730
Bang!
Benson and Melissa ran back to their home in the Hillston District and shut the door tightly.
Melissa leaned against the door, supporting herself on the shoe cabinet in the entryway as she slowly changed her shoes, still somewhat shaken. "Did you hear that? The shells and the thunder? His Majesty the King-the Emperor was actually assassinated during his speech!"
"There were guards all around the platform. I saw the traces, Benson. Is there going to be another war?"
Bombing, casualties-Melissa could not control her trembling.
Those two things reminded her of the sudden bombing of Loen by the Feysac airship fleet a few months ago, and the entire morning she had spent in a shelter. They had finally enjoyed two months of peace afterward, but now the Emperor was dead. Was war about to begin again?
"Mrs. Daniel's eldest son, Larry, was confirmed killed on the front lines in the Amanda Mountains. The news came just last week..."
"That tall, shy young man who was so thoughtful, kind, and sincere? The last time he came back, he said he'd been promoted in the army and become a junior officer..." Benson recalled Larry's appearance without much effort.
He went over and gently hugged Melissa, patting her back to soothe his sister.
"I remember seeing Mrs. Daniel this morning, too. If Larry could have held on for just a few more days, he would have made it until the Feysac Empire announced the ceasefire and withdrew from the Amanda Mountains border. He might have been able to return to his family..."
Melissa nodded.
"I can't imagine Larry dying just like that, either..."
Just as she could not imagine that bombing coming so suddenly, bringing death within arm's reach in an instant, leaving her schoolmates dead and wounded in the