Chapter 117 A KINGDOMS DILLEMMA
“I remember.”
That wasn’t entirely true.
He remembered the meeting.
The tension.
The unease crawling under his skin.
But after that… fragments. Shadows.
Nothing clear.
The physician stepped forward. “Your pulse was unstable. Your body showed signs of… strain. Unusual strain different from the one I had first detected.”
Kaelion glanced at him. “Strain from what?”
The man hesitated.
“That is what we are trying to understand.”
Silence settled again.
Kaelion leaned back slightly, his gaze drifting past them, unfocused for a moment. The same cold feeling from the night before lingered faintly in his chest.
Unfinished.
Watching.
He exhaled quietly.
“I’m fine,” he said at last.
The King did not look convinced.
Before he could respond, a soft knock came from the door.
All heads turned.
A servant stepped in, bowing deeply.
“Your Majesty… a message from Queen Consort Celine.”
Kaelion’s eyes shifted slightly.
Of course.
King Adrian gestured. “Speak.”
“She sends her concern for his majesty’s health,” the servant said respectfully. “And inquires after the Crown Prince’s condition.”
Concern.
Kaelion almost smiled.
He said nothing, but something in his gaze hardened, just slightly.
Because he understood.
This was not concern.
Celine was not asking out of care.
She was checking.
The servant stepped forward again, holding a small, sealed container.
“She has also sent this,” he added. “A medicinal preparation. She requests that it be given to the Crown Prince to aid his recovery.”
The room stirred slightly.
All eyes turned to the physician.
He took the container, opening it carefully. The faint scent of crushed herbs rose into the air. He inspected it with practiced precision—checking texture, color, even tasting a small portion.
Everyone watched.
Waiting.
After a moment, he nodded.
“It is clean,” he said. “High quality. Strengthening herbs.”
The tension eased.
The King gave a short nod. “Then give it to him.”
The physician prepared the dose and handed it to Kaelion.
For a moment, Kaelion simply looked at it.
Then he took it.
Drank.
Set the cup aside.
“Rest,” the King said firmly. “That is not a request.”
Kaelion met his gaze, then nodded once.
“I understand.”
Satisfied—at least enough for now—the King and his ministers began to leave. The physician lingered a moment longer before following them out.
The door closed and silence returned.
Kaelion did not move immediately.
He waited.
Counted the fading footsteps until they were gone completely.
Only then did he reach for the edge of the bed and slowly stand.
The weight in his body was still there—but lighter now. Manageable.
His gaze shifted to the empty cup beside him.
For a long moment, he stared at it.
Then, without a word, he picked it up and walked to the window.
With a single motion—
He threw its contents out.
The liquid scattered into the air and vanished into the gardens below.
Kaelion set the empty cup aside.
His expression did not change.
“Not today,” he murmured.
Trust was a luxury he could not afford.
Not with her.
He moved toward the door.
Slowly at first, testing his strength.
Then with more certainty.
He reached for the handle and opened it.
Two guards stood outside.
King’s men.
Not his.
They straightened immediately.
“Your Highness,” one of them said, bowing slightly. “You are not permitted to leave your chambers.”
Kaelion studied them quietly.
“Not permitted,” he repeated.
“The King’s orders,” the second guard added.
There was no hostility in their voices.
Only duty.
That made it harder to argue.
Kaelion’s jaw tightened slightly.
“I am not a prisoner.”
“No, Your Highness,” the first guard replied carefully. “But you are not well.”
A pause.
Then, more gently, “Please do not make this difficult.”
Kaelion held their gaze for a long second.
Then another.
Measuring.
Thinking.
He could force his way past them.
Even in this state.
But that would raise questions.
And right now—
He needed silence more than he needed movement.
“…Fine,” he said at last.
He stepped back.
The door closed.
They brought him food not long after.
Warm.
Carefully prepared.
Always watched.
Kaelion ate enough to keep up appearances, but his mind was elsewhere—moving through fragments, piecing together what he did not yet fully understand.
Something was wrong.
Not just with the kingdom.
With him.
And somewhere beneath that—
Celine.
Her timing.
Her sudden concern.
Her “help.”
It all fit too neatly.
Too conveniently.
He leaned back slightly, his gaze drifting toward the window again.
The sky had begun to darken.
Another day slipping away.
Another day lost.
\---
But beyond the palace walls, the kingdom was unraveling.
Slowly.
Villages at the borders continued to fall—one after another, each attack as precise and merciless as the last. Messengers rode day and night, carrying reports that grew darker with every telling.
But fear did not spread as truth.
Some soilders and people who lived outside the city walls whispered of curses.
Others spoke of Queen Athalia's Ghost.
A few claimed it was punishment from her for crowning an unknown stranger.
No one spoke the truth because no one knew it.
In the outer villages and markets, people argued and children were kept close at dawn.
In the temples, they prayed.
At the outer villages, soldiers died protecting the people.
And in the shadows between it all, he moved freely as they keep mistaking him as the crown prince.
kaelions doubleganger made sure no one was able to escape and report seeing him in Arrandelle.
\---
While back in his palace chamber, the real Kaelion closed his eyes.
But even in the darkness behind his eyelids—
He could feel it.
Closer now.
Like a reflection just out of reach.
His fingers curled slightly at his side.
“…I won’t sit here and wait,” he whispered from his dream unsure of what he was saying.
But this time,there was no hesitation in his voice. It was like his half was speaking through him
But filled with only quiet resolve.
The next day, a report reached the palace before noon.
A servant, pale and shaken, was the one who brought it.
Kaelion had been lying still, forcing his body to recover, when his door opened.
“Your Highness…” the servant’s voice broke. “There has been another attack.”
Kaelion’s eyes snapped open.
He was already sitting up before the man could finish.
“Speak.”
“They found another this morning. A whole settlement…” The servant swallowed hard. “No blood. Not a drop. Their bodies...” he hesitated, as if the words themselves refused to be spoken, “same way, as if they looked… emptied.”
Kaelion was on his feet.
Too fast.
Too sudden.
The room spun for a brief second, but he steadied himself against the bedpost.
“Where?”
“The same direction as the last attack, Your Highness. Moving inward.”
That was all he needed to hear.
Kaelion did not wait.
The palace corridors blurred as he walked.
Servants moved out of his way. Guards straightened, startled by the force in his steps. No one tried to stop him this time.
Something had changed.
They could feel it.