The Alpha's Regret: Return Of The Betrayed Luna

Chapter 572: Chapter 572 Leon’s Arrival 6

Completely oblivious to the storm he had just stirred, Leon strode into the council chamber with steady, confident steps before stopping in front of the massive round table.

He didn’t kneel.

He didn’t bow.

Instead, he simply stood there with an easy smile on his face.

To everyone in the room, it was the final straw.

After coming in with an overwhelming aura that had nearly crushed the entire chamber, he now stood before the Alpha King and the kingdom’s highest-ranking officials without even the courtesy of lowering his head.

Arrogant.

Conceited.

Provocative.

Those were the first words that flashed through the minds of many ministers and Alphas as they glared at him.

Yet the truth couldn’t have been further from their assumptions.

Leon genuinely had no idea he was violating every rule of royal etiquette.

He had spent his entire life ruling the grasslands, where strength decided everything.

There were no complicated court manners.

No political games.

No hidden meanings behind a bow or a smile.

His people hunted, fought, celebrated, and drank together. If they respected someone, they showed it through their actions, not through elaborate ceremonies.

More importantly...

No one standing in this room was stronger than he was.

To the Tigren Clan, bowing to someone weaker wasn’t courtesy; it was surrender.

It was acknowledging another’s superiority.

It was admitting weakness.

And Leon would never lie about something as important as strength.

So he remained standing as straight as a spear, waiting patiently for Addison to tell him what to do. If she asked him to bow, he would. If she wanted him to kneel, he would do so without hesitation.

But until then...

He simply waited.

His golden feline eyes swept across the council chamber before instantly locking onto a familiar figure.

Addison.

The moment he found her, the fierce expression on his face melted away as though it had never existed.

His eyes lit up with unconcealed delight, bright enough to rival the morning sun.

”Mate!”

The single word escaped him with unmistakable excitement.

His body instinctively leaned forward, eager to rush to her side.

Yet he stopped himself.

Since Addison hadn’t called him over, he hesitated, remaining rooted where he stood like an enormous, obedient cat waiting for permission from the one person whose words mattered to him.

A heartbeat later, his gaze shifted toward the figure seated at the very center of the chamber.

The Alpha King.

Remembering that this was his future father-in-law, Leon immediately broke into a broad, toothy grin that carried none of the arrogance everyone had assumed moments earlier.

It was open.

It was genuine.

And completely devoid of the restraint expected inside a royal court.

The Alpha King quietly observed the current Chieftain of the Tigren Clan.

Despite the suffocating pressure in the council chamber, the countless hostile stares directed at him, and the obvious displeasure from several ministers and Alphas, Leon showed not the slightest trace of offense or discomfort.

Instead, he simply stood there with an honest smile on his face.

That alone amused the Alpha King.

At the same time...

It piqued his curiosity.

This was supposedly the man who had once managed to outmaneuver even his exceptionally clever daughter.

The very thought made him inwardly chuckle.

Perhaps Addison had relied a little too heavily on the intelligence reports describing the Tigren Clan as straightforward, simple-minded warriors who only understood brute force. She probably never imagined Leon would throw her completely off balance by doing something so absurdly unexpected that no one would have seen it coming.

Sometimes...

The most unpredictable move was the one made without any scheme at all.

Now, standing before the entire Royal Council, Leon had unknowingly laid his true nature bare for everyone to see.

He was proud.

He was fierce.

He carried himself with the confidence of a predator who had never learned to lower his head.

But there wasn’t the slightest trace of malice in it.

Everything about him reflected the life he had lived.

A free warrior.

A chieftain raised beneath the endless skies instead of the palace ceilings.

A man who ruled through strength alone, untouched by etiquette, politics, or the endless web of hidden intentions that defined the royal life.

In many ways...

He was the complete opposite of the Alpha King.

For a fleeting moment, the Alpha King found himself feeling something he hadn’t expected.

Envy.

Leon never had to measure every word before speaking.

