The Substitute Healer (BL)-Chapter 108: How do you feel, Duke?”

Even if that meant opposing his own brother.

Soren, after being brought from the North to the capital, was not kept within the palace walls for long. Instead, under strict secrecy, he was transported once more and this time far to the South, to a secluded village hidden deep within lands personally owned by the Crown Prince.

And only few even knew the place existed.

There, surrounded by quiet hills and distant from political eyes, stood a private villa reserved only for the Crown Prince’s most confidential affairs. It was peaceful... isolated and unreachable unless one knew precisely where to look.

That was where Soren was taken.

He remained unconscious when he arrived, just as he had been for days. Currently, the healers could not even give a clear explanation. His condition was stable, his breathing was steady, yet he did not wake. No wound alone could explain it and no poison could be confirmed.

It was as though he just... refused to wake up and Caelum did not understand it.

But he would not allow neglect.

Despite Soren’s unresponsive state, the villa was prepared as though hosting a noble guest of the highest standing. Every comfort was arranged without hesitation. There was a personal cook was assigned solely to prepare meals suited for recovery, a butler oversaw the household’s operations, servants maintained the grounds in perfect order and healers were rotated carefully to ensure constant supervision.

Nothing was lacking.

Nothing would be allowed to be lacking.

Even Elias, the one who had remained by Soren’s side through everything was granted permission to stay in the villa. Not as a guest under watch, but as someone entrusted to remain close and Caelum also had seen enough in the reports to understand one simple truth.

If Soren were to wake up, Elias would probably be the one he would look for first.

And so, Elias stayed.

The villa became not a place of confinement... but a sanctuary.

Or at least, that was what Caelum wanted it to be.

Because beneath every order he gave, beneath every careful arrangement and beneath the silence of his authority... there lingered something far heavier than strategy.

Guilt.

For everything Cael had done, for everything he himself had failed to notice and for everything he still did not understand...

This, protecting Soren while hiding him and ensuring his safety was the only thing Caelum could do now.

The only way he knew how to offer something resembling atonement.

Not for himself but on his brother’s behalf.

Until the truth revealed itself, until Soren opened his eyes and until Caelum finally understood what darkness had taken root within his own blood,

Soren would remain hidden.

Safe and untouchable.

To the point that even if the one searching for him... was the king himself.

Meanwhile, back in the North, the tension that had once gripped the land slowly faded into relief.

The mission had been declared a complete success since the beasts were gone, truly gone.

Not just driven away, not merely scattered, but suppressed so thoroughly that even the faintest trace of their mana had vanished. It was as if they had never been there at all.

With nothing left to guard against, the encampment was dismantled. Tents were folded, supplies were gathered, and the temporary settlement that had once stood firm against danger was stripped down to empty ground.

Then the knights returned to the Northern fortress victorious with their spirits lighter than they had been in weeks.

Laughter echoed through the halls, ale flowed freely and conversations grew louder as exhaustion gave way to celebration. In two days, they would finally return to the capital, and that thought alone filled many of them with excitement.

The campaign was over, finally and they had survived.

They had won but Lyric could not bring himself to celebrate.

While everyone else welcomed relief, something inside him only felt heavier. The noise around him felt distant and irritating. None of it could even quiet the unease gnawing at the back of his mind.

That’s because he didn’t know if Soren was alive. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

After everything had ended, after the battlefield had settled into silence, Lyric had searched for him. He followed what little trail he could find, driven more by instinct than certainty but what he found at the end of that trail... only made things worse.

What waited him was only dead bodies that are too many to count at a glance yet Soren wasn’t among them.

His body wasn’t there after all so there’s no proof that he’s dead.

And that absence should have been reassuring, it should have meant hope and survival but instead... it unsettled him.

His heart wanted to believe Soren had escaped, that someone had taken him, that he had somehow survived and gotten away from the slaughter but his mind refused to rest on that thought alone.

Even if Soren had escaped... where would he go?

Lyric knew how vulnerable Soren was when it comes to danger. Even if he survived that moment, what then? How far could he have gone? Who would help him? Who would even know he needed help?

The questions wouldn’t stop.

"Ugh..."

Lyric groaned and lifted his mug, draining the ale in one long swallow before slamming it down harder than necessary. The burn in his throat did nothing to ease the restlessness in his chest.

Across from him, Sylas watched quietly.

’Damn it...’ Sylas cursed silently with irritation tightening in his chest as he watched Lyric. Seeing how frustrated he was and realizing that neither of them could even speak properly about it only made the tension worse.

"Fuck..." Lyric, on the other hand, didn’t bother holding it in. He cursed openly and took another aggressive swig of ale while gripping the mug like it had personally wronged him.

Elsewhere, Alaric and Cael stood on the rooftop while gazing out over the vast northern landscape stretching endlessly before them.

"We’ll finally be home two days from now. How do you feel, Duke?" Cael asked with unreadable expression.

But while he spoke, his thoughts were elsewhere, quietly turning over the same question again and again.

Where should he search for Soren next?

Unbeknownst to him, Alaric stood beside him with the very same thought lingering in his mind.