A golden-haired woman in a crisp outfit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, stood quietly outside a house, gazing at the empty street as if lost in thought, or perhaps deep in contemplation.
Ariel, also known as Artoria's recently appointed assistant.
As someone who frequently stayed by the king's side, Ariel was intimately familiar with her lord's temperament and even some of her personal habits, enough to make educated guesses about her actions.
But this time… the king's behavior had left the young assistant utterly bewildered.
In the years since Ariel had been promoted, the number of times King Arthur had left the palace could be counted on one hand.
More often than not, she was buried in administrative duties.
Yet now, not only had she left the palace, but she had also been tailing Merlin all the way here…
And even ordered the streets to be cleared in advance… What exactly was the king planning?
Just as Ariel was lost in thought, she suddenly saw the white-haired mage step out of the house alongside a golden-haired girl.
"Mr. Merlin."
Ariel immediately greeted him, then cast a suspicious glance at the girl beside him—Reines.
Logically speaking, wasn't Merlin here to capture the transmigrators?
To an ordinary person, this girl might seem unremarkable, but Ariel could sense the magical circuits within her body.
Without a doubt, she was another mage from the "modern world"—another transmigrator!
"Miss Reines was looking for someone, so I helped her out a little. Now we're heading back to the palace," Merlin said with a cheerful smile.
Ariel froze, staring at Merlin's grinning face.
For a brief moment, she wondered if she was hallucinating.
…What?
Weren't you supposed to be arresting her? Why are you helping the transmigrator instead?
And now you're just casually escorting her back to the palace… What exactly was the point of this trip?
Just as Ariel's mind flooded with the urge to voice her disbelief, Merlin continued smoothly,
"Miss Reines' situation is special.
She doesn't need to be detained—I'll take full responsibility if there are any issues."
"Of course, if you don't believe me, you can always ask the king yourself once she comes out."
Had anyone else said this, Ariel would have been skeptical.
But since it was Merlin, the Court Mage of Camelot, the assistant could only lower her head slightly in deference.
"If that's what you say, Mr. Merlin, then the two of you may proceed."
"Thank you!"
Reines nodded at Ariel, then added, Miss Ariel, if you happen to see my friend come downstairs later, could you let him know that I've gone to rescue my brother? I'll find a way to meet up with him afterward."
In fact, Reines didn't have many friends in the modern world.
Alvin was currently with King Arthur, while Gray was also somewhere in Camelot's royal palace.
That left only one person she cared about, her so-called "brother," Kayneth.
According to Merlin, Kayneth El-Melloi, one of the twelve Lords of the Clock Tower, had also crossed over into this world.
And right now, he was in some kind of trouble.
Though Reines didn't have much affection for her brother, Kayneth was still a member of the El-Melloi family, and more importantly, Alvin's teacher at the Clock Tower.
If something really happened to him… it would undoubtedly be a headache.
Ariel gave the golden-haired girl a strange look before shifting her doubtful gaze back to the white-haired mage.
But Merlin had no intention of explaining further.
His deep, enigmatic eyes scanned the street before he suddenly chuckled.
"Miss Ariel, if someone tries to enter the house later… just let them pass."
Ariel's head might as well have been covered in question marks.
"Mr. Merlin… the king is inside that house right now, isn't she?"
"Yes, she's currently having a chat with a transmigrator," Merlin replied cheerfully.
"In that case—"
Before Ariel could finish, Merlin cut in softly, "But if that girl really wants to force her way in… you won't be able to stop her."
"But... aren't you here?"
Merlin shrugged. "I'd rather not get involved in this. Who knows? I might end up drawing trouble onto myself."
His gaze drifted toward the end of the street, and he spoke in a low and contemplative tone. "If I'm not mistaken, that girl was probably sent by Morgan le Fay."
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Beneath the vast azure sky, golden sunlight spilled over every corner of Camelot's royal capital.
The rustling of summer leaves cast dancing shadows, bringing a faint coolness to the city.
On one of the capital's streets, a plainly dressed girl wandered aimlessly, her eyes scanning her surroundings as she muttered to herself:
"It's so quiet... I didn't expect the streets to be completely empty, not even a single patrol from the Knights of the Round Table. Well, that saves me some trouble."
"But with so many transmigrators appearing in Camelot, how is the royal palace not making any moves?"
"Just as Mother said—the Knights are nothing but a bunch of useless fools."
Gareth, an artificial human created through Morgan le Fay's unique methods.
In a way, Artoria could even be considered her aunt.
However, she had only met Artoria a handful of times in the past, and all of those encounters had been during her childhood.
Not long after, Artoria and Morgan had a falling out, and Morgan had taken the young Gareth away from Camelot.
