A little after six, before darkness had fully fallen, the Army Minister was already seated at the dining table, waiting for the meal to begin.
Gefra people ate at roughly the same time as the Federation people, around seven. It was only a little past six, yet the Army Minister had already ordered the butler to call all the children over. This was somewhat unexpected.
The dining table was long and narrow. He sat in the independent seat at the far eastern end, while his wife sat nearly ten meters away, "opposite" him.
Seated on either side were his three children, along with several other people.
The older family members looked fairly normal, but some of the younger ones seemed unhappy.
It was not because dinner had been moved earlier, but because they did not like sitting with the Army Minister.
The Army Minister's youngest and favorite grandson sat to his left, near his wife. Seeing the little boy pouting unhappily, the Army Minister rarely took the initiative to ask him a question.
"Is someone bullying you?"
He looked at his grandson, but the little boy merely snorted and turned his face away, looking elsewhere.
Some family members on either side of the table wore smiles, some kept their eyes lowered, and others were expressionless.
The smile on the Army Minister's face faded slightly. "Why don't you tell me what made you so angry?"
"Maybe I can help you solve it?"
The little boy turned back and looked at him for a while before shouting, "They all say I'm the child of a traitor, and none of them want to play with me!"
Although Gefra had now fallen, that did not mean everyone no longer needed to work or attend school.
The factories were still operating, and the schools were