Exiled Prince: I'm the Unexpected Extra in the Novel-Chapter 105: Evershade [7] The Healing

When Cassian tossed his jacket aside and rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows, the atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. The emotional heaviness from moments ago gave way to a surgical seriousness and professionalism.

Marquis Aldren couldn’t hide his astonishment at Cassian’s swift and unhesitating preparation.

His eyes had widened slightly, his lips parted. That moment he had waited for years, poured fortunes into, and which had ended in frustration every time, beginning as casually as a lunch conversation felt surreal to him.

"Are you starting immediately?" the Marquis asked, bewildered. "I mean... isn’t any preparation, special materials, or a ritual needed? He just made his decision."

Cassian tilted his head slightly to the side. He wore the faintly mocking, faintly amused expression of a genius who viewed a complex puzzle as child’s play.

"Preparation?" Cassian said, opening and closing his hands as if checking them. "It doesn’t count as a very difficult procedure for me, Marquis.

My materials are here," he said, pointing first to his own chest (his mana), then to Caius. "Ultimately, there is no point in waiting. Pain does not decrease with waiting, it only feeds fear."

The Marquis swallowed hard against this confidence. He took a step back, headed toward the door, but his hand stopped on the handle.

"Then..." said the Marquis, hesitantly. "I should leave the room. I shouldn’t distract you. This must be a delicate procedure."

Cassian looked over his shoulder as he arranged the small table beside the bed. "You can stay if you wish, Marquis Aldren. Everything will be over in a few minutes. Besides, I believe witnessing the moment his son is reborn is a father’s right."

Marquis Aldren paused upon hearing this offer. Deep down, he was burning to watch this procedure.

He was both worried for his son’s safety and wanted to see that "miracle" Cassian would perform with his own eyes.

His curiosity and fatherly instinct triumphed over noble courtesy.

"Very well," said the Marquis, trying to harden his voice. "I will stay."

He retreated to the furthest corner of the room. He crossed his arms over his chest and fell silent like a statue. He didn’t take his eyes off his son lying in the bed and this mysterious youth at his bedside for a moment.

Cassian turned to Caius. "Take off your shirt, Caius. And lie on your back."

Caius undid his buttons with trembling hands. When he slipped the shirt off his shoulders, the extent of the disease was revealed in all its nakedness. His chest was thin enough to count his ribs.

The color of his skin was paler even than marble. But what was truly terrifying were those pitch-black veins resembling tree roots, starting just below his chest and spreading towards his neck, arms, and stomach. Demonic mana had wrapped around his body like ivy, rotting him from the inside out.

Caius lay on his back on the bed. He fixed his eyes on the ceiling, clenched his teeth. He was afraid, but he wouldn’t turn back from his decision.

Cassian took a deep breath. Focused. Activated his own mana core.

He raised his right hand into the air. Inside his palm, a ball of pure, dazzling golden light appeared. This was Holy Mana.

He raised his left hand; this time, at the tips of his fingers, a mix of purple and black, a chaotic energy trembling under Cassian’s will, accumulated. This was a controlled mixture of Nothingness and Chaos.

"We begin," Cassian whispered.

He placed his right hand, the Holy Mana, directly over Caius’s mana core. And his left hand, he placed on the boy’s forehead.

At that moment, Caius arched his back like a bow and let out a muffled scream.

"AAAAHH!"

In the corner, the Marquis flinched at his son’s scream, took a step forward, but seeing Cassian’s calm stance, forced himself to stop.

In Cassian’s mind, Caius’s body had turned into a transparent map. He could clearly see the boy’s mana core. The core looked like it was made of glass and was covered with countless cracks.

Inside, the boy’s own natural, blue-colored mana was cornered by that aggressive, purple-black demonic mana leaking from outside. The two energies were trying to destroy each other, and during this war, they were shattering the vessel, the core.

"Okay," murmured Cassian, as sweat drops gathered on his forehead. "First destruction, then construction."

Cassian released the Chaos energy in his left hand. This energy flowed into Caius’s body like a river. Its purpose wasn’t to destroy the demonic mana inside; it was to intimidate it.

Cassian’s pure, superior chaotic energy instantly suppressed that rampant demonic mana inside Caius. That wild energy cowered before Cassian’s will, remained motionless.

Immediately after, the Holy Mana in his right hand came into play. Golden light glided in through Caius’s chest. The holy mana began to work like a mason.

It repaired the cracked mana core, joined the broken pieces, and strengthened the walls of the core. But Cassian didn’t just repair; he expanded the core.

"Now..." said Cassian, his eyes shining. "The merger."

This was the most dangerous part. Cassian forcibly brought Caius’s natural mana and that cornered demonic mana together inside the core he had strengthened. It was like soldering two opposite poles together.

Caius’s body began to tremble. The black veins under his skin moved as if they were alive, swelled, and then slowly began to change color. The blackness gave way to a dark, noble purple color, the veins burying themselves deep into the skin.

Cassian used his own mana as a catalyst. Holy Mana created a bridge, a buffer zone between the two energies. It balanced the savagery of the demonic mana with the harmony of the human mana.

Minutes felt like hours. The inside of the room was illuminated by the dance of golden and purple lights. Caius’s screams had ceased, giving way to deep, raspy breathing.

With one final move, Cassian withdrew his hands.

"Done."

The light in the room dimmed. Cassian staggered slightly but kept his balance. He wiped the sweat on his forehead with his arm.

Caius, lying in the bed, was in a deep silence. His chest was rising and falling not in gasps anymore, but with a regular and strong rhythm.

