Chapter 67 - Visit

Chapter 67: 67 - Visit

By late afternoon, Adrien had discovered that his mother’s definition of rest became considerably more flexible whenever paperwork was involved. The folder Evelyne had handed him that morning was still sitting on the desk in his room, although several pages now carried his signature and another small pile waited beside it.

Most of the actual work had been done before the documents reached him. Evelyne had reviewed the candidates, checked their previous positions and decided where they would fit inside the expanded Clairmont administration. Adrien’s contribution mostly consisted of reading enough to understand what he was approving and then signing his name where she had marked the page.

He had just finished another appointment when Absolute Mana Sense caught a familiar presence entering Greymoor. Adrien stopped with the pen still between his fingers, concentrating for a second before a small smile appeared.

’That’s considerably better than another administrator.’

He closed the folder before anyone could arrive with a second one and left his room. By the time he reached the entrance hall, Amelia had already crossed most of the courtyard and was approaching the manor.

Her pale blue hair was tied back with the dark ribbon she usually wore, a few loose strands moving around her face in the afternoon breeze. She wore travelling clothes rather than anything formal, and after spending most of the day surrounded by unfamiliar officials and former Arquenay personnel, seeing someone familiar was unexpectedly welcome.

Amelia noticed him coming down the steps and slowed. Her eyes immediately moved over him from head to toe before she gave him a small smile.

"So Grandfather wasn’t exaggerating. You really are walking around already." She looked at him more carefully, clearly searching for signs that the reports she’d heard had left something out. "From the way people were talking, I expected to find you buried under blankets for the next three days."

Adrien stopped in front of her and lifted an eyebrow. "Technically, that was my mother’s plan. Then she remembered that becoming responsible for half of Arquenay apparently creates documents that require my signature."

"That sounds more believable." Amelia’s gaze settled briefly around his ribs. "Grandfather heard you were injured. How bad was it?"

"Not as bad as it sounds anymore." Adrien touched his side lightly. "A Healer dealt with the actual damage, and whatever’s left is disappearing quickly. The physique makes recovery considerably easier."

Amelia didn’t look entirely satisfied with the answer. "That isn’t the same thing as saying you’re fine."

"It was close enough that I hoped you wouldn’t notice the difference." Adrien smiled faintly when she continued staring at him. "Apparently that was optimistic."

"It was." Amelia shook her head, although there was amusement in her expression now. "Grandfather told me some of what happened, but most of what reaches Elyndor comes through people who heard it from somebody else. According to one version, half of Greymoor was destroyed."

Adrien glanced back toward the estate. "Half is ambitious. We still have enough walls that Mother hasn’t started charging Gaspard’s corpse for repairs."

That earned a laugh from Amelia before Adrien gestured toward the path running beside the gardens. He’d already spent enough time indoors that day, and there was no reason to drag her into another room when the weather was pleasant.

They began walking slowly alongside the manor. Evidence of the battle remained visible wherever they looked. Fresh timber reinforced damaged sections of fencing, sections of earth had been torn apart by fighting, and workers moved between the outer buildings carrying tools and replacement materials.

Amelia watched them for several seconds before turning toward him. "Alright, then. What actually happened? Grandfather knows Gaspard attacked, and he knows the Crown arrived before things became much worse, but that was about as detailed as he got."

Adrien considered where to begin. "Gaspard brought enough soldiers to make surrender look like the sensible option. His timing wasn’t terrible either. If Margaret hadn’t arrived with Royal Guards when she did, things would’ve become considerably uglier."

Amelia’s eyebrows rose at the name. "Princess Margaret came personally?"

"Apparently helping me once wasn’t enough." Adrien gave a slight shrug. "She arrived with enough Crown forces to make Gaspard realize he’d run out of good options. Unfortunately, he decided fighting was still one of the remaining ones."

Amelia glanced sideways at him. "And I’m guessing you decided standing somewhere safe wasn’t one of yours."

Adrien looked at her for a moment. "You weren’t even there and you’re already accusing me."

"I’ve met you." Her smile widened slightly. "That gives me enough evidence."

Adrien couldn’t find much of an argument against that, so he continued explaining as they walked. He told her about Gaspard’s attack, the battle itself, Aurelian’s arrival afterward and the decision to dissolve House Arquenay entirely.

He didn’t go into every political detail, but he explained enough for Amelia to understand the result. A city, several villages, farmland, a mine and most of the remaining Arquenay personnel had now become Clairmont responsibility almost overnight.

When he finished, Amelia was quiet for a moment. "So yesterday you were trying to stop Gaspard from taking Greymoor, and today you’re responsible for his territory instead."

