Kael stared into the dark beyond the rain-slick window, his heart steady — but heavy in a way that felt permanent.
His brothers weren't waiting.
They were already sharpening knives and picking out curtains for the throne room.
Above the bed, Yue drifted lazily like smoke with opinions.
Half-shadow, half moonlight, entirely smug.
"Humans are fascinating," she mused.
"Your father still breathes, technically…
Yet his sons already circle the throne like vultures."
Kael didn't answer right away.
He exhaled slowly, eyes still on the storm outside.
The silence in the room thickened, rain ticking against the glass like a slow, steady countdown.
Selene shifted beside him, her fingers tugging at her sleeve — a rare crack in her always-controlled exterior.
Kael noticed.
"Speak freely," he murmured.
She hesitated, then met his gaze, her voice quiet but clear.
"There are rumors. Unconfirmed, but persistent.
Your father… was wounded.
Badly. During the last clash at the northern front.
Some say… he hasn't woken up since."
Kael blinked.
Once.
"…What?"
His head turned sharply toward Yue, who raised an eyebrow as if already bracing for his inevitable demand.
"Track Renold," Kael said, tone clipped.
"I want every piece of truth you can dig out of the bastard."
Yue floated lower, her smirk fading into something colder.
"I'll try.
But I can't stray far from the sword yet — tether issues.
Spiritual roaming fees. You know how it is."
He gave her a look.
She rolled her eyes.
"Fine. I'll do what I can."
With a shimmer of pale light and bad attitude, she vanished — like someone exiting a party she wasn't invited to.
Kael turned back to Selene, dragging his focus through the static buzzing in his mind.
"Isn't there anyone?" he asked.
"A Rank 3 mage, a commander — hell, a pissed-off librarian with a grudge — someone we can pull to our side?"
Selene bit her lip, thinking.
Outside, thunder grumbled like an old drunk woken from sleep.
And Kael, wrapped in bandages, conspiracies, and the looming civil war, tried not to laugh.
Because of course his father might be in a coma.
And of course the only allies he could count on were a possibly-cursed blade, a sarcastic ghost, and the woman he accidentally bought at an auction.
This was fine.
Everything was fine.
Then Selene looked up, voice softer than before.
"There is one…"
Kael leaned forward, careful not to wince.
That tone rarely led to good news — but always to interesting news.
She hesitated, then exhaled.
"…The Divine General."
Kael blinked.
His brow furrowed.
The name scratched at something buried in the attic of his memory — a story overheard through closed doors, half-remembered and heavily whispered.
"I've heard that name before," he murmured.
"But… who is he really?"
Selene tensed slightly — the kind of tension people get when they're about to dig up a body someone definitely meant to stay buried.
"He was…" she paused, as if choosing the least dramatic version of the truth.
"He is one of the most powerful magicians the kingdom has ever known.
Officially Rank 3… but they say he was close.
Really close.
To breaking into Rank 4."
Kael blinked.
"Rank 4?"
Selene nodded.
"Even the king feared him. Not because he was cruel — but because he didn't need to be.
His presence shifted power just by existing.
He was your father's elder brother."
Kael stilled.
"…I had an uncle?"
"Apparently."
He stared at her.
"And I never met him… because?"
Selene looked away, as if the curtains might protect her from the answer.
"Your father… was jealous. Terrified, even.
The Divine General was loved by the court, by the army, by the people.
There were whispers that the king once considered giving him the duchy instead."
Kael's voice turned to ice.
"But he didn't."
"No," Selene said.
"Because one night, the General disappeared.
No body. No note.
Just… gone."
Kael snorted quietly.
"Let me guess.
A hunting accident involving twelve witnesses who all forgot what they saw?"
"Something like that. After that night, your father was named Duke."
Outside, thunder rumbled like a bitter old man clearing his throat.
Rain slammed harder against the stone, like it too had opinions on family politics.
Kael's eyes darkened — not with shock, but with the grim resignation of someone adding another knife to the collection in his back.
Then, Yue drifted into view like a hangover made of moonlight.
Her voice, for once, held no snark.
"It's true," she said quietly.
Kael turned toward her, the weight in her tone pulling his focus like a gravity well.
"Today's battle at the northern front," Yue said, voice quieter now,
"The Astanian incursion — your father was at the center of it.
They repelled the enemy… but he was gravely wounded."
Kael's breath caught in his throat.
"There's a ceasefire now," Selene added softly.
"Temporary. The front has gone quiet — for now. But the cost was steep."
Yue hovered lower, tone unusually serious.
"He'll be brought back to the estate tomorrow.
Renold left moments ago to personally escort him."
Kael exhaled slowly.
A long, weighted breath — as if it could push back the tide of consequences marching toward him.
"So…" he murmured, mostly to himself, "it's happening."
Selene looked up, frowning.
"What is?"
Kael didn't answer.
Not yet.
Instead, he offered a crooked smirk — one part deflection, one part dread.
"So… is the Divine General actually alive?"
Selene blinked.
Her voice dropped.
"There've been rumors for years. Whispers in noble houses.
That your father didn't kill him… just locked him away.
Deep underground. Somewhere beneath this estate."
Kael's smirk faded.
His gaze shifted to Yue, sharp and demanding.
"Can you check?"
Yue's eyes narrowed.
Her arms folded like storm clouds gathering.
"What am I, your personal maid now?"
Kael blinked, unbothered.
Then without ceremony, he slumped back into the bed, groaning, and flung an arm over his face with the theatrical grace of a dying heir.
"Please," he muttered,
"Just this once. Final favor. I swear."
Selene looked between them, bewildered — clearly wondering who, exactly, he was talking to now.
Yue didn't budge.
"You are a deeply insufferable creature," she said, deadpan.
"Love you too," Kael mumbled under his arm.
Yue sighed, the long-suffering sigh of a spectral being who had once walked among gods — and was now being used to check for basement relatives.
"Fine," she muttered.
"But if I find rats, I'm stuffing them in your boots."
"Deal."
And with a flicker of silver light and sheer disdain, she vanished — leaving behind only silence, the sound of rain, and Kael's quiet, stubborn grin.
###
Author's Note:
Just a heads-up — Yue can only be seen and heard by Kael (for now).
So whenever they have a conversation, please just assume Kael is zoning out or muttering under his breath like a lunatic.
It's a pain to write "he said mentally" every time, and honestly, Kael dissociating mid-crisis feels thematically accurate.
Thanks for reading! 😌