[His responding expression - grim and unhappy, not subtle in the slightest - is probably answer enough before he verbalizes it. There's resolution and strength as well, but he can't deny his own worries.]

No one else could do it. This ring… it kills people. Doesn't matter how good or heroic they might be, all that matters to the souls inside are what counts as worthy. Or whose blood you have. Only the line of Lucis can wear it.

[He thinks of Nyx, who did so much to save Insomnia, protected Luna, fought tooth and nail for a country that all but abandoned his homeland, for a king who looked selfish while thinking of what the world needed. He'd done so much and the ring still stole his life when it was all over. The unfairness of it is wretched.]

Luna carried it for me until she got here, and I know it hurt her. I won't let that happen to anyone else.