Chapter 72 Did he just..
Amara POV
The silence lingers long after his words fade.
Leviath doesn’t speak right away. He just watches me.
Not Sebastian. Not Sybil.
Me.
And for the first time since I stepped into this castle.. it doesn’t feel like I’m being studied. It feels like maybe I’m being understood.
I don’t know what to do with that.
“Maybe you’re right,” he says finally.
It’s not a question. His voice is quiet, measured, but there’s something beneath it now. Something less certain than before.
“Yes,” I answer honestly.
Sebastian’s hand shifts slightly against mine. He doesn’t stop me. He never does. He just stays there.. solid, steady, letting me speak.
Leviath exhales slowly through his nose, his gaze dropping briefly to the table before lifting again. “You barely know me,” he murmurs, “yet, you believe I am still.. good.”
It’s not mocking. Not dismissive. If anything, it almost sounds like he’s testing the idea. Like he doesn’t quite believe it himself.
My chest tightens at that.
“I do,” I say.
No hesitation. No second guessing.
His eyes sharpen slightly. “Why?”
Because you’re dangerous. Because you’re calculated. Because you could destroy everything if you wanted to..but you haven’t.
“You didn’t have to take those children in,” I say instead. “You didn’t have to educate the human children here. You didn’t have to treat your people like they matter. It shows, clearly they love you as their king.”
His jaw tightens slightly. Small, but there.
“Those are.. practical decisions.”
“No,” I shake my head softly. “They’re not.”
The room feels quieter now. Not tense. Just focused.
“You could rule through fear alone,” I continue. “You’re strong enough. No one here could stop you if you chose that path.”
A pause stretches between us.
“But you don’t.”
His gaze doesn’t leave mine. Not for a second.
“And you think that makes me good.”
“I think it means you have a choice,” I correct gently. “And you’re choosing not to be a monster.”
Something flickers across his face. Gone too quickly to fully catch, but it was there.
Sebastian shifts beside me slightly, his voice cutting in low and steady. “Power like those artifacts don’t give you a choice. They take it.”
Leviath’s eyes flick toward him. “And you’re certain of that?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation. None.
Leviath studies him for a long moment, then leans back slightly in his chair, actually thinking. That alone feels like a shift.
Subtle.
But real.
“You both speak as if I have already made my decision,” he says.
“You have,” Sebastian replies. “You just haven’t acted on it yet.”
Leviath’s lips twitch faintly, not quite a smile. “Confident.”
“Realistic.”
Another pause stretches, but this one feels different. Less like a blade pressed to the throat, more like something balancing. Weighing.
Leviath’s fingers tap once against the arm of his chair, then still. “If what you say is true.. then the artifacts are not power.”
“No,” Sybil says quietly. “They’re corruption.”
His gaze flicks to her. “And yet they exist.”
“Not everything that exists should be used.”
That lands. I can feel it. The shift again, small but steady.
Leviath’s gaze drifts back to me. “And you believe I am capable of making that distinction.”
“I know you are.”
That surprises him. I see it. Feel it. Something unguarded slipping through for just a second.
“You speak with a lot of certainty,” he says.
“Because I see it,” I reply. “Even if you don’t.”
Silence settles again, longer this time, but not uncomfortable. Just heavy. Like something is settling into place.
Leviath’s shoulders shift slightly, easing just a fraction. “I have ruled this kingdom for centuries,” he says. “I have seen what weakness does. What hesitation costs.”
“I’m not telling you to be weak,” I say. “I’m telling you not to destroy yourself trying to be stronger.”
His gaze sharpens again, but it doesn’t cut this time. It studies.
“You sound like you’ve already lost something to power,” he says.
I don’t answer right away. I’ve lost a lot.
In ways I’m still figuring out. In ways I don’t have words for yet.
Sebastian’s thumb brushes my hand again, slow and grounding.
“I know what it feels like to lose control,” I say quietly. “To feel something inside you that doesn’t belong there. That pushes. That takes. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
Not even him.
Leviath watches me carefully, and for the first time.. there’s no calculation in his gaze. No strategy. Just thought.
“You are very different from what I expected,” he says after a moment.
I let out a small breath. “Yeah. I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.”
That earns the faintest hint of amusement.
His gaze flicks briefly between Sebastian and me, then returns. “And you believe this.. connection you share is enough to keep you from making dangerous decisions.”
I glance at Sebastian, just for a second, then back. “No. But it helps us fight them.”
That seems to settle something.
Leviath exhales slowly, then nods once.
“The artifacts will remain untouched.”
The words land heavily, rippling outward through the room.
Sebastian goes still beside me, but this time it’s not tension. It’s disbelief.
“Temporarily,” Leviath adds.
Of course.
But still.. it’s something.
“And only because you asked it of me,” he finishes, his gaze locking onto mine.
My chest tightens, something deeper than relief settling there.
“Thank you,” I say quietly.
He doesn’t brush it off. Doesn’t dismiss it. He just accepts it.
That alone feels significant.
Leviath pushes back from the table, standing smoothly. “Dinner has been.. enlightening.”
That almost makes me laugh.
Almost.
He moves around the table, not toward Sebastian, not toward the others.. toward me.
Sebastian’s body tenses instantly beside me, but he doesn’t move. Because I don’t pull away.
Leviath stops at my side. Close. Closer than he’s been since I arrived.
For a second, I think he’s going to say something else.
Instead.. his hand lifts.
Slow to rise to my hair, brushing it away from my shoulder.
And before I can process it, he presses a brief kiss to the top of my head.
Soft. Quick. Gone.
I freeze.
Completely.
The entire room stills with me.
Leviath steps back like nothing just happened.
“Goodnight, my daughter.”
His voice is quieter now. Not softer, but… less guarded.
Then he turns and walks away.
The doors open for him and close behind him, leaving the room in stunned silence.
I don’t move.
I don’t speak.
I just sit there, trying to process what just happened.
“..Did he just-“ Luther starts.
“Yes,” Aven cuts in.
Sebastian doesn’t say anything right away. His hand tightens around mine again, gentler this time, his thumb brushing slow circles against my skin.
Grounding me.
Or maybe grounding himself.
I swallow slowly, my chest feeling.. strange.
“He’s trying,” I murmur.
No one argues.
Because we all saw it.
All felt it.
And somehow..
That might be more dangerous than anything else.