The Grand Duke's Soulmate-Chapter 560: The Choice He Dreads

"Kyreeennn!!!"

Anna’s scream tore through the forest as everything unfolded.

Snow erupted upward in a large burst, blending with a storm of flying leaves, sticks, and debris torn loose by the collapse.

Splinters and chunks of frozen earth lay scattered on the ground, filling the air with the sharp scent of crushed wood and the damp, earthy smell of disturbed soil.

The shockwave spread out forcefully in mere seconds. Adam lost his footing instantly, crashing into the snow with a grunt.

For a moment, the debris cloud hung thick in the air, leaves spiralling, and snow mist swirling, completely shrouding everything.

The massive fallen trunk lay hidden beneath the haze. Brone lifted an arm and turned his head to shield his face from the spray of snow and flying shards of bark.

Meanwhile, Anna’s eyes were blown wide, tears streaming unchecked, spilling faster than she could breathe. She and Derek stood far enough from the crash to escape the impact, but the shock struck her all the same.

Her legs locked beneath her, frozen. Sensing no need to restrain her anymore, Derek released his grip. The princess collapsed onto the snow, her knees giving way as the world seemed to tilt and blur around her.

Anna didn’t move at first. Her mind went blank and hollow.

Did Kyren... just die? Crushed beneath that tree?

No. That couldn’t be.

She could still feel it—that pull inside her chest... that quiet certainty that he was still there, breathing, and fighting to reach her. He couldn’t have vanished just like that.

With trembling limbs, the princess clawed her way across the snow towards the ash tree. Her voice, cracked and barely a whisper at first, grew louder with desperation.

"Kyren... Kyren!"

Anna’s cries pierced through the settling haze of dust and snow.

She pushed aside branches with her hands, indifferent to the sharp sticks that scraped her skin. Pain and blood meant nothing. All she wanted was to reach him and to free him from the oppressive burden.

But the upper half of the tree was enormous, its massive branches blocking her entire view. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t even glimpse his silhouette beneath it.

"K-Kyren? Kyren! Where are you?!" she cried again.

Only the creaking of strained branches and shifting snow answered her.

Then, laughter came.

A low, delighted, cruel laugh.

Brone emerged through the thinning haze, brushing a leaf off his shoulder, his monstrous dark limb flexing with grotesque pride.

"Awwww..." he crooned, lips curling. "Dead already? I didn’t even get to enjoy it."

Derek approached and stood beside him, shoulders squared, with smugness etched deeply. Wisps of dark smoke still lazily curled from his fingertips—remnants of the spell he had cast into Brone.

"Hmph. A clean hit," the mage boasted, chest swelling. "Power well spent. You did great, my friend."

Brone snorted, grinning.

"I was hoping for a bit more entertainment," he sighed with mock disappointment. "But oh, well... at least we saved some strength."

"Use it wisely for whatever comes next," Derek replied. "I’ve exhausted my share. What remains for me is only my youth."

The mage held up his hand, studying the smooth, unwrinkled skin with a quiet pride. That particular luxury of preserved youth was something he intended to keep for himself.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the fallen ash tree, Adam stirred.

His eyelids fluttered open as Anna’s frantic cries pounded in his ears. His head buzzed from the impact, his vision wavering as he struggled to steady himself.

The admiral braced his hands against the snow to rise, but a sharp, tearing agony ripped through his thigh.

"Urgh!" Adam sucked in a breath and glanced down.

"D*mn it..." he hissed as he saw the sight.

A thick shard of splintered bark jutted clean through his right thigh, stabbing from one side to the other. It must have struck him when the ash tree collapsed. The moment he shifted, fresh blood welled out, staining the ground beneath him.

He froze. One wrong movement and he could lose the leg entirely. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

But pain or not, his eyes swept the chaos, searching desperately for Kyren.

And then, he saw him...

On the other side, Anna’s voice rang out again, breaking in raw desperation.

"Kyren! Kyren, where are you? Answer me!"

