The Almighty Dominance

Alex took a slow breath and sipped his wine. "Can I ask you something?"

Logan chuckled, refilling his glass from the bottle he pulled from his space ring. "Sure, anything. We've got all night."

"Between your family's revenge and the comfortable life you've built here," Alex asked, "which one really matters more?"

He wasn't asking out of curiosity-it was personal.

He was a king now. He could live peacefully, without the ghosts of old grudges.

He'd been too young to remember his parents, too young to truly feel the bond everyone said he'd lost.

He had to admit—his bond with his master ran deeper than blood, deeper than anything he had ever felt for his own parents.

And now that he sat on the throne, he sometimes wondered if it was better to bury the past-to stop chasing vengeance and start living.

Logan laughed again, louder this time, then leaned forward and poured more wine into Alex's cup.

"Good question. A damn good question."

He stared into the crimson swirl of his glass, eyes softening.

"I've thought about that for a long time," he said quietly. "My family have a big estate back in Prussia-bigger than most people can imagine."

"But it's empty. No laughter. No voices. Just walls and echoes. Here, I live in a small house, but it's full. My wife, my kids, people who matter."

He looked up, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "So if you asked me now, I'd say this life is better. I'd rather stay here, in this poor country, where I'm happy and well-fed, than go back to that hollow palace."

"But if there's a way to get my revenge-without losing all this-I'd take it."

Alex nodded slowly. He understood. Maybe he felt the same. Maybe he too wanted to forget revenge, rule in peace, and finally breathe.

"Next question," Alex said after a pause. "You've had... what, dozens of wives? Hundreds of mistresses? Out of all of them, how many did you actually love?"

Logan froze. His eyes flickered with something raw.

He took another drink-long, heavy, deliberate. Then he sighed, as if the answer had been buried inside him for years, waiting to crawl out.

"I've loved hundreds-all of them," Logan said with a faint smile, though his eyes carried a tired ache.

Alex whistled. "That's impressive."

Logan muttered. "Out of hundreds, only two or

"So you're running

heart's bankrupt, but at least the interest is still high." Alex

you pity me?"

it. A lot of beautiful women look at me like I'm dessert-like I'm their sugar daddy.

can crawl onto my side-for my money, for my power, for a life with fewer teeth marks. But do they

it. We feel it. They're faking everything. And we pretend to enjoy it. The truth is, we feel empty-surrounded by hundreds of people, yet not one truly loves us." Alex let out a long breath. He knew that feeling

not him. No one had ever loved the man beneath the crown. That was why he'd walked away—not as a king, but as

living as himself, he hadn't found anyone

out. And Josephine... she'd loved Charles. Women, he realized, could be

My children have grown up here. I never told them about my Prussian

don't want revenge anymore. But if I were your age, I'd go

"Why?" Alex asked.

see things you'll never see here,"

wars they don't

with

minds. They build ships leave

and space

their best-with

in his voice. "Even if you're a king, you're still just the king of the poorest country on earth. A big fish

Alex. You've got time. Don't you want to see what the world really looks

a dry look.

"Oh? And?"

"She married my enemy."

you know she

"That's the romance of being a man. You fight, you fall, you climb, and you keep going until you

stronger than you. You hit your limits. Then you fight to break

his words cutting through the air. "But you can only do that while you're young. When you're old, regret

never saw the world when you had

thought. Then something in him shifted-like a light breaking through fog. His chest loosened, the

pure clarity filled

frees the heart, heaven and man become

inside that had been coiled and restrained