The Grand Duke's Soulmate-Chapter 579: The one who can cast

"What is it?" Kyren looked up sharply, the knight’s reaction capturing his attention. Rafe, Elis, and Mary also turned to him, curiosity clear in their expressions.

"Her Highness Princess Elisabeth is Prince Kiev’s soulmate," Eric said excitedly. "And he adorned her hair with Snowdrops before leaving for Dracor. That’s how the soulmate ritual is performed! She can initiate the magic herself!"

"I can?" Elis asked, blinking in surprise. "But... I don’t have any magical abilities."

"You said it yourself," Eric continued as he turned to her. "Lady Raychard’s father was able to find her mother because they were bound as soulmates through the ritual. He was an Ardelian with no magical attributes like you. Yet he was still able to chant the spell."

Elis fell silent, thinking. Then her eyes widened, her face brightening with sudden realisation.

"I remember now! You’re right! He used soulmate magic to reclaim her... and Kiev mentioned that Lady Raychard’s father discovered the secret through his own ingenuity."

Anticipation crept into her voice. "Then we still have a chance! The only question is... how?"

Kyren rose so abruptly that his chair scraped the floor. His heart pounded, not merely at the prospect of a solution, but at the sudden, aching hope that there might finally be a way back to Anna, whom he had missed so deeply.

"Do you have any idea, Eric?" he asked urgently, his voice tight, almost pleading. "Please, give it some thought. You’re good at this."

"Let me think..." The second-in-command knight’s expression hardened as he concentrated.

"How does someone with no magical ability perform such a spell?" he muttered. "How...? Soulmate magic... soulmate magic..."

Eric repeated the words under his breath, pacing slowly as though circling an unseen answer. Then he stopped, his eyes widened.

"Love!" he said suddenly. "That’s what truly binds soulmates together!"

Everyone looked at him in surprise. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"This is never about magic alone," Eric continued, his voice growing firm. "It’s about the bond... love strong enough to cross distance, barriers, even fate itself. That’s what it has always been. It couldn’t be anything else!"

"Then... the spell?" the princess consort asked, still puzzled.

"It’s the desire to reconnect," Eric replied. "To reclaim the lost love, the yearning must exist. Only then will the magic respond."

"Are you sure?" asked Rafe hesitantly, having been listening instead of speaking.

"Yes. I have observed how His Highness Prince Kiev begins his spells. Whenever he casts one, he always utters the incantation that signals the magic’s intent. Cast it by saying aloud the intent and the soulmate magic guide us to where His Highness Prince Kiev is!" the knight explained.

"You’re right! Spells are initiated by incantation!" Kyren exclaimed. "How did I not see that?"

His lips twitched into a smile, his eyes lit up, and colour came back to his face as the gloom finally lifted.

Kiev would have stayed on the island where he took Anna. Thus, this soulmate magic would definitely bring him and Elis to them.

"But, how does that allow His Highness the Grand Duke to pass the barrier and accompany Elis? I don’t understand..." said the healer, still confused.

Eric smiled again.

"The barrier reacts collectively," he said. "It doesn’t just prevent His Highness the Grand Duke from passing, it blocks the knights, too, since we stood with him and were dutifully responsible for protecting Lady Raychard."

Kyren frowned. "Then how does that change anything?"

"Because we won’t be crossing it by our own will," the knight replied. "When soulmate magic is cast, we are drawn as part of the entourage of the caster, not as those seeking passage."

The Grand Duke’s jaw tightened.

"And you’re saying the barrier will allow that?"

Eric nodded.

"It must. The barrier is formed by a broken oath. It has no defence against a spell meant to reconcile. Therefore, it can’t stop a path created for reunion."

The knight’s gaze settled on Elis as he spoke with barely contained excitement.

"With soulmate magic, you can reunite our Grand Duke and Lady Raychard."

"Oh, my!" Elis exclaimed, her eyes alight.

If she could do even this much to restore Kyren’s happiness, she would, since she owed him more than she could ever repay.

"If that’s true..." Kyren’s breath caught, his eyes shining with emotion. "Then I can reunite with Anna—"

"Yes! I’ll be more than happy to do this, Your Highness!" said Elis to Kyren, sharing the same happiness.

Kyren’s face brightened with eager anticipation at the idea of seeing his wife again. Despite lingering guilt, the opportunity to hold her once more made him feel renewed.

No matter how deep his grief had been for failing to protect her and their child, his love for Anna had never faded. And now, after a long season of mourning, he could not let this chance slip away.

However, the warmth in his chest suddenly disappeared.

His fists clenched at his sides as memories flooded back. Anna’s body could not withstand the backlash of unleashing magic, forcing her to pay a price so high that she lost their child.

"No," he said hoarsely. "It’s too dangerous. If Elis attempts the magic, it could harm her... or the baby. Invoking a spell during pregnancy is risky. We can’t take that chance."

The room sank into a deep hush, leaving only the soft rustle of the curtain. Mary slumped her shoulders while Elis looked downward. Even the Grand Duke appeared weighed down by despair again.

But Eric—Eric was smiling.

