Leon looked at her, she was currently as far back into the wall as she could press herself, her legs drawn up to her chest and her face hidden behind her crossed arms she had resting on her knees.

He clicked his tongue, there was a tad bit of disgust in the sound as he looked at the sobbing mess this once confident girl had been.  Upon hearing the reproachful sound she lifted her head up and looked at him.

“I guess it is true we are exactly opposites.”  she looked at him.  He was standing tall and imposing, red eyes blazing with a light that gave his handsome face a slightly demonic look.

“Wha-?” she asked weakly, her eyes were bright red and puffy.

“Weak.”  he said simply. “You are weak,” he gazed at her with cold eyes. “But seeing as I am your opposite that means it will be up to me to be strong.” he casually walked over and slipped an arm behind her back and one under the crook of her knees.  Picking her up he carried her over to the bed and placed her down there.

She looked up at him, wild thoughts racing through her head, her cheeks burning. She was too young! She didn't even know him that well! How was she ever going to get married now?  None of those thoughts came to fruition however, as after he placed her on the bed he stepped back and considered her.

“Map,”  he said.

“What?” she asked looking at him in confusion. She had to shake those thoughts out of her mind, she was glad he hadn't done anything, but there was also this small voice in the back of her head that sighed in disappointment.

“Do you have a map?”

“Yes, well I do but.” she was still feeling all jumbled.

“Show me.”  she looked at him, his actions did not seem to make any logical sense. Complying anyway she reached over and pulled a map out of a stack of books and lay it out on the bed. “Good, now where are we.”

She pointed to a little spot on the map, almost dead center. “That is a tiny spot of land.” he said, and honestly speaking it was, it was indeed the smallest spot on the entire map. “So your father has a dukedom here?”  he asked, how was this spot of a kingdom even still around how had it not been absorbed into some other bigger surrounding kingdoms?

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“What? No, my father had a dukedom here.”  she pointed to a large kingdom to the right of the first spot.

“Wait so we are not even in the same kingdom as your father right now?”  he looked at her and she shook her head. “Why would he send you to a neighboring kingdom would it not be wiser to keep you closer to him I mean up till this point you were the only heir to his land and title, seems pretty stupid to send you to some other kingdom that could hold you for a ransom.”

“What? No we are at Grulik, it is an independent state, there is no king, or even any villages or towns, it is just the school.”  he looked at her still confused. “It is a neutral zone, no one claims it as their own, seeing as that would anger the other kingdoms, every kingdom sends some of their best here, not only is it for the education but it is also for the alliances they form with people from other kingdoms that they would not otherwise, it is an attempt at peace.”

“Peace? Hows that working for you?” he scoffed.

“Well, it has worked for the last 500 years...”

“Damn, this place is more boring than I thought.”  he said, looking over the map with consideration. “So what were your plans before this baby popped up.” he asked her.

“I was going to graduate and take over the management of the Dukedom after father died, but now I have nothing, with a new heir I will get nothing at the end of school.” she sniffed. “I have no money, and no one will want to support me if my own household won’t.”

“So you are telling me that this kingdom here has no rivals?”  he asked, he stabbed a finger into the map where she had indicated her father was.  Lira lifted her head and looked at the map again.

“Well there is Juslanr,” she said, pointing to a medium sized area on the map, it was smaller than the one her father was in, but it was not that much smaller. “They clash frequently over minor land disputes and such.”

“Good, Good, Juslanr it is.”   he nodded to himself.

“What about Juslanr?” she asked, his statement confused her.

“You are out of here in how many years?”

“Five, and then I will be fully trained.”

“We will do it in three.” he nodded to himself.

“Do what in three?” she asked.

“Get you fully trained of course, and then we will go to this Juslanr.” he nodded to himself again, forming some sort of plan in his head.

“No wait-” she started but he was not listening to her. She was going to explain that getting it done in three years would be impossible.

“They will take us in, seeing as we are from their rivals, meaning taking us in deprives the other kingdoms of us, giving them not only an advantage, but also some salt to rub in the other parties wounds, and once we are set up in Juslanr we will truly begin.”  his eyes glowed a bright red as he smiled and looked over the map.

He had a plan now, and all he had to do was execute it.

“Start what?”  she asked looking at her familiar, she was a little frightened by his determined look as he stared at the map as thought it was the enemy, nut she also felt this strange exhilarating rush deep in her stomach.

“Conquest.”  his smile twisted on his face, his eyes lit up a bright red, and he placed his hand on the map. “Conquest of it all.”