Soulbound: Dual Cultivation-Chapter 55: Troubled Mind

Lucas remained rooted in place even as the Pulse Seer’s footsteps faded behind him. He stared blankly ahead, jaw clenched, hands buried in the sleeves of his robe. A thin sheen of sweat had begun to gather at the nape of his neck, and despite the cool air in the palace hall, he could feel heat building beneath his collar.

A trap.

No, worse than a trap, a threat.

And he hadn’t seen it coming.

The King turned from where he had been speaking in hushed urgency with one of his commanders and glanced over at Lucas.

"Xavier," he said, his voice carrying the weight of a ruler trying to remain composed, "you look pale."

Lucas blinked and shifted, forcing the taut muscles in his body to loosen, just slightly. "It’s... nothing, Your Majesty," he replied, forcing a calmness he didn’t feel. "The fatigue’s catching up to me, I suppose."

The King gave a slow nod. "Understandable. You’ve done more than enough tonight. You’ve earned our deepest thanks."

He turned to a nearby servant and gestured with two fingers. "Take him to one of the guest chambers in the west wing. Ensure it’s quiet. Let him rest."

The servant bowed and motioned for Lucas to follow. Lucas inclined his head in respect to the King and turned, his heart pounding as he walked away.

Rest?

There would be no rest for him tonight.

He didn’t need a bed or a warm bath. He needed a way to outmaneuver the one woman in the entire palace who now held the strings to his truth. She hadn’t outed him, not yet. But she knew. She saw him. And that knowing smile still burned in his memory like a brand on his soul.

His secret was no longer his alone.

As he and the servant neared the archway leading to the quieter halls of the palace, a familiar voice called out softly behind him.

"Xavier."

He paused and turned.

Princess Nyx was approaching, she smiled faintly, though her eyes were searching his face.

"I was hoping to catch you before you disappeared," she said.

Lucas offered a respectful bow, his mind still spiraling with unease. "Princess."

She moved closer, just enough to speak quietly. "You saved my brother," she said, her voice gentler now. "I didn’t expect that from you. None of us did. But I’m... grateful."

Lucas gave a tight nod. "It wasn’t for him," he said plainly, before realizing how cold the words sounded. "I mean... I wasn’t doing it for him, but I wasn’t going to let him die, either. Not when I could stop it."

Nyx studied him for a moment, her expression unreadable. "Even if he’s treated you like dirt?"

Lucas didn’t reply. There was no point. She already knew the answer.

"You’re not who you were a few months ago," she said finally, her gaze narrowing slightly. "That much is clear."

Lucas didn’t confirm or deny it. He just said, "People change."

Nyx smiled faintly but tilted her head. "Something’s bothering you."

Lucas stiffened, only for a second, but she caught it. She always had sharp eyes.

"You look like someone who just saw a ghost," she added, stepping beside him now, walking slowly with him down the corridor as the servant kept a respectable distance ahead. "And you’re sweating... more than you should be."

"I just need rest," Lucas muttered.

"Liar," she said softly, not accusingly, but more as an observation. "You can lie better than that."

Lucas exhaled slowly and gave a hollow chuckle. "You really don’t know how to drop a subject, do you?"

She smiled again, amused. "Not when it concerns someone I find... curious."

He glanced at her, his mind still clouded, still calculating, still trying to piece together his next move.

"You’re strong, Xavier," Nyx said. "But strength won’t help you if you’re distracted."

Lucas looked away. "It’s nothing that concerns you."

She nodded, but her eyes lingered on him as he walked. She didn’t press further. Not now. But her silence wasn’t the kind that let things go, it was the silence of someone who knew they would revisit the conversation when the time was right.

Lucas sighed inwardly. Now wasn’t the time to unravel the thoughts clawing through his mind.

He walked on.

Nyx fell behind after a few more steps, and when he glanced back, she only offered him a faint, knowing look before turning toward another corridor.

Whatever she was thinking... he didn’t want to know. Not yet.

And so he followed the servant to his assigned room. But no matter how soft the sheets or how thick the curtains...Lucas knew there’d be no sleep that night.

The servant showed him to the chamber and left afterwards. Lucas sat alone in the guest chamber, lavishly furnished, with velvet-lined walls, a polished stone floor, and the scent of incense still clinging to the curtains from whatever priest or noble had stayed here last. Yet despite the comfort, he couldn’t rest.

His body reclined against the bedpost, legs stretched out before him, eyes half-shut but wide awake.

His thoughts were a storm.

Could the Pulse Seer have a hand in the poisoning?

He replayed everything in his head again. Her presence. The cold pressure he’d felt when she looked at him. The whisper..."I see you."

