The seaside cliff had never held so many people. From humble villagers to armored castle guards, the kingdom had gathered as one, drawn to the edge of the world. Arashi stood among them, with Emi and Lily beside him, the wind tugging at their clothes as the sea roared below. The villagers who had fallen during the monsters rampage were buried along the cliff.
It was already afternoon. It had Literally taken them half a day to bury the people who had died-a sign of just how many lives were lost.
It was afternoon but the time was close to sunset. The sun will go down after some few minutes. But everyone made a huge mistake. They all gathered together in one place for the funeral.
The real danger was clear—if the monsters attacked again, countless lives would be lost. Yet even knowing this, the people had gathered, drawn together by grief and loyalty, to pay their respects to family and friends.
Their affection for one another was so strong that it couldn't be broken by the fear of monsters.
Arashi, Emi, Lily, and Loid stood before the graves, the wind brushing past them. Behind their backs, the kingdom remained still, united in grief, as if the entire world had paused to mourn.
In the crowd, people stood close to one another. Some couples didn't speak at all, only staying side by side, afraid that even a small distance might took someone away. Parents kept their children near, their hands resting on small shoulders, not thinking about the dead... only relieved that the ones beside them were still breathing.
Arashi was so desperate about the situation , also Emi. They had never seen this much graves before in their life, but Emi might had seen this kind of situation when Dreadclaw attacked her village and killed her mother.
There was a lot going on in Arashi's mind.
'That man... what's his purpose? Why did he killed so many people by using monsters? Is this revenge against Lily's father?'
He paused for a moment.
'No... if it was revenge, he would have killed her father when they met. Instead, he took him away. So, what's he planning? Will he attack again? If he does... what will happen to these people?'
He looked worried as those thoughts filled his mind. Lily noticed that Arashi had spaced out, lost in something troubling, so she called him out.
"Arashi! Arashi! Are you okay?"
Arashi came back to his senses, blinking a few times and shaking his head slightly.
Then, he looked at Lily.
Lily asked with a face which shows she understood what Arashi was feeling inside.
"Are you feeling well?"
"Yeah... but I'm worrying about something. What if the monsters attack here again? What will you do? From what I heard, they were very high in number. How will you manage to defeat so many of them?"
Lily completely understood what Arashi meant and what he was feeling inside, but even she didn't have an answer to that question.
"I don't know. They just appeared out of nowhere and destroyed the village. But for some reason, they backed away. If they had been there even for one more minute, they might have entered the kingdom. If that had happened, I can't even imagine what might've happened then."
Both of them were talking in whispers. They were side by side, making it easy for them while keeping their words out of others ears.
Arashi asked Lily curiously, both of them still looking at each other.
"From what I've seen, you're not someone who would ever force or torture your people..."
Lily looked slightly confused. She didn't understand why Arashi would suddenly say something like that.
Arashi continued what he was saying,
"But I was curious about one thing. Why is there even a village in this kingdom? Everyone seems to live together so peacefully, helping each other without treating anyone differently. Couldn't you all have lived together inside the kingdom instead?"
He said that with a hint of suspicion. But he wasn't suspicious of Lily—he fully trusted her. His suspicion directed at someone else, someone responsible for this.
"Then... why do some of you live in the kingdom while others stayed in the village?"
Hearing Arashi's question, Lily's chest tightened with unease, wanted to say something but couldn't.
Arashi noticed her discomfort after the question and immediately started regretting it.
'Ughhh... why did I even ask that question... Now she's truggling inside. Who told you to be curious and ask something like that, you fool...'
A man, few steps away, had been listening to their conversation but stayed silent at first. After hearing the question and seeing the princess struggle, he could no longer hold back. He let out what he wanted to say.
"It's all the world government's fault!"
The sudden break of silence shocked everyone, including Arashi and Lily. One by one, all eyes turned toward the man.
He was standing there, covered in bruises and bandages, barely able to remain on his feet. The pain from the monsters still gripping his body.
He stood close to his family. Beside him, his wife held their few-months-old baby in her arms. They were completely unharmed.
And that alone showed how far the man had gone to protect them.
"Because of them, we are suffering like this. They only care about money. For money, they turned this kingdom into hell. After the king was kidnapped by that man, they brought disaster upon this land."
He was trying hard to hold back his tears, but they betrayed him.
"The ones who gave them huge amount of money... they were the ones who were allowed to live. And the others-"
"They... they..."
His body refused to let him say anything more.
"They didn't torture us or do anything like that. They just dropped us out of the kingdom and left us on this empty land. If the princess hadn't help us-helped us build our homes... helped us with the necessities..."
