A Moment of Quiet
The roaring chaos of the coup was finally fading, replaced by the grim business of securing the Aurekawa Citadel. Narakka was defeated, his commanders captured, and Captain Torvin was quickly rallying the loyalists and coordinating the counter-attack against the scattered rebel forces.
Hayate and Neshuda, leaving the defeated Narakka secured on the rooftop, returned to the dusty, quiet infirmary. They were running on fumes, sustained only by the final, desperate surge of the Curse of Reflection's power.
They found Henudra, the treacherous former advisor, still chained to the iron bed, watching their return with cold, calculating eyes.
Hayate staggered, leaning heavily on Neshuda. Neshuda's exhaustion was profound, and through the curse, Hayate felt every ache and drain. They were two shattered souls held together by an unbreakable spiritual thread.
"The King and his Life Anchor return," Henudra drawled, a smug, irritating smirk on his face. "You won the battle, but you cannot win the peace. The kingdom is broken. You should have let me lead Narakka. At least he offered stability."
Hayate ignored the treasonous words, moving toward the uninjured side of the bed. "You will stand trial for treason, Henudra," Hayate said, his voice ringing with quiet authority. "But for now, I need to know one thing: Why? Why risk everything for Narakka? Why betray my father and me?"
Henudra's eyes darted to Neshuda. "Because the King is a fool," he sneered. "He chose the wrong person as his shield. He is cursed. The kingdom cannot be ruled by a boy who shares the pain of a stray! Your father sealed the Seal and died a martyr. You cling to this filth. The kingdom needs a King of justice, not a King of love."
Neshuda took a menacing step toward the bed, his dark eyes flashing with fury. "Watch your words, traitor."
Hayate stopped him with a firm touch on the arm, channeling his charisma to calm his Anchor.
"You're wrong, Henudra," Hayate stated calmly. "My father died of sorrow because he sealed his own Life Anchor away. I learned that the curse saved the kingdom, it didn't kill it. And as for Narakka—I chose to trust my bond, and my bond saved the kingdom. Now, you will tell us everything you know about the Seal Ritual."
Henudra, defeated and chained, finally relented, giving Hayate the details about the final, catastrophic ritual planned by the Hidden Clan Leader's remaining followers.
The True Bond
After securing Henudra with two loyal guards sent by Captain Torvin, Hayate and Neshuda returned to the silence of the infirmary. The door was closed. They were finally alone.
Hayate didn't look at Neshuda. He moved to the small, cracked window and looked out at the smoke rising from the Citadel walls.
"Thank you, Neshuda," Hayate whispered, his voice catching. "You saved me. Again. You endured the exhaustion, the fear, and the splitting up—all for me."
Neshuda moved quietly, standing close behind the King, becoming his shadow again. He didn't speak; he just stood, his proximity a silent vow of absolute loyalty.
"I felt it, Neshuda," Hayate continued, his voice barely audible. "When Narakka swung the axe, you felt the absolute abandonment—the failure to shield me. And that pain, that spiritual agony, was worse than the broken ribs. It was worse than the summoner's attack. It was the absolute worst thing I have ever felt."
Hayate finally turned, his eyes wet with tears.
"The curse is supposed to kill me if you suffer too much, Neshuda," Hayate said, his voice cracking. "But when you felt that despair and abandonment, it wasn't my body that broke; it was yours. I felt your heart crack. And I realized the curse works both ways. My suffering is killing you, too."
This was the truth Hayate had been suppressing since he read the archives—the fear that his own love and existence was a threat to his Anchor.
"I know, Hayate," Neshuda replied, his voice rough and low. He reached out, his calloused hands gently cupping Hayate's tear-stained face. He didn't wipe the tears; he simply held the King's gaze.
"I knew the moment you fell sick after the first journey," Neshuda confessed, his dark eyes filled with painful, honest love. "You were getting sick because I was depressed. You fell apart when I felt betrayal. Your pain is tied to my failures, Hayate. I hate the curse because it makes me hurt you."