Adam forced his lips to deliver the message.

"Here, Lady Raychard! He’s here! Under the trunk!"

As the princess heard the admiral’s voice, she pushed her way through the leaves and branches.

They snapped and fell to the ground, while the ones still clinging to the tree rustled as she shoved past. She emerged from the thick foliage dishevelled, twigs tangled in her hair and small pricks marking her skin.

Anna’s eyes landed on Adam first instead of Kyren, and she rushed toward him.

"Where is he?" she demanded, then she noticed the deep gash on the admiral’s thigh. "Oh, God! You’re hurt!"

"Don’t worry about me. His Highness is there. Go," Adam urged, tilting his chin towards the tree.

Anna turned, and her heart nearly stopped. Kyren lay pinned beneath the fallen trunk. Instead of crushing him, two massive branches of the ash tree had struck the snow first, wedging themselves beneath the trunk like crude supports.

"Kyren!!" she screamed, sprinting toward him.

Dropping to her knees, she grabbed his shoulders and tried to move him, but his body remained limp.

Terror surged through her. What if she had been wrong? What if Kyren had died beneath the tree? The thought constricted her chest until she could barely breathe.

"Check his breathing!" Adam shouted.

He knew she was too panicked to think clearly—an understandable reaction, given the situation.

His voice jolted Anna back to herself. She forced her trembling hands to steady, pushing down her fear long enough to assess him properly. Her instinct whispered ’no’ and insisted that the grand duke was still alive.

The princess placed a finger beneath the grand duke’s nostrils. A faint breath brushed her skin—weak, but steady. Relief washed through her at once; her rigid shoulders sagged as the panic loosened its grip.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the fallen ash tree, Brone and Derek heard the commotion. The Bargesian leader barely reacted, unconcerned that Anna had wandered off. To him, the battle was already won.

Derek, as always, was less dismissive.

"Are you just going to let her roam like that?" the mage asked.

"Didn’t you hear her? She’s screeching for the grand duke," Brone replied, as if commenting on a mildly amusing scene. "She’s not going anywhere. I’d wager he’s already flattened under that trunk."

"Still... It’s a risk letting her run around on her own," Derek insisted. "The other knight is still loose."

"If I can subdue the grand duke, do you think that useless knight could possibly do anything to me?" Brone scoffed. "Besides, the princess is slow and frail. Her blood is the only thing that’s worth anything. Even if she ran, I could catch her in a heartbeat."

Derek’s gaze sharpened. "Overconfidence kills, Brone. You never know when something you overlooked will come back to bite you."

The Bargesian leader’s eyes narrowed at the mage, displeasure flickering across his face, as if Derek’s warning questioned his strength despite their quick victory.

"Tchk! Fine! I’ll go get her," he snapped, stomping forward.

"Good. Bring her quickly. We need to leave," Derek ordered.

Brone vaulted over the massive trunk and peered down to the other side. There, he spotted Adam on the ground, clutching his injured leg, while Anna frantically struggled to rouse Kyren, still trapped beneath the fallen tree.

A low groan escaped the grand duke as his consciousness returned. Tears of relief streamed down the princess’s cheeks the moment she heard his voice.

"Oh, Kyren! Thank goodness!" she cried.

The grand duke lifted his gaze, his unfocused eyes searching for her. Relief softened his expression when he found her face. He reached out, and Anna grasped his trembling hand firmly.

"Anna... I was so worried about you. Are you all right?" he asked, despite being the one in dire condition.

Anna nodded rapidly. "I’m all right!"

Kyren’s unsteady hand drifted toward her swollen belly.

"The baby... our son... is he safe? Neither of you is hurt, right?"

She shook her head, struggling to contain another swell of tears.

"We’re fine, Kyren. Truly."

Kyren exhaled deeply, only for realisation to hit him.

"Adam... what about him?"

"Still thriving, Your Highness! Just a scratch," Adam called out from where he sat.

