"..." Robin held his host's gaze for several long seconds, his expression unreadable. Then, with a tired motion, he began to rub the space between his brows. "It's not that I'm trying to shut down every path, Lord Hedrick. That's not my intention. The problem is that you're inflating your own dilemma while belittling mine. And that imbalance? That's no foundation for a true partnership—it's a foundation for dominance. Subordination. And I'm no subordinate. I never was.
And clearly... you wouldn't accept following anyone either."
He let out a deep sigh, voice dropping just slightly. "Your crisis and mine—each one is vast enough to be the centerpiece of universal concern for millennia. Each of them, on their own, could inspire legends and spawn entire philosophies. And yet... somehow, both have collided in the same age, in adjacent sectors. It's beyond coincidence. It's the kind of convergence that only exists in myths and cosmic epics."