He gently lowered his hands to Hayate's shoulders, his touch firm. "But I can't stop choosing you. I am your Life Anchor. If you break, the Seal fails. If you choose to die, the world dies. My whole purpose is you, King. And you are worth every bit of the pain."
Hayate leaned into Neshuda's touch, his own hands reaching up to grasp Neshuda's wrists. This was the moment of complete, unburdened truth.
"I tried to push you away," Hayate whispered, the confession tearing out of him. "I tried to hate you when the curse first started, because I was afraid of this exact moment. I was afraid of the truth I learned in the archives—that I deeply like and love you, and that love could be used against the kingdom. I was afraid that if I admitted it, the kingdom would call me weak, and they would demand I choose someone else."
Hayate pushed his chest against Neshuda's, a desperate, silent plea. "I never stopped choosing you, Neshuda. I was just afraid of what it meant for the crown. I was afraid of what it meant for us."
The Unspoken Vow
Neshuda didn't need words. He pulled Hayate close, wrapping his strong arms around the King's slight, trembling frame. It wasn't a comforting hug; it was a desperate, fierce embrace of possession and absolute loyalty. He held the weight of the King, the crown, and the entire kingdom in his arms.
"Let them talk, Hayate," Neshuda murmured into the King's hair, holding him tighter. "Let the traitors talk. I don't care if they call you weak. The entire kingdom just watched you defeat a powerful summoner and crush a military coup with nothing but a sword and a spiritual bond. That is not weakness. That is destiny."
Neshuda pulled back slightly, looking down at Hayate, his face now completely stripped of its usual secretive veneer. The intensity of his gaze was a vow.
"I am a stray, Hayate. I have nothing but this sword and my oath. You are the only person who has ever looked at me and seen something more than a weapon," Neshuda confessed. "The curse forced me to endure your kindness, your pure-hearted will, and your love. And that love made me stronger than any curse, any ghoul, or any traitor."
He lifted Hayate's chin, his thumb brushing gently across the King's lower lip. "So, stop being afraid. Let me stand by you again. As your shield, your Guardian, and whatever else the kingdom decides to call me. I will not fail you again."
Hayate closed his eyes, leaning his head against Neshuda's forehead, accepting the truth of their intertwined fates.
"Then it's settled," Hayate whispered, a small, genuine smile finally reaching his eyes. "We face the world and the Seal Ritual together. My pain is yours. Your destiny is mine."
The Curse of Reflection pulsed gently between them, no longer a weapon of torment, but a binding thread of shared love and resolve.
The War for the Soul
Hayate finally pulled away, his posture straightening. The moment of softness was over; the business of ruling had to resume.
"Henudra gave us the final piece," Hayate announced, his voice regaining its regal authority. "The Seal Ritual is not just about a final ghoul attack. It is about a final, massive political effort to break the Seal using the pure despair of the remaining royalists. They plan to target the spiritual center of the city."
Neshuda immediately snapped into Guardian mode, the new shared emotional stability making him sharper, faster. "We must move the Seal or find a way to fortify it. They will use the chaos of the coup's aftermath."
"No," Hayate said, shaking his head grimly. "The Seal cannot be moved. It's tied to the Angelic bloodline and the land itself. We have to go to the Final Shrine—the place where my father performed the original ritual. And we have to finish what he started."
Hayate looked at Neshuda, his expression darkening with the memory of the archive's final, hidden truth.
"The ritual requires a complete sacrifice, Neshuda," Hayate admitted. "To save the world, someone must take the entire curse—all the pain, all the shame, all the despair of the kingdom—fully into their soul, and seal it with their life."
Neshuda's eyes narrowed, his resolve hardening to steel. "Then we prepare for the ritual, my King. If it is my life that is needed for the Seal to be whole, then my life is yours. I will take the curse."
"We will not decide that now," Hayate insisted, grasping Neshuda's hand firmly. "We face the final battle first. We secure the Citadel, we heal the kingdom, and then we decide who makes the final sacrifice. Until then, you are my shield, and I am your King."
They left the infirmary, two men utterly changed—physically exhausted, emotionally exposed, but spiritually unbreakable. The kingdom was broken, but their destiny, their Twin Fates, was finally whole.