If not for Morgan's mission this time, Gareth would never have set foot in the royal capital again.
Come to think of it, it was strange.
With transmigrators running rampant in Camelot and King Arthur herself having issued orders to capture them, why were there no knights patrolling the streets, or even any civilians in sight?
Gareth thought about it for a while but didn't lose sight of her objective and continued walking toward the end of the street.
This time, the Silver Knight Morgan had created had been destroyed by someone suspected to be a transmigrator, and Morgan seemed oddly interested in the person capable of such a feat.
Gareth's mission was simple: retrieve that transmigrator.
Although, she had to admit that, the transmigrator was clever.
After destroying the Silver Knight, they had immediately fled the scene and even managed to hide within the royal capital itself.
But... what they probably didn't realize was that from the moment they killed the Silver Knight, there was no way they could ever escape Mother's grasp.
The Silver Knight from the Camlann Plains was forged with the "Blood of the White Dragon" and its essence would mark whoever slew it.
Gareth, who also carried traces of the White Dragon's blood within her, could easily sense anyone bearing its lingering presence.
And right now, she could clearly feel it—the mysterious "transmigrator" who had destroyed the Silver Knight was somewhere on this very street.
That fool probably never expected that if he hadn't been so thorough in annihilating the Silver Knight, Mother might not have taken such an interest in him.
Nor would Gareth have been able to track him down so effortlessly.
The thought of the stunned expression he'd make when he saw her brought a faint, amused smirk to Gareth's lips.
But just as she was about to step forward, a hand suddenly clapped down on her shoulder from behind.
"Gareth? What are you doing here?"
The voice was bright and cheerful, its tone as carefree as the rough, familiar gesture.
The sheer lack of decorum made Gareth frown slightly as she turned to snap at the offender, only for the words to die in her throat.
Standing behind her was none other than another of Morgan le Fay's artificial humans.
"...Mordred?!"
Clad in heavy armor, a massive sword resting on her shoulder, and even wearing a full helmet that concealed her entirely, yet Gareth recognized her instantly.
Mordred.
Like Gareth, she had been taken from the palace by Morgan as a child and raised as one of her most trusted agents.
But… wasn't she supposed to be investigating the recent surge of transmigrators in Camelot?
Why was she here?
"What are you doing here?" Gareth asked reflexively.
"A bunch of transmigrators have been popping up in the capital lately, so I snuck in two days ago to check things out. Just now, I saw some slicked-back blond guy picking a fight with Lancelot."
Mordred lifted a hand, and her helmet slid open, revealing a sharp, handsome face beneath.
Then, she tilted her head.
"More importantly, why are you in the capital? Did Mother give you a mission too?"
Gareth didn't bother hiding it and quickly explained the situation, including the target she was after.
"Oh?"
By the end, Mordred's eyes gleamed with interest. "Most of these transmigrators are weaklings… but one actually managed to take down one of her Silver Knights?"
"Since I'm already here, why don't you let me tag along? I wanna see this guy for myself."
Gareth hesitated as she spoke. "But your mission—"
"Dealing with one transmigrator won't take long."
Mordred waved a hand dismissively. "C'mon, lead the way."
With no choice, Gareth reluctantly guided her toward the end of the street.
"Weird, though… Mother's only ever cared about reviving the 'White Dragon.' Why would she suddenly take an interest in some random transmigrator?"
Mordred's gaze lazily swept the empty streets as she mused aloud.
"Maybe she thinks he has some connection to the White Dragon's revival—"
"You really believe that?"
Mordred's voice was flat as she spoke. "The Dragon is dead. Really dead. Killed by the King's own hand.
The dead don't come back—Mother knows that better than anyone."
Gareth fell silent.
Both she and Mordred were, in a way, the White Dragon's daughters.
Both of them have very complicated feelings towards the 'dragon' that they have never met but often heard Morgan le Fay mention.
But…
Both Gareth and Mordred knew that the dead could not be resurrected.
The reason why they hadn't mentioned this to Morgan le Fay all these years was because they were afraid that their mother would be upset... or even do something extreme.
As they were talking, they unknowingly came to a secluded alley.
"Is this it?" Mordred looked up at the window of the cabin and grinned, "Wait here for me. I'm going to meet this time traveler first."
Before Gareth could speak, she stepped on the wall and jumped into the house as if it were flat ground.
Gareth looked at the girl, who had disappeared from his sight with a little helplessness, and couldn't help but sigh secretly.
Mordred has always been a person who acts swiftly and decisively...
Although her strength was indeed amazing, she was so reckless that problems would arise sooner or later.
