397 The Declaration (part 2)

The screen once again showed Aron and he cleared his throat, then calmly continued going through every event that escalated the tensions one by one, each of them bringing the entire world closer to the brink of the war between Eden and the rest of the world.

“You should have realized by now, but I will say it in plain speech. Neither I, nor Eden, nor Esparia, had anything at all to do with any attacks. We have been acting in self-defense and good faith ever since the beginning. The only mistake I made was in taking the first step back.... I should’ve known that when I would take one step back, my enemies would only take two steps forward against me. So I kept stepping back, standing down, and deescalating the entire time until I had to draw a line and say ‘this far, and no further!’

“This far, I will retreat, but I will retreat no more. I drew that line, and this was the result.”

The screen switched and showed Aron’s speech that began the Edenian defense and eventual offensive.