Hayl didn't return to his own quarters, instead, he stood outside the door, listening for sounds and movements. He found it unbelievable how the Prince could just waltz into Niki's room in the middle of the night, and the boy wouldn't even bat an eyelash. Just what kind of relationship did the two of them have?

At the same time, Hayl had to reluctantly admit to himself that His Highness was right – he got too involved with the boy. So much so that lately he spent more time with him than practicing his sword. At first, he told himself that it was just because he couldn't stand disorder but recently there hasn't been so much necessity for cleaning and organizing anymore.

Maybe his late brother's last hateful words were true after all – Hayl was addicted to being needed, and he couldn't live without taking care of somebody. Now that Hayl had Niki he indeed felt much less empty. But he couldn't let himself become sidetracked. Not with the way things were at the moment.

Hayl sighed and was just about to leave when he heard a loud thud coming from the room. Without thinking twice, Hayl pushed the door and barged inside. He saw Niki lying on the floor with blood splattered all over his chest. The Prince was looking at him, more annoyed than concerned.

"What the hell happened here?" Hayl asked as he rushed towards the unconscious boy. Thankfully Niki was still breathing.

"It doesn't concern you," the Prince responded coldly.

"What did you do to him?" Hayl examined the normally pale face that had now turned deadly white.

Kai rolled his eyes. "Relax, he's going to be fine. I don't have time for this. Once he wakes up, tell him to try again."

"Try again what?" Hayl wanted to ask but he knew that he wouldn't get a straight answer from His Highness, so he just nodded. Even though, obviously, he wasn't going to tell Niki to try anything that would leave him in such a sorry state again.

The Prince slammed the door on his way out without sparing them another glance. It seemed His Highness didn't care at all about Niki's condition, he was just irritated that whatever he asked the boy to do didn't work out.

For a moment there Hayl wanted to follow the asshole Prince and punch him as hard as he could. But there was a boy lying in his lap now, all drenched in cold sweat and breathing heavily. Hayl could feel Niki's whole body convulsing, his hair was stuck to his forehead and his hands were as cold as ice.

Carefully he placed the boy on the bed, took off his stained robe, and wrapped him up in a blanket. Then he wiped his face with water and moistened Niki's cracked, pale lips. The boy continued to shiver, so Hayl put his arms around him, wanting to warm him up as much as possible. He truly didn't know what else to do.

They lay there like that for a while, but it seemed that no matter how tightly Hayl was hugging him, Niki didn't get any warmer. At the same time, Hayl felt himself getting colder and colder. Even like this, he didn't let go.

"What are you doing?" he suddenly heard a weak voice next to him.

Hayl lifted his body to see that Niki had come to it and was now looking at him with his big dazzling eyes. He didn't release the boy and only said:

"It's all right, you need to rest."

At that moment Niki pushed him away – with such strength that Hayl would have never expected from somebody who looked so fragile. Caught off guard, Hayl fell off the bed.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help," he said, feeling a bit awkward.

"You have no idea what you were doing," Niki sat up and hugged his knees. "You can't waste your spiritual strength like that – you don't have a lot of it to begin with, and I'm like a bottomless pit."

Only then did Hayl realize how weak he suddenly became – he could barely get up. This kind of exhaustion was familiar to him but usually he experienced it after a long day of training. However, if this was the price for Niki to feel better, Hayl somehow didn't mind paying it.

"How are you doing?" he asked, looking at Niki who was still slightly shivering.

"It's nothing. There are worse spells out there."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"So you did a spell for him?" Hayl clenched his fists and felt a vein on his forehead bulge.

Niki simply nodded.

"And what did he want that was oh so important?" Hayl spat out. He knew he had no right to ask this but he didn't care.

"Impostor's location," Niki answered, as always straight to the point. Somehow he never seemed to hide anything from Hayl. He always answered all direct questions and never reprimanded Hayl for sticking his nose where it didn't belong. Whatever was the reason for that, Hayl wasn't going to complain.

"Didn't the Regent put him in the dungeons recently?" Hayl remembered the big commotion on that day – everyone and their mother was talking about the crazy General with a death wish who beat up the untouchable Reo Atarian. If Hayl hadn't known that Minn was not himself, he would also have been shocked to no end.

"I thought so too," Niki shrugged. "But he isn't there anymore."

"Where is he then?"

"I couldn't find him. That's the problem," the boy sighed. He wasn't shivering anymore but still kept the blanket tightly around himself.

