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."

of hundreds, only two or three

grinned. "So you're running

My heart's bankrupt, but at least the interest

you pity me?" he snapped,

like I'm dessert-like I'm their sugar daddy. I've got money. I've got power. I can

money, for my power, for a life with fewer teeth marks. But do they

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 all too well. When he first became king, women

had ever loved the man beneath

leaving everything behind and living as himself, he

had once, maybe twice. Sophia hadn't worked out. And Josephine... she'd loved Charles. Women, he realized,

old now. My children have grown up here. I never told

revenge anymore. But if I were your age,

"Why?" Alex asked.

you see things you'll never see here," Logan said, eyes brightening

wars they don't fight like

with

minds. They build ships

and space You'd

and their best-with

a king, you're still just the king of the poorest country on earth. A big fish in a small,

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

a dry look. "I

"Oh? And?"

"She married my enemy."

chuckled. "That's how you know she

being a man. You fight, you

than you. You hit your limits. Then

cutting through the air. "But you can only do that while you're young. When

home, why you never saw the world when you had the chance. That's what being a

a light breaking through fog. His chest loosened, the knots in

pure clarity filled his

heart, heaven and man become

surged through him. The energy inside that had been coiled and restrained suddenly expanded, no longer afraid, no