Two days had gone by since our conquest of Fort Zaraban and by now, word reached me through one of Isis's spies that the Empire was already on the move. They're fast! I thought to myself, but it made sense when you really thought about it. They had to be fast if they wanted smooth communication between their territories and to maintain control across their vast Empire. I had repurposed the War Room into my office, and I would be having an appointment with a young apprentice of mine that day.

  "C-Commander— er, sorry. Teacher, why did you call for me?" Arnaud asked as soon as he entered the room.

  "Sit," I motioned for him to sit right next to me, and he obliged, sensing a different sort of atmosphere.

  "Um—"

  "I wanted to have this talk with you as soon as possible, but between handling the prisoners, dealing with remnants of the resistance, and distributing items, among other tasks, I haven't had much time," I began. It sure has been a heck of a lot of work, I thought to myself as I continued, asking, "You already know what this is going to be about, right?"

  "Y-yes," He answered, averting his gaze and lowering his head.

  "Don't ever try to pull a stunt like that again, Arnaud. I get that you feel guilt over your past mistakes, but—"

  "What would you know?!" He suddenly fred up at me in a rare moment of raw emotion. Until now, he had been overly polite, keeping me at a distance, so I was gd to see his real emotions starting to come through. We're making some progress! I thought to myself excitedly, but just then, he started to backpedal. "Um, I mean, I'm—"

  "No, please, abuse me more!" Shit, that came out wrong... "Erm, I meant to say, I'd rather have you insult me to my face than watch you hide behind that overly polite mask," I quickly corrected myself, but the silence that ensued only made everything seem more awkward. Is it just me or is the weather really hot today? I thought to myself as I wiped off the sweat from my forehead, but he simply lowered his head once more and grumbled,

  "You don't know what it's like, Teacher. None have died under your watch, and your pns never go awry. You work miracle after miracle, and you make it seem so easy. On the other hand, I just... hate myself for making that mistake." He broke down and started weeping, and in all my years, I'd never seen a man cry like Arnaud. It was simply... heart-wrenching to watch, so I arose from my seat and hugged him as he poured everything out to me,

  "You don't understand! They were counting on me!" It was a cry from the soul. "I remember their smiles that night! I remember the trust my Commander pced in me! Why— Why was I spared?!" He looked at me with pleading eyes to give him the answer he so wanted to hear.

  "Because he asked me to spare you. He believed in your potential, Arnaud, your true worth," I expined.

  "My... potential?" He asked.

  "'I know... he has what it takes... to become a great General,' were his st words." It came as a great shock to him, so he sat there speechless, almost in disbelief at what he had heard. "He believed in your future, Arnaud, and I believe in it, too. Even if it were to take ten years, I'd still invest that time in teaching you, so... please don't throw away your life like that."

  "I-I-I," He couldn't find his words for a moment. "Thank you... for telling me this," He said as he got up from his seat, almost staggering his way out of the room. As I watched him leave, I could only think, He's right. I don't understand what he's going through. I shouldn't have talked like I did. It was the one thing in our interaction that I regretted the most. I hope he'll be able to personally sort this out and forgive himself for his mistakes, I thought to myself as I sat at my desk that day, worrying about my apprentice.