"Is it even a problem? Wouldn't it be better, if he just disappeared?" Hayl asked thoughtfully.

"People that suddenly disappear have a tendency to suddenly reappear at the most inopportune moments. So yes, it's a problem."

"What are... you going to do about it?" For some reason Hayl wanted to say "what are we going to do about it" but he caught himself in time.

"I don't know," said Niki with no expression. "What can I do about it? I hoped that the Regent would execute him and thus solve the issue for me. But he still hasn't done that yet. And somehow I doubt he will. In any case, before I decide anything, I have to find him first."

"Will you tell His Highness when you find him?" Hayl asked.

Niki was silent for a while. He stretched his neck to the left and to the right and finally said:

"I'll see."

"So you are willing to lie to him?" Hayl asked, feeling his spirits lift up.

"Only for his own good," Niki responded in a very serious tone.

"Why do you let him treat you like that?" Hayl finally got the courage to ask. He knew about Niki's loyalty to the Prince, sure. But there must be a limit to what he was willing to put up with, right?

"Treat me like what?" Niki raised his eyebrows. "Kai's the future Emperor. Should he say "please" and "thank you"? Does he say that to you?"

"It looked like you were dying, and he didn't care," Hayl shook his head.

"Because I wasn't dying," Niki said slowly. He was once again talking to Hayl like he was a child who didn't understand basic things.

"Do you have feelings for him?" This time Hayl just couldn't let go. Even to himself, he sounded like a dog with a bone.

"I don't know what you're asking," said Niki. "I owe Kai so much that even if I do a hundred spells per day for him for the rest of existence, we still won't be even. And even if I didn't owe him... if something happens to Kai, I'm alone. He's the only one I have on my side."

"You also have me on your side," Hayl thought to himself but didn't dare say anything out loud.

"If my answer was to your satisfaction, you can leave now," said Niki coldly. "I need to try again – this time I will be sure to circumvent any protective spells."

"No," said Hayl.

"What do you mean "no"?"

"I mean, you can't do any more spells in your condition. His Highness said that you should rest."

"No, he didn't," Niki furrowed his brow.

"You're right," Hayl easily gave up on that fib. "However, you shouldn't perform any magic at least until you can walk again."

"I can walk," said Niki and resolutely got up, throwing off the blanket. As soon as he did, he lost his balance and almost collapsed to the floor. Hayl, having expected that, managed to catch him just in time.

Niki looked up at him and sighed.

"I have rejuvenation herbs... somewhere. I'll be fine."

Hayl forcefully pushed Niki on the bed and put a blanket over him again.

"Sleeping does wonders for rejuvenation. And it doesn't cost anything."

Niki rubbed his nose and tried to get up again but Hayl was holding him down with all the strength he had left.

"I need to know where that person is. It has nothing to do with Kai's orders," Niki said finally, giving up the struggle.

"Why don't you just tell His Highness that current Minn is an impostor? Then his location wouldn't matter so much – the Prince would want to stay away from him anyway," said Hayl.

"That would only make Kai more curious. So I can't reveal anything before I know more about that devious man and what kind of danger he presents. Currently, I don't understand what his game is – he is all over the place. Why would he attack the Regent so openly? Why would he speak on your behalf during trial? Why would he save Kai? It must all be some part of a big master plan. It just I can't figure it out," for the first time, since Hayl met him, Niki sounded so frustrated. "My only option now is to take a look directly inside his mind."

Hayl was slightly taken aback.

"Are you going to use the savage magic again?" he asked.

"Is there any other kind of magic?" Niki shrugged. "First, I need to find the man. Second, I need to prepare for the Soul Gazing ritual. I have almost everything I need but I lack one key ingredient. There is a way to substitute it but nobody has ever done this before. On the other hand, it should work in theory, if..."

Hayl looked at the boy's focused face, as he continued talking – it seemed Niki had now slipped away deep inside his thoughts. Hayl had seen this happen quite often. If Niki concentrated on a certain issue, he could be distracted for hours. This worked out well for Hayl – it meant the boy would not think about performing another spell until he figures out the solution for the current problem. And from what Hayl could understand, this seemed like a difficult one.

Hayl carefully tucked the blanket around Niki and unwittingly caressed his cheek. The boy didn't even notice, busy listing herbs and their properties.

Hayl didn't interrupt him and quietly left the room. As soon as he did, he looked down... and swore at himself.