From the corner of his eyes, Atticus saw the Pride Queen glance toward him. Her meaning was clear. She was leaving this to him.

Yet there was something else hidden within her gaze. Curiosity. She wanted to see how he would handle this.

Atticus remained silent. He neither looked at the king nor acknowledged his presence. To him, the man might as well have been an insignificant, wailing ant.

The king’s eyes narrowed. He had expected some form of reaction from Atticus. Realization. Anger. Perhaps even fear. Yet blatant disregard had never once crossed his mind.

His expression darkened. A mere subordinate had dared...

The king shifted his gaze toward the Pride Queen, his frown deepening.

The woman wore a faint smile, calm and utterly unconcerned. Rage immediately flared within his chest. He opened his mouth to speak, but the Pride Queen spoke first.

"So."

She leaned back lazily against her seat and crossed one leg over the other atop the table. The king’s brows twitched.

"I want your crown and kingdom," the Pride Queen said casually. "Hand them over."

The king tilted his head, his gaze gradually turning cold.

"...You must be joking."

"I only joke with people worth joking with." she replied. "You don’t qualify."

The king slowly raised a hand, stopping the guards behind him before they could react. His brows furrowed deeply.

She had essentially just called him worthless, and the oppressive aura steadily pouring from him made his fury painfully obvious.

"Is this why you called for this meeting?" the king asked, the pressure around him steadily intensifying. "To sit here and insult me?"

"I already told you why I’m here. Try keeping up."

The king’s fist slammed into the table, faint cracks instantly spreading across its surface.

"That’s complete bullshit! You think I’d just hand over my crown and kingdom because you asked!?"

"No."

A faint smile appeared on the Pride Queen’s lips.

"I want us to fight for it."

The king narrowed his eyes. Atticus also glanced toward the Pride Queen.

Now, he was beginning to understand the true purpose behind this meeting.

The king studied the Pride Queen for several moments before finally asking,

"...The both of us?"

"No."

The Pride Queen gestured lazily toward Atticus.

"You’ll fight him."

A trace of disdain flickered through the king’s eyes.

"...What sort of stupid joke is this?"

Him, a peak Level Eight and ruler of an entire kingdom, fight a mere Level Seven?

Yet the Pride Queen simply stared back at him in silence.

Several seconds passed before the king’s expression gradually twisted. He finally understood.

She truly did not consider him worthy enough to joke with. She had already made that clear earlier. She did not repeat herself, hence the silence.

The king’s fists tightened beneath the table. Yet he still forced himself to calm down.

The only reason he was here was because his kingdom was losing. He was prideful, but not foolish enough to lose control at the wrong moment.

After steadying himself, he fixed his gaze upon the Pride Queen once more.

"What do I gain from this?"

If he was staking his crown and kingdom, then naturally, there had to be something for him to gain as well.

The Pride Queen’s expression did not change.

"If you win, you can have the Supreme Territory."

The king narrowed his eyes. Atticus also glanced toward her once more.

It was one thing for him to have confidence in his own strength. It was another thing entirely for someone else to possess that same confidence in him. Wagering her crown meant wagering her life.

Atticus suppressed a frown.

’Why does she trust me this much?’

It was not the first time people had trusted him with their lives, but those had always been people close to him. The Pride Queen was someone he had only recently met. She was essentially a stranger.

Atticus felt... strangely unsettled.

The king’s brows furrowed tightly as he contemplated the offer in silence. Eventually, he carefully asked;

"How do I know you’ll keep your word?"

The Pride Queen slowly stretched out a hand. Golden light ignited around her fingers. From within the glow, a folded parchment gradually materialized.

She casually tossed it toward the king, who immediately caught it.

A Will Contract.

As the king read through its contents, something flickered within his eyes, and a faint smile gradually formed on his face. The clauses were simple, direct, and left no room for manipulation.

The woman before him was clearly insane. But the king did not care, so long as he benefited from it. He suppressed a chuckle.

’The Crown favors me.’

"Alright," the king finally said. "I accept your challenge."

Not long after, the king departed.

Atticus turned toward the Pride Queen.

"So that was your aim."

"Hm?" The Pride Queen smiled faintly. "And what brilliant conclusion have you arrived at?"

"To bait the king into fighting me," Atticus said thoughtfully. "We could’ve killed him here already, but you wanted the fight to happen publicly. Before the entire kingdom."

The Pride Queen’s smile deepened slightly.

"And why would I want that?"

"Because once the whole kingdom watches him lose..." Atticus said slowly, "their next king becomes pretty obvious."

The Pride Queen gave a satisfied nod.

It was a clever move. The Crown rules did not merely require him to become king, but to rule the entire kingdom.

If he had simply killed the king here and seized the throne, countless rebellions and riots would inevitably erupt afterward.

But if his strength became deeply engraved within the minds of the people, then his rule would become unquestionable.

Atticus furrowed his brows slightly.

"There’s still something I don’t understand, though."

"Hm?" The Pride Queen raised a brow. "What’s that?"

"Why do you trust me so much?"

The Pride Queen fell silent as she looked at him. After several moments, a smile slowly appeared on her face.

"Because little Ozzy chose you."

"That’s all?"

The Pride Queen nodded.

Atticus was genuinely bewildered. Ozeroth choosing him as a bond was hardly enough reason for her to wager her own life.

Seeing the confusion on his face, the Pride Queen smiled faintly.

"Tell me," she said, "what do you think true pride is?"

Images of Ozeroth and Ozerra’s earlier antics suddenly surfaced within Atticus’ mind. He frowned slightly. After witnessing the Pride Queen herself, that version of pride now felt... wrong.