Chapter: 18. It’s Already Enough
“Oh, then tell me? You’re right, I stare at these big stones every day, and it really is boring. But I’ll say it upfront, Human Princess, if what you’re going to say is particularly dull, I won’t mind killing you to entertain myself, okay?”
Acting is all about extremes.
Xue Feiya didn’t sleep at all last night due to Xiya’s antics, so the way she covered her small mouth to yawn wasn’t acting.
Saying this opened an opportunity for Livra to negotiate.
Taking a moment to collect her thoughts and closing her eyes, she summoned all the linguistic skills she had cultivated over her life.
The characters she had written on paper late at night rushed into Livra’s mind like a river at this moment.
When she opened her eyes again, Livra’s heart filled with the grandeur depicted in her dreams.
“Princess Xue Feiya, I want to ask you a question, do you really like war and killing that much?”
“Ha, what do you think?” Xue Feiya supported herself with three of her six wings, tilting her head against the tips of her wings. Though she was smiling, it sent chills down one’s spine. “Since the world calls me the Calamity Witch, you should know what that title represents, right?”
“Yes, I know that title. The rows of the kingdom’s army that withdrew from the battlefield, once faced with you, won’t even think about stepping back onto the battlefield. Those who have witnessed the ‘Calamity’ instinctively fear death.”
“Ha, this little princess may not have been on the battlefield, but she seems to have done her homework? You’re right~ I have indeed killed quite a few on the battlefield, haven’t I? The people of your kingdom all fear me, having heard my name, I bet they dream of cruel nightmares at night!”
These words were partially acting but not entirely so.
Her tone was somewhat humorous, but only Xue Feiya understood how much helpless sadness lay beneath.
Xue Feiya deliberately made fierce gestures in an attempt to scare Livra, but evidently, this tactic was not very effective.
It wasn’t just ineffective…
Livra’s eyes held not much fear at all.
On the contrary—there was even a hint of pity and sympathy.
This strange gaze left Xue Feiya completely bewildered.
Since she was confused, she asked it out loud.
“What’s up with that look in your eyes?”
“I feel… that what Princess Xue Feiya just said seems a bit melancholic.”
“Ha? You can’t be really blind, can you? Hey, let me see!”
Swish!
A black feather transformed into a dark blade shot past Livra with the speed of the wind, catching her off guard.
The swift wind blade took away a few strands of her black hair.
The wind blade then crashed into the stone wall, and what seemed like a feeble magic explosion made a reverberating pit in the rigid rock wall.
The horrifying noise and the sensation of the wind blade rushing by understandably frightened Livra.
With death brushing past her, it was impossible to remain calm and composed.
She widened her eyes and instinctively placed her palm over her neck.
No blood, head still intact.
When she turned her gaze back to the front, Princess Xue Feiya’s expression was no longer that of playful mockery, but instead held a complex look as if she had been “hit by a sore spot.”
—She was right.
This was Livra’s judgment.
It was a revelation made with her life as a wager.
With no time to wipe away the cold sweat that had appeared from fright, Livra suppressed the urge to cry out, continuing with what she wanted to say.
“Xue… Xue Feiya Princess, just as you said, I have not trained myself on the battlefield, I do not know the cruelty of war, but someone as seasoned as you must understand…! The battlefield means death at every moment!”
“What exactly are you trying to say…?”
“I am trying to say… even Princess Xue Feiya, even as the Calamity Witch, your killing side might be a facade, and deep down, you truly desire peace, right? You wish for more people to survive on the battlefield, don’t you…!”
“?”
Given the earlier experience, Livra hurriedly protected her head with her hands to avoid another attack.
Actually, this action was meaningless.
If Xue Feiya really wanted to attack her, no amount of effort would save her; she would be obliterated.
But in reality…
Xue Feiya was completely taken aback.
She never expected Livra, who was cowering with her hands over her head, would manage to speak out close to the truth.
How did she know…?
Was it coincidence?
Was my acting poor?
Or did that fool Xiya accidentally let something slip?
None of these were possible.
Because at that moment, Livra was clearly terrified to the utmost.
She was gambling, treading on a knife’s edge, feeling like death could come for her at any moment.
Livra slowly lowered her outstretched arms, cautiously peeking through the gaps of her bent elbows to observe the cage of flames.
The flames were roaring, the intense heat rendered the surrounding air slightly sweltering.
And Princess Xue Feiya sat firmly within, her expression considerably more serious and vigilant than before.
“Hey… Human Princess, I suggest you weigh your words carefully. If you speak recklessly… the consequences can be severe. If you think you can cleverly hit the mark with this, then you should probably be dead by now.”
“But… but I am not dead right now.”
“……”
“That last spell you cast avoided hitting me. If you wanted to kill me… starting from the first offensive word I spoke, I would… I would have already been a corpse by now…”
Ugh… you scared me to death!!
This was the first time in her life that Livra had spoken under such immense pressure. Thankfully, she had resolved a personal issue beforehand; otherwise, the ground beneath her wouldn’t be so dry.
