickly before they succumbed to injuries, Alexa had nothing left to do. So all she did so far was sulk here.

  It’s unbecoming of me.

  She frowned to herself.

  All I’m doing is crying about spilled milk.

  Though, calling what happened earlier as ‘spilled milk’ soured Alexa’s mind further. She hated that she was already trying to downplay what she did. She killed that man, that poor officer, who could have lived. What if I had a wife? Children? What would they think if they knew that their empress did this to him?

  Alexa shook those thoughts away and grabbed the food that was being offered to her. A smile crept up on Adele’s face.

  “Finally.”

  “Thanks, Adele.”

  Alexa began eating the bread slowly. It was plain, boring, and practically flavorless. But it was soft and baked well; certainly, it was of higher quality than what the foot soldiers of her armies were eating. It must be something reserved for officers. Even if it was quite dull for Alexa’s more refined taste, her body was actually quite starved.

  She had no appetite, but now that she took a bite of food, she felt herself salivating, and suddenly, the piece of plain bread tasted better than what it should be. Alexa began scarfing it down faster, though it was still in a very dignified manner, one would even say. Instead of eating her food slowly and elegantly, Alexa was now unusually eating her food how a normal person would do it.

  “See, I knew you’re extremely hungry,” Adele said, as she sat on a chair that was beside Alexa’s. “Hah…it’s been a long week, hasn’t it?”

  Adele was now looking up at the sunset on the horizon. Alexa didn’t reply, choosing instead to continue eating, focusing on her food.

  “...Alexa, I think you’re a truly good leader,” Adele suddenly said. “And I’m not saying this as needless flattery anymore like back then. I genuinely believe this.”

  Alexa stopped. Then, she looked at Adele with a hurt look. “Wait, all this time, you thought I’m not?”

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “O-of course not! I still genuinely thought you would be a good leader…just, you had pitfalls. Like all of us…” Adele looked down. “Like me. I’m a coward. But unlike you, I haven’t yet overcome my flaws.”

  “Adele…”

  “You, on the other hand, have grown so much. I know what happened, and I know that look on your face. You’re beating yourself down, aren’t you?”

  “...Even after everything Wilhelm said, I still feel responsible,” Alexa said. “Even if my actions led to the defeat of the enemy army, I still…killed that man with my very own magic.”

  Alexa gritted her teeth. “Is this what I’ll become from now on? Someone who can just kill a fellow human being and just walk away as if nothing happened.”

  “But you didn’t walk away as if nothing happened. In fact, it’s haunting you right now. Your conscience is intact.”

  “S-still!”

  The two stopped their discussion when they spotted Wilhelm walking in their direction. He held rolled papers with him. As usual, he was looking at Alexa with a neutral expression. That caused Alexa to seize up and brace for what he must be carrying with him. She ate her bread faster, chewed it, and gulped it all in a few seconds.

  Then, she stood up, patted her dress, and steadied herself.

  “Wilhelm. You’re back,” Alexa said, looking up at him. “Do you have what I’m asking for?”

  “It’s all still preliminary numbers, so to be quite frank, I wouldn’t recommend that you draw any conclusions from it—”

  “I don’t care. I just…want to know, okay?”

  Wilhelm sighed. “Fine. On our side, we tallied up around one thousand three hundred killed in action. Our wounded are easily eightfold, though most of them have been recovered to full health, thanks to Phoebe.”

  “She must have kept our fatalities extremely low too,” Adele mumbled on the side.

  “Yes. All in all, the Army of the Leine right now barely lost its strength. Our organization, morale, and everything else are sky-high. The only problem we have is that we’re nearly out of our magic crystals for the bombardment regiments, so it would be prudent for us to wait for a day or two to replenish that.”

  The rest of Wilhelm’s report about the losses of the Army of the Leine was a blur in Alexa’s mind. She only fixated on the one thing that mattered, the number of deaths. She looked to the side, nodding along languidly, before muttering. “What about the enemy?”

  Wilhelm sighed.

  “The Second Continental Army…suffered twelve thousand fatalities, and their wounded is twice that. Phoebe and our medical corps are currently still treating them as quickly as they can, but it’s likely that the number of dead on their side will rise by a thousand or two by tomorrow.”

  “Twelve thousand…” Alexa gasped.

  “It would have been easily more than that if you hadn’t convinced them to surrender by capturing General Horatio. Tell you what, they still had more than seventy thousand combat-capable troops during their surrender. Had they attempted a breakout or, worse, dug in and stubbornly fought to the last, this battle would have been bloodier.”

  Adele sighed. “The Second Continental Army sure was a massive foe, huh? It’s only now that it’s dawning on me.”

  “Yes. To be honest, if I didn’t dangle you in front of them as bait and cause them to mistakenly pour their brigades in the center to chase you, the Second Continental Army could have prevented a full rout and retreated in good order, even with Battlegroup Clausewitz behind them.”

  “...And what would have happened in that scenario?” Alexa asked.

  “They would have conducted a fighting retreat to regroup with the rest of the Republic’s forces, leading to more battles, more casualties, and more suffering.” Wilhelm smiled. “The point is, your actions today meant that we’ve successfully subjugated an army of a hundred and twenty thousand troops in a few days. The road to the enemy’s cities is now wide open. We’re now in a superior strategic position to force them into surrender before winter arrives.”

  Alexa looked at Wilhelm’s eyes. For once, there was kindness and consideration in it, even warmth. She realized why he came here and what he was attempting. He was trying to make her feel better and make her feel less awful about what she did.

  Alexa looked away and crossed her arms. “Hmph. I should have known it. You’re just trying to butter me up.”

  “I know it’s a lame attempt,” Wilhelm chuckled awkwardly. “But a man has to try, you know?”

  Alexa pouted at Wilhelm. “You don’t need to coddle me this much.”

  “I assure you, I’m not coddling you. I really just don’t want you to forget about your achievements. You think you did one thing wrong, and it’s enough to make your mind forget about everything else you did right.”

  Alexa sighed. “You and Adele. You’re both so biased. I appreciate that you both wish to look up to me, as you should, but, regardless, I killed someone.”

  “Same,” Wilhelm grunted.

  “Don’t brag about your sins to comfort me,” Alexa hissed as her face turned slightly red.

  “Right, right, sorry. I’m trying my best here.”

  “You, Sir Wilhelm, have a bad sense when it comes to this.” Adele shook her head.

  Wilhelm groaned. “I know, damn it.”

  “I do appreciate your words, though. Both of you,” Alexa admitted. Then, she curled up her fist. “Still, I refuse to let any of those facts blind me. I need to improve. I need to produce better results.”

  A fire was lit up in Alexa’s eyes once again. Not that it was ever truly extinguished; what happened earlier simply made it dim a bit, but now, it was back.

  “I will not let his death go in vain.” Alexa shook her head. “No, I won’t let everyone’s death go in vain, whether they’re my enemy or not. I will end this war and end all of this suffering. It’s the only way I’ll repent for my sins.”