Chapter 18

Even though Galaspiael meticulously gave Kalena all the medicines, they did not seem to work. With each passing moment, her state was getting worse, as if she was being consumed from the inside by the fire, which cannot be extinguished.

Samin told Galaspiael that the girl would likely not survive the night. He offered to stay to keep him company, but the prince refused. He decided to watch over her without anyone's help.

He stayed awake all night listening to her shallow wheezing.

"Don't be afraid," he whispered when Kalena suddenly woke up and flinched.

"No…" Her pale lips barely moved. "I'm not afraid... thanks to you... I'm not afraid of anything."

These words hit straight in the heart. Galaspiael couldn't even look Kalena in the eyes.

"I didn't want to do that. If only Aymon wasn't there... I tried to make it less painful, but I know it's impossible."

"It's means nothing compared to all you've done for me." Kalena took his hand and sighed heavily. "I don't want to die now. So many things I haven't done. I would like to be present at your coronation and pass the exam to become the Scribe. When you'll take the throne, some interesting era will begin. I studied so long and finally I won't even take my exam... a pity."

"Don't say it!" The boy had no more strength to hold back tears. He cried like a small child. "You won't die! Not now! You will live, you will pass exams, and I will give you a place of honor at the coronation ceremony!"

"You know, I wanted to confess something for a long time." Kalena wiped the tears running down his cheek. "You are a wonderful man and you should never think otherwise. It doesn't matter if your ancestor is this monster or if you had someone worse in your family. You sacrificed so much to change my life, despite you didn't have to. You could have just made me your maid, and that would be a special grace. I am grateful for everything. I..." She coughed several times.

"Should I bring you water?" He asked, seeing that she was looking for a cup.

"If you can."

He had just left the room and an unprecedented chill swept over him. It was almost freezing in the house. Galaspiael stopped, feeling growing rage and terror rising in him. Gyeul, the ghostly king of the Forbidden Zone, appeared nearby. Clear and amazingly vivid for a ghost.

The boy immediately regretted leaving the shen behind. The weapon lay in his bedroom, he had to run to get it. However, he never thought that he would be attacked in his own home.

"Go away!" He ordered. In the hidden pocket of the trousers he had a tiny blade hidden, which was a miserable help, but at the moment he had nothing else. Galaspiael threw the knife at the figure, which faded into a streak of black smoke. Without hesitation, the prince reached the door of his bedroom. He walked inside and turned around. Gyeul was standing over him, holing his huge am-shen.

"Do you still think I don't exist?" He asked coldly. "When this girl dies, maybe you'll believe in me then?"

"She won't die!" The boy attacked. They both clashed, but it was pointless, the fight with the demon could not end well for a mortal. The wraith pushed Galaspiael away like a rag doll. He barely saved himself from breaking a few ribs. For a moment he saw only darkness before his eyes. Gyeul then pushed him again onto a thin sliding door that broke under pressure.

"How pathetic... my great-grandson fighting like a slave," hissed the ghost. His blade clicked crisscrossing with Galaspiael's shen's. "You are weak. It was even easier to take over you than this Madegaldian boy. I could pour into your heart hatred for this girl, I could even tell you to kill her. I control your whole life. Do you think you have something to say? You just have to suffer. Redeem my sins, that's what you exist for. I will take her and fill you with your pain."

"I have more to say than you think," Galaspiael said firmly. "I am the legitimate successor to the Kagolanian throne! Your times are over!"

"I imagine how much our dynasty's blood must have been spoiled, that finally a bastard like you was born. You don't understand anything. You are not even a substitute of the god you descended from."

Galaspiael froze in shock when he saw the damage they caused during the fight. He couldn't take it for long, he had to come up with something quickly.

The prince thought of Kalena, realizing that Gyeul would kill her if he wouldn't stop him. The anger took control of his thoughts. He released all his rage, no longer paying attention if he caused any wounds, he didn't care at all about the cleanliness of the blows. He just wanted to destroy and then something occurred.

Galaspiael reached out his free hand to Gyeul and closed his eyes. He didn't know if the idea would work, he didn't even believe that he would achieve anything, but Kaitan priests sometimes performed similar rituals and claimed to have results. He concentrated on pushing the ghost back into the Forbidden Zone.

"I order you to leave and never come back! You are not allowed in this house!"

It did not work. Gyeul was still there and quickly took advantage of this moment of inaction by knocking  Galaspiael down.

The boy tried again, this time putting in the incantation all his rage he felt right now. The room was filled with light, which focused on his hand and hit the wraith.

It didn't destroy the creature. But it hurt it badly. Unfortunately, it also cost the prince a lot of strength. He slumped to the floor, and his eyelids became so heavy that he couldn't fight exhaustion anymore.

*

He woke up next to Kalena.

She was alive, breathed calmly and the color returned to her face. She was sleeping as if nothing had happened. He began to doubt that he was fighting someone at all. It seemed that it was all a dream.

Galaspiael got up quietly and went to see the rest of the house. Everything was fine. The door without any scratches, all, furniture in its place, no signs of struggle, only greasy stains from a broken oil vial, and the floor full of spilled ink.

He looked at it and was sure that the fight happened. He touched his back. It didn't hurt as much as he expected.

Gyeul did not clean up in the prince's bedroom. The remains of the fight were still clearly visible there, the room was almost ruined. Kalena entered the room after her master and gasped.

"You didn't hear anything yesterday?" He asked seeing her reaction.

"Not at all," she admitted. "What happened here? I had to sleep deeply."

"You were weak," he admitted. "You better get back to bed and I'll clean up here. Try to get some sleep and then we'll have breakfast, okay?"

"I will help," she offered, but Galaspiael firmly refused.

"No. Just rest. You seem better, but you can't use all the strength you just regained. I will get it over with quickly."