Soulbound: Dual Cultivation-Chapter 53: Saving the Prince

The once lively air of celebration had turned into a fortress of dread.

Moments after Prince Darius collapsed, gasping and choking on the poison that ravaged his body.

With a single command, the palace guards were set into motion like a storm unleashed.

"Seal the palace," the King had said coldly, his voice like steel in ice. "No one enters. No one leaves."

Only Lira would be allowed to return in to the castle.

Immediately, heavy bronze doors groaned as they shut across every hallway. Steel bolts clicked into place. Guards flooded the vast royal halls, sweeping into rooms, checking behind every curtain, every corner.

Conversations had died. Servants clutched their trays tighter, nobles clung to their seats, and children were led away by concerned nurses.

The castle that had once glittered with warmth and laughter for the prince’s birthday now pulsed with suspicion and fear.

Torches flickered as patrols moved through the corridors. Elite knights of the Royal Guard stood shoulder to shoulder, posted at every door and exit. Even the sky above the palace grounds seemed darker.

The Queen sat beside her unconscious son, her hands trembling as she brushed strands of his damp hair away from his face. Tears streamed down her cheeks, smudging the powder on her face. "Not today... not my son, not on his birthday..."

"Find the one responsible," the King commanded the captain of the guard, his tone deadly calm. "We will interrogate everyone in this palace. No one is to leave until we find the coward that dared poison my bloodline."

Lucas, still kneeling beside Darius, said nothing. He kept his gaze fixed on the prince’s fading color. But inwardly, he knew the King’s paranoia was just beginning. If Darius died, there would be blood. Accusations. Executions.

The hall wasn’t just locked down with metal and spears, it was suffocating under the weight of fear.

15 minutes later....Lira stepped into the hall. In her arms, she clutched a tightly bound satchel of herbs and potion, exactly the items Lucas had asked for.

The guards accompanying her barely kept up, panting and wide-eyed, but she didn’t slow.

The grand nobles in the banquet hall, still gathered in a stunned hush around the prince’s unconscious form, turned as she entered, some in confusion, others in silent judgment.

Lucas turned the moment she stepped through. Their eyes met. In that instant, a silent exchange passed between them, urgent and clear.

Without waiting for formalities, Lira crossed the room swiftly, weaving between nobles and scattered tables until she reached him.

"I got everything," she breathed, handing over the satchel.

Lucas took it immediately, his eyes scanning the contents with practiced precision.

"You did well, Lira," he said quietly, but there was weight behind the words...Gratitude and trust.

Despite her racing heart, despite the dozens of highborn eyes falling on her like arrows, Lira stood steady beside him. And though she said nothing else, her presence alone calmed Lucas in a way no medicine could.

Lucas rose from beside the unconscious Prince and wiped his hands clean with the cloth Lira handed him. His mind remained razor-focused even as the atmosphere in the banquet hall shifted from dread to cautious relief. The poison had been halted, but Darius still teetered between stability and collapse. Time was still of the essence.

"Clear the table and place him gently on it." Lucas said sharply.

A few royal guards stepped in immediately, pushing aside platters of untouched food, goblets, and decorative trays. The heavy golden centerpiece clattered as it was pulled away. Two guards lifted Prince Darius’s limp body with Lucas’s guidance and gently laid him on the now-bare table.

"Careful," Lucas warned as they moved him. "Avoid disturbing the cuts on his arms and collar. His body is still purging the toxins."

The guards nodded, their earlier skepticism gone, replaced now with the kind of quiet respect one reserved for miracle-workers.

Lucas opened the bundle and swiftly examined each item, Verdant Lotus sap still sealed tight in its glass jar and the rest, all present.

"Help me mix them."

"Yes, Master," Lira said without hesitation, kneeling beside him as he set up.

Before the stunned eyes of the entire noble assembly, even the royal physicians themselves, Lucas and Lira worked in seamless synchrony. He crushed the Silver Ash bark into fine powder while Lira warmed the Bluefire resin over a soft flame. He added the powdered mushrooms next, and she poured in the Verdant Lotus sap, turning the mixture a glowing pale green.

It was alchemy in its rawest form, crude, fast, but efficient.

