Chapter 323 - The real culprit?

Chapter 323: Chapter 323 - The real culprit?

The results took less than an hour, but to Dican it felt much longer.

He remained inside the healing wing the entire time, unable to convince himself to leave even when the healers assured him they would call as soon as the comparison was complete. Sitting was impossible. Every time he tried, his leg started bouncing beneath the table until he eventually stood again and resumed pacing.

He kept telling himself there could still be another explanation. Grandpa Rue might have remembered the color of his eyes incorrectly. The substance in his blood might have nothing to do with the ancient case he’d discovered. Five years was a long time, and there were countless reasons memories could become fragmented.

But no matter how many explanations Dican came up with, he kept returning to the same facts.

Purple eyes. Missing memories. Grayling poison.

And Bian.

"Your Highness."

Dican turned so quickly that the head healer stopped several steps away.

"Well?"

The healer’s serious expression made his stomach drop before the man even answered.

"We found a match."

Dican stared at him.

The healer activated a transparent projection showing the unidentified substance extracted from Dican’s blood beside several archived Grayling compounds.

"It isn’t identical to any substance currently documented in our medical records, so I can’t tell you precisely what it is. However, its biological structure is unmistakably Grayling in origin."

Dican didn’t respond immediately.

He had prepared himself for this possibility all the way from the library, but hearing it confirmed was different. The final excuse he’d been holding on to disappeared so suddenly that he felt almost light-headed.

"So there was Grayling material in my blood."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"How did it get there?"

"That cannot be determined from the sample alone."

Dican’s hands had started trembling again. He curled them into fists before the healer could notice.

"Could someone have been giving it to me?"

The healer hesitated. "Repeated exposure would explain the traces we found."

"For how long?"

"We can’t determine that."

"Could it have been years?"

Another pause.

"Yes."

Dican looked away.

His heartbeat thudded painfully against his ribs as the words from the ancient record returned to him. Obsessive attachment. Dependence. Aggression toward perceived threats. Memory fragmentation. Purple discoloration of the eyes.

His grandfather had seen those eyes.

There was Grayling material in his blood.

And almost five years of his life had become a haze he could barely penetrate.

Dican placed one hand against the examination table because he suddenly needed something solid beneath his fingers.

"Is it still affecting me?"

"The concentration remaining in your blood is extremely low. Your recent treatment appears to have cleared much of it, although we don’t understand the substance well enough to guarantee there are no lingering effects."

That answer should have relieved him.

Instead, Dican felt sick.

If the poison was disappearing, then the person standing here now was presumably closer to who he really was. The disgust he’d felt when Bian tried to kiss him, the discomfort whenever Bian touched him, the complete absence of the overwhelming love everyone insisted he’d once felt—were those his real feelings?

He didn’t know anymore.

He didn’t even know which parts of himself he could trust.

"No one hears about this," Dican said eventually.

The healer bowed. "Of course, Your Highness."

Dican left before the strain on his face became impossible to hide.

The walk back to his chambers passed in a blur. Servants and soldiers bowed to him along the way, but Dican barely noticed. Several times he almost changed direction and went looking for Celaus or his father. He wanted someone to tell him what to do, which was ridiculous considering he wasn’t a child anymore.

But this was his life.

His marriage.

Five years that he might have spent under someone else’s control.

He needed proof before he dragged his family into it.

By the time Dican reached his chambers, he had managed to force his breathing back to normal. He straightened his shoulders, opened the doors and immediately stopped.

Bian was waiting inside.

His husband had clearly spent time preparing for his return. A flowing golden outfit wrapped around his slender body, the expensive fabric shimmering beneath the light, while his soft hair had been arranged with delicate ornaments.

Dican knew he should have found him beautiful.

Perhaps once he had.

That thought alone made his stomach tighten.

Bian’s face brightened the instant he saw him.

"Husband!"

He hurried across the room and threw his arms around Dican.

Every muscle in Dican’s body tensed.

The instinct to step away was so strong that he nearly obeyed it, but the healer’s confirmation was still ringing in his ears. If Bian had done something to him, confronting him now would only warn him.

So Dican forced himself to remain still.

Slowly, he lifted his arms and hugged Bian back.

Bian relaxed against him almost immediately.

"I missed you."

Dican stared over his shoulder, his heart pounding hard enough that he was afraid Bian might feel it through their bodies.

Was it you?

The question came so naturally now that it frightened him.

Were you the one putting that thing inside me?

He had slept beside this person. Trusted him. Apparently loved him enough to turn against his own family.

And yet Dican couldn’t remember how that love had begun.

Bian finally pulled back. His eyes were already red, and he wiped carefully beneath one of them before looking up at Dican.

"I saw Grandpa Rue."

Dican’s attention sharpened.

"He hates me now." Bian’s voice trembled. "He wouldn’t even let me hug him. Jian stood in front of him and pushed me away as though I was going to hurt him."

Dican said nothing.

"I don’t know what Jian told him while they were alone. Grandpa never treated me like that before. Jian must have poisoned his mind against me."

The choice of words almost made Dican’s expression change.

Poisoned his mind.

Grandpa Rue hadn’t needed Jian to tell him anything. The old man had remembered what happened perfectly well.

Still, Dican forced himself to remain gentle and placed his hands on Bian’s shoulders.

"Don’t cry."

Bian looked up immediately.

Dican awkwardly patted his shoulder. It wasn’t much, but after days of Dican pulling away from every attempt at affection, it seemed to be enough. Bian’s face softened with obvious relief.

"I knew you’d understand."

He leaned into Dican again, resting his forehead against his chest. Dican tolerated it, although every part of him remained painfully aware of the man in his arms.

Then he noticed Bian’s hand moving.

At first there was nothing unusual about it. Bian merely slipped his fingers between the folds of his golden clothes as though adjusting the fabric.

Then he drew out a tiny container.

Dican’s heartbeat stumbled.

He didn’t move.

He barely breathed.

Bian’s fingers had only begun to open it when a loud knock struck the chamber doors.

Bian jerked in surprise and immediately slipped the container back into his clothes.

Dican saw it.

He was certain this time.

Before he could react, the doors opened and two royal guards hurried inside.

"Your Highness."

Dican forced himself to look away from Bian. "What happened?"

The leading guard bowed. "Forgive the intrusion. We were conducting a security search following the attack on the royal transport. During the search, we discovered prohibited Grayling material inside the palace."

For a moment, Dican thought the man meant Bian.

His pulse surged.

"Where?"

The guard hesitated.

"Where did you find it?"

"In Nansich’s chambers, Your Highness."

Dican stared at him.

"What?"

"A container was concealed among his belongings. Preliminary examination confirms that it contains Grayling sap."