"More or less." Adrien looked toward the manor with resignation. "I’ve discovered victory comes with an impressive amount of paperwork."

"The paperwork seems to bother you more than inheriting an army."

"The army belongs to Garrick now. That’s the beauty of delegation." Adrien gave her a serious look that lasted about two seconds. "The paperwork keeps finding its way back to me."

Amelia laughed again. "You’re the head of the house, Adrien. I think some of it is supposed to."

"That’s what Mother keeps claiming." He slipped his hands into his pockets as they continued. "Fortunately, she actually knows what she’s doing. She handles the estate and administration. Garrick handles the soldiers. I make the decisions they can’t make without me and try not to interfere with everything else."

They eventually reached a quieter section of the gardens, where an old stone bench sat beneath one of the trees. Adrien lowered himself onto it, and Amelia sat beside him with enough space between them to be polite but not enough to make the distance feel deliberate.

For a while, they simply watched the activity around Greymoor. It was one of the things Adrien liked about being around Amelia. Silence never seemed to require fixing immediately.

She eventually broke it herself. "You skipped something when you explained the battle."

Adrien looked at her. "What did I skip?"

"You told me Gaspard was much stronger than you, then moved straight on to what happened after the fight." Amelia turned slightly toward him. "I’m guessing that part is bothering you more than the paperwork."

Adrien leaned forward, resting his forearms against his knees. There wasn’t much reason to pretend otherwise.

"It is." His gaze settled somewhere beyond the garden. "I could sense what he was doing. I could follow the mana, understand the difference between us and see things I probably wouldn’t have noticed without my talent. None of it changed the fact that he was too far ahead."

Amelia understood immediately. "The difference between Core Stars."

"Exactly." Adrien nodded. "It wasn’t like fighting someone slightly stronger and finding a better way around them. It felt like a wall. He was faster, stronger and could put more mana behind everything he did. Understanding that doesn’t automatically give me a body capable of matching it."

Amelia considered him for a moment before sighing softly. "Which means you’re going to spend the next month trying to make sure it never happens again."

"That was roughly the plan."

"I was afraid you’d say that." She leaned back against the bench. "Just try to remember that training and nearly killing yourself aren’t supposed to mean the same thing."

Adrien gave her a sideways look. "I don’t nearly kill myself that often."

Amelia stared at him long enough that the defence collapsed on its own.

"Alright," Adrien admitted. "Maybe more often than average."

"You followed slavers into a camp alone, and Grandfather told me enough about that Lightning grimoire to know you nearly collapsed studying it." Amelia shook her head. "Your definition of reasonable needs work."

"My definition has kept me alive so far."

"That’s a very generous interpretation of your recent history."

Adrien laughed quietly, and Amelia reached over almost without thinking, pressing two fingers lightly against his side where he’d mentioned the injury earlier.

The reaction was immediate. Adrien tightened slightly before he could hide it, and Amelia’s eyes narrowed.

"Mostly healed?" she asked, leaving her hand there for another second.

"I said mostly. You’re the one who decided to test it."

"And you were the one pretending it didn’t hurt." Amelia withdrew her hand, though the distance between them had become noticeably smaller in the process. "You really are terrible at making people worry less."

Adrien looked at her for a moment. "Is that why you came?"

Amelia hesitated just enough for him to notice. Her eyes moved away toward the garden before she answered.

"Partly. I wanted to make sure the rumours hadn’t left out something important." She paused, then gave him a quieter smile. "And I wanted to see you."

That caught him more than the first answer had. Adrien felt his own expression soften slightly before he leaned back beside her.

"That’s considerably better than coming here because you thought I might be dying."

"Don’t make me regret admitting it."

"I wasn’t planning to." Adrien looked toward her, close enough now that neither really needed to turn much. "I’m glad you came."

Amelia didn’t answer immediately, but the small smile that remained was enough. They stayed beneath the tree for a while longer, talking about considerably less important things than fallen Great Houses.

Eventually, the conversation drifted toward Elyndor, Vael and Lucien, then toward Ariane and everything Greymoor would have to deal with over the coming weeks. By the time Amelia finally stood, the sun had begun dropping toward the mountains.

"I should leave before Grandfather decides you’ve somehow kidnapped me." Amelia adjusted the ribbon holding her hair and looked back at him. "And try to go a few days without giving anyone another reason to send news to Elyndor."

Adrien stood beside her, his body already feeling noticeably better than it had that morning. "A few days sounds achievable."

She smiled before heading toward the courtyard. Adrien watched her go for a moment, then turned back toward the manor and the folder waiting upstairs.