Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 431: HUNGRY?

Lucas’s eyes swept across the formation once more, slower this time, searching for someone he had only just realized was missing. The army stood ready, the tension thick, the valley silent in anticipation, yet amidst all of it, there was an absence that suddenly felt impossible to ignore.

His brows furrowed slightly.

The Ice Belle.

She was nowhere to be seen.

His gaze sharpened as he scanned the surroundings again, half expecting her to appear out of nowhere as she often did, calm and detached as though the world itself moved too slowly for her concern.

But she did not.

A faint exhale left him.

Of all times...

Lucas turned slightly, his eyes landing on a familiar figure not far from the formation.

"Tom."

The squire straightened almost instantly at the call, hurrying over with a mix of urgency etched across his face.

"Yes, sir."

Lucas didn’t waste words.

"Find her. Now."

Tom blinked once, then nodded quickly, already turning before Lucas could say anything further.

"Yes, sir."

He moved fast, weaving through the gathered soldiers, slipping past lines and tents, though his mind raced with confusion. Everyone knew what was about to happen. The entire camp had been on edge since dawn, every soldier bracing themselves for the duel that would decide everything.

And yet...

She was missing.

It did not sit right.

Tom quickened his pace.It did not take long before he found the source of the disturbance.

Or rather...

He found the tent.

The food supply tent stood slightly apart from the main formation, guarded by two soldiers who looked far more uneasy than their roles demanded. One of them was rubbing the back of his neck, while the other kept glancing toward the entrance as though questioning every decision that had led him there.

Tom slowed as he approached, his suspicion growing.

"What’s going on here?" he asked.

The guards exchanged a glance before one of them spoke, hesitant.

"She’s... inside."

Tom frowned.

"She?"

The second guard nodded quickly.

Tom stared at them for a moment.

Then his expression shifted.

"...You let her in?"

The first guard swallowed.

"She said Lord Xavier gave her permission. Said he told her to eat her fill before the duel."

Tom’s eye twitched slightly.

"And you believed that."

The guard hesitated, then muttered defensively.

"She... insisted. And we didn’t want to risk offending Lord Lucas. Or... her."

Tom exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose for a brief second before pushing past them without another word.

The moment he stepped inside, the sight that greeted him made him freeze.

For a long second, Tom simply stared.

"...What."

The Ice Belle sat comfortably among opened crates and scattered supplies, completely at ease, as though the world outside did not exist. Pieces of dried meat were stacked beside her, several already torn apart and half-eaten, while an open jug of wine rested in her grasp.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed.

Her movements slow, almost lazy.

And her stomach...

Tom’s eyes widened.

It was visibly swollen, round and firm from the sheer amount she had consumed.

She took another bite, chewing calmly before taking a long drink of wine, completely unfazed by his presence.

Tom blinked.

Then blinked again.

"...You can’t be serious."

She glanced at him briefly, her expression as indifferent as ever.

"You took your time."

Tom stepped forward, gesturing wildly.

"Took my time? Everyone is out there preparing for a duel that could decide the fate of the entire kingdom and you are in here... eating?"

She tilted her head slightly, as though considering his words, then took another slow sip of wine.

"I was hungry."

Tom stared at her, utterly flabbergasted.

"HUNGRY?"

His voice rose despite himself.

"You are supposed to be fighting alongside him against a celestial cultivator. A celestial cultivator. And this is what you are doing?"

She said nothing.

Only reached for another piece of dried meat.

Tom ran a hand through his hair, pacing once before turning back to her, disbelief written all over his face.

"You blackmailed the guards to get in here, didn’t you?"

A small pause.

Then, without even looking at him, she replied.

"I convinced them."

Tom let out a hollow laugh.

"That is not convincing. That is manipulation."

She shrugged faintly.

"They agreed."

Tom stared at her for a long moment, searching for even the slightest hint of concern, of urgency, of awareness of what was about to happen.

He found none.

Instead, she simply sat there, eating and drinking as though she had all the time in the world, as though the impending duel meant nothing to her.

It was absurd.

Completely absurd.

Everyone outside was tense, afraid, bracing themselves for what could very well be a massacre.

And the person meant to stand beside Lucas...

Was here.

Stuffing herself.

