What a way to ruin the mood...
In the pavilion, Kai watched Samael and Morgan disappear into the house, then turned toward the Lion King, who sat calmly sipping tea without the slightest awareness of the awkward atmosphere. He could only shake his head helplessly.
Ever since Artoria had taken up that spear at the moment of Britannia's greatest peril, her strength had increased by leaps and bounds. At the same time, her actions had gradually come to be governed by reason, while her emotions grew ever fainter. These days, very few things could stir any noticeable reaction from her.
Morality, ethics, and the joys and sorrows of humanity could barely move her or inspire any empathy.
As her subject, Kai was in no position to say much about it, nor did he have the power to change anything.
But as her older brother, there were some things he had to say. Even if confronting his younger sister's divine might directly made his scalp prickle and placed him under tremendous pressure, he still had to speak up.
"Your Majesty, do you dislike those children that much?"
"From a rational standpoint, I would not call it dislike..."
Artoria set down her teacup and looked toward the little fairies busily working around the courtyard, her expression calm. When her gaze fell on Freya, who had helped prepare the food earlier, her features even softened slightly.
Kai quietly breathed a sigh of relief, then warned her seriously.
"Then you shouldn't have said that to Morgan!"
"Why?"
"They're fairies too! I can tell that Morgan hasn't merely adopted them. She genuinely cares about them. When you say something like that in front of everyone, what do you expect her to do? Draw a line between herself and her adopted daughters?"
Seeing that the lofty Divine Spirit still looked genuinely confused, Kai felt a headache coming on and had no choice but to spell out the problem for her.
Artoria's expression shifted slightly, but the ripple of emotion that surfaced was soon frozen over once again beneath the rule of reason.
The Lion King remained solemn as she spoke in an even voice.
"To open new lands, build cities, cross the seas, and cleave the skies. To expand the Sacred Round Table Realm to its utmost limit, establish an ideal kingdom that will endure for a thousand years, and proclaim the end. That is my mission."
"To accomplish that, all Mystery must be gathered into my hands. Fairies will become an obstacle."
"That's a problem for the future. It might be a hundred years from now, or even a thousand! Besides, no matter what policies you decide on as King, at the very least, don't bring that hostility into your personal relationships. Otherwise, no one will ever accept you!"
Faced with a goddess who barely understood human feelings anymore, Kai finally lost his patience. His voice grew sharper, carrying the heat of a genuine reprimand.
"I need to govern, not to be accepted."
The goddess replied mechanically, cold and matter of fact.
Realizing he simply could not get through to her, Kai lowered his head in frustration. As he looked at the goddess before him, old memories rose unbidden in his mind.
Artoria had once been so kind, so lovable. She could hardly stand seeing anyone get hurt, like some little angel who existed just to comfort others. Because she always assumed the best of people, she had been ridiculously easy to fool as a child. Kai had lost count of how many fights he had gotten into with outsiders because of her, or how many times he had scolded the girl afterward.
And now, she could order a massacre without so much as blinking, then calmly say words that cut people to the bone.
Kai felt as though an invisible barrier had formed between himself and the little sister he once knew, one he could no longer cross.
How did things end up like this...?
Merlin! Uther!
The normally easygoing Knight's expression darkened as those two names ground out from between clenched teeth.
Those two bastards! They said that if she pulled out that sword and became the [divine agent who saves everything], everything would get better. So why the hell didn't they explain the consequences?
To hell with the Millennium Pure White Kingdom! To hell with the Sacred Round Table Realm! Dragging everyone else along to indulge your delusions.
If you think it's such a brilliant idea, then you do it yourselves!
After silently raging for a while and venting some of his frustration, however, Kai's furious expression gradually collapsed into dejection again.
There was no point complaining now. King Uther had been dead and buried for years by this point, while that old bastard Merlin, perhaps because he knew he had done something shameful, spent all day hiding in the Mage's Tower and almost never received visitors.
Even if Kai wanted to settle accounts, he could not get his hands on either of the culprits.
Damned old fraud!
With things already having reached this point, the indignant Knight could only suppress his anger, let out a long sigh, and rise to address the Lion King.
"Forget it. Let's go."
"Weren't we going to taste Royal Sister's wine?"
