Fair and square

"But do you think that such a strategy would work?" Zinbad asked.

"What do you mean?" Vlad asked.

"I mean, anyone who's looking at you will know that you are ruling this place with an iron fist. And when you do something like that, you are bound to have many enemies. Both from the outside and the inside. You're getting what I'm saying, right?" He asked back.

"You're saying that I am bound to get stabbed in the back, right?" Vlad mumbled.

"Precisely." Zinbad nodded his head.

"It's not like I don't know that, you know? But sometimes, you just gotta roll with it and take some risks. If they are gonna betray me, let them. I'll take the fall and let them go down with me." Vlad chuckled.

"This. You are so contradicting at times. Like, I don't even know what I'm trying to say." Zinbad cried.

"Then that would make you contradicting, right?" Vlad asked.

"I mean, yea…" Zinbad mumbled.