Chapter 312 - A strange pull

Chapter 312: Chapter 312 - A strange pull

Dican woke feeling strangely good.

He remained in bed for a while, staring at the pale ceiling above him as his senses slowly returned. There was warmth around his body, something soft beneath his head, and the faint sound of the healers moving around the room. He flexed one hand beneath the blanket, then lifted his arm and stretched it experimentally.

There was no soreness. No heaviness either.

A smile slowly appeared on his face as he flexed his arm again. He felt full of energy, more than he had felt in a very long time. Even his body seemed lighter somehow, as though he’d slept for weeks rather than however long he’d been unconscious.

"Your Highness, you’re awake."

Dican glanced toward the healer who had hurried over and grinned at him. "I feel great."

The healer immediately began checking the floating readings beside his bed, but Dican wasn’t paying much attention. He stretched lazily, enjoying the strength in his body, and it was only then that he noticed something else.

His head felt clear.

Dican slowly lowered his arms.

That was strange.

For as long as he could remember, there had always been this faint fog hanging over his thoughts. He had never thought much about it because it had been there for so long that he’d simply gotten used to it.

But now there was nothing.

His mind felt fresh and open, every thought coming easily without that strange heaviness pressing against it.

Dican frowned and rubbed his forehead.

Why do I feel so good?

He couldn’t remember exactly what had happened before waking up. There were scattered pieces in his head, none of them clear enough to make sense of. He remembered feeling sick. He remembered being brought somewhere. After that, everything became confused.

There was one thing he could still feel, though.

Someone had hugged him.

Dican lay back against the pillow and pulled the blanket against his chest, closing his eyes as he tried to remember. The memory itself refused to come, but the feeling remained strangely vivid. He could remember a warm body against his own, a slim waist caught between his arms and wet skin sliding beneath his hands. Even now, thinking about it made an odd warmth spread through his chest.

Who was that?

His brows drew together.

Was it Bian?

Dican opened his eyes.

Right. Bian.

He was married to Bian.

For some reason, that realization came with another uncomfortable pause.

I’m married to Bian... right?

Of course he was. Dican knew that much. He knew Bian was his husband and that they had been together for years, yet when he tried to remember the wedding, his mind gave him almost nothing. He knew there had been one, but he couldn’t picture standing there with Bian. He couldn’t remember what either of them had worn or what Bian had looked like that day.

Dican frowned harder and tried thinking about their life afterward instead.

There were memories there, but they were hazy. Bian beside him. Bian speaking. Bian holding onto his arm. Rooms, meals and conversations that blurred into each other without anything standing out clearly. Five years should have left far more behind than this.

The more Dican tried to force the memories, the stranger he felt, so he finally stopped.

"How long have I been here?" he asked.

The healer looked up from the readings. "Two days, Your Highness."

"Two days?" Dican pushed himself upright in surprise. "I’ve been lying here for two days?"

"You needed the rest. Your condition was unstable when you were brought in."

Dican ran a hand through his pale blond hair. He didn’t remember that either, but considering how good he felt now, he wasn’t going to complain. "Did anything happen while I was asleep?"

The healer smiled. "Quite a lot, actually. The youngest prince has returned home."

Dican’s head snapped toward him.

"My little brother?"

"Yes. The Third Prince returned safely with General Xing."

Dican’s confusion disappeared beneath a sudden rush of happiness. "Xing Yu actually found him?"

The healer nodded, and Dican broke into a wide grin. He remembered that at least. Xing Yu had searched for years, stubbornly following every clue he could find even when others had long since stopped believing the missing prince would ever return.

"That bastard finally brought his mate back!" Dican laughed, tossing the blanket aside. "Where are they?"

"Your Highness, you shouldn’t get up so quickly."

Dican was already sitting on the edge of the bed.

"There is more," the healer added, clearly realizing there was no stopping him. "His Majesty has approved their marriage. The palace will begin preparing for the ceremony."

Dican stared at him before his grin became even wider.

"They’re getting married?"

"Yes."

"This is awesome."

