Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 517: You are dangerous

Lucas’s steps slowed slightly as they moved further along the quieter edge of the encampment. For a brief moment, his attention shifted away from the constant calculations running through his mind, settling instead on the person walking beside him.

"You asked about me," he said calmly, glancing toward her. "What about you."

The elder princess seemed mildly surprised at first, as if she had not expected the question to be turned back on her so directly. Then a faint brightness entered her expression, subtle but genuine, and she clasped her hands lightly behind her back again as she walked.

"I suppose it is only fair," she said.

Her tone carried a lighter energy now, less formal than before, as though the question had opened a door she did not often step through in conversations of state.

"I was not trained to sit quietly and observe court politics all day," she began. "Though I can do it when I must."

She glanced at him briefly, as if checking whether he was actually listening, then continued when she saw that he was.

"I prefer movement," she said. "Riding, especially. Long rides beyond the city walls where no one is giving orders or expecting decisions every second."

A faint smile touched her lips as she spoke.

"And sword practice," she added. "Not formal duels with ceremony and witnesses. Just... training. Repetition. Control. The kind that clears the mind."

Lucas listened without interrupting, his gaze steady but no longer distant.

"I also enjoy studying the smaller things," she continued, her voice brightening slightly. "Not just war maps or political structures. But how people actually live when they think no one important is watching them."

She gestured vaguely toward the encampment around them.

"The way soldiers speak when they are off duty. The way they argue about meaningless things just to feel normal again. The way tension disappears for a few minutes when they believe no one is judging them."

There was a lightness in her tone now, almost amused.

"It is interesting," she said. "Because in court, everyone is always performing. Here, even in war, people forget to perform sometimes."

She looked at Lucas again, her expression a little more open than before.

"And I like music," she added suddenly, as though remembering something important. "Not the formal kind played in ceremonies. I mean real music, honest music."

Lucas tilted his head slightly. "You do not seem like someone who spends much time idle."

"I do not," she admitted with a faint laugh. "That is probably why I enjoy those things more. They are rare."

A brief pause followed as they walked.

Then she added, a little more quietly, "And I like understanding people."

Lucas glanced at her again, this time more directly.

"Understanding them how," he asked.

She considered the question for a moment, then replied honestly.

"Not as titles," she said. "Not as roles. Just as they are, when they are not trying to be anything else."

Her gaze lingered on him slightly longer this time, though not invasive, simply observant.

"People like you are difficult to read," she added.

Lucas did not react immediately, then said simply, "I am not that complicated."

She gave a small, knowing smile at that, but did not argue.

"Everyone says that," she replied lightly.

Lucas slowed his pace slightly, his gaze still forward as if he were speaking about something as ordinary as the weather.

"You are easier to read than you think," he said.

The elder princess turned her head toward him immediately, her brows lifting slightly. "Is that so."

"Yes," Lucas replied calmly.

He glanced at her briefly, then continued in the same steady tone. "You like to be around common people. Not as a ruler observing them, but as someone who blends in."

Her expression shifted almost imperceptibly, a flicker of surprise breaking through her composure.

Lucas did not pause.

"And sometimes," he added, "you leave the palace in disguise. You go to places like pubs, where no one treats you as royalty. You drink, you talk, you dance."

That stopped her completely for a fraction of a second.

She looked at him more directly now, her eyes narrowing slightly, not in anger, but in genuine astonishment.

"That is... quite specific," she said carefully.

Lucas shrugged faintly, as though it was not remarkable. "Patterns."

But it was not just patterns.

It was observation layered with understanding, the kind that noticed inconsistencies in behavior, the subtle differences in how someone carried themselves when they were constrained versus when they were not.

The princess exhaled softly, then let out a small, reluctant laugh.

"I suppose I should be more careful," she said. "If people can deduce that easily."

"You are not careless," Lucas replied. "You are just not fully hiding it."

That made her quiet for a moment.

They continued walking, but her expression had changed slightly, less guarded now.

Lucas’s voice remained even as he continued, "You like those moments because they are not controlled. Not structured. No expectations placed on you."

He glanced at her again, briefly.

"You are freer there than anywhere else."

The princess did not respond immediately.

When she finally did, her voice was softer.

"Yes," she admitted.

A brief pause followed before she added, "Freedom is... rare for people like me."

Lucas nodded slightly as if acknowledging something obvious.

Then he said, "That is why you chase it."

She looked at him again, this time with a faint, genuine curiosity.

"And what do you think I consider luxury," she asked.

Lucas did not hesitate.

"Freedom," he said simply.

That time, she stopped walking for a moment.

Not in shock, but in quiet realization.

Then a small smile formed, more sincere than before.

"You are dangerous," she said lightly.

Lucas gave no reaction, however he’s aware he has been called dangerous many times by people who had just got to know him.

But for the first time in the conversation, she looked at him not as someone being assessed, but as someone who had actually understood her without being told.

Lucas slowed to a stop and turned fully toward her, the weight of the coming operations returning to the front of his mind. Whatever ease had existed in their walk was gently set aside, replaced by the discipline that had been waiting beneath it the entire time.

"I have matters I need to attend to," he said calmly.

The princess studied him for a brief moment, as if measuring whether he truly meant to end the conversation or if he was simply being pulled away by duty again. Then she gave a small, composed nod.

"I understand," she replied.

There was no protest in her tone, only acceptance.

She lifted her hand toward him, palm open, not as command but as a gesture of formal parting, though there was something subtly personal in the way she offered it. Lucas paused briefly, then stepped closer and took her hand with steady ease.

For a moment, there was only stillness between them.

Lucas lowered her hand slightly and pressed a light kiss to it, restrained and respectful, the kind of gesture that carried courtesy more than emotion, yet still lingered just enough to be noticed.

The princess did not withdraw immediately.

Her gaze remained on him, steady and unreadable, though something faintly warmer flickered behind her composure.

Then Lucas released her hand and stepped back.

"I will see you," he said simply, before turning away.

And then he left.

The princess remained where she stood, watching his figure recede through the encampment. Her expression stayed composed, but her eyes followed him longer than necessary, as if unwilling to immediately break the connection of that final moment.

Only when he disappeared into the flow of movement near the command area did she finally lower her hand.

A faint exhale left her lips, almost unnoticed.

She remained there for a few more seconds, gaze lingering in the direction he had gone, a quiet, thoughtful look settling over her features as the noise of the encampment slowly filled the space around her again.