The World Is Mine For The Taking

Leon’s POV

It had already been an entire week since the King passed away, and despite how quickly the days seemed to go by, the atmosphere inside Bethlan Castle still hadn’t returned to anything close to normal.

During all that time, Titania had been trying to process everything that had happened. She was slowly starting to recover from the loss, but grief wasn’t something a person could simply push aside after only a few days. I could see the difference compared to the first day. She wasn’t breaking down as often anymore, and she had started forcing herself to keep moving forward, but it was still painfully obvious that she hadn’t truly accepted what had happened. Losing someone as important as the King wasn’t the kind of wound that healed quickly. Time could dull the pain, but it certainly wasn’t going to erase it after only a week.

As I made my way through the quiet halls of Bethlan Castle, I found myself thinking about all of that before I noticed someone standing farther ahead.

The moment I recognized him, I slowed my steps just a little.

It was the same knight who had fought me before years ago.

He noticed me approaching and stopped walking as well.

"How is the Princess?" he asked in a calm but serious voice.

"She’s..." I paused briefly while choosing my words. "Well, you can probably already tell how she’s doing. Honestly, she’s about the same as she was yesterday."

He stared directly at me, his expression growing noticeably colder.

"You should be comforting her more."

"I already have," I answered without raising my voice. "Still, some things can’t be fixed just because someone says a few comforting words. Healing from something like this takes time, and no amount of reassurance is going to make her recover overnight."

His eyes narrowed even further.

For a brief second, I genuinely felt like he wanted to draw his sword and split me in half where I stood.

Fortunately for both of us, he understood that acting on those emotions wouldn’t accomplish anything.

Part of the reason was because the King was gone now, and at this point I was one of the few people who could actually help Titania keep herself together instead of completely falling apart.

The other reason was even simpler.

He already knew exactly how strong I was.

Starting a fight here wouldn’t benefit him in the slightest, and he was experienced enough to understand that much.

After a few moments of silence, I decided to ask him something that had been lingering in my mind.

"Do you love her?"

"I do," he replied without even hesitating. "Although it isn’t the kind of love you’re probably imagining."

He folded his arms before continuing.

"Princess Titania is the rightful Princess of the Kingdom of Bethlan. I swore an oath to protect this kingdom with my life, so naturally I also swore to protect the Princess. Right now, she’s the only person capable of leading this kingdom back to what it once was. She may still be young, but I’ve never once doubted her ability to become a worthy ruler."

His voice never wavered.

"So yes, if you’re asking whether I love her, then I do. I love her as the Princess of this kingdom, and that’s where those feelings begin and end."

So it wasn’t romantic after all.

That honestly made a lot more sense.

People like him certainly existed.

There were knights who devoted themselves completely to the person they served, expecting absolutely nothing in return. Their loyalty wasn’t driven by romance or personal desire. It came from conviction, duty, and respect. Looking at him now, I realized I had mistaken that unwavering devotion for romantic feelings when it had never been that to begin with.

"Besides," he added with a small sigh, "I already have someone I love."

Hearing that, I quietly fell silent for a moment while thinking about everything he had just said.

He looked at me for another second before suddenly stepping forward and grabbing me by the front of my tie.

I didn’t make any attempt to resist him.

"The King trusted you with protecting the Princess," he said firmly while tightening his grip. "Now that His Majesty is gone, the people who opposed him will eventually set their sights on her as well. There will be those who try to assassinate her. If you keep wasting time and treating this too lightly, you have no idea what could happen to her."

I calmly reached up and removed his hand from my tie before straightening my clothes.

"You don’t have to worry about that," I replied. "I’ve already taken precautions long before today."

One of Beelzebub’s copies was currently hidden inside Titania’s room while disguised as nothing more than an ordinary lump of slime.

Anyone foolish enough to enter that room with hostile intentions would immediately become prey for the Sin of Greed.

After all, very few beings in this world were capable of defeating someone like her.

Well, I happened to be one of those exceptions, so I wasn’t particularly worried about that part.

"And besides," I continued while meeting his gaze without looking away, "her enemies are my enemies too."

I let those words hang in the air for a brief moment before continuing.

"I’ve already begun investigating everyone connected to this, and I’m going to eliminate every single person working against Titania and the Kingdom of Bethlan."

With the King gone, there was nobody left with enough authority to immediately deal with the people plotting behind the scenes.

Leaving them alone wasn’t an option anymore.

Allowing them to continue gathering influence would only make things worse later.

That was exactly why I had already started making preparations of my own.

People like them were nothing more than a cancer trying to eat away at something beautiful from the inside until nothing remained.

They needed to disappear before they had the chance to spread any further.

The knight remained silent after hearing everything I had to say.

His grip was already gone, and the anger that had filled his eyes earlier seemed to settle into quiet contemplation instead.

Without saying another word, I walked past him and continued down the hallway.

He remained standing exactly where he was for several long moments, silently watching me walk away while the quiet halls of Bethlan Castle swallowed the distance between us.