Chapter 333
Chapter 333 The End of Your Era
#Finished
After Leander left, silence swallowed the massive hall. Hardly anyone dared to breathe. What had begun as a small family banquet meant for celebration had been utterly crushed by his arrival. Updates are released by.net
Lydia wiped her tears away and shot Gareth a look full of sorrow and fury. “Gareth Ashcroft, this is what you wanted, this is what you gained! Look around you–are you happy now? ”
With a sharp wave of her hand, she ignored Ethan’s attempts to stop her and strode out of the hall. “Remember this, Gareth. Everything that happened today is your doing. As long as Leander refuses to return to this family, I will never return either p>
Her words echoed as she left in haste. Ethan helplessly followed, though nothing he said could persuade her otherwise.
Gareth remained where he stood, as though all strength had been drained from his body, and collapsed into his chair. After a long while, he let out a heavy sigh, and the hair at his temples seemed even whiter.
Mira stepped forward with Reginald’s cane, but he didn’t even notice. He only stared blankly in the direction where Leander and Lydia had gone, lost in thought.
He couldn’t help but wonder–yes, the Ashcrofts now stood strong in Highcliffe. But if his grandson refused to acknowledge them, and his daughter–in–law would not return, then what would really be left of this family?
By the fountain along the long street, Leander leaned against the stone rim and watched the water shoot into the sky.
For the first time in nine years, his heart was calm. Entering the Ashcroft Residence that day had finally cleared away the suffocating weight he had carried for so long. His obsessions were gone, and for his path in martial cultivation, it was without doubt a tremendous step forward.
Turning his head, he spotted Ethan walking beside Lydia as they came out. He hurried toward them. “Mom,” Standing before Lydia, Leander lowered his head slightly. “I’m sorry p>
He knew why she had brought him back to Ashcroft Resident. She had wanted to help him reclaim justice, and at the same time, to case the grudges between him, Gareth, and Reginald. But his actions had shattered all of her plans.
“Silly child, why apologize to me?” Lydia smoothed his forehead, her eyes filled with warmth. “I wasn’t there for you all these years. Nine long years–you must have suffered so much. Of course, you’d carry resentment toward them. That’s only natural.
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“You did nothing wrong. If I had been in your place, I would have done the same. And seeing how you carried yourself today, I can’t help but marvel… my boy has truly grown up p>
Recalling how he stood alone in the massive hall, facing the entire family without fear, forcing them to bow their heads, even silencing Reginald and Gareth, it moved her deeply. Time and hardship had not worn away his sharpness. He was still the fearless, spirited son she remembered.
Leander and Ethan walked with her through the streets for half an hour. In the end, unable to resist her insistence, they escorted her back to Durham Abbey.
On the mountain path outside, Leander and Ethan walked side by side. As they descended, Ethan finally asked, “Leander, do you really hate Grandpa and Dad that much p>
Leander’s
eyes stayed fixed ahead, his expression calm. “Hate?” He gave a faint laugh and shook his head. “To me, they’re nothing more than strangers now. With no ties between us, what’s there to hate p>
Ethan let out a quiet sigh. He didn’t press the matter further. Instead, he asked about Leander’s years away. Leander spoke lightly, skimming over the details with a few casual stories. The nine years of life–and–death trials and endless hardship–those, he would never let Ethan know.
The two of them kept walking, nearing the foot of the mountain, when Ethan suddenly lowered his head toward Leander, shame written all over his face. “Leander, I’m sorry p>
Leander tilted his head, puzzled, until Ethan pointed to his chest. “Here,” he said, his lips barely moving as though each word weighed heavily, “one of the martial powers inside me belongs to you p>
He had borrowed Leander’s martial power. With two power sources within him, Ethan’s place in Astria’s martial world was almost guaranteed. His future as a Martial Sovereign was all but sealed. Meanwhile, Leander had lost his own martial power and fallen from a heaven–blessed prodigy to nothing more than an ordinary man.
When Leander had been gone, Ethan could bury that truth deep inside himself. But now that Leander had returned, he could no longer look his brother in the eye. As much as he resisted it, he had to admit that all of his current accomplishments were built upon Leander’s martial
power.
“Don’t trouble yourself over it. I let go of that long ago.” Leander clapped him lightly on the shoulder. “That power resides in you now. That means it’s yours. Use it well. Whatever happens, it once belonged to me–so don’t you dare bring shame to its name p>
Ethan nodded heavily at his brother’s case, but his heart ached even more.
Once, Leander had been brilliant, fearless, vowing to become the greatest martial artist in
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Ashcroft history. Now, he had no choice but to let go, forced to watch as Ethan climbed toward the peak. If it had been him, he would have collapsed long ago.
“Leander, you can trust me!” Ethan gripped his brother’s hand firmly, his tone resolute. “This is the strength you left me. I will never fail your expectations. With my own effort, I’ll claim the summit and one day stand at the very top of Astria’s martial world. I will fulfill the burden you entrusted me with p>
Leander only gave a faint nod at Ethan’s solemn expression, though inwardly he felt almost amused.
Ethan, like Daphne, saw him as nothing more than a cripple who had lost his martial power, someone whose dream now needed to be completed on his behalf. But little would they know that he had already surpassed all of that.
The only reason he hid his true identity was because he didn’t want his bond with Daphne or Ethan to become tainted by it.
Chairman of Jeff Enterprises, chief instructor of the Southern Wyvern Blade, the undefeated Iron Sovereign–Jeff Ashcroft–each of these names was too distant for Ethan and Daphne to even grasp. Especially Ethan, who, since childhood, had treated Leander as his target, chasing after him, struggling to one day surpass him.
Now, the martial power had been ripped from Leander and transplanted into Ethan. With two power sources, Ethan had become the strongest among the Nine Geniuses of Astria, standing at the very peak of his youthful pride. He believed that where once he could not defeat his brother, now with double the strength, he had finally surpassed him.
But if Ethan were to discover that the brother he thought crippled had already swept across Astria, that even their father had been forced to bow beneath him—what a shattering blow it would be to his confidence.
Stretching lazily beneath the slope’s evening sun, Leander said casually, “Kid, remember this. No matter where you go, I will always be your brother p>
Ethan nodded, half understanding, before Daphne’s name suddenly burned in his mind. His eyes hardened with determination, his heart thundering. Leander, everything else I can yield to you. But Daphne – I will make her mine.
His gaze locked on his brother’s back, pride flaring high within him. Leander, I’m glad you’ve returned. But your era has ended. From this day on, the first name in Highcliffe belongs to me ― Ethan Ashcroft.
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