When Arthur returned, it was already night. Scáthach did not ask where he had gone, but Nessa continued to pester him, insisting on finding out what had happened.
Fortunately, when she saw how exhausted Arthur looked, Nessa quickly fell asleep on the bedside table and then quietly left.
As soon as Nessa was gone, Arthur opened his eyes.
"That girl is really hard to deal with…" Arthur sighed, picked up the magic cauldron beside him, and prepared to perform his daily ritual.
Arthur would not have minded if it had been just a normal conversation with Nessa, but she kept asking where he had gone in secret—and he simply could not tell her the truth.
You can't exactly say, "I'm having an affair with the princess of a neighboring kingdom and go there every day to see her," right?
Arthur poured the dragon's blood into the magic cauldron and traced a rune in the air with his finger.
He practiced his runic magic every day after returning home. He could clearly feel that his magic had improved considerably over this period of practice.
The only thing Arthur regretted was that he still had not found a proper opportunity to learn anything from Morgan.
But there was nothing he could do about it. Given what had happened, Morgan was probably not in the mood to teach him those things.
Still, there would always be another opportunity later.
With that thought, Arthur shook his head, stopped dwelling on it, and focused his attention on practicing runes.
The days passed, and Arthur continued to drink the dragon blood Morgan gave him every week. One day, Scáthach accidentally discovered the vial of dragon blood and, with an attitude of "whatever," decided to ask what it was. After that, she simply told him to take it without worrying and did not ask for any further explanation.
She did not even ask where the thing had come from.
Because of this incident, Arthur became even more convinced that his master had known about his private contact with Morgan all along, but had simply pretended not to notice and tacitly approved of it.
Now that his master had given her silent consent, Arthur stopped hiding it and would leave as soon as it was time to meet Morgan, no longer worrying about being discovered by Scáthach.
This situation lasted for nearly three months.
During those three months, Britannia was in complete chaos. Almost every day, incidents involving ghosts attacking people occurred. Some pessimists claimed that Britannia had angered the spirits, causing them to seek revenge. Others said it was the work of a "witch." In short, all kinds of rumors spread throughout the royal city.
Only in the past few days had this internal turmoil gradually subsided.
As the number of ghosts was clearly decreasing—and people are very forgetful creatures—they unconsciously put these matters out of their minds and continued living their lives.
"Artoria, Arthur, you two came together again today." The townspeople were already very familiar with the two of them, so they did not hold back from teasing them.
Artoria merely nodded slightly without saying anything.
"We came to pick up knight equipment for Kay, then we'll head back to continue our training. After all, we're still just apprentice knights," Arthur said, greeting the locals with a broad smile that made him seem very approachable.
After three months, Morgan had arranged a program for Arthur, allowing him to train as an apprentice knight alongside Artoria.
"Work hard, and maybe you'll get rid of that apprentice knight title!" one villager said with a smile.
"I'll do my best," Arthur replied with a grin.
The two continued walking through the city. Noticing Artoria's gaze, Arthur seemed to understand what she wanted to say and asked, "You find it hard to understand why people greet each other, don't you?"
She nodded.
"This is a very important step if you want to become king, Artoria," Arthur said.
"What?" Artoria looked confused.
"To become king, it's not enough to merely be respected; you need to be approachable, to make others feel that you are a benevolent ruler," Arthur said. "You want to be king, don't you, Lily?"
Artoria nodded firmly.
"A king needs to understand the hearts of the people. Come on, try smiling now."
As he spoke