The darkness of the Pit eventually settled into a suffocating silence.
I remained seated against the cold stone wall, listening to the slow rhythm of my breathing.
With every heartbeat, a dull pressure pulsed beneath my ribs.
The curse I had taken during the battle was still there.
At first, it felt like nothing more than a faint weight in my chest.
Then it moved.
Without warning, a sharp wave of pain twisted through my ribs.
My breath caught as the corruption inside me stirred violently, writhing through my veins like something alive that had suddenly awakened.
My hand shot instinctively to my chest.
"Damn it…"
For a brief moment, the corruption surged upward, clawing toward my heart.
The pressure intensified until it felt like something was tearing its way through my body.
Then the darkness inside me reacted.
The cold presence that surrounded my soul tightened suddenly.
An unseen cage snapped shut around the corruption.
I felt the same strange pulling sensation from before.
The curse was dragged downward, forced away from my heart and deeper into the hollow space somewhere inside my body.
The pain flared sharply.
Then it stopped.
I stayed perfectly still while the trembling in my hands slowly faded.
The curse hadn't disappeared.
But rested somewhere deep inside me.
"So this is how it works…" I murmured quietly.
After several minutes, the pressure eased enough for me to push myself to my feet.
My legs felt weak, but they held.
Slowly, I made my way toward the ladder that led out of the Pit.
The corridor above was empty when I stepped into the dim torchlight.
Flickering flames cast long shadows across the rough stone walls.
The guards who had thrown me down there the night before were gone.
They had probably assumed that anyone left in the Pit overnight would still be unconscious.
Or dead.
Each step reminded me that the curse remained inside my chest.
It stirred occasionally.
Not enough to spread.
But enough to remind me it was alive.
By the time I reached the upper corridors of the castle, the morning had already begun.
Servants hurried through the halls carrying trays and baskets of food.
Distant voices echoed through the palace as another day slowly came to life.
Most of them barely glanced in my direction.
Which suited me perfectly.
The less attention I attracted, the better.
As I walked, a thought slowly formed in my mind.
The Shadow had explained part of my power.
But not everything.
What exactly were curses?
How many types existed?
And more importantly…
How many of them could my body survive?
If I was going to keep absorbing them, then ignorance would kill me long before corruption did.
I needed answers.
And there was only one place in this castle where those answers might exist.
The Royal Library.
If the kingdom had records about curses, magic, or the summoning ritual, they would be stored there.
Even the royal mages must have studied these things.
Which meant the information existed somewhere.
I just needed to find it.
I had just turned down a quieter corridor when a familiar voice called from behind me.
"Lucius."
My steps stopped.
Slowly, I turned around.
Clara stood several paces away in the middle of the hallway, dressed in the white and silver uniform the kingdom had given the summoned heroes.
Her long black hair was tied neatly behind her shoulders.
Although her posture remained calm, something uneasy flickered in her eyes as she studied my face.
"You're alive," she said quietly.
I shrugged.
"Disappointed?"
"That's not funny."
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
Then Clara stepped closer.
"My curse disappeared during the battle yesterday," she said carefully.
"The royal mages examined it afterwards."
"They said they didn't remove it."
My chest tightened slightly.
The corruption inside me stirred again, like something reacting to her words.
I forced myself not to react.
"So?" I asked calmly.
"So…" Clara continued slowly.
"You were the only one near me when the curse disappeared."
I met her gaze but said nothing.
She studied my face carefully.
"Lucius… did you do something?"
The question lingered in the air between us.
For a brief moment, the truth pressed against the back of my mind.
But I pushed it away.
"You're imagining things," I said quietly.
Clara frowned.
"Lucius"
"I can barely carry supplies without collapsing, remember?" I interrupted with a faint smile.
"What exactly do you think I could have done?"
Clara hesitated.
Her eyes drifted toward my chest as though she were trying to sense something she couldn't quite see, but something about standing this close to him made her uneasy.
Then she stopped.
After several seconds of uneasy silence, Clara lowered her gaze.
"Never mind."
She turned and began walking down the corridor.
Her footsteps echoed faintly against the stone floor as the distance between us slowly grew.
I remained standing there long after she disappeared.
The moment she was gone, the pressure inside my chest returned.
My hand pressed instinctively against my ribs.
"So this is the price…" I murmured.
The curse hadn't vanished.
It had simply changed where it lived.
Slowly, my gaze lifted toward the upper towers of the castle.
Toward the place where the royal archives and library were kept.
"If I'm going to survive this power," I whispered quietly,
"I need to understand it."
Because somewhere inside the Royal Library…
The truth about curses was waiting.
But unknowing to Lucius someone was watching him