"W-Why?!" Emily blurted out, confused. Ethan didn't answer right away, which only made her more anxious.
Clearly, she hadn't grasped the deeper meaning behind the conversation between Ethan and Nathaniel. Why was it possible before, but not now?
"You…" Ethan gave a helpless smile. "The White Bear Tsar of the Russian Empire? He's a minor issue. If I wanted to take him out, it'd be a piece of cake. But the thing is, doing that doesn't really mean much for the Free Federation right now. Take him down, and someone else will just take his place. Enemies are endless…"
"So what, you're saying you'll just come running every time we need help?!"
"I helped them once, twice—sure, that was me being generous, in a good mood. But I'm not obligated to keep bailing them out. You get that, right?"
"I kinda get it… but not really…" Emily rubbed her temples, clearly struggling to keep up.
"The biggest threat to the Free Federation right now… is internal."