A few seconds later, Caius’s eyelashes fluttered and he opened his eyes.

His eyes... were still purple. His horns were still there. But that cloudiness in his gaze, that pain-filled fog had lifted. His eyes were as sharp and clear as a hawk’s.

Caius sat up from where he lay. As he always did, he expected a part of his body to hurt, his bones to ache. But there was no pain.

On the contrary, a power he had never felt before surged through his veins. It was as if his body was as light as a feather, yet as solid as a rock.

His pale, transparent skin had now taken on a healthy, slightly tanned color. Those terrible black veins had completely disappeared, leaving only elegant, purplish marks visible only when looked at very carefully.

Caius looked at his hands. Opened and closed his fingers. Felt the power. When he clenched his fist, a slight, purple spark flashed inside his palm.

"I..." said Caius, unable to believe his own voice. His voice was no longer raspy, but booming and clear. "Am I really cured?"

Cassian was standing at the foot of the bed with his arms crossed, looking at him with a satisfied expression. "Better. You are renewed."

Caius threw off the duvet covering him and leaped out of bed. His legs didn’t tremble. He stepped firmly on the ground. He paused for a moment, enjoyed this feeling. Then, he turned to his father, who was frozen in the corner of the room, watching him with his mouth slightly open.

"Father!"

Caius ran and threw himself around his father’s neck.

Marquis Aldren staggered at this sudden and strong embrace from his son but didn’t fall.

He wrapped his arms around his son. When he realized he was holding not his son’s weak body sweating cold sweats anymore, but a warm, alive, and strong body, that tough, disciplined man’s mask fell completely. Tears poured from his eyes.

Father and son, in the corner of the room, lived that moment without needing words, just holding onto each other. The nightmare of years was over.

After a while, Caius gently separated from his father.

There was a huge, relieved smile on his face. Then he turned around and looked at Cassian. The smile on his face gave way to an embarrassed seriousness.

He walked towards Cassian and stopped in front of him. Then, he bowed his head not with a noble salute, but with sincere gratitude.

"Mr. Cassian," said Caius. "My rude behavior earlier, my words... For equating you with a fraud... Please forgive me. I owe you my life. Thank you."

Cassian waved his hand slightly left and right, as if recalling an unimportant event.

"No need to apologize, Caius. It is your natural right to be skeptical after suffering that pain for years. Besides..." Cassian smiled. "You will pay your debt to me by standing by my side one day anyway. Enjoy it for now."

Cassian walked to the room’s window and slightly parted the curtain. He could see the garden below.

"Well," said Cassian, without turning his back. "Aren’t you going to go see the most important person?"

Caius was surprised. "Who?"

"Your mother," said Cassian, pointing to the garden. "Below, in the garden. She is drinking tea with Rose and the others, but her mind is entirely here. She is waiting for news from you with excitement, with fear. And she is completely unaware that I have cured you."

Cassian turned to Caius and smiled mischievously.

"I think... try giving her a nice surprise. What do you say? How about walking, or even running to her?"

In the garden in the inner courtyard of the castle, time seemed to have stopped.

The sun was shining, birds were singing, but for Marchioness Calyra, the world was gray. Her fingers holding the porcelain cup had turned white. Her eyes were constantly shifting to the window in that high tower of the castle.

Rose, sitting opposite her, was trying to explain something to soften the atmosphere, Eric and Hebi were sipping their teas silently. Cordelia, on the other hand, was waiting for Cassian in a bored manner.

"It took too long..." murmured Marchioness Calyra, her voice trembling. "Why did it take so long? What if... what if something went wrong? What if Caius..."

"Do not worry, My Lady," said Rose, in a reassuring tone. "Cassian may be that strange person, but I have never seen him fail. If he said he could do it, he will."

Just at that moment, the large, iron-plated wooden door opening to the garden burst open noisily.

Everyone in the garden flinched and turned to the door.

On the threshold of the door, a silhouette appeared, backlit by the sunlight.

Marchioness Calyra put the cup on its saucer noisily and stood up. She squinted her eyes.

The silhouette stepped out of the shadows into the sunlight.

His shoulders were straight. His walk was firm. His pale skin shone with a healthy tan under the sun.

The horns on his forehead and his purple eyes were still there, yes. But they no longer looked like a sign of disease, but like part of a crown.

Caius.

Not walking, running into the garden.

Marchioness Calyra’s breath caught. Her hands went to her mouth. Her knees gave way, she almost collapsed where she was, but Rose linked arms with her at the last moment and supported her.

"Caius...?"

Seeing his mother in this state, Caius sped up even more. He crossed the stone path of the garden in a few large steps.

"Mother!"

His voice echoed in the garden. A strong, life-filled voice.

Caius reached his mother and wrapped his arms around her.

"Mother! Look! I’m cured! Look!"

When Marchioness Calyra touched his warm skin, his strong heartbeat in her son’s arms, she released all the tears she had been holding back.

"My son... My beautiful son..."

She cupped Caius’s face, looked at him with those shining eyes, smiling.

Everyone in the garden; Rose, Eric, all were smiling silently while witnessing this moment.

Even Cordelia was watching this strange "human ritual" curiously.

Cassian and Marquis Aldren, watching them from the window in the tower, were also seeing this scene. The Marquis, leaning his hand on the glass, was watching his son hugging his wife down below, smiling silently.

As for Cassian, hands in his pockets, he was watching this last crumb of happiness before the approaching storm with the peace of having completed his task.

The Evershade Marquisate was now completely on their side.

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