Tom exhaled sharply, shaking his head.

"I don’t even know what to say to you."

She finally looked at him fully, her eyes calm, almost bored.

"Then don’t say anything."

Tom opened his mouth.

Then closed it again.

For once, he had absolutely no response.

He could only stand there, staring at her in disbelief, wondering how in the world someone like her was supposed to face a celestial cultivator alongside Lucas when she could not even take the situation seriously enough to leave a food tent.

Outside, the tension continued to rise.

But inside the tent, the Ice Belle simply took another bite, completely undisturbed.

Tom stood there for a few seconds longer, staring at her in utter disbelief as she reached for yet another piece of dried meat, completely unbothered by everything he had just said. Something in him snapped, not out of anger alone, but out of sheer incredulity at the situation unfolding before him.

"Alright," he muttered under his breath, stepping forward with sudden resolve. "I’ve had enough of this."

Before she could react, Tom reached down and firmly grabbed her by the ear, the way a fed-up father would handle a stubborn, misbehaving child.

Her body stiffened instantly.

"...What are you doing?" she said flatly, though there was a faint edge beneath her usual calm.

"What I should have done the moment I got here," Tom shot back, already turning and dragging her toward the exit. "You are coming with me. Now."

Despite her strength, despite what she was capable of, she did not resist in any meaningful way, only frowning slightly as she was pulled along, one hand still loosely holding the jug of wine until Tom snatched it away and tossed it back into the tent.

"You’ve had enough!" he snapped.

Her slightly rounded stomach did not help her case.

The guards outside froze as Tom emerged, dragging her along, their expressions shifting from unease to barely contained shock.

One of them opened his mouth as if to say something, then immediately decided against it.

Tom did not even look at them.

He simply marched forward, pulling her along without pause.By the time they returned to the formation, heads were already beginning to turn.

At first, it was subtle.

A few glances.

A few confused expressions.

Then more.

Until it became impossible to ignore.

The sight of Tom dragging the so-called Ice Belle by the ear, her usually composed figure now looking... unmistakably disheveled, was not something anyone had expected to witness on a day like this.

Murmurs began to spread.

Lucas noticed immediately.

His eyes shifted toward the commotion, and the moment he saw them approaching, his expression darkened slightly.

Tom stopped a few steps in front of him, finally releasing her ear.

"There," he said, slightly out of breath. "Found her."

The Ice Belle straightened slowly, adjusting herself with a small, almost irritated motion, though the bulge of her stomach remained impossible to hide.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then Lucas spoke.

"What," he said slowly, his voice low but carrying across the immediate area, "is this?"

No one answered.

Tom glanced at her, then back at Lucas, clearly deciding that this was not his battle anymore.

"She was in the supply tent," he said. "Eating."

A pause.

Lucas’s gaze shifted back to her.

"Eating."

Another pause.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"While the entire army stands ready for a duel that decides their fate."

Still, she said nothing.

Lucas took a step forward.

The air around him seemed to shift, not violently, but with a quiet pressure that made those nearby instinctively straighten.

"You decided that this was the time to indulge yourself?"

Her expression remained mostly unchanged, though there was a faint flicker in her eyes now.

"I was preparing," she said simply.

That made it worse.

A few soldiers nearby struggled to keep their composure.

Tom looked away entirely.

Lucas stared at her for a long moment then he exhaled.

"This is not a game," he said, his voice firm, every word deliberate. "What stands across that valley is not something you can treat lightly. This is not a situation where you can do as you please and expect everything to fall into place."

His gaze locked onto hers.

"If you are standing beside me in that duel, then you will act like it."

The weight of his words settled over the immediate area, silencing even the faint murmurs that had begun to spread.

"You will take this seriously," he continued. "You will be present. And you will not embarrass yourself, or me, in front of this entire army again."

For the first time, she did not respond immediately.

There was a brief pause.

Then, slowly, she gave a small nod.

"...Fine."

It was quiet.

But it was enough.

Lucas held her gaze for a moment longer, as though ensuring the message had truly sunk in, before finally stepping back.

Around them, the soldiers remained still, though the tension had shifted slightly, the earlier confusion now replaced with something else entirely.

Focus.

Because whatever strange moment had just unfolded, it did not change what was coming next.