Chapter 3 – The Soul That Returned
Not long after, the door opened again.
A group of physicians entered the room, dressed in clean robes, carrying small instruments and notes. The moment they saw the Duke, they bowed respectfully.
"Your Grace," the head physician said. "Please allow us to examine Lord Ignes. He has been unconscious for two years."
The Duke stepped aside without a word, removing his hand from Ignes's head.
The physicians gathered around the bed.
They checked his pulse.
His breathing.
His eyes.
They spoke in low voices among themselves.
After a few minutes, the head physician straightened and faced the Duke.
"Your Grace," he began carefully, "due to Lord Ignes remaining in a persistent vegetative state for the past two years… his condition is unusual."
The room grew quiet.
"The brainstem—which controls basic functions like heartbeat and breathing—is intact," the physician continued. "However, the cerebral cortex… the part responsible for thought, awareness, and understanding… appears to have been inactive."
Lily's face paled slightly.
The Duke's expression did not change.
"There is also some degree of disuse atrophy," the physician added. "His body has weakened from lack of movement. But aside from that… there are no major complications from the coma."
The Duke finally spoke.
"Then explain this."
His voice was calm, but cold.
"He responded to me."
The physician hesitated.
"Your Grace… it is possible," he said slowly, "that what you observed was not conscious thought in the way we understand it."
The Duke's gaze sharpened.
The physician quickly continued.
"He may still respond to familiar presence… to emotion… to instinct. You are his father. Even in such a state, he may recognize you in a way beyond ordinary cognition."
He paused briefly.
"Especially considering… Lord Ignes's past research."
The Duke's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You mean his theory?"
The physician nodded.
"The connection between emotion, consciousness, and the unseen layers of the mind. Lord Ignes himself proposed that awareness may exist beyond structured thought."
A brief silence followed.
Then—
The Duke gave a small nod.
"Continue."
The physician relaxed slightly.
"We will provide medication to strengthen his body," he said. "Light meals will be necessary. And once he gains some stability, simple exercises will help him walk again."
As the physician began explaining the detailed recovery plan—
Ignes lay still.
His eyes remained open.
But his thoughts were elsewhere.
…I'm back.
The words echoed quietly in his mind.
Did time stop when I left…?
Or does this world simply move slower…?
His gaze did not change.
But deep within—
Something stirred.
Kurora.
A soft call.
A presence responded instantly.
A small figure appeared within his mental space—
A tiny blue penguin.
"Your Highness!" Kurora's voice was filled with relief. "You're back! Where did you go? I couldn't reach you at all!"
Ignes replied calmly.
"Nowhere."
A brief pause.
"I just went to meet my soulmate."
Kurora blinked.
"Your soulmate? But… isn't Xavier your soulmate?"
The little penguin tilted its head in confusion.
"Don't tell me you have two soulmates?!"
Ignes's tone turned slightly colder.
"Did you even live in the Empyrean Schism… or the Soul Realm?"
Kurora puffed up slightly.
"I did live there!"
"Then how can you say something so foolish?" Ignes replied.
"A person has only one soulmate."
Kurora frowned.
"Then what about you, Your Highness? How did you meet him?"
Ignes closed his eyes slowly.
"There are only two known possibilities."
His voice became quieter.
"First… twin souls. Two incomplete souls that merge and become one."
A pause.
"Second…"
His presence deepened.
"Powerful souls."
"Ones that can split themselves into fragments."
Kurora's eyes widened.
Ignes's voice softened.
"…Mine is the second."
Silence filled the mental space.
Outside—
The physicians continued speaking.
The Duke listened.
The maids stood quietly.
Everything seemed normal.
But inside Ignes—
A truth far beyond this world had already awakened.