[That's a lot more than Estinien was expecting to receive, though he's not yet sure if it feels better or worse to have heard it. It does clear up one things, though: Nero is employing the same weary nihilism that he finds himself so tired with. He sees no wisdom in it, only weakness.]

I think they're half-veiled because you didn't actually say what you were intending to do about any of it - only letting me know that you'd be somehow unhappy with my conduct. A threat with only an implied consequence. Mayhap you're not as clear as you think you've been.

[As for the rest - Estinien takes a drink before continuing.]

You're the one that decided I wanted to kill you, and also that my sense of self would be somehow so fragile I'd need to fabricate a way to sleep at night. My lance has felled far too many beings for that to be what breaks my heart.

Truly, I think this tired nihilism of yours is its own cowardly balm. To declare that nothing is worth fighting for because everything is equally broken in the end: a convenient escape from trying to do better, from trying to make peace and happiness last while it can. Victories will fade and peace will end... but it makes the pursuit of them no less worthwhile.