"Then... we let the other person do it," he said, barely containing his excitement.

All eyes snapped back to him.

He turned slowly... and pointed.

"You."

Rafe stiffened.

"Me?" he asked, stunned.

"You performed the soulmate ritual as well," the knight said. "You are bound to your soulmate, and you’re a man. There’s no risk of pregnancy, and no danger of that kind of backlash. You can invoke it."

The healer’s expression changed instantly.

Colour faded from his face as guilt rose within him, making his chest feel constricted.

He was the one who pushed Callis away, convinced that keeping her at a distance was the only way to shield her from danger, from pain, and from himself, who was incapable and undeserving.

The truth was... he had never hated her.

His love had been so deep that it compelled him to make the cruellest choice... a decision that brought him great devastation, but would prevent the Mederian Princess from being hurt again.

"That’s not possible... I’m the healer of Gerhard. I am one of His Highness the Grand Duke’s men, too. Surely I won’t be able to pass through like all of you!" Rafe said.

The remark hit both the Grand Duke and the Princess Consort hard. Eric, however, was quick to reply, affirming,

"No," he said. "It will work because, as you said, you’re a healer. You are not a knight, Rafael."

Kyren’s tense form faltered, Elis leaned forward in quiet anticipation, and even Mary’s eyes widened—this was taking an unexpected turn.

"An ordained knight is bound by the code of chivalry," the second-in-command knight continued, "a solemn pledge to protect the innocent, serve a liege lord, and uphold justice. But a healer is not bound by such an oath. The knights of Gerhard are part of His Highness’s force to protect, but your role is different. Your role is to heal those who suffer, not to shield."

Rafe shook his head, still refusing to believe it.

"I don’t see how that’s logical," he said. "How can soulmate magic cast by me break a barrier so strong, one formed by His Highness’s own power? It doesn’t make sense."

"It does," he insisted. "Your wife once said that all magic has its limitations, and I am convinced this is where the flaw lies."

The knight gazed at Rafe deeply.

"Soulmate magic isn’t meant to break a barrier... It’s meant to reconcile two hearts. Lady Raychard’s father crossed into Semeta with his entourage to reclaim his wife, and no magic was able to stop them. Therefore, the barrier must yield. I don’t see why you are unable to do it."

"I..." Rafe’s voice faltered. His hands began to tremble, fingers curling tightly. His gaze shifted away, then back again, unable to settle. "I can’t do this!"

"No, Rafe! You must help me!" Elis cried, pushing the blanket aside as she tried to rise from the bed.

The refusal instilled fear in her. Fear for her unborn child’s future.

Kyren instantly gripped her shoulders and guided her down gently.

"Stay, Elis! You’re still weak. I’ll handle him," he said.

Elis hesitated briefly, her anxiety clashing with her instinct to act. Nonetheless, she obeyed the Grand Duke, sinking back onto the bed. Tears started to pour down her cheeks. Mary quickly approached to soothe the princess consort as Kyren turned.

The grand duke stepped forward to Rafe, petrified on the floor, with his head lowered.

"You must do it! This isn’t for me only! This is for Elis," he said urgently. "For her child, too!"

Rafe shook his head, his breath coming in short gasps, overwhelmed by fear.

He had seen enough of Callis’s suffering. Holding her cold body in the pouring snow, caught between life and death, had been his unforgotten nightmare.

"I don’t think I can," he whispered.

Eric frowned at the response, but before he could react, the Grand Duke grabbed the healer’s shoulders, pleading.

"Please!" Kyren begged, voice breaking. "I understand your feelings. I carry that guilt too... every day. But even so, deep down, I still want to see my Anna again. Elis and her child’s fate rely on you, too. Please, Rafe!"

Rafe could not answer. His hands trembled more now, his eyes darting away. He felt suffocated, as if the walls of the room were closing in around him.

"I-I’m... I’m sorry!"

Pushing the Grand Duke, Rafe turned around, storming towards the exit to escape, surprising the onlookers.

"Rafe!!"

Kyren’s call was answered with a loud slam of the door. He was about to pursue the healer when Eric held him back, placing a hand on his chest.

"I’ll go," the second-in-command knight said in a low, calm voice.

"No! I’ll make him do it!" the Grand Duke snapped impatiently. "I will drag him to the port! I swear I will!"

His voice rose into a shout, the same fierce intensity he had shown in the early days of the Mederian departures—an urge that was stubborn, relentless, and unyielding.

"The intention must come from the heart, Your Highness," Eric said. "If you force him, it will not work. Let me talk to him."

Kyren gripped his right-hand man’s arms tightly, eyes burning with urgency.

"You must make him agree to do it!"

Eric glanced towards the doorway where the healer had vanished, then nodded.

"He will do it... of his own accord. Trust me."

Kyren’s breathing grew shallow and quick, his eyes darting in the same direction.

Hope clashed with fear inside him... hope that Eric could reach Rafe and change his mind, and fear that the healer would shut them out.

Still, he had to rely on the knight.

And Eric would use his best charm to make it work—the persuasion words of the so-called ’Love Coach.’