He's surprised at her willingness to share her own 'crime'. His eyes drop to the words written there before he can stop himself and glimpses the words before he manages to skitter them away. The crimes of the Grannvale Empire...whatever that means.

Surely a single person can't be held accountable for the crimes of an entire nation, he tells himself firmly. And Ethlyn seems nice enough. There surely must be a mistake.

"A nation is the sum of its people. I suppose if you were its leader then there might be some weight to the accusation..." William quickly raises his hands to forestall an objection which might come. "Ah - not that I'm agreeing with what it says. I think it's wrong to judge the people for the deeds of their government. At least, I would hate for anyone I lead to be treated badly because of a poor decision I made."