"Big Sister Gwen, are we really leaving this place?"
Watching the Resistance Army soldiers bustling back and forth as they packed up their gear, Grisha spoke softly.
"Yes, Grisha. We're going to Castel. Once we get there, there won't be any more war. Everyone will have enough to eat, and children like you will be able to go to school."
"Really? But we came all the way from White Crow to the Northern Territory, and it doesn't seem any different. Everyone has such a hard time surviving, and even the lords are just as bad. Will Castel be different?"
Gwen pursed her lips. She wanted to offer Grisha a few words of comfort, but looking into the boy's clear eyes, she did not know how to begin.
Would Castel truly be that wonderful?
Would it become another Northern Territory, filled with endless oppression, wars that could never be finished, and resistance that would go on forever and ever?
Gwen did not know.
After thinking for a while, she crouched down and met the boy's gaze.
"Grisha, I don't know what Castel is like either. I've never been there myself."
"But I have many friends, and they all say Castel is a wonderful place—our true home. Nora, Isaac, Jeremiah, Ken. I trust them. I'm willing to trust my friends, just as you're willing to trust me."
She gently stroked the boy's head, her eyes full of longing. "I want to go to Castel too. I heard it's already very close, and we'll arrive soon. I really want to see it."
"Big Sister Gwen, let's go to Castel together!"
"Alright, together!"
Gwen laughed, and Grisha grinned as well, happiness rising from the depths of his heart.
In the darkness, looking up at hope that seemed within reach—this was the happiest moment of