Anna shifted aside so Kyren could see the admiral. The moment the grand duke caught sight of Adam, he immediately understood why the man hadn’t come to his aid.

"I was supposed to warn His Highness about the Bargesians’ magic," the admiral muttered to himself, frustrated. "But it seems I only got in the way and made things worse."

"It’s all right, Admiral James," Anna reassured him. She turned back to her husband and asked, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, I’m fine... just stuck," he replied with a faint, wistful smile.

The remark eased the princess’s worry.

"I need to get out of here," Kyren murmured and tried to move.

He strained, pushing himself against the snow with his trembling muscles. Anna grabbed his arms to help.

However, as he did, the branches supporting the trunk groaned ominously.

"Your Highness, don’t move!" Adam shouted. "Those branches will snap if you do. If they break, the trunk will crush you!"

"D*mn it!" the grand duke hissed.

Adam was right. Kyren could feel the unstable branches shuddering dangerously. He was trapped in a small gap between the trunk and the ground. Any sudden movement might be deadly for him.

"Oh, no... what do we do now?" Anna cried, alarmed.

"We need help. But I can’t walk..." Adam said through clenched teeth, devastated.

"Oouf! Why are you so hard to kill? Were you a cat in your past life?" Brone’s voice jeered, sounding more annoyed than impressed from high above.

Anna jerked upright and spun toward him. The Bargesian leader stood atop the fallen trunk, sneering down at them.

"You imbecile! I won’t forgive you for what you’ve done!" she shouted, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

"You still have the nerve to bark at me?" Brone scoffed. "Insolent brat. If not for what you carry, I’d have snapped your neck already."

Anna balled her fists, teeth grinding.

"You know nothing about me!"

Then she turned to Kyren, and he immediately felt the pull on his mana.

"What are you doing, Anna?" he asked, alarmed.

"Channel your mana to me, Kyren! Let me face them!"

"No! You’ll endanger yourself and our child!" he shouted.

"There is no other way!"

"Enough of this drivel!" the Bargesian leader snapped. "I’m ending this now."

"What are you doing, Brone?" Derek’s voice echoed from the other side. "I told you to bring the princess, not waste time!"

"I’m not wasting time!" Brone snarled. "The grand duke took my arm before. Now he’ll repay me with his head! We leave once I’m done!"

"Tchk!" Derek folded his arms and rolled his eyes.

But Brone was Brone—arrogant and pride-blind. There was no stopping him from getting what he wanted, as he was the kind who relied more on brawn than his brain.

"No!" Anna yelled. She turned to Kyren again, shaking in desperation. "Give me the power, Kyren! I’m begging you!"

"I can’t!" Kyren’s voice cracked. "I will not gamble your life or our son’s!"

Brone raised his arms. Dark energy began to swirl around them. His right limb warped, splitting open as dark magic writhed beneath the surface of his skin.

Plates of chitin surged outward, twisting into a massive, grotesque scorpion-like pincer, serrated and gleaming. Black smoke curled in coils as power surged through it.

The princess rose, shielding Kyren from view. She knew the Bargesian leader intended harm to her husband.

Adam’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"By the God..." His mouth agape as he saw the bizarre transformation of their foe.

Panic seized Anna instantly.

"Kyren! Please! Please give it to me! He’ll kill you!"

"I can’t, Anna..." the grand duke trembled, torn apart by agony.

Jessy’s warning echoed in his mind—the mana’s backlash could cause a miscarriage. Anna’s already fragile body wouldn’t withstand the strain, not for the third time.

His tears slipped free. If only he could move... If only he weren’t trapped...

"Kyren..." Anna sobbed, dropping to her knees. "If you die, there will be no world left for our child or me to live in. Please... I need you."

Then, Kyren saw the new, monstrous shape Brone’s arm had contorted into. His breath faltered, dread knotting in his chest. The grand duke shut his eyes in sinking despair.

At that moment... Brone lunged.

"Hraaaargh!"