It had already been a full day since Caelius fearlessly lashed out at the four nobles who had contributed the most to Soren's suffering back in the North.
The confrontation still lingered heavily in everyone's mind.
Among them, Cael had been the first to respond to Caelius' fury with his temper erupting before anyone could stop him. His anger had spoken not through words but through a harsh physical blow that landed squarely across Caelius' face.
Lyric had also been caught in that storm of accusations, standing silently as Caelius' rage spilled out like something that had been bottled up for far too long.
Now that the heat of that moment had faded, what remained was the echo of one particular question.
A question that refused to leave Lyric's thoughts.
"Why did you let Soren get close to you only to push him away again?"
The words had sounded simple at first yet the more Lyric remembered them, the heavier they felt.
Far heavier than he had expected.
Lyric sat quietly, staring at nothing in particular as the memory replayed itself again and again in his mind. No matter how much he tried to reason with himself, he could not deny the truth behind Caelius' anger.
He knew that Caelius had every right to say those words because it was true.
Lyric had done exactly that.
At the beginning, he had never liked Soren. To him, Soren had only been another commoner. Someone insignificant, someone who should have remained far away from the world of nobles and royalty. Lyric had judged him the same way many others did without giving him even the smallest chance.
Yet as time passed, something had changed.
Soren had proven himself to be different from the commoners Lyric had known before. There was something about him such as his quiet determination and the strange strength hidden behind his calm demeanor that slowly began to challenge Lyric's assumptions.
Without realizing it, Lyric had allowed Soren to get closer.
Closer than any commoner should have been.
For a brief moment, Lyric had allowed himself to see Soren not as a mere healer and a commoner but as someone worthy of acknowledgment only for it to never last.
Rumors whispered, Cael's shadow loomed and doubt gnawed at his chest until all he could feel was the sharp, bitter certainty that Soren was nothing more than an ambitious commoner, seducing the prince.
And in that instant, the fragile spark of recognition died, leaving behind a hollow ache that he could neither shake nor undo.
In the end, Lyric had convinced himself that Soren's kindness was nothing but a carefully crafted act to seduce the prince and climb the ladder of status through him.
And believing that had been easier.
Much easier than admitting that Lyric himself might have been wrong so he pushed Soren away.
Coldly and decisively as if everything that had happened before meant nothing at all.
Now, remembering Caelius' question, Lyric could no longer escape the bitter realization settling inside his chest.
Perhaps the one who had truly wronged Soren was not just Cael but him as well.
Meanwhile, while the others remained restless and anxious over Soren who was still unconscious and quietly resting, Alaric chose to do something different.
Instead of staying behind and waiting for Soren to wake, he left.
His steps led him toward the stone building where the men responsible for the attack were being held.
Alaric had not spoken much since the incident but his silence did not mean he had forgotten what he had seen. The moment Soren collapsed in front of them had been burned deeply into his mind. Alaric clearly remembered the large wound across Soren's chest before the young man finally lost consciousness.
It was impossible to miss.
Though the burns that covered Soren's body had already been treated by Caelius and Elias while he rested, that stab wound was a completely different matter. Burns could be explained by the fire but a blade driven into someone's chest meant intention.
It meant someone had deliberately tried to kill him and Alaric knew he was not the only one who had noticed.
Earlier, Kaine had reported everything to Gideon while explaining how he had captured the suspicious men who had been lurking nearby. After hearing the report, Gideon wasted no time informing the four nobles about the captured suspects.
More importantly, Gideon had made one thing very clear.
If Alaric truly wished to atone for everything they had done to Soren in the past, then this was his chance.
Justice needed to be served and those who had hurt Soren needed to be punished.
The investigation did not take long.
Caelius, who possessed a frighteningly sharp mind when it came to uncovering the truth, had quickly pieced together the situation. The attackers were not random criminals as they had first assumed.
They had been sent.
Sent by someone from a neighboring town.
Sent with the clear intention of getting rid of Soren.
The moment Alaric heard that conclusion, something inside him tightened. A strange anger rose in his chest before he could even understand why.
Why was he this furious?
Why did the thought of someone targeting Soren make his blood boil so much?
Alaric did not know the answer but the feeling remained heavy and uncomfortable.
After questioning the prisoners, Alaric and Gideon finally stepped out of the cold prison building. The thick iron door closed behind them with a dull, echoing clang, leaving the groans of the injured men trapped inside.
One of the captured attackers was still suffering from severe burns caused by the fire during the chaos of the previous day. Caelius had healed them just enough to keep them alive and conscious for interrogation but he had made no effort to completely restore their condition.
Especially not for the man who had stabbed Soren.
That man still lay on the prison floor with one of his eyes badly injured and untreated. Caelius had deliberately left it that way with his anger still burning after learning what the man had done.
As the two men walked away from the prison, Gideon finally spoke.
"You definitely know that this much won't mean you've already atoned for what you did, don't you, Your Grace?"