The World Is Mine For The Taking

"I can't let you go there alone, Leon," Rose said after a pause, her eyes locking onto mine. That hesitation was my chance, and I could almost see the conflict in her. Her heart wavered, and for a split second, I knew she might lean toward picking Grace over me. That's exactly what I was banking on. "I told you before, didn't I? I don't want you doing anything dangerous."

"But it's not exactly smart for both of us to stay here, is it? Unless we go together, but we can't leave Grace here alone, can we?"

Leaving Grace here, with no one around, was a risk that could blow up in our faces. And there was no way we could leave her with Philip either. That was a dangerous move, which meant Rose had to stay.

"I need to go," I said. "You need to stay, Rose. You took down a dragon all by yourself. I'm damn sure if I leave Grace with you, she'll be safe."

Besides, there was another reason I couldn't stay here. I'd noticed something about Grace—she was terrified of me. No, more specifically, she was terrified of men in general. Given what she'd been through, that fear made sense. That's why I didn't want to hang around. My presence was only making things worse for her.

"Leon," Rose said, her voice soft but steady. "You're going to be alright, right?" She was finally convinced she needed to handle everything with Grace and Philip. But now, she was asking if I'd be okay heading to a place where women often got kidnapped—alone.

This was one of those moments where she wanted to keep her distance because deep down, she knew I was a scumbag, always playing around with different women. But even though she knew it in her head, her heart still couldn't let go of her feelings for me. I wasn't planning on manipulating her emotions to get what I wanted, but if the opportunity came up, I wasn't above taking advantage of it.

"I'll be alright," I told her, meeting her gaze head-on.

***

Rose decided to stay at Grace's place, leaving me to head to the next village to investigate.

"Looks like this is the way I need to go, huh?" I muttered to myself as I glanced in the direction I was headed. Before setting off, I looked back and saw that Morthea was still there. I'd assign her to stay behind, just in case something came up that even Rose couldn't handle. Morthea would be more than enough to take care of things. She was a powerful Dryad, after all.

***

Rose's POV

Leon had left the house, heading to the next village, while I stayed behind at Grace's place. I was sitting on the balcony when Grace came out, holding a cup of tea, and handed it to me.

"Are you sure you want to stay here and not go with him? You had plans, didn't you?" she asked, her tone light but curious.

"Don't worry about it," I replied, taking a sip of the tea. It was a bit tepid, but still really good. "Thanks," I said, giving her a smile.

"Don't mention it," she replied, her lips curling into that warm smile I'd come to know so well. It was the same smile she'd given me when I was a child—back when she was the only one who truly cared for me. I didn't care if she was just a maid back then, doing her job. To me, she was my sister.

"Anyway, has Hana gone to bed yet?" I asked.

"Yeah, that kid loves her sleep," Grace said with a soft smile, her voice carrying a gentle warmth. "But enough about that... what about you and Leon?"

"What about us?" I responded.

"I'm not blind, you know," she said. "The moment he walked in here with you, I could tell something was up. And the way you can't stop watching him every time he moves... well, that just confirmed it."

"You're reading too much into it," I shot back. "He's a student at the academy, and I'm responsible for looking after him. I'm his professor, that's all there is to it. Nothing for you to confirm."

Grace's smirk deepened, her eyes glinting with mischief. "It seems to me there's more than just a student-professor thing going on. Maybe you're picking up on that Prince Charming energy he's got. I mean, I can see it too, and trust me, it's not impossible you'd notice it as well."

Prince Charming? Leon? I used to imagine him as the perfect Prince Charming who'd come to rescue me in times of distress, sweeping me off my feet. But now, knowing the whole story about him, Gabrielle, and Irene, I couldn't see him that way anymore. All I saw was a scumbag who took pleasure in bedding women. I had fallen into his trap too.

"I don't see him that way," I told her firmly.

"Really?" Grace replied, a hint of disappointment in her voice. "Well, that sucks for him then. He seems like he really cares about you."

I was about to take another sip of my tea when her words hit me. I paused, stunned. "...What?"

"You didn't notice?" she asked, her tone almost incredulous. "It's pretty obvious he's in love with you."

I hadn't noticed at all. When had Leon shown signs of affection for me?

"How did you notice something like that?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.

"I've got a sharp eye for these things," Grace said, her smile playful. "Remember, I'm a romance genre junkie." She leaned closer, her gaze softening. "And I can also see those same signs of affection from you towards him. It's clear to me that you both have feelings for each other."

"No way..." I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

I couldn't deny I once had feelings for him. The key word here is "had," because those feelings had vanished when I learned the truth about him. Maybe I was still holding onto the idea of us being together, but Grace's assertion that Leon had feelings for me was hard to swallow. After everything he did to get me into bed, it was impossible to believe he could genuinely care about me.

"Maybe you still don't see what I'm seeing between the two of you, but I'm convinced your feelings for each other are genuine and not just a lie. I can tell he's done something wrong, but I don't think it was out of malice," Grace said, her voice steady and sincere. "Leon is a good guy."

The weight of Grace's words hit me hard. This was the woman who had been my rock, the one who had always been there to support me. Now she was telling me that the man I had labeled as a scumbag, the one I thought was just a manipulative bastard, was actually a good guy.