Lady Montes’ Point of View

Even Miern was surprised, he looked disappointed with what I did. To avoid further commotion, he dragged us into a more private area. “You have one job,” I said angrily as I drilled my finger towards his chest. “I deeply apologize,” he said while his head was faced down. I walked back and forth as anger and anxiety fueled my mind.

My daughter, I knew this would happen.

Who should I blame?

Rafaelo who was being careless?

Miern who dragged as here?

Or me?

“Sister!” I was stoked as Miern’s hands grabbed both of my shoulders. I looked at him and saw a sigh of relief, “Finally, I have caught your attention, I was speaking to you.”

“What? I didn’t hear-”

“Yes, I understand that you are panicking, overwhelmed of the situation. But we need to get ourselves together to find Layne.” My brother was right. Let’s be rational for a moment. “So, are you good?”

“Yes,” I replied. We decided to split up and look for Layne. Rafaelo will be combing the Banquet Hall. On the other hand, me and Miern will look in the halls, him in the right wing and me on the other. We have also brought communication stones to alert one another of anything we find.

I was walking in haste but not to the point of running to not catch any attention. I opened several quarters where guests could stay, but no traces of her. I need to stay composed and not get emotions into my head again.

Ting!

The sound came from the communication stone, “Have you found anything?”, I asked. “Yes, I saw Layne’s brooch in the right wing,” Miern said with traces of worry in his voice. A fallen belonging could mean a very bad thing. I tried to stay sane despite hearing what he just said.

If something did happen to her, I would definitely fire that headknight.

“Alright, stay where you are, I’ll be there in a minute,” I was about to walk away but then I felt mana energy from what appeared to be another hall leading to the garden. Normal individuals cannot feel mana but for a trained wizard, any type of mana cannot go undetected. I lifted my fancy gown and ran towards the abnormality I felt. When I got there, my eyes widened. There I saw a sphere of wind and fire rotating with great force. There was no doubt inside my head. I grabbed the communication stone to alert my brother. “Forget the brooch. I found her,” I said. “Alright, I’ll be there-”

I did not let him finish and without a second thought, I dive into the mana storm my daughter has created. I need to do something right away before anyone see this mess. To protect myself, I’ve created a barrier made out of air. As I grew closer and closer it seemed to not help me at all as the clothes I was wearing were slowly being torn apart.

I need to get to her before I-

“Agghhh,” I screamed in surprise as I was tossed away, hitting my back on a stone statue. I tried my best to stand up, but the excruciating pain from my rib made it hard for me to even stand straight. This won’t do, there is only one way, I have to do that. I firmly stood feet apart, extending both my hands to where my daughter was. Normalizing the rhythm of my breath, I focused. Inside my head, Miern’s voice echoed.

I know the strong-willed Lady Montes is still in you. You were the magic prodigy of Axen!

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The mana I have stopped using for decades needs to be unleashed. I felt something warm inside, there it was. I let my mana flow like an unstoppable current. With it, I created a magical circle as big as the storm. This is a forbidden spell that will cancel out any form of mana, but only for five minutes. In that window, I will stabilize Layne’s magical powers.

In a flinch, the storm was gone. I ran as fast as I could, breathless. Tears cascaded as I saw my daughter’s state. She was crunched down unconscious and weakly breathing. Immediately, I made her body lay down in my embrace. I watched Miern stabilize her mana when we got here. I could just to that again. Entirely copying the magical circle he used based on my memory could be a fifty-fifty chance. But it is better than not doing anything, right?

I was heavily sweating. Once the magical circle was completed, I unleashed its spell. I saw her breathing slowly getting back to a proper rhythm and her pulse was stronger than before. My body relaxed like a slug as I felt relief. “Sister!” I saw Miern and Rafaelo running towards us. “Both of you are just in time that I handled everything on my own,” I said sarcastically. Miern rolled his eyes.

“What happened?” He asked. “Her powers went out of control which created a mana storm. I was able to stop it using- blarghhh,” I vomited blood.

Oh, that’s right.

How could I forget? The mana-cancelling spell had an adverse effect.

Layne’s Point of View

I gently peeled my eyes open. Here I was back in my room. I have no recollection of what happened after I met my father. The feeling of sadness lingered inside my heart as I reminisced those memories.

How could he be like that?!

Automatically, my tears flowed like a switch. The kind and loving image I had in mind every time I thought of him vanished, and my longing turned into resentment.

I hate him.

“Tuck! Tuck!” I heard a knock; it could be Anne. “My Lady, are you awake?” she asked. “Yes,” I replied. The door creaked open as she went in. “Let’s get you ready for the day,” despite emotionally recovering, I tried my very best to conceal how I truly felt so that they would not worry. “Your breakfast is ready in the dining hall. Your family awaits your presence,” Anne said after she finished dressing me up.

Inside the dining hall, I saw a long table. On the other end is where Uncle was seated. There were only three chairs present, one was already occupied by him. And the other two beside him were meant for me and Mother. I bid him a great morning and I proceeded to eat. “Where’s my mother?” I asked. “She’s still asleep, exhausted from last night,” he said.

The atmosphere was quite awkward with our prolonged silence. Only the clanking of cups and silverware was heard. The silence broke when he initiated another conversation.

“Where were you last night? You disappeared,” beads of sweat cascaded down my forehead because of nervousness. Maybe I should just tell him the truth. “I followed and met the Archduke,” I said softly with my head down.

I am ready to get scolded.

“You continue to amaze me, dear nephew,” I quickly raised my head with what he said. “You are not going to scold me?” he shook his head. “Well it is definitely reckless, but a brave move. From my perspective, it is understandable because you have been deprived of a father ever since, and now that you have seen him face to face, you have taken your chance to meet him. But I guess Montes will have a completely different reaction,” he perfectly saw through me. I would also agree, that if Mother were to hear this, she would’ve gone insane.

“What I am curious about is how your meeting went?” reminiscing what happened angers me. “Based on your reaction it did not go well,” I nodded.

“May I ask how I got back here? I don’t reckon anything after I met my father,” Uncle stopped drinking his tea and looked me straight in the eye. He sighed, "Rafaelo notified us that you are missing and so we combed every inch of the Banquet Hall; even the private quarters,” he continued, “It was your mother who found you first, she stabilized your mana because it lost out of control,” I was too stunned to speak. I have caused them great trouble.

Our breakfast ended but Mother’s presence is still nowhere to be found, is she that tired? I was about to discuss it with Uncle but suddenly a person with white hair and a wrinkled face barged inside the dining hall. He was holding a tray and walking with courtesy. His posture is better than mine. At first, I thought nothing was on the tray but as he went closer to Uncle, on top was a sealed letter. “Oh right, Layne, this is Lisboun, our butler,” I remember his name when we were taken away from Venos. “It is a pleasure to meet you Sir Lisboun,” I said with courtesy.

Uncle’s eyes widened as he read the contents of it. “It’s a letter from the King!” he then looked at me, “Layne, the King wishes your presence in the palace,” I spitted out the water that I was drinking.

C-come a-again?!