Reawakening with Limitless Mana-Chapter 51: Return gift

Arthur could barely sleep last night.

His mind kept circling back to the conversation with Grace—the way she looked, the words she said. They wouldn’t let him rest. Even now, her voice echoed in his head like a quiet storm he couldn’t escape.

He kept thinking about what she told him... and the history he had read so many times about Grace Rahna Williams and Eric Dawnhec. Every book, every record, said the same thing—they ended up together. They lived a peaceful life after everything. And Arthur had no problem with that.

She hadn’t betrayed him. He was the one who left her behind long ago. Their engagement was annulled a year before his death. If she moved on and found happiness with the man who had stood by her side during the worst days, then that was only fair. That was what he believed. That was what helped him sleep—until now.

But last night... everything changed.

Someone who looked exactly like Grace, who spoke like her, who seemed to carry her very soul, had told him something that shook him to the core.

She said Grace died a year later.

In grief. In regret.

Why? How? It didn’t make sense. She was supposed to be happy. She was supposed to move on. She could never have known the truth about Clarsen. She never should have known that his reason for doing what he did... was to defeat the enemy that threatened all of humanity.

Arthur sat still for a long moment, staring at nothing, the weight of it all pressing on his chest.

"This can’t be true..." he whispered.

With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself off the bed. His muscles ached from the tension. Across the room, his brother was still asleep, breathing slowly and peacefully.

Arthur envied him—for the dreams, for the silence.

For the peace he no longer had.

*Knock*

Hearing the knock, Arthur went to open the door and found his parents standing there.

"You two are still sleeping?!" His mother appeared to be in a panic.

She hurriedly stepped inside and woke up Kevin.

It was only an hour past dawn and about two hours before they would need to be at the palace’s gates.

Yet...she was panicking.

The pitiful brother of Arthur couldn’t even wake up properly before his clothes were taken off, and he was pushed inside the bathroom in his underwear.

She even started taking out Arthur’s clothes from the bag—too busy.

"Dad...is it important for me to come as well?" Arthur asked, wanting to take even that minuscule chance and stay back. He felt tired and sleepy, and in this condition, presenting himself before the royalties felt like a drag.

However, just as Arthur expected, "This meeting is probably scheduled since the King wanted to talk to you." Spoke the Baron in a hushed voice.

Only he and Aston know that in this meeting, most probably, the Supreme Authority would be addressing the incident that happened a few days ago.

The death of the Viscount and an infamous criminal.

Naturally, Arthur has to go or the King might find another method to contact him.

Arthur exhaled a long sigh as he moved toward his bag, "Guess there is no helping it."

Aston smiled helplessly before he moved back to his room to get changed as well.

....

Kevin was still in a daze as he sat inside the carriage.

He was forcibly woken up, not allowed to eat anything, and was told by his mother to wear another formal dress early in the morning.

Like formal dress so early in the morning?! How? Why?

"Mom...do these people always remain dressed up from morning to night?" Kevin asked as he fixed his bowtie.

He was feeling uncomfortable in the clothes, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

Thankfully, they brought another set of clothes just in case. Otherwise, they would have had no option but to do some shopping in the capital, which surely would have taken a heavy toll on their budget.

"It’s etiquette to dress properly when visiting royalty, Kev." Aston told him, "Just for a few hours, and after that you can wear anything you want."

"But...we have to travel two days again to reach home...I just wanna reach home already...and sleep on my bed."

Kevin’s words made Arthur frown a little...with this mental state, he also didn’t want to travel for long. Two days...without sleep...yes, it sounded bothersome.

That’s why, turning towards his father, he asked, "Dad, there is a high chance for the Viscount to make a visit tomorrow, and you won’t be there to attend to him."

Aston nodded, "Yes, but he also knows that between him and the King, whom I would prioritize."

The Viscount was indeed about to visit and have a talk about the travel route which was going to connect Westmere to the rest of the world. However, Aston couldn’t ignore the King at any cost.

"But Father, you should give importance to Westmere’s development too. The whole town is your family, no?"

Aston looked troubled...what he said was true too. Not being able to meet the Viscount would surely delay the planning.

"What do you have in mind, Arthur, that you are manipulating your Father?" Virelle narrowed her eyes at her son.

Meanwhile, Kevin and Aston were baffled. Manipulation? When? Who?

Arthur pretended to be innocent as he said, "Look, I have brought a few rubies by accident, which could be used to help us get back to Westmere within seconds."

Aston’s lips parted in shock as he asked, "Teleportation?"

Arthur shrugged, "I just gave a suggestion. And it’s not like we are using money for luxury. It’s about Westmere’s welfare."

Aston hummed, a frown of contemplation on his head.

He glanced at his wife and found her having a neutral look.

In the end, he didn’t give a clear answer, "Let’s talk about it once we get done with this challenge."

Kevin instantly turned toward his brother with his eyes holding tears of joy.

Arthur had a smug look as he leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed.

The carriage rolled inside the palace compound, and this time, they weren’t stopped by any checkpost for some reason.

"I feel nervous..." Virelle muttered under her breath.

Aston held her hand assuringly and told her, "Don’t worry. Just be yourself, and I know they will like your company."

Virelle, despite being nervous, couldn’t stop herself from smiling as the carriage finally came to a pause

A butler opened the door for them before Aston stepped out and helped his wife to get down.

"Good morning, Sir Stronghart." The butler greeted, and Aston gave a faint nod with a smile on his face.

Once the family of four stepped out, they were guided into the palace.

Unlike yesterday, when it was full of people and appeared lavish with all the decorations, today, the main hall appears much larger and peaceful.

It was surprising how quickly all the servants removed the decorations.

They were led to the reception area—a section of the palace where the whole drama occurred yesterday. And once they entered, the family of four froze upon seeing a few familiar faces already present there.

"Sir Montclair..." Aston faintly muttered as he saw the redhead getting up from his seat and advancing towards the four, followed by his wife and his son.

There was a polite smile on his face, and a tinge of regret appeared in his eyes when the man said, "I apologize for my son’s actions yesterday. He generally doesn’t behave in such a way."

Aston was startled, truthfully, to receive the apology. He genuinely believed that Duke Montclair would highly likely ignore him if they ever came across.

Hayden turned towards his son before calling out, "Gustav?"

The junior Montclair had a grumpy look on his face, but he didn’t protest and stepped forward.

Looking at Arthur, he gave a brief bow and said, "I am ashamed of how I behaved yesterday. And sorry for making fun of the present."

Arthur’s first reaction was ’Fuck off! No one insults my mum’s creations,’ but then, he played the mature role and shrugged, "It’s alright. I apologize too for pushing you."

Lady Montclair smiled brightly, seeing that they had patched things up, as she suddenly said, "Arthur, this is a gift from Grace. She was thankful for the brooch you gave to her." She extended a box toward him, which Arthur took mindlessly.

"Uhm..." With a bit of hesitation, Arthur asked, "She...didn’t come?"

Celia glanced at her husband with a knowing smile before she told him, "She...was quite sleepy in the morning."

Arthur hummed and didn’t ask any further.

He doesn’t know when he will meet her next time...but when he does....he might need to ask her a few questions.

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A/N:- Thanks for choosing my book. If you are reading this Chapter, then leave a comment.