Her words hadn’t just been a threat. They were a warning.

He wasn’t naïve. That woman hadn’t merely sensed something off about him...no, she had peeled past his outer shell and seen the truth, the secret he’d buried deep. Somehow, she had seen him.

But now a worse thought gnawed at his gut.

What if she truly had something to do with the poison?

The possibility made his blood run colder.

Because if she did, then she had no intention of staying in the shadows. It meant this was only the beginning, and that her knowing his secret was just another piece of leverage.

But...Lucas’s brow furrowed.

If she didn’t have a hand in the poisoning... if she was simply a highly skilled cultivator with an affinity for spirit perception, and she just happened to see into him... then he was overreacting. Perhaps they could even talk. Reason. Come to a quiet understanding.

But if she did...

He clenched his fists on his knees. Then he leaned forward, elbows resting on them, rubbing his temples.

The headache from overthinking was real. He hadn’t rested in days. He’d pushed his body through intense cultivation, saved a prince from death, and now... he was dancing a dangerous line with a mysterious woman who could destroy everything with a single word.

Knock. Knock.

His heart jumped slightly.

He stiffened. A soft, deliberate knock. Not hurried. Not timid.

His first thought was Lira. Maybe she had come to check on him.

He stood and walked to the door, brushing his hand over his robe to smooth the fabric. He opened it.

It was not Lira.

A palace servant stood there, back straight, eyes lowered in formality. A girl, maybe seventeen. Dressed in the livery of the palace.

Lucas’s expression darkened slightly, but he masked it well.

The servant bowed. "Sir Xavier... the Seer has requested your presence."

Lucas froze...There it was...Just as he’d feared.

The words struck like a cold blade under his ribs, not for what they meant, but for how calmly they were delivered. The Seer wasn’t summoning him in fury or urgency. No, it was a request. A quiet one.

And that somehow made it more chilling.

"She awaits in the scrying hall," the servant added.

Lucas nodded slowly, suppressing the whirlpool of emotion beneath his expression.

"Lead the way," he said, his voice neutral.

The servant led Lucas and he soon stepped into the scrying hall.

At the center of the chamber was a low pedestal made of black stone, and atop it rested a circular basin filled with a shimmering silver liquid, still and perfectly calm.

Behind the pedestal, the Pulse Seer sat.

She was completely still, her face half-lit by the strange blue glow of the torches. Her eyes were closed, but Lucas could tell she was not asleep. Her breathing was deep, measured, deliberate. A thick, dark veil draped around her shoulders like a cloak, giving her the eerie appearance of someone both present and absent.

She didn’t speak.

Lucas didn’t say a word either. He simply stood there, hands behind his back, his eyes fixed on her. He wouldn’t be the first to break the silence.

Minutes passed but she still didn’t move.

Lucas felt heaviness pressing on his chest. Not fear exactly, but pressure. He clenched his jaw and remained steady.

Still, the Seer didn’t acknowledge him.

Lucas didn’t care. He had come. He would wait. He would watch. And when she finally decided to speak... he would be ready.

After what felt like an eternity, the Seer finally moved.

Her eyes opened slowly, piercing, unsettling, like they had seen far too much. Without a word, she rose from her seat, her every motion fluid and graceful. Lucas’s heart beat faster, not from fear, but from a mounting unease. He hadn’t realized how tightly he’d been gripping his hands behind his back until his knuckles began to ache.

She stepped toward him.

Up close, her presence was overwhelming. She didn’t blink as she looked into his eyes, there was something inhuman about her stillness. "Come," she said softly, her voice calm and low. "Follow me."

Lucas hesitated. Every instinct in him screamed not to. But he was already too deep in this. If she had summoned him, there was a reason, and refusing wouldn’t do him any good. So he followed her.

They walked in silence through the dimly lit corridor that led away from the scrying hall and deeper into the palace’s older wing. Eventually, they reached a carved wooden door marked by runes. She opened it without hesitation and stepped inside.

Lucas entered behind her.

It was a quiet chamber, elegant, lined with glowing crystals and incense that filled the air with a sharp, herbal scent. There was something almost hypnotic about the way the room pulsed with low energy.

Then, without saying a word, she turned her back to him and unfastened the heavy robe she wore.

Lucas froze. He hadn’t expected that. He hadn’t expected any of this.

What he saw next made him forget the air in his lungs. Her form, graceful, composed, striking, stood tall under the soft light of the chamber. Everything about her seemed perfectly calculated, like a vision from a dream sculpted with purpose. She was beautiful, yes...but beyond that, there was power in the way she carried herself, in her stillness, in her control.

Lucas didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He wasn’t sure what this was yet.

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