The World Is Mine For The Taking

However, before that…

I needed to get drunk.

There was no way—absolutely no way—I'd be able to go through with this while sober. My mind was already a mess thinking about what was going to happen, and if I stayed clear-headed, I'd probably back out before even taking the first step.

"I see… get drunk, huh?" Gabrielle said, tilting her head slightly, her eyes narrowing just a little as if weighing the idea. "Well, that would certainly bring the mood a little more to our side," she added, her voice calm but carrying that playful edge she always had. "But… I can't drink."

That much was true—Gabrielle really couldn't drink. She was pregnant, after all.

"But," she went on, her lips curling up into a small, knowing smile, "if you really insist, then there's an array of something here in this cabinet." She turned her gaze toward the side, gesturing lazily with her hand. "Amy, if you'd please."

At the mention of her name, a woman stepped forward from the back—Amy. She wasn't just anyone as she was the head of this cake shop, the one who ran the whole operation. Her presence had this quiet authority to it, the kind you notice even without her saying a word. I knew her well enough… and I also knew she was one of Leon's women.

"I'm sorry. I can't stand up very well, you see…" Gabrielle said with an awkward, almost apologetic smile, her fingers loosely gripping the arm of her chair. And for some reason, I found myself being drawn to that expression. It wasn't forced—it was natural, gentle, and disarming in a way that made my chest feel tight. I couldn't explain it, but I couldn't look away either.

"Here it is, Lady Gabrielle," Amy said, her voice polite as she carefully placed something on the table in front of us.

My eyes followed the small clink of glass against the wood. "What is this?" I asked, leaning forward instinctively, my curiosity overtaking me.

It was a small glass vial, no bigger than my thumb, filled with a thick, almost syrupy-looking pink liquid. Even without opening it, I could tell it wasn't something you just casually drank. The light caught on the glass in a way that made the liquid inside look almost… alive.

"Aphrodisiac," Gabrielle said plainly, her tone so casual it took me a second to process.

"A-Aphrodisiac?!" I blurted out, my voice coming out louder than I intended.

So that's what it was… an actual aphrodisiac.

Sure, it would make me "not sober" in its own way, but it wasn't like alcohol. This wouldn't blur my thoughts—it would heighten a completely different kind of desire. It wouldn't dull my senses as it would twist them until they were only focused on one thing.

"Y-You want me to drink this?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her, my voice coming out half in disbelief, half in hesitation.

"Well, since this is something perfectly fine to drink—especially for an occasion like this—don't you think?" she said, her tone smooth, almost teasing. "And also, don't underestimate this, you know? If you drink it, there's no way you won't go for Master and press your body against him like a cicada."

I stared at her, my face heating despite myself, and she just kept smiling, her expression calm but with a glint of amusement.

"I mean, it's perfect, right?" she continued, leaning back slightly. "This might make you lose your mind to the point where you won't care anymore—even if it's with Irene… or you're even kissing me or something."

My throat went dry, and I swallowed hard. Honestly, when I thought about it, it wasn't all that different from being drunk. The only difference was what I'd be drunk on. I'd just have to bear with it until tonight.

How did I end up in this situation, anyway? It wasn't like I'd planned for things to spiral like this… but now, there was no way back. The line had already been crossed, and I was far beyond the point of turning around.

***

Leon's POV

Gabrielle's name flashed across my phone screen, and the moment I answered, her voice came through—calm, but with that slight lift at the end that told me she was up to something. She said she had a surprise for me.

And just like that, my mind jumped straight to the thing we had promised each other a while back. Pregnancy sex. The thought alone sent a rush of heat through me, and I felt myself getting hard almost instantly. It wasn't as if I'd been sitting around waiting for it to happen… but it had been a while since Gabrielle and I had shared a bed, and the anticipation was enough to make me restless.

When she called, I wasn't alone. I was with Titania, Zeruel, and Myrcella—three of my other girlfriends—and we were deep into a conversation about Leonamon's future.

Right now, our vision was big. We wanted Leonamon to hold the same kind of power and influence as a major country. The amount of money we were pulling in had already grown to staggering heights—enough to possibly rival or even surpass the wealth of any royal family. But with great wealth came its own set of problems, and we weren't foolish enough to ignore them.

Money, as powerful as it seemed, didn't guarantee fortune forever. We'd secured a monopoly on many products, and the sales kept rising all over the world. The flow of money into our hands was constant, almost overwhelming at times. But hoarding it? That would be a death sentence for its value.

That's why we had shifted our focus toward building—factories, infrastructure, modernization projects—many of them given freely to speed up progress. The goal was to keep money moving, to prevent it from becoming stagnant.

Because if money just sat in our vaults forever, it would start losing its worth. And if that happened on the scale we were talking about, it would spark a level of inflation the world had never seen before. We weren't just preventing a financial problem—we were avoiding a disaster.

"Well, it's certainly good that we're spreading it out to lessen the power of money," Myrcella said, her tone thoughtful. "If the purchasing power drops too much, it'll only be a matter of time before everything falls apart. I'm glad you consulted me on this. If you hadn't… things could've turned out far worse than any of us imagined."

She wasn't wrong.

If the value of money collapsed any further, even those with political and military power would lose their grip. The world would shift into something dangerous—chaotic, even dystopian. At least with our current plans, we had a safeguard in place.

After we'd finished laying out our next steps, I stood and said my goodbyes.

"Goodbye, Leon. See you soon," Myrcella said with a warm smile.

Titania lifted her hand in a casual wave, and Zeruel gave me that soft, reassuring smile of hers. I returned their gestures before turning to leave.

They were strong women—each in their own way—and having them at my side gave me a certain peace of mind. It was a feeling of stability in a world that was always shifting.

And now… it was time to meet Gabrielle. I had a very good idea of what her "surprise" was, and to be honest… the thought alone was enough to make me want to get there as fast as possible.