Chapter 545 - 543: Is This Really Not a Last Meal?

Chapter 545: Chapter 543: Is This Really Not a Last Meal?

His parents had chosen his name before he was even born. That proved his birth parents loved him, that he had been an eagerly awaited child.

So why, then, did he end up at the General’s Mansion? Why was he called a fatherless, motherless bastard?

Before he was thrown out, the true young master of the General’s Mansion had told him arrogantly,

"You’re just a bastard from god-knows-where, a stray no one wants. If my family hadn’t given you something to eat, you would’ve starved to death in a ditch somewhere long ago."

"You’re just my stand-in. The only reason you enjoyed a few good years is because of me, so you should be grateful. Soon, the entire General’s Mansion will be mine. I’ll reach heights you could never dream of, while you? You’re only fit to be trampled under my heel and left to rot in the mud."

Of course, he wasn’t one to take that lying down.

He was cursed out during the day. That night, he threw a sack over the guy’s head, gave him a thorough beating, and then framed his rival for it, ensuring the two would be at each other’s throats from then on. ’Use me as a stepping stone to a better life? Heh heh heh... Not a chance.’

He held a grudge.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Aaron Sinclair was just about to ask about the truth of what had happened when a gentle voice drifted over from the far end of the corridor.

"Son, you’re awake?"

It was that woman’s voice.

At the sound of her voice, Aaron Sinclair, who had only just learned his name, instinctively looked over. There, standing in the corridor, was the woman, holding a tray. She was looking right at him, her eyes gentle and a warm smile on her face.

He’d thought she was beautiful last night, but seeing her now in the daylight, he found her even more breathtaking. ’This is my birth mother,’ he thought. ’She’s a truly beautiful woman.’

’No wonder I never felt like I resembled anyone in the General’s Mansion. They were all plump and round, and even the ones who weren’t were just coarse, bearded men. How could they possibly have produced a child as handsome as me?’

It was true. He wasn’t the biological child of the General’s Mansion.

Carrying the tray, Celeste Grant approached with light, graceful steps from the corridor.

She set the tray on the stone table and lifted out a clay pot of chicken stew. Turning to her son, she said, "You slept all night, you must be starving. Come on, have a seat. I made you some chicken soup. Oh, there are more dishes in the kitchen. Just a moment." ’If I weren’t afraid of scaring him,’ she thought, ’I’d just snap my fingers and have all the dishes fly over in a nice little line.’

’But for now... I suppose I’ll do it the old-fashioned way.’

As Celeste Grant headed back to the kitchen, Aaron Sinclair’s gaze swept across the courtyard. Noticing a stream of clear water, he went over to wash his face.

Javier Sinclair watched him quietly, careful not to disturb him.

Aaron Sinclair, on the other hand, froze for a moment as he looked at his reflection in the water. The face staring back at him was fair and immaculate, and he felt clean and refreshed all over. He was even wearing the same magnificent clothes from before.

He had been on the run from assassins, so he should have been covered in filth, his clothes torn to rags. He’d barely looked human. The question of who had bathed him and changed his clothes was, therefore, self-evident.

His face flushed red in an instant.

’I fell asleep last night, but was I that dead to the world? I didn’t even realize someone bathed me and changed my clothes.’

By the time Celeste Grant had placed all the food on the table, she saw her son approaching with a blush on his face.

He glanced at Celeste Grant before speaking. "My... who changed my clothes last night?"

Hearing this, Celeste Grant decided to tease him a little.

"Do you even need to ask? Of course, I changed them for you. And your father helped, too." She wasn’t actually lying, though she had used a bit of Magic to get it done quickly.

Aaron Sinclair lowered his head.

He felt as if steam were about to pour from his ears.

’Then... they bathed me, too.’

’Even if she is my mother, this is still so embarrassing.’

Celeste Grant stepped forward and gently stroked her son’s head. "There’s no need to be embarrassed. You’re my son, and you’re still so young."

He retorted, "I’m not embarrassed."

Celeste Grant chuckled softly.

’He gets that stubborn pride from his father,’ she thought.

She pulled her son down to sit and placed a bowl of rice in front of him. "Let’s not talk about that for now. You must be hungry after sleeping all night, right? Go on, eat something."

The boy had gone to bed starving last night. He was a normal human now; he needed to eat. That was why, while he slept, Celeste had transferred a bit of Spiritual Energy into his body, allowing him to rest so deeply and for so long.

But now that she’d mentioned it... The aroma of the rice, the fragrance of stir-fried meat, and the savory scent of the chicken soup instantly filled Aaron Sinclair’s senses.

’It smells so good.’

His eyes fixed on the food spread across the table.

’A whole table of delicious food.’

’This really isn’t my last meal.’

His expression must have been easy to read, because Celeste Grant could guess what was going through his mind.

She sighed internally.

’What kind of life has my son been living all this time?’

She picked up a pair of chopsticks, placed some vegetables and a chicken leg in his bowl, and then handed the chopsticks to him. "Eat up."

He was, in fact, starving.

Fleeing for his life these past few days, he hadn’t had a single decent meal. Now, faced with such a feast, he instinctively glanced at the woman beside him.

"Thank you."

Celeste Grant stroked his head.

"Silly boy, what are you thanking me for? You’re my son. I’m the one who should be sorry, for letting you wander all alone and suffer so much."

As she spoke, Celeste Grant’s eyes grew red with sorrow. She turned away to wipe a tear. "I’m so sorry. We only just found you."

Aaron Sinclair’s hand, which held the chopsticks, froze. He looked at the woman before him. Seeing her cry made his own heart ache, and he found himself wishing she would stop. ’Is this what they call the bond between a mother and her child?’

"Don’t be sad. I... I actually had it okay all these years."

Celeste Grant couldn’t help but stroke his head again as he tried to comfort her.

’This sliver of my son’s Primordial Spirit is so mature,’ she mused. ’Compared to his old, fearless, trouble-making self, he’s gained a certain steadiness. My son has really grown up.’

’Perhaps this is why he needed to experience a lifetime in Elyndra. In a way, this is also a form of Cultivation.’

"You’re such a good boy, son."

"See if you like the food."

Aaron Sinclair lowered his head and began to eat. His eyes lit up after the first bite.

’It’s so delicious.’

’It’s as if everything was cooked exactly to my liking.’

"It’s very good," he said.

"I’m glad you like it."

Celeste Grant then turned to Javier Sinclair. "Darling, what are you just sitting there for? Come on, let’s eat with our son."

Javier Sinclair nodded. "Of course. Annie, have some of this."

Javier Sinclair placed a piece of food in his son’s bowl.

And so the family of three, in a warm and peaceful atmosphere, ate their first breakfast together since their reunion.

There’s a saying that one can’t be ungracious after accepting a meal. True to form, after he’d eaten his fill, Aaron Sinclair took the initiative to help clear the dishes, his earnest expression looking surprisingly cute.

After the meal, Celeste Grant had Javier Sinclair pick and wash two bunches of grapes, which she then arranged on a plate.

It was time to give her son an explanation.

Sunlight filtered through the grape arbor, dappling the three of them in light.

Aaron Sinclair sat ramrod straight, his gaze fixed on the two people before him—his birth parents.

"What happened all those years ago?"