The World Is Mine For The Taking-Chapter 1196 - 183 - Milham’s Royal Family (3)

"What would it take for you to agree to this?" I asked her.

My voice came out steadier than I felt. Inside, my thoughts were already tangled, bracing for whatever unreasonable demand she was about to throw at me. I had expected resistance—maybe outright refusal—but not this strange, unreadable calm she carried herself with.

"I don’t really have anything that I want from you, Princess," she replied, her tone composed, almost indifferent. "At this point, you don’t possess what I have."

Her words landed softly, yet they carried weight. They weren’t meant to insult me, but they still stung in a quiet, lingering way. It was the kind of truth that didn’t raise its voice, yet somehow echoed louder than shouting ever could.

"Then what do you want?" I asked.

"A capable man, perhaps?" she said.

Her gaze shifted as she spoke. There was something strangely affectionate in her eyes, something warm and searching, as though she were looking at someone who might fit the image she had in her heart—even if she knew, logically, that I didn’t.

"I mean," she continued, her voice smoothing out, "having a capable man is something a maiden like me would want her entire life, right?"

She let out a small breath, neither a sigh nor a laugh.

"Even though I was placed into this position and promoted straight to Commander," she said, "I still long for something like that. Titles don’t erase certain desires. They just bury them deeper."

She looked at me again, directly this time, as if measuring my reaction.

"Although," she added, "I do think you have a pleasing face. And honestly, I wouldn’t really mind having a woman as my lover. In fact, it would be an honor to have Princess Myrcella as my lover."

For just a moment, my heart skipped.

Then her expression shifted.

The warmth in her eyes dulled, replaced by something quieter. It was something almost regretful.

"Unfortunately," she said, "I don’t have those proclivities."

She spoke plainly, without hesitation, but there was a heaviness underneath her words.

"It does sound thrilling," she admitted, "to be in a same-sex relationship. I understand the appeal. I really do. But when the end goal of a relationship is to create children, it starts to feel... meaningless."

She paused, as if weighing whether she should even continue.

"I don’t mean to insult anyone who chooses that path," she said. "It’s just not mine. And besides, I don’t think you’re like that anyway. I heard you already have a lover."

So... if I was understanding her correctly, she wanted a man.

Not power.

Not influence.

Not leverage.

Just a man.

"You only want... a lover?" I asked, my voice careful, uncertain.

"Not just any lover, of course," she replied, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Why would I, the Commander of the Magic Knights, settle for an ordinary man?"

She said it lightly, but there was conviction behind it.

"I haven’t found anyone I could truly yearn for," she went on. "No one who meets my standards. And I won’t compromise on something like that."

Her standards.

I didn’t know how high they truly were, but from the way she spoke, it sounded like they stretched endlessly upward, without any intention of ever coming down.

Maybe too high.

Maybe impossibly high.

I found myself thinking—briefly and dangerously—that she should lower them. Even just a little.

I did know someone who might suit her. Someone capable. Someone strong enough to stand beside her.

But the moment that thought formed, unease followed.

The idea of someone like the Commander becoming part of Leon’s harem didn’t sit right with me at all. It wasn’t just discomfort. It was instinctive resistance. Something deep inside me screamed that mixing those two worlds would lead to chaos.

I couldn’t even imagine what the Commander would do if she were placed in that situation.

Putting her in the same harem as me...

Asking Leon to accept her as well...

That wasn’t just dangerous. It felt catastrophic.

I still had no idea what she was truly thinking.

"If you can find me a lover who can truly satisfy me," she said, smiling again, "then perhaps I’ll consider cooperating."

That smile made my stomach twist.

It was subtle, composed, and far too confident.

I felt like I was being played, guided along a path she had already mapped out, and the realization frustrated me more than I wanted to admit.

I let out a slow breath.

"If I manage to find someone," I said, "I’ll come to you immediately."

"I see," she replied. "I hope you manage to do so before you graduate, Princess Myrcella."

***

Later, I told my mother everything.

I explained how the Commander had conditions, how she was unwilling to cooperate unless she received what she wanted. And when I finally told her what that was, my mother didn’t look surprised at all.

She simply smiled, wry and knowing.

"I see..." she said.

"You sound like you already knew how she’d respond," I said.

"To be honest," my mother replied, "I expected her to shut the idea down immediately. She’s always been uncompromising."

As she spoke, something I had been holding back for a long time finally surfaced.

"Do you trust the Commander?" I asked.

"No," she answered instantly.

There was no hesitation. No attempt to soften the truth.

"I don’t trust anyone in this castle," she continued. "That’s only natural, don’t you think? You can’t truly trust anyone but yourself."

She glanced at me then, her expression gentler.

"Well," she added, "aside from you, Myrcella."

"I see..."

She wasn’t wrong.

As the acting Queen—even if only temporarily—she couldn’t afford trust. Suspicion wasn’t paranoia. It was survival. In a place where power shifted silently and loyalties changed without warning, assuming everyone was an enemy was the safest approach.

"That said," she continued, "the Commander is more trustworthy than any other official in the Kingdom."

That caught me completely off guard.

The Commander? More trustworthy than anyone else?

Especially when Angelica despised her for abandoning them, for placing them in danger, for making it seem like she had deliberately cut them loose. From everything I had seen, the Commander felt like the most suspicious person of all.

"The Commander acts in accordance with the Kingdom’s interests," my mother said calmly. "She doesn’t make reckless decisions. Everything she does is calculated. And whether you like her methods or not, she works to preserve the Kingdom’s prosperity."

She met my eyes.

"She may look suspicious to you," she said, "but she isn’t someone who seeks to destroy the Kingdom. On the contrary, she protects it."

There was a brief pause.

"Even if she does so out of selfish desire," my mother added. "In that regard, she’s quite similar to you." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Similar to me?" I asked. "How?"

"The blood that flows within you," she replied softly. "The blood of Milham."