Chapter 772: If You Disobey Me… I Die
Chapter 772: If You Disobey Me... I Die
If You Disobey Me... I Die
Ronan stepped forward sharply.
"My king—!"
The word cracked out of him before he could stop it.
Fear filled his words, sudden and sharp.
"This clause must be removed immediately."
His fingers clenched by his legs, not trying to conceal a thing - the paper seemed to pull at him, his frame stiff as if something inside fought to lunge forward and rip it clean. He stood frozen, tension locked in every angle of his body.
This round, Black stood tall. No lowering of the head occurred here.
"...This is unacceptable."
Stillness in his voice. Tight restraint behind every word. Yet his gaze gave it away - no room to argue, no space to push back. What he meant was clear, even if he never said it aloud.
Johny nodded grimly.
"You’re putting your life in their hands."
A breath slipped out, slow and heavy, once the words were spoken. Just holding the idea seemed to sour his tongue.
A slight tilt came to Leon’s head. It moved just a little, off center.
"...And?"
The room stilled.
What came back stung more than rage ever could.
It wasn’t defiance.
It wasn’t denial.
It was worse.
It was calm.
Nova shut her jaw tight.
"...You think this is funny?"
A sudden edge cut her words - frustration bled into the space between them as she moved closer, gaze fixed, unblinking, as if silence alone could jolt him awake.
Syra stepped forward.
"No - this is worse than funny."
Her voice dropped.
"This is reckless."
Quiet she stayed, yet silence carried more force than noise ever might. Her speech landed like a held breath, heavy without rising pitch.
Kyra added coldly -
"You’re forcing us into a cage using your own life."
Still staring, her eyes grew colder. Not a blink - just a slow cut through his choice, examining each part without approval.
Cynthia broke the silence at last.
Quiet.
But heavy.
"...You’re cornering us."
Stillness held her in place. Not that she wanted motion anyway. Worse came from what surrounded - the quiet pressing close, shaped by every word she’d left hanging.
Then came a hush, soft and thin. Quiet settled like dust after footsteps stop.
Tight. Suffocating.
Still grinning, Leon kept his smile fixed in place.
A quiet certainty took root instead - soft, steady, unlike the sharp unease pulling at others nearby.
"Exactly."
A sharp silence followed it. The air changed after those sounds arrived.
Ronan’s breath hitched.
Johny’s jaw tightened.
This time, Nova seemed ready to fight back - yet her voice stayed silent.
Each one knew right away what it was about.
A nervous twitch tugged at Rias’s mouth. Her teeth pressed into the soft skin below.
Hard.
"...You don’t trust us that much?"
There was something different in her voice.
Not anger.
Not frustration.
A hush. A thing unseen, fallen between gaps - a weight he had to face.
That -
He stopped for a moment.
Hold still. For one breath.
Funny how his grin stayed - just bent sideways, like a road curving into shadow.
Softer.
More complicated.
After that, a slow shake moved through his head.
"...I trust you too much."
Something about the message missed its mark completely.
It wasn’t reassurance.
It wasn’t comfort.
The air changed. A weight settled where words had been.
A hush crept in, thick with unspoken questions - eyes darted, foreheads pinched, mouths half-open as if words waited just behind teeth... yet silence held. He had said something unclear, maybe troubling, their minds grasping at meaning before fully knowing it.
Forward a bit he tilted, just then Leon.
Fine lines blur when pressure fades. Soft steps leave marks just the same.
A little pushes closer. Enough fills the gap.
Staring hard with golden eyes, one by one. Their gazes caught, held without a word. Each person frozen under that light. Watching. Unblinking. The glint sharp like sun on metal.
Picking each up, not just brushing past. Holding on tight. One after another. Like he was testing weight... or learning every mark.
"I trust that you will follow me."
"I trust that you will ignore my orders."
"I trust that you will risk your lives without hesitation."
A calm sound came from him. Almost too calm.
Just facts. Not blame. Silence instead of shouting.
Just truth.
Fingers near Rias twitched, just a little. A quiet shift broke the stillness by her hip.
A foot scuffed the floor at her back. Eyes slid sideways, avoiding contact.
None of them had a way out. That truth stood firm.
A pause.
Just long enough that the words settle. Just long enough for pain to rise.
"And that..."
His voice lowered.
"...is exactly why I cannot allow it."
Silence answered him.
Not resistance.
Not disagreement.
Just silence.
He had it right, after all.
Few saw it coming, yet they walked behind without question.
Each person, without exception.
Walking right into death might have been the price. Still, it did not stop them.
A soft move ahead marked Rias’s presence, her words hushed yet holding their ground.
"...Since when did that become a problem?"
Stillness held the room. Not a voice rose, nor did any eyes crinkle.
Even so, each one knew her question held more than it seemed.
Lately, has staying faithful started counting against you?
Ah, the air left his lungs - steady, quiet, as if it had waited years behind his ribs.
"...So I changed the rule."
A change, just barely. Quiet, yet present.
His gaze softened.
Just a little.
Not weakness.
More weight than you’d expect from it.
"If you disobey me..."
His gaze locked onto theirs once more. Nobody could look away if they tried.
"...I die."
Just then, the meaning slipped away.
Then they did.
The air in the room grew dense. It pressed down like a weight no one could name.
Heavy silence followed. What was said could not be undone.
Deep.
Heavy.
A foot moved backward. Teeth pressed together hard. This quiet felt different - not puzzled, but stunned.
A hush touched her lungs - barely a pause. Then silence folded in around the moment.
Not a rule, she said, her tone slipping lower, edged with something raw. A threat, really, each word pressed tight against control