Chapter 315: Gift
Sometimes her eyes widened. Sometimes her lips pressed into a thin line. Sometimes she reached for his hand as if confirming he was still there. She looked proud and terrified at the same time, which Kael decided was probably the most honest reaction.
After a while, she looked down at her own hands.
The skin was clear.
Healthy.
Younger than it had any right to be after years of mana poisoning.
"I’m glad that you’re good now," she said softly. "And seeing that this Elixir did this..."
She touched her cheek, almost disbelieving.
"I think I can help out now with paying the hospital fees."
Kael frowned. "You don’t have to worry about that."
"No, Kael." Her voice strengthened. "Due to my sickness, we had to sell the house. Then rent prices being this high, and you carrying everything alone..." She shook her head. "I can at least do some work at a convenience store or something."
"Mother. Like I said, you don’t have to worry about that."
"No," she said loudly enough that Kael blinked. "I can’t cause you more trouble. I can handle some work."
"Mom..."
She stared at him stubbornly.
Kael sighed.
"We’re rich. In case Eric didn’t tell you."
Celestine went still.
Then her face changed completely.
"Didn’t you use the Elixir?" she asked, alarm rising in her voice. "Or did you sell the second part? You should have kept that for yourself!"
"I didn’t sell it."
"Kael."
"I didn’t," he repeated. "I had other things."
"What other things?"
"Tower things."
"That explains nothing."
"It explains enough for now." Kael stood. "Also, I have a gift for you. We’ll go immediately after we finish clearance from the hospital."
Celestine looked doubtful.
Very doubtful.
But after studying his face, she decided not to argue more.
At least not yet.
The hospital clearance took half an hour. Eric oversaw most of it personally, confirming that the Elixir’s effect was stable, that her body was recovering, that she would need rest, nutrition, monitoring, and follow-up visits, but no longer needed to remain bedridden in the hospital. Nurses who had known Celestine for years came by quietly, some smiling, one crying more openly than she probably intended. Celestine thanked them all with a grace that made Kael’s throat tighten again.
Then they left.
Outside, Kael hailed a cab.
The unfortunate car groaned when he got in.
The driver looked back once, then forward again with the careful silence of a man who had decided questions were for people with better suspension. Celestine slid in after him, still moving carefully, though not with the weakness she had carried before. Kael gave the driver the Manhattan address and watched his mother’s brows rise.
"Manhattan?" she asked.
"Don’t be too quick to guess."
"That sounds exactly like something someone says before I should guess."
Kael looked out the window. "Then guess quietly."
The car moved through traffic.
Celestine watched the city pass with the expression of someone seeing a familiar place after waking in the future. Streets had changed. Buildings had risen. Screens were brighter. Climber advertisements flashed on towers. Guild logos appeared on buses and billboards. People moved past the windows carrying weapons too casually for a world that used to pretend weapons belonged out of sight.
Kael watched her more than the city.
Eventually, they reached the neighborhood.
It was good.
Not the impossible wealth of the highest parts of New York, not the places where billionaires bought air and called it architecture, but good in a way Kael had never lived near. Clean sidewalks. Wide glass fronts. Security at entrances. A police precinct nearby. A fire station within quick reach. The Association branch not too far away. And among the buildings stood a decently tall glass tower with reinforced panels catching sunlight along its sides.
The cab stopped.
The driver looked relieved when Kael got out.
Celestine stepped onto the sidewalk and stared up at the building. "Are we meeting someone important here?"
Kael paid the driver, then turned back. "Don’t be too quick to guess."
She gave him a look.
He led her inside.
The building had its own security, and when the guards saw Kael, their systems had already been updated. One checked the screen, straightened slightly, and allowed them through with a polite nod.
"Welcome, Mr. Ardent."
Celestine glanced at Kael.
He pretended not to notice.
They entered the elevator. It rose smoothly, so different from the old building’s elevator that Kael almost felt insulted on behalf of every staircase he had climbed. Celestine stood beside him quietly, fingers folded around the strap of the small hospital discharge bag she carried. Her reflection in the elevator wall looked younger, healthier, but her eyes were still those of a woman trying to understand whether the world had become kind or if this was simply another bill waiting to arrive.
The elevator opened on the highest floor.
A small private hall waited beyond it.
One steel door stood at the end. Several cameras watched the elevator exit. The floor was quiet, clean, and so polished that Kael’s footsteps felt too loud.
Kael approached the door and pressed several numbers into the keypad.
The lock clicked.
The steel door opened.
The penthouse spread out before them.
Light filled the space first.
Huge reinforced glass walls wrapped much of the perimeter, showing a sweeping view over the city. The living room was enormous, open enough that Kael felt like he could swing a weapon without immediately apologizing to furniture. The furniture itself looked like it belonged in a prince’s mansion, tasteful, expensive, and arranged by someone who believed people should have room to breathe. A duplex staircase led to a second floor above. A small indoor garden softened one side of the space with living green. Beyond the main room, a terrace opened behind reinforced glass, complete with its own pool and a view that made the city look less cruel from above.
Celestine stopped at the entrance.
She did not step farther in.
Kael watched her take it in. The space. The light. The clean air. The safety. The absurd size of a home meant for two people who had spent years shrinking their lives around sickness and debt.
"Shouldn’t we wait for the owner before entering?" she asked.
Kael turned toward her.
"Why?"
He took out several black electronic access cards and placed them in her hand.
Celestine looked down at them.
Then up at him.
Kael smiled.
"You’re the owner now."