"What is happening now, brother?"
Vita drank her soup as she asked Lu. She woke up and was dragged outside, she could not understand anything aside from the situation being dire.
On the other hand, she was pleasantly surprised when she tasted Lu's cooking.
The light and soft texture of the soup was perfect for her stomach as she had not consumed any food for a whole month.
Her frail body had already shown signs of worsening due to her long coma, her arms and legs were shaking slightly with her movements, and her face appeared clearly thinner.
Lu sighed internally before starting to inform Vita about what happened while she was 'asleep'.
"And just like that, Dad almost went bonker. The whole forest seemed to be anticipating a war."
"Umm…"
Vita fell silent, unable to decide what she was going to say to Lu. She herself was now confused about her next step, how can she decide the lives of many?
As if sensing her thoughts, Lu shrugged and patted her back, "You don't have to care about them really, it's not a child's responsibility to handle the damned adults' politics affairs."
"But me will be the reason so many innocent people die, no?"
Although his words comforted her, Vita was not going to take anyone's words for granted anymore. She would think for herself and make her own decisions.
"Genuinely speaking, you aren't the only person who this war depends on."
Lu simply shrugged again, then explained, "The political warfare had been silent, but that was it."
"Me don't get it."
"Look here, Vita." Lu smiled and stood up to grab a few papers, then he handed them to Vita and started explaining again.
"What had been happening was a Cold War."
Lu started to seriously explain everything for Vita, who was now able to think clearly instead of the previous Vita who would stupidly nod her head and take everything for granted.
Although he was not sure how much she had figured out, he knew that she was at least ready to learn the world.
He had waited enough, the time was running out.
"The forest had three main villages, the Rami Village, Persim Village, and the Nitomi Village."
These three villages were always at odds, the war, the blood, and the grudges between them could never be forgotten.
It gathered and gathered until it became a huge mountain that no one could bypass.
One day, the son of the Persim Village's Chief had attacked the daughter of the Nitomi Village's Chief.
Upon that event, the two villages almost jumped at each other's throats, but the Rami Village's Chief had intervened.
"Papa did?"
Vita, who was listening attentively, could not stop herself from questioning that point.
Would her papa really care about strangers while they were already at odds? It felt weird, Knowing her papa's true face now.
Lu nodded, satisfied with how Vita reacted as that meant she was not an idiot who could not recognize such a weird thing.
'Good, my prediction wasn't wrong. She was just naive and blind, not a dumbo at least.'
That made Lu utterly grateful, and he started to explain more about what happened before.
"Yes, Dad indeed took the first step to stop that inevitable war, which proved to be effective, thanks to you."
"Ah…"
Vita let out a small sigh with a forced smile, she understood what her brother meant.
It must be the time she has arrived at the village and helped it to grow and flourish. No wonder her papa was so pleased with her and joyfully indulged her in whatever she wanted at that time.
"As the Rami Village wasn't a pushover anymore, both villages felt a sense of fear and decided to retreat temporarily. However, no one had expected the Rami Village to prosper as fast as it did."
They were wary at first, but then, fear had paralyzed them while thinking about the outcome of engaging in any conflicts with the strong village.
The rumors about the Rami Village being chosen by the so-called Tree of Life made them drown in their helplessness.
Since that day, the three villages became friendly on the surface, while each was plotting the other's demise.
"So, can you understand why I called it a Cold War that was bound to resurface one day?"
"Mhmm."
After Lu was done with his explanation, he asked Vita and received a soft, meek nod in response.
He did not comment any further, took the dishes and went to wash them, just telling Vita to rest more for now, "Alright, drink some water and rest, don't get sick right after waking up."
Vita hummed more before falling back to the bed and sighing. She felt exhausted from the world and wished she could simply sleep through it again.
'Sleeping through the difficulty, it's so peaceful…'
Her mind drifted to that thought, and it went deeper and deeper, 'I just wanted to enjoy my life while helping my family… Why did I need to know about this all?'
Maybe it was tiredness, or maybe she had just regretted it, but Vita felt more and more resentful about knowing the truth.
"Maybe… I am just enjoying being hypnotized…"
Words she thought she would not utter came from her lips, making Lu flinch as he fought the urge to respond.
'Nah, you just want to live comfortably. I get you, but I'm not letting you go down with these bastards.'
He would not let her burn together with this village, almost everything was ready, and only her decision was left.
His sister was unaware of what he was thinking, so she hid herself under the covers, as if trying to silence her thoughts.
However, whether you were an adult or a child, hiding under the covers was never enough to stop the invading thoughts.
'But, what is the point of living like that? Isn't that proving… How weak and stupid I was?'
As that thought hit her, Vita froze, two voices overlapped in her head, causing her to hold her head and groan in pain.
'A stupid girl…'