The World Is Mine For The Taking-Chapter 1135 - 173 - The Titan Kingdom’s Future (6)
The King let out a quiet breath before speaking again, his gaze steady and unmoving.
"What? Are you worried there will be opposition simply because no woman Titan has ever sat on the throne before?" he asked.
His tone carried no irritation, no trace of mockery or doubt. It was firm, grounded—filled with a kind of confidence that came from someone who had already weighed the matter carefully. It wasn’t a challenge. It was a statement.
"I don’t believe that will be an issue," he continued. "You’ve already proven yourself, not through words, but through action and judgment. You’ve shown that you can think independently, without leaning on tradition as a crutch. One of your decisions alone saved the entire Titan race."
The weight of that statement hung in the air. It wasn’t flattery. It was fact.
He met her eyes directly, his expression serious now.
"So," he said, lowering his voice slightly, "think carefully. What is your decision?"
Layla didn’t answer right away.
Instead, she turned her head slightly and looked at me. It was only for a moment, brief enough that anyone else might have missed it, but I saw it clearly. Her eyes searched my face, as if trying to find something—reassurance, doubt, confirmation, maybe even permission. Her jaw was tight, her lips pressed together, and I could practically hear the gears turning in her head as her thoughts raced forward and back again.
The tension in her posture was obvious. This wasn’t an easy choice. It was the kind of decision that followed you for the rest of your life.
But the hesitation didn’t last long.
After only a short pause, Layla straightened her back, rolled her shoulders as if shedding the weight pressing down on her, and turned to face her father once more. Her stance was firm now. Grounded.
"I think it would be better for us to accept the proposal given to us by Sir Leon," she said.
Her voice didn’t waver. It wasn’t loud, but it was clear. Steady.
"And why is that?" the King asked.
He didn’t react immediately—no nod, no frown, no sign of approval or rejection. His face remained neutral, almost unreadable, like stone weathered smooth by time. Despite that, Layla didn’t falter. She didn’t shrink under his gaze or rush to fill the silence. If anything, she looked more composed than before.
She had already made up her mind.
"I think joining with the other kingdom is far more beneficial than refusing to do anything at all," Layla said. "I believe this is the weakness the elder once spoke about before he passed."
Her words slowed, measured.
"The same weakness he experienced himself before he stepped down as King of the Titans. I think what he meant by ’weakness’ wasn’t our lack of power or numbers. It was our mindset."
She lifted her chin slightly.
"We Titans are stubborn. We’ve always been stubborn. We think that making drastic changes is something we can’t—or shouldn’t—do. We convince ourselves that tradition is strength, even when it holds us back."
She continued, her voice gaining a little more edge.
"That weakness is our inability to cooperate with others. Because of that, our thinking becomes stunted. We focus only on tradition instead of considering the future. We refuse to broaden our perspective, and as a result, we stop growing."
The King listened without interruption.
"So you’re saying that we Titans," he said slowly, "who are known across the lands for our strength, have a weakness."
He paused.
"And that weakness comes from our inability to cooperate?"
"That’s right," Layla replied immediately. There was no hesitation at all this time. "That’s the weakness we need to overcome. And we can overcome it by cooperating—by accepting this unification."
She took a brief breath, then added, "I also believe this unification could bring benefits to us."
"Such as?" the King asked.
"Sir Leon appears to have strong connections with the rulers of the countries within the Great Forest."
"Well," the King said, one brow lifting slightly, "considering he’s dubbed the Elven Fucker, I can already imagine that being the case. So what’s your point?"
Layla didn’t react to the remark. If anything, she seemed used to this kind of blunt humor.
"With those connections," she said calmly, "this unification could give us certain advantages. A degree of freedom we don’t currently have. Mutual communication. Mutual benefits—resources, manpower, shared information."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"While the Titan Kingdom doesn’t need those things right now, I believe that in the future, something will happen that forces us to rely on others. A situation where our strength alone won’t be enough."
Her eyes hardened slightly.
"Just like now," she said, "when you all fell and were struck by Eternal Sleep."
The room went quiet.
"I see..." the King murmured after a moment. "So this is your decision? To accept the unification?"
"Yes," Layla said.
She didn’t raise her voice, but the conviction behind that single word was unmistakable.
"Yes."
"Don’t you think," the King said, his tone sharpening slightly, "that this man standing here only helped us because cooperation was what he wanted from us? That everything he did was calculated, done because he stood to gain something?"
His gaze flicked toward me briefly.
"Don’t you think it’s possible he’s luring us into a trap—one we might never be able to escape from?"
I couldn’t deny it.
What he said made sense. In truth, that was exactly my goal. I wanted a connection with the Titan Kingdom, and the opportunity had practically fallen into my lap. I hadn’t forced it—but I hadn’t rejected it either.
"I’ve already considered that," Layla said.
She didn’t try to deny the possibility.
"But even so, my decision doesn’t change. At the end of the day, regardless of whether he has an agenda or not, I can’t ignore the fact that he helped us through this crisis."
She let out a slow breath.
"It’s entirely possible that I’m being manipulated. I’m aware of that. I’m not naïve enough to believe otherwise."
Her voice softened slightly, but it didn’t lose its strength. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
"But the truth is, I can only see a brighter future for the Titan Kingdom if we accept this unification. Turning away from it out of fear would only trap us in the same cycle we’ve always been in."
Layla spoke with firm conviction. She openly acknowledged that I might bring trouble to them in the future. She wasn’t blind to that risk. But she also believed that closing themselves off—refusing to take a step forward just because the path was uncertain—would be an even greater mistake.
"Well..." the King said at last.
He exhaled slowly, the tension in his shoulders easing just a bit.
"Then I suppose I have no choice but to accept your decision."
The words settled heavily in the room.
With that, the King made his choice.