Artoria frowned slightly, a trace of doubt appearing in her eyes.
"You offended her that badly and you still want a drink? At this rate, we probably won't even get meals here anymore. Read the room and get out while we still can. What, are you planning to stay until they throw us out?"
Kai was so exasperated he almost laughed. He could only roll his eyes and complain weakly.
A faint ripple crossed Artoria's otherwise calm expression as she frowned and asked,
"Can't we have dinner here?"
"Dinner? I'm talking about the foreseeable future! No, forever! You have to live with the consequences of what you do and what you say. At this point, even I might have trouble getting through the door again. You have no chance!"
Kai could practically feel his blood pressure soaring, as though a blood vessel in his brain might burst at any moment.
Artoria stiffened and fell into thought.
Just as Kai was preparing to drag the Lion King along the wall and make their escape in advance, Samael and Morgan returned carrying a bottle of wine and an exquisite set of drinking vessels.
With escape no longer an option, Kai could only plaster on a fake smile and reluctantly sit back down.
At that moment, however, the Lion King, who had been sitting beside him with her head lowered in thought, suddenly rose to her feet. She looked solemnly at the approaching Morgan and spoke with great seriousness.
"Royal Sister, regarding the Nameless Forest, I withdraw what I said earlier."
Kai's head snapped up in astonishment.
Morgan froze as well. The beautiful crystal cup she had been about to hand Artoria slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground.
"Uh... all right."
The Witch quickly came back to her senses and nodded almost reflexively.
It was not that she felt any particularly deep attachment to the Nameless Forest. What she resented was Artoria's commanding attitude and the way she tried to dictate what Morgan should do.
Having received that answer, Artoria sat back down in satisfaction. The ice on her face seemed to thaw slightly, and what might actually have been happiness appeared in her expression, leaving everyone else utterly baffled.
"What were you two talking about just now?"
Samael looked suspiciously at the furtive Kai, then at Artoria, whose attitude had completely changed from before, unable to make sense of it.
Kai himself was still somewhat dazed and had not yet answered when Artoria sat back down beside him, placed her right hand over her lower abdomen, and spoke with an expression of grave seriousness.
"The consequences... are terrifying..."
The baffling answer left Samael unsure what to make of it. He could only nod with awkward politeness.
Kai, meanwhile, looked as though he might laugh or cry, his expression completely falling apart as he screamed internally.
So all that reasoning and lecturing meant less to her than the threat of missing a meal?
Fortunately, this little episode finally softened Morgan's expression somewhat.
Then the Witch looked down at the glittering shards scattered across the floor and sighed regretfully.
"That was my favorite cup..."
"I'll help you."
The Lion King volunteered and bent down to gather the shards, taking responsibility as she helped clean up the mess at their feet.
Suddenly, Artoria raised her hand. Her golden green eyes settled on the bead of blood seeping from her fingertip, then on the broken crystal shard stained with a trace of crimson. A flicker of surprise crossed her face, and she frowned slightly.
"Oh, I forgot to mention it. This is a magical cup that preserves the freshness of food, so the broken pieces are unusually sharp. I should probably handle it myself."
Seeing this, Morgan explained apologetically. She then fetched a clean strip of white gauze and wiped the blood from her sister's finger before firmly taking over the task of collecting the remaining debris.
"It's nothing. It will heal almost immediately."
Artoria shook her head without concern and showed Morgan the fingertip that had already healed. Once Morgan finished cleaning up, the two sat down again.
After a drinking party with a much more harmonious atmosphere, the two sides, each seemingly occupied with thoughts of their own, finally parted ways.
Incidentally, this supposedly fine wine tasted exactly the same as the bottle Kai had brought before.
Just as he was about to leave, Kai suddenly seemed to remember something extremely important. He spun around and stared intently at Samael.
"Wait! I have something to ask!"
"What?"
"What are we having for lunch tomorrow?"
"Get lost!"
A vein bulged on the Ancient Serpent's forehead. He immediately raised his middle finger and drove the freeloading bastard straight out the door.
Once the gate shut behind them, the Witch beneath the pavilion opened the gauze in her palm. Her gaze lingered on the crimson shard hidden inside, her eyes quietly flickering.