He never had to smile at people he wished would disappear.

He never had to tolerate enemies sitting across the same table simply because eliminating them would throw the kingdom into chaos.

If Leon encountered an enemy, he would simply tear them apart without a second thought.

The matter would end there.

The Alpha King couldn’t afford such a luxury.

Every noble family watched him.

Every minister scrutinized his decisions.

Every rival waited patiently for him to make a single mistake.

If he acted purely on instinct and slaughtered everyone plotting against him, the same people secretly sharpening their knives behind his back would immediately denounce him as a tyrant... a bloodthirsty madman unworthy of the throne.

Yet if Leon did the exact same thing...

Most would merely shrug and say,

”That’s just how the Tigrens are.”

Such was the difference between a king burdened by a crown...

And a chieftain who answered only to his own strength.

The Alpha King let out a quiet sigh before a faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

”Welcome to our kingdom, Son of Cosmos, King of all Tigrens, Chieftain Leon,” he said in a calm, dignified voice. ”Thank you for crossing such a great distance to reunite with my daughter.”

As he spoke those final words, his gaze drifted toward Addison.

A subtle, knowing smile appeared on his face as he gave her a meaningful look, one that carried the unmistakable hint of a father teasing his daughter.

Addison instantly understood the implication, but before she could react, the Alpha King had already turned his attention back to Leon.

Leon met the Alpha King’s gaze without the slightest hint of nervousness.

He simply gave a single, nonchalant nod.

To Leon, that was already a gesture of respect.

To everyone else...

It was almost blasphemous.

The council chamber fell into an eerie silence.

Several ministers frowned deeply.

The Alphas seated around the round table visibly darkened their expressions, veins bulging faintly on their temples as irritation surged through them.

Their ruling Alpha, the sovereign of the entire kingdom, had personally welcomed this outsider with courtesy befitting an honored guest.

Yet Leon couldn’t even be bothered to return the respect expected of someone standing before the throne.

To them, this wasn’t merely disrespect toward the Alpha King.

It was disrespect toward the kingdom itself.

Toward every Alpha seated in that chamber.

Toward every noble who had pledged their loyalty to the crown.

The more they looked at Leon’s relaxed expression, the more it grated on their nerves.

Some silently clenched their fists beneath the table.

Others narrowed their eyes, barely suppressing the urge to rebuke him on the spot.

Only the Alpha King remained perfectly composed.

Unlike everyone else, he understood exactly what was happening.

Leon wasn’t being insolent.

He simply didn’t know any better.

The young Chieftain had been raised in a world where sincerity was measured through actions, not ceremony, and where strength, not etiquette, determined a man’s worth.

To Leon, that single nod already carried every ounce of respect he was willing to give.

Unfortunately...

No one else in the council chamber saw it that way.

The Alpha King carried on as though nothing had happened, deliberately ignoring the grim, tight-lipped expressions worn by the ministers. elders and Alphas gathered around the round table. With a subtle wave of his hand, he instructed his Royal Assistant to prepare another chair for Leon.

After all, Leon had entered the palace as an honored guest, not a criminal standing trial before the court. There was no reason to leave him standing like a convict awaiting judgment. Leon might know next to nothing about royal etiquette or palace customs, but the Alpha King certainly did.

He refused to insult a man his daughter had personally brought into the kingdom.

It didn’t take long before a seat was placed beside Levi.

The arrangement wasn’t random. The Alpha King had thought it through. Seating Leon beside the only familiar faces in the room would help keep him at ease. The young man had already managed to offend nearly everyone present within moments of stepping into the palace, and if he realized just how openly hostile the ministers and Alphas were toward him, there was no telling how he would react.

Leon wasn’t the type to swallow insults with a smile. If he felt slighted, he might answer the disrespect with one of his own, or worse, retaliate without caring whose territory he was standing in. Considering the overwhelming power he possessed, that was a risk the Alpha King had no intention of taking.