第七章（174字）

Chapter Seven: Defeat and Resolve

That defeat did not end Scotland’s war.

What it left behind were deeper wounds.

On the battlefield, many soldiers fell and never rose again.

Those who survived returned home, exhausted and wounded.

The villages were filled with sounds of mourning.

William witnessed the cost of defeat with his own eyes.

Every face that had lost a loved one left him silent.

He felt guilty for leading them onto this path.

Some began to quietly question his decisions.

They wondered whether resistance truly mattered.

Others quietly left the camp at night.

William did not stop them.

He understood that fear cannot be forced away.

Facing those who stayed, William did not defend himself.

He openly admitted that war would never be easy.

He told them that freedom is never free.

The English army remained powerful and ruthless.

And the betrayal of the nobles had not ended.

Yet in the eyes of ordinary people, William still stood.

Not because he had never failed, but because after failure, he chose to endure.