"No." Firmer now. He lifted my hand from his chest and pressed his lips to my knuckles. "We're human, Tora. We all make mistakes."
"But I don't want to make mistakes with you. I want to do this right."
“That’s impossible.” His thumb brushed my jaw. "We're human. The best parts of us are our imperfections and mistakes."
I leaned into his touch and let his words settle into my bones.
"You are so smart. So intelligent. So vital to me." His hand slid to the back of my neck, cradling it. "And today I learned from the Lion that many of the spies in that pyre were alsohisspies too. Apparently, the extra pay off from my father wasn’t enough. They got greedy and started feeding the Lion information too."
My stomach dropped. "What?"
"You exposed them, Tora. You. Your presence. Your questions. Your instincts. That makes you even more important than you ever were."
I tried to process this.
"Which is why. . .I am glad you did make a demand.”
“Why?”
Kenji moved his hands away from me and then gestured to the 4D Tokyo. “I sit on my throne and control this empire.”
I looked back at it—this massive, bustling city, and now understood that we weren’t just eating in his war room for romance or aesthetics either.
He was using every facet to speak to me—our surroundings, his attire, even the food, probably even the performance.
I took in the space with new eyes, and he waited, clearly wanting me to understand it all on my own. I stared at the red cord draped across the buildings.
In the performance, the woman had stood between two forces, not choosing either—trying to exist in the middle.
And that was what destroyed her. Not the swords. The impossibility of being torn in two.
I lifted my gaze back to Kenji, understanding settling into my bones.
This wasn’t about men.
It was about worlds.
And I was the woman caught between them.
I looked back at him. “You want me to choose you and your world. Leave mine.”
“You can’t be on both sides anymore, Tora. You’re my Heart now.”
“It sounds like you’re choosing for me.”
“No. Yet, there is no other option. What other choice could you make?”
Because you would never let me walk away. . .
And somehow, that didn't scare me.
It should have. Any sane woman would have felt the walls closing in. But I didn't feel trapped. I felt chosen. Claimed by a man who would burn the world before he lost me.
Surely, there were worse prisons than the arms of a Dragon.
His gaze softened. “And. . .I believe it's time that you have a throne, one that should sit right next to me."
"A throne?"
