Sergeant Lionel Greaves, once a proud Royal Guard, sat on a wooden crate, his fingers trembling as he gripped a rationed loaf of bread.Across from him, Corporal Darius, a former conscripted soldier, ran a hand down his weary face."It’s over," Lionel whispered."Aeternum could have killed us all," Darius muttered, shaking his head."But they didn’t."The prisoners of war had been spared execution, sentenced instead to rebuilding their city—a fate far kinder than what their own noble lords would have given them.A young Alemia soldier, no older than twenty, wiped at his eyes with his sleeve."I thought… I thought we were all going to die," he confessed, his voice cracking."Aeternum doesn’t execute needlessly," Lionel murmured. "They don’t rule like our nobles did. They actually care about law and order."A heavy silence fell over the men. For the first time, they were grateful to be under Aeternum rule.While Alemia's people wept in relief, Aeternum itself erupted in celebration. Fro
Last Updated : 2025-02-10 Read more