Chapter 105: A curse

Roiner

The harsh stench of blood and cold antiseptic hung heavy in the narrow hallway of Team Fang’s cabin. Roiner stood rigidly against the wooden wall, his crimson eyes reflecting the flickering torchlight as the heavy door to the back room groaned open.

A senior medical physician stepped out, his pale coat splattered with dark, drying blood. He looked exhausted, his shoulders bowed beneath a crushing weight of defeat as he pulled off his stained gloves.

"We have tried our best," the doctor said, his voice trembling as he addressed everyone in the corridor. "We have pieced the parts of the princes body together... but I still fear he will not make it to midnight."

Inside that room, behind closed doors, close to ten elite surgeons and healers were frantically scrambling, barking hurried incantations and moving with panic in a futile effort to anchor the prince’s shattered body to the mortal realm.

Outside in the hall, the atmosphere was suffocating. Malric’s brothers stood in grim silence. Theo was swathed in thick bandages across his ribs and chest, his face pale and bruised. Vance stood beside him, his right arm pinned firmly in a heavy splint and wrapped in white gauze. Keali stood slightly apart from them, leaning quietly against the doorframe, his milky eyes fixed blankly on the floor, looking as though he had already detached himself entirely from the waking world.

Roiner exhaled a slow, cold breath through his nose. His chest tightening with a faint, detached displeasure, not out of genuine grief for the arrogant boy, but because he knew what kind of political firestorm Malric’s death would unleash upon the academy.

"You must do your best to save him," Roiner instructed, his voice dropping into a smooth, velvety baritone that carried absolute authority. "We don’t have an option here."

The doctor swallowed hard and nodded, quickly disappearing back into the chaotic make shift surgical theater.

Minutes bled into hours. The wait in the hallway became an agonizing eternity. Nurses rushed back and forth across the wooden floorboards, their arms laden with fresh linens, empty medical kits, and heavy basins filled with dark, sluggish blood that had been drained from the dying prince.

Just let the boy liv3 goddess and and spare us all the paperwork, Roiner thought shifting his weight.

Suddenly, a loud, frantic commotion erupted from the front sitting room. The heavy main door banged open against the wall, followed by hurried footsteps and sharp voices.

Roiner’s eyes snapped toward the end of the hallway. A cold spike of dread pierced his chest, and an immediate, fervent prayer echoed through his mind:. Please don’t... please don’t... please don’t.

A split second later, the sharp, immaculate face of the Queen came rushing into view, flanked by her mates.

Roiner closed his eyes for a brief fraction of a second, letting out an internal sigh. Of course. This is going to be an extremely, excruciatingly long night.

"Malric!" the Queen shrieked, her voice cracking with panic as she stormed into the hall. "Where is he?! Is he in there?!"

Theo and Vance immediately stepped forward, their faces crumbling at the sight of their mother. Vance and Theo rushed to her, wrapping their arms around her shoulders.

"Mom..." Theo choked out, burying his face near her collar.

The Queen clutched them tightly, though her eyes were darting wildly toward the closed door of Malric’s room. "Is he out yet?! Tell me he’s out!"

"He’s not out yet," Vance muttered, his voice breaking. "The doctors are doing the best they can."

Right behind the Queen strode King Alaric, h pushed past his weeping wife and sons, his sharp eyes instantly locking onto the vampire Headmaster leaning against the wall.

"They better be," King Alaric barked, his voice vibrating with imperial fury. He stepped right up to Roiner, towering over him. "Roiner... how did this happen under your watch? How could you have let things get this far out of control?"

Roiner didn’t flinch. He didn’t blink. He simply looked straight into the King’s enraged eyes, letting the crushing weight of his aura press back against the monarch’s arrogance. With calculated slowness, Roiner offered a formal, shallow bow.

"Your Majesty," Roiner replied smoothly, his tone ice-cold. "There was not much I could do. The situation escalated beyond expectation, and everything unraveled too quickly."

"Roiner, it is your fundamental job to keep the to make sure everyone is safe!" the King roared, his patience snapping.

Before Roiner could offer another chilling retort, Vance pulled away from his mother, his eyes blazing with venom as he glared at the Headmaster. "I bet he wanted this to happen! He and Malric never got along! He let that monster enter the competition just to harm us!"

The Queen whipped her head around, her expression twisting in sharp confusion and offense. "What on earth is that supposed to mean?!"

In the quiet depths of his mind, Roiner let out a dry, humorless scoff. Oh, yes... a long, long day indeed.

"It is not Roiner’s fault, father," a quiet, steady voice broke through the tension.

Everyone turned. Keali had pushed himself off the doorframe, stepping slowly across the wooden floor to stand directly before his parents.

A sharp, violent flicker of irritation glittered deep within the Queen’s eyes the moment her fourth son spoke. She didn’t look at him with maternal concern; she looked at him with a cold, undisguised loathing.

"It is not Roiner’s fault," Keali repeated, his milky eyes staring blankly at the King. "This is simply the work of the dark arts. If things were normal, Malric should have naturally healed himself from every single wound he sustained from Jax—or whoever that entity was pretending to be him. As you can see, my brothers are injured, aswell... but none of them are healing now, either. Their bodies are completely stalled. It means—"

"A curse," a calm, resonant voice echoed.

Everyone snapped their heads around as Omen stepped into the hallway, her bright green eyes scanning the crowded room with absolute gravity.

"A curse has probably been placed on all of them," Omen stated firmly, walking past the guards. "We have to break it immediately if we are going to have any chance whatsoever of saving Malric’s life."

The Queen let out a harsh, dripping scoff, rolling her eyes with disdain as she looked Keali up and down. "Well... you seem perfectly okay, my dearest Keali."

The subtext hung in the stale air like a poisoned dart, venomous and sharp. Every person in the room with half a brain understood the true translation of the Queen’s words: It should have been you.