Then Lucas turned back to Darius.

He picked up the knife again and began carving a rune sequence on the prince’s chest. The blade moved smoothly in his hands, drawing intricate patterns along the skin just beneath the collarbone and over the heart. The nobles winced, unused to such a sight, but none dared interrupt.

When the last line was drawn, Lucas dipped his fingers into the glowing concoction and smeared it across the runes, murmuring an incantation low under his breath.

The room went silent. Suddenly, the runes glowed.

A soft, golden light pulsed from the prince’s chest, and then his skin began to shift. The pallor faded. The blue tint around his lips softened. The raggedness of his breathing eased. Color returned to his face, and his chest began to rise and fall in steady rhythm.

Gasps erupted around the hall. A noblewoman dropped her goblet. Someone even began to weep.

"The Gods... they’ve answered..."

"The prince is recovering..."

"The boy saved him..."

The Queen collapsed to her knees and pressed her hands to her face, tears of unfiltered relief running down her cheeks.

King Alden stood frozen, unable to speak for several heartbeats. Then he found his voice....low, shaken, but filled with solemn gratitude.

"Thank the heavens..." he said, barely louder than a whisper. "Thank the heavens for you, Xavier Alden."

Lucas wasn’t listening. His hands were still at work, pouring measured drops of another potion down the prince’s throat and carefully checking his pulse again.

Satisfied, he turned toward the king and said clearly, "The immediate danger has passed. He’ll need rest and more treatment, but he’s safe from death."

The hall erupted into thunderous applause.

Lords and nobles clapped, bowing their heads in admiration. Even the physicians, humbled and red-faced, nodded their heads slowly in reluctant respect.

Elder Gideon Alden and his wife stood not far from the royal family, watching with shining eyes. They hadn’t said a word during the entire ordeal, but their silence carried the weight of pride no words could match. This was their son.

Lira stood beside Lucas, quiet and steady. She had done more than assist, she had supported him like a partner through it all. Her presence was finally being noticed now, not as a servant, but as someone invaluable. And though she didn’t look around for admiration, the murmurs of respect reached her ears, and her heart swelled.

The king stepped forward, pausing just inches from Lucas.

"Xavier... My family owes you more than we can ever repay."

Lucas bowed slightly. "I only did what had to be done, Your Majesty."

But the king wasn’t finished. "The physicians will tend to him from here, under your command."

Lucas blinked.

"You will continue the treatment," the king said with firm finality. "I trust no other hand with my son’s life now. You’ve earned that right."

The queen stepped beside her husband. "We owe you our son’s life," she said, her voice still thick with emotion. "And the kingdom owes you its gratitude."

Lucas didn’t respond immediately. He simply glanced toward Lira, who stood a little to the side, her eyes locked on his. And in that moment, surrounded by nobles, drenched in blood, and with the applause of the court still echoing, Lucas realized he wasn’t in the shadows anymore. He had stepped into the light, and the whole kingdom had seen it.

______

Prince Darius had been moved gently to his chamber, his body still a bit pale, but his breathing more stable with every passing moment. The Queen herself walked beside the litter, never once letting go of his hand. Lucas and Lira followed close, and behind them, guards marched in perfect step.

The room was well-lit, and the finest of physicians stood ready, yet none approached unless Lucas permitted it. The Queen had made it clear: he was in charge of her son’s healing.

Once the prince was placed in his bed, Lucas moved quietly about the chamber. He adjusted the warming stones beneath the prince’s blanket, added a few more rune herbs to a steaming bowl by the bedside, and then knelt once more to check Darius’s pulse. Lira remained close behind him, silent and watchful, occasionally handing him vials and cloths with steady hands. The Queen sat nearby, her usually proud composure worn down by maternal fear. Her gaze never strayed far from her son.

After a long silence, she finally spoke, her voice low but rich with emotion. "You have saved him... for now."

Lucas nodded, not boastful. "He’ll recover. The worst has passed."

She exhaled deeply, some of the weight lifting from her chest, but not all. "How?" she asked, her eyes now fully on him. "How did you know what that poison was? How did you know what to do when the best physicians failed?"

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