As Gareth was thinking this, she suddenly became aware of a figure outside the alley as she looked up subconsciously, only to be stunned.
Ariel...?
'If I remember correctly, isn't this guy King Arthur's deputy?'
Normally, she would be wherever King Arthur was.
But now, why is she here...?
Recalling the scene of the empty street just now, and now looking up at the small house again, Gareth suddenly had a bad feeling in her heart.
…
The warmth of the sunlight, the soft fragrance of a woman's body… It should have been a perfectly peaceful afternoon.
Yet, at this moment, cold sweat trickled down Alvin's forehead.
Back when Artoria pulled the sword from the stone and became king, the Kingdom of Camelot was plagued by internal strife and external threats… The twelve great nobles were crowned kings in their respective territories.
Although it seemed harmonious on the surface, they were secretly eyeing each other covetously.
From Artoria's perspective, it was undoubtedly a time of immense hardship.
Of course, for Alvin, he had only been after the "Keeper of Camelot's Night" achievement.
But that was something he absolutely could not say out loud..well...unless he wanted to personally test the hospitality of the royal dungeons.
"Alvin… do you remember what we promised each other?"
Altria stared into Alvin's eyes without blinking and continued, "You said… no matter how difficult things were, as long as we faced them together, we could overcome anything."
"But in the end, you resorted to such underhanded methods to 'save' me and fulfil my wish… Do you truly believe all I ever wanted was the stability of this kingdom?"
Alvin could not help but avoid Altria's gaze and whispered, "Lily… back then, I had no other choice—"
However, the moment the words left his lips, he suddenly noticed that Altria's eyes, which had been clear just now, seemed a little darker.
'Wait, did I just trigger a bad end?!'
Thinking about it, he quickly corrected himself. "But if I had another chance… maybe I'd find a different way to solve things."
Raising his head, he looked up at Artoria's noble, mature face with sincerity. "Back then, both of us were too young. To me, the Saxons at our borders and the twelve great nobles scheming within… it all seemed like an impossible situation."
Artoria's brows lifted slightly, but before she could speak, Alvin reached out and gently took her slender hand in his.
The warmth of his palm seemed to envelop her, and for the briefest moment, a flicker of flustered hesitation, like a startled fawn seemed to pass through Artoria's eyes.
For that instant, she was no longer the revered King Arthur, but simply Artoria.
'Just as I thought… Even after all these years, even though she's grown so much, deep down, she's still that same shy girl from back then.
Thinking about it, a faint, relieved smile touched Alvin's lips.
When he first arrived in this world, he was quite worried that the passage of time might have turned Artoria into someone unrecognizable.
But it turned out… she hadn't changed at all.
Or perhaps, the power of a (White Moonlight) "first love" was simply too overwhelming.
Perhaps in the past, when facing the world, she was indeed in a state of sealing her heart and locking away her love.
But the moment Alvin returned… even the most frozen of her heart would slowly thaw under his sunlight.
Seeing the faint blush rise to her cheeks, Alvin's expression softened as he spoke. "Lily… I'm sorry…"
His eyes traced the contours of her peerlessly beautiful face.
Under the sunlight, her rosy lips glowed with a tempting, cherry-like sheen, as if inviting him to taste them.
Thump… thump…
His heartbeat quickened involuntary.
Almost unconsciously, he leaned closer.
Artoria glanced up at him briefly, then lowered her lashes.
Although she didn't say anything, it was a silent acquiescence.
Alvin closed the distance between them, pulling her delicate, seductive body into his arms and gently pressed his lips to hers.
BANG!
At this moment, the door exploded inward with a violent crash.
"Hey, you bastard, consider yourself unlucky to run into me—"
Mordred kicked the door open, her massive sword already drawn, ready to strike without so much as a warning.
But in the next second, her footsteps ground to a halt.
Her pupils dilated.
Inside the room, a young man had a stunningly beautiful woman wrapped in his embrace, his lips just parting from hers.
The golden-haired woman wore a delicate crown, her long lashes catching the light as they fluttered shut. A faint blush dusted her exquisite cheeks.
"..."
Dust motes swirled lazily in the afternoon sun.
An eerie, suffocating silence filled the room.
Mordred stood frozen, her brain short-circuiting.
Who… am I?
Where… am I?
What… am I doing?
Originally, in her imagination, bursting into the room would have led to an epic battle with the transmigrator, a hundred rounds of fierce combat before finally subduing him and dragging him back to her "Mother."
But now…
As if sensing the disturbance at the door, Artoria's gaze flicked toward it.
BOOM.
In that instant, Mordred's pupils contracted violently. Her entire body broke out in goosebumps, her scalp tingling with electric shock.
King Arthur?!
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