Lord Karr collapsed, his hands on the floor as he shook his head. “I… I didn’t have a choice…”

“Didn’t have a choice?” I asked. “And the fairies did?”

Karr shook his head in aggravation. “It wasn’t like that! Astria… I did what I had to do.”

“What did you do?”

“Don’t you get it?” Karr said, his hand closing into a fist. “We had been stealing and freeing slaves for years. The Slavers were about to go to war. They were vying for permission from Aberis to sack Chalm and throw everyone we freed back in chains. Dioshin wouldn’t take any of the former slaves. If it came to a war, thousands would die, and everyone we saved would be right back where they started.

“But… the faeries… they’re just drones. They are used to being controlled, and they don’t have much of a mind. That’s why… that’s why I made the deal…” Karr lowered his head. “It was between a war of 1000s… or fifty fairies. House fairies were very popular then, and the slavers agreed that if I helped them sack the colony, they’d sign a non-aggression pact. I agreed not to take any more slaves, and they agreed to leave Chalm peacefully with the profits from the fairies.”

“You destroyed my family!” Astria cried out, “You sold them like cattle!”

“I saved them!” Karr’s eyes shot up. “I saved them from you!”

Astria backed up a step. “You… liar!”

“Don’t you remember?” Karr shook his head. “Were you so infatuated with me, even then?”

Astria reached up and grabbed her head, confused. “Remember… what do… what do you mean?”

“You kept showering me with presents. At first, I was just young, and I took your gifts for granted over the years, but every time I came back, you kept wanting to give me more and more. You wouldn’t let me refuse, so… I convinced myself it was the right thing.”

“Convenient.” I snorted.

“And so, you’d have let innocent people die!” Karr shot me a glare. “If someone offered you life-saving medicine, would you refuse to take it!”

“And the fact it lined your pockets with gold I’m sure had nothing to do with it.” I narrowed my eyes.

He sighed. “I won’t say that the desire for more money didn’t play a part, but it was only because a country is difficult to build, and this land lacks valuable resources for me to create a free nation. I don’t deny it. I turned a blind eye to the dark side of Astria’s goodwill. I wanted to believe that she had everything under control. However, the person who destroyed that fairy spring was Astria herself!”

Astria lowered her head, her eyes starting to fill with tears. “I wanted… I wanted you to stay. However, you always left. I thought… if I just gave you enough, you wouldn’t leave me again.”

“I couldn’t live that life with you… I told you that many times.” Karr explained hesitantly. “But when I returned to see the spring dried, your fairies half-dead and starving, and you still trying to push gifts on to me. I knew it had to end. Those house fairies, they found homes where they are cared for. They may be slaves, but they were slaves with access to food and mana. And for you… I accepted you into my home. With you no longer clinging to the spring, you can finally have what you wanted too.”

I was starting to realize the truth of things here. It wasn’t all anyone’s fault. At best, Karr was guilty of being a bit of a gold digger, using her affection for him to gain more stuff. In the end, his plans didn’t quite work out, and he did what he thought would work for everyone. There was only one thing about this story that still bugged me.

“What about these other girls? How can you call yourself some anti-slave philanthropist when you created a slave harem?”