When a person reaches their limit, they can often remain calm.
Though Livra’s heart was pounding loudly with anxiety, her mind was clearer than ever.
“I understand… Princess Xue Feiya does not want others to know about this, but… I didn’t bring anyone with me today; it’s just the two of us here, I can guarantee! Your Highness has six wings; you can definitely sense it, outside the door, there are only Lord Xialet and Miss Shaya, with no one else!”
“How… did you deduce that? Are you just guessing?”
“Princess Xue Feiya… does that count as an admission?”
“I’m asking you questions, not the other way around.”
“Gee!”
Sure enough, that gaze is still terrifying!
But at this point in the conversation, Livra felt a surge of courage.
She gently lifted her beautiful eyes, the dark circles under her eyes from an all-nighter particularly prominent under the firelight.
“Last night, I utilized royal privileges to access almost all the detailed records of warfare progress from the royal city’s archives over the years. Just as I thought… the kingdom’s historians record Princess Xue Feiya as rather vicious, even claiming you brutally punish the surrendering troops, are bloodthirsty, and are innocent of no crimes. But the more they write this way… the more unrealistic it seems.”
Livra hadn’t been on the battlefield, and that was true.
But she had seen many people in the palace.
Climbing over the towering walls of the royal city, she also witnessed various aspects of life among the common people and the good and evil of humanity.
People have two sides.
If Livra were to believe that there was absolute evil in this world, she could only shake her head, saying such an idea was absurd.
Without evil, how can there be good?
Without light, how can there be shadow?
Historians wrote thusly due to their perspective, and they certainly had to discredit the enemy commander to incite anger among the citizens, which would boost morale.
Livra slightly tilted her head, gazing at the stone ceiling illuminated by the cage of flames.
Surely, up there, the sunlight must be radiant.
“I don’t believe that Princess Xue Feiya is as terrible as they record… but it was thanks to the historians’ writings that I realized I had also fallen into the stereotype of hatred, always believing what they say and write, completely disregarding the facts. Or perhaps… I never truly thought about other possibilities.”
Livra paused briefly, not knowing when she had gained enough courage to confront Xue Feiya directly, and continued.
“Following this line of thought, I searched for records of the wars led by Princess Xue Feiya, and in those records, the casualty figures for both sides were exceedingly exaggerated… some of them have even reported casualties greater than the size of the army itself! At first glance, it is clearly an exaggeration!”
“I thought about it; the only thing that cannot be fabricated is the army’s composition—the remaining number of troops and their equipment must be transparent to the royal family after each battle, and there can’t be any deception or concealment.”
“So, I asked my father for another volume of army composition records. I returned to my chamber and compared the timelines recorded by the historians with the consumption of the army’s structure.”
“As a result, I discovered a particularly astonishing phenomenon.”
Xue Feiya’s eyes widened slightly.
At this point, she had mostly guessed what Livra was about to say.
But she was still shocked…
Because after all these years, no one had ever thought to compare the authenticity of these data.
After all, what everyone sees in war is hatred, sees death, but does not see survival, nor the truth behind the fog.
A flicker of relief, as well as gratitude, shone in Livra’s eyes.
That was gratitude on behalf of the kingdom’s soldiers and every surviving family.
“I found out… as long as Princess Xue Feiya participated in a battle, the casualties on both sides are almost always significantly lower than in other battles. Isn’t that strange? Clearly, you are the strongest force of the Demon King’s army capable of triggering calamity just by moving your hand, the very existence that should cause devastating casualties, yet it always ends with ‘the soldiers witnessing the calamity thus never daring to return to the battlefield.’ If it’s once or twice, I can accept it as the army having good luck and lower casualties. But if there are a full dozen or even dozens of such battles, Princess Xue Feiya… don’t you think that’s strange?”
“……”
The world says you are evil.
Yet I see a trace of tenderness in the lines.
If such a sad misunderstanding exists in this world… that would be the true nightmare.
“Princess Xue Feiya… even though you bear the blame, you choose to pause the war in such a self-sacrificial way; perhaps your confinement here is also intentional, right? Just to become the weight that suppresses the flames of war; such sacrifice has never existed throughout history.”
“Though I am very weak, I understand that gentle yet powerful people should not be treated maliciously by the world.”
“Princess Xue Feiya… I know it sounds arrogant and self-important when I say this, but if we join forces, there’s even the slightest possibility that we can make our country better, that the people can live in peace, and you won’t have to endure shame and burden in such a dark place.”
“If there truly is such an opportunity… would you be willing to step out of this cage and try it together with me?”
This time, it was finally Livra’s turn to ask Xue Feiya.
And this question pierced through time, crossing the battlefields alive with the sound of hooves.
Livra seemed to step slowly to the front of the Demon King’s army.
Approaching the one standing at the head of thousands of troops, fierce in demeanor yet gentle in heart, who racked her brains trying to allow more survivors—the Calamity Witch.
The emerald princess bowed and smiled gently, softly saying.
It’s already enough.
Thank you, proud yet gentle Princess.