His body refused to let him continue. He lowered his head, his lips pressed tightly together, and added in a broken voice,
"We... we might have-"
He couldn't say anything more. His legs gave out, and he began to fall, but a man beside caught him.
He was injured. He needed rest. But he had been standing for so long, and the weight of grief drained the last of his strength.
After him, everyone began to let out their sadness and anger. They finally spoke what they had been holding inside for so long.
An old man spoke about the hardships they had lived through.
His voice cracked halfway, the pain he had held back finally started to slip from his mouth.
"Yes... it's all their fault. If they hadn't forced me and others to live here, maybe others wouldn't have died. Maybe they could've survived somehow-if they were still in the kingdom. The guards could have protected them."
From the middle of the crowd, a young girl holding a newborn baby in her arms, tried to speak, but the words came out trembling, almost like a cry.
"Just look at this baby. He lost his mother today. The way those monsters killed her right infront of him..."
She paused, then added,
"He saw his mother die with his own eyes."
Tears started to fall from her eyes, but she didn't scream or cry out loud like the old man. She held her pain and sadness to herself. She had witnessed how the newborn baby's mother was devoured by those monsters, and she just couldn't escape that trauma.
Not only her—everyone in the kingdom, especially the villagers, carried the same wound. They knew this disaster, this trauma, would never be forgotten.
Soon, everyone started blaming the world government, because they were the reason their loved ones had died.
Seeing people finally letting out their fear, anger, and suffering, Arashi, Lily, and Emi just stood there. They didn't move an inch.
Shocked, they had no words to say. Watching so many people cry, they held back their own tears, chests heavy with emotion.
They didn't know what to do.
So they stood there in silence.
The question Arashi asked was simple but the pain and struggle behind it were far from simple.
After everyone was evacuated from the seaside cliff by the guards, Arashi, Lily and Emi also started walking back toward the kingdom.
On the way, two of Lily's friend came to see her. They were worried about her. She was a princess, and they knew she was suffering at that moment.
She had already suffered so much in her life—her father had been kidnapped by a mysterious man, her mother had left the kingdom for unknown reasons, deadly monsters had attacked the village, and during the funeral her people had poured out all their struggles.
Her friends understood all of this. That was why they came to meet her after the funeral.
Both of her friends' faces were filled with worry. One of them spoke first.
"Lily… are you okay? So many things happened in such a short time. We were really worried about you."
Lily replied calmly, trying to reassure them.
"I'm alright. Everything is okay."
The other friend spoke next, her tone still carrying worry, but also curiosity.
"I'm relieved to hear that. But… who are they beside you? Haven't seen them before."
Lily began to introduce Arashi and Emi to her friends.
"This is Arashi..."
Arashi gave a small, polite wave.
"And this is Emi."
Emi simply nodded and offered a soft smile.
Lily continued,
"They were just passing by, but their boat was destroyed somehow. Because of that, they have to live here for a few days."
One of her friends spoke, placing a hand on her chest.
"Oh, welcome. I'm Emily."
The other friend revealed her name.
"Cartethiya."
Emily bowed her head slightly, voice soft but firm.
"Sorry we couldn't greet you properly. As you can see, the situation isn't good right now."
Arashi gave a small, dismissive gesture, as if brushing the apology aside.
"No, it's okay. We understand the situation. There's no need to apologize."
Emi nodded in agreement.
Then, at that moment, a voice reached them.
"Living here for a few days?!"
The voice belonged to that girl who always bragged about her parents in front of Lily.
"Don't make me laugh."
She added mockingly,
"Do you want to get them killed too?"
Her face twisted in clear annoyance as she continued,
"Because of you, the villagers died. Oops—why am I even worrying about them? They're just filthy pieces of trash."
Those words triggered Arashi and Emi. But they didn't lash out. They didn't know her, and it wasn't their place to step in. They understood that much.
Emily stepped forward, her voice low but steady.
"Roselia, stop. It's not the time to act like that."
Cartethiya fidgeted with her fingers before speaking, voice soft and hesitant.
"Please, Roselia… stop."
But Roselia didn't pay them any attention.
"Now, Lily, do you understand who the main reasons for these incidents are?" she said.
"You and your family."
She added,
"It would've been better if my family and I were the rulers of this kingdom. Beings like you could never rule. Even if it means killing you to take the throne, I would do it without any hesitation."
Emily's anger flared.
"That's enough! Don't you have any shame saying this? How low can you go?"
Cartethiya agreed,
"Aren't you two friends? Why do you always talk to her like that? You weren't like this before."
Roselia replied, as if the word "friend" disgusted her when it came to Lily.
"Friends?"
She added with a bitter laugh,
"We cut ties long ago."
Both Cartethiya and Emily were shocked, and a word came out of them immediately.
"What!?"