He jumped to his feet before anyone could stop him. The healers immediately protested, but Dican stretched his arms above his head and turned toward them with an easy smile. "Look at me. I’m fine. Better than fine. You people did a great job."

"Your Highness, we still need to finish checking—"

"I’ll come back later."

Dican walked out before they could argue further.

He had every intention of finding Jian. There were so many things he wanted to know that he didn’t even know where to start. What did his little brother look like now? Did Jian remember him? How had Xing Yu found him? And how had the two of them somehow gone from being reunited to arranging a marriage so quickly?

He was halfway down the corridor when an odd sensation stirred inside his chest.

Dican slowed.

At first he thought it was simply his body reacting after two days in the healing chamber, but when he took another step forward, the sensation grew weaker. He stopped, confused, then glanced toward the corridor branching off to his right.

The feeling immediately returned.

It wasn’t pain. It felt more like a quiet pull somewhere deep inside him, so natural that his body seemed to understand it before his mind did.

Dican stared down the other hallway.

"What the..."

"Your Highness!"

The healers had followed him out.

Dican looked back at them. "I’m fine!"

"You still need to be examined."

"I said I’ll come back."

He took a few steps down the other corridor. The pull strengthened immediately, and his curiosity won. Dican waved at the healers with a grin before hurrying away.

"Don’t worry. I feel great!"

He followed the sensation through several sections of the palace. The farther he went, the easier it became to tell where it wanted him to go. Whenever he turned the wrong way, the strange warmth in his chest faded. Whenever he corrected himself, it returned.

Eventually, the distant sound of weapons clashing reached him.

Dican recognized the area immediately.

The royal training arena.

By the time he reached the upper level, he could already hear soldiers shouting below. He stepped onto the balcony and leaned against the railing, expecting to find the usual morning training session.

Instead, half the soldiers seemed to have stopped training entirely.

They had gathered around one section of the arena, laughing and cheering while some sort of match took place in the center.

Dican glanced down curiously.

A much shorter man stood among the Farian warriors.

Human.

That alone was enough to make Dican look twice, but then he noticed the weapon in the man’s hand.

A glowing blue blade.

Dican straightened.

"Is that..."

The Time Sword.

The weapon had been lost for so long that Dican had only ever seen old images of it. Yet there it was, glowing brightly in the hands of some short, black-haired human who looked completely comfortable holding it.

Before Dican could make sense of that, one of the Farian warriors lunged.

The human moved immediately.

He ducked beneath the swing and twisted aside, the Time Sword flashing blue as he knocked the warrior’s weapon away. His opponent was larger and stronger, but the human didn’t try to meet him with brute force. He stepped in close, caught him off balance and sent the much larger Farian crashing onto the training floor.

The surrounding soldiers erupted into cheers.

The human laughed and wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his wrist.

Another warrior challenged him almost immediately.

Dican found himself smiling as he watched.

The little human was good.

Not stronger than the Farians, but clever. He moved quickly and seemed to know exactly when to avoid a direct clash. The second warrior lasted longer, but eventually he went down too, earning another round of cheers from the soldiers around them.

Dican leaned farther against the railing, trying to get a better look at the man’s face.

For some reason, the strange pull that had brought him here had become much stronger.

His smile slowly faded.

Wait.

Was it coming from him?

Dican’s heartbeat quickened.

The match below ended, and the black-haired man lowered the glowing sword while the soldiers around him called out something Dican couldn’t hear from this height. He answered them with a grin, his chest rising and falling from exertion.

Then, without warning, he looked up.

Their eyes met.

Dican forgot about the sword.

He forgot about the soldiers and the noise below.

There was something familiar about that face.

For the briefest moment, a memory surfaced through the gaps in his mind. Earth. A different sky above him. Pain spreading through his body. Someone leaning over him.

Black hair.

Those eyes.

Then it was gone before Dican could catch it.

He gripped the railing and stared down at the man.

His gem had begun to warm between his brows, and the strange pull inside his chest suddenly made perfect sense. It wasn’t calling him toward the training arena.

It had been calling him toward this person.

Dican’s heart pounded harder.

Mate.