"This is not about Runera or the world, Arthur. This is about making the right choices for those who believe in you. You want to send thousands of n to their graves for a woman they know nothing about?"
"Where is this coming from, after all this ti?" asked Arthur with his eyes emotionless. Julia was silent before she shook her head.
"I wished that Runera would surrender, but they were foolish enough. I hoped the people would stand on your side, but they were deceived. I cannot help but feel uneasy that sothing bad will happen."
"And based on that feeling, you ca here to portray as the villain," said Arthur with a smile as he folded his arms. "I might not be as rciful as I have once been or as kind, but I have forced no one to follow ."
"That doesn't an that it's alright to lead them to their deaths," said Julia with a shake of her head. "We are a few days away from Runera, and after this battle, the world will never look at you the sa."
"You still believe that I care what the world thinks of ?" asked Arthur as he lowered his hands and walked forward to stand before the woman. His face was stained with blood, making her step back in fear. This made him halt his steps and look at her with surprise. "The people are not the only ones to fear ."
"I…" she stuttered before forming a sentence as if fear seized her heart. "I'm not afraid, just worried about you. Alan told how he found you the night before we left Ilios."
"You afraid I would lose control and the world would see for who I am: a wrathful monster," said Arthur as he raised his hand to his face and removed the bloodstain before looking at his bloodied finger. "Is this what you fear?"
"You have to admit that you are not in control of whatever that thing is," said Julia as she reached out toward him, and Arthur caught her hand shaking. He slapped her hand away, making her flinch away in fear.
"Don't treat like so animal, Julia. I am not a monster that needs to be tad or put on a leash. If the world sees lose control, then so be it. I don't need the world to like to achieve what I want."
"…and what is it that you want?" asked Julia as she retracted her hand and pressed her lips together.
"I want the world to give back what is mine, for starters," said Arthur with the sa expressionless eyes. "Runera was left for , and you know it. The mont that Ai called Seika, you should have realized it too."
"And you are fine with n dying for you to retrieve what you lost?" asked Julia with a sigh and a shake of her head. "This makes you the sa as the rulers."
"…have you lost your mind?" asked Arthur with genuine surprise. "Runera has placed sanctions on Ilios ever since the incident in Kera. Even if I had not started this war, Ilios would have struggled. Not to ntion, those snotty envoys from Runera wanted to take away our support of Ilios. I have a million reasons to fight, and so does every Iliosian joining ."
Julia was silent, and Arthur realized that sothing was wrong indeed. Her change in beliefs and deanor was too much for it to be a natural realization, so Arthur expected that sothing had happened.
"Julia, what happened?" asked Arthur with a softer tone as she saw her silent. "Has sothing happened that made you want to end this war? Is there sothing that you are not telling ?"
"I said my reasons," said Julia with a shake of her head before her expression hardened. "I will follow you until the end, Arthur. Even if everyone hates you and calls you a war criminal, I will follow you."
After that, Julia excused herself and left. Arthur was standing in confusion before he called for the goblins to transport the corpses to the refinent rooms. Then, he went looking for Julia but was unable to find her.
"Is there sothing wrong?" asked Suyin when she saw Arthur enter the lab, where she and Maryam were testing the Living Artifact. Arthur looked around for Julia, but he could not find her.
"Have you seen Julia?" asked Arthur with a frown. "Ever since we entered the Blank Lands, my perception has been off. I cannot seem to focus on a single presence."
"Lady Julia never ca here, but I saw her earlier when I went for a snack," said Maryam as she removed her goggles. "I heard her whisper so things while reading a letter. Before I could ask her about what was wrong, she stord out."
"Then, she ca to see ," said Arthur with a frown. "I need to find her. I have a bad feeling about this."
"Let help you," said Suyin as she rose from the workbench. She seed tired since she had been working with Maryam nonstop to evolve and study the Living Artifact. "I can find her using soul-trace."
"I hate to burden you further, but please," muttered Arthur with a nod. Suyin smiled, did not say anything, and grabbed her robes to throw them over her shoulders. Then, the two left the lab. "I cannot sense her presence for so reason. It might be due to the Blank Lands."
"I can trace her as long as I have her everyday items or whatever hold remains of spiritual energy. We should visit her room."
Arthur led the young woman to Julia's room, where she used her clothes to obtain a sliver of spiritual energy. Then, she used it to trace Julia down, but she was silent for a long ti.
"Is there sothing wrong?"
"I… cannot sense her presence inside the Runic Do. It shouldn't be because of Blank Lands, but the fact that Julia has left," said Little Yin as she opened her eyes. "Do you want to sense her general direction?"
Arthur nodded with a frown. His worries started growing bigger since she disappeared straight after talking to him. It ant that Julia did not have ti to return to her room before leaving the Runic Do.
After a while, Little Yin managed to sense her general direction. It was northwest of their current location, which was how their army marched.
"Northwest is the direction of Runera," muttered Arthur with realization before his frown deepened. "Is it possible that she teleported there using our arrays?"
"Why would she go to Runera now?" asked Little Yin with furrowed brows. "Is there a way to know who teleported using the arrays?"
Arthur did not answer but followed her suggestion and pulled the log of recent teleportation from the Runic Do. He found the most recent one with coordinates that pointed to Runera. This confirms it.
"She teleported to Runera using the Runic Do," muttered Arthur before he pulled the coordinates and tried to teleport there, but he could not create a portal to the destination. The space has been locked. "If she could teleport using our arrays, then soone in Runera turned them off for her to teleport and then turned them back on to lock space."
"Does that an… Sister Julia has…." Little Yin covered her mouth with surprise and did not finish her words, but Arthur did not believe Julia would betray him. Her last words were that she would follow him until the end.
"You should go and have so rest," said Arthur, patting her head with a smile. "I troubled you for long enough with my needs. Take the rest of the day off, and don't return to the lab."
Little Yin nodded without any objections, and Arthur wondered if she would punch him if he said she looked like a little sister. Then, he watched her leave, and his expression crumbled. The matter with Julia was a great shock to him.
Arthur needed to analyze her behavior before she teleported to Runera. She ca to him suddenly and wanted him to end the war, seek peace with Runera, and pay them a price to enter the ruins. Then, when he refused, she said she would follow him until the end and teleported to Runera.
It does not look like she betrayed him.
If so, then sothing terrible has happened. Julia had reasons to leave them and enter the enemy grounds, and if it were sothing like turning off the arrays, she would have told him.
Only one explanation could fit the situation: Julia was being threatened by Runera. Their first demand might have been to influence Arthur into ending the war, but she knew that was impossible, yet she tried anyway. However, she did not tell him about the threats, and that ant Runera had a hold on sothing dear to her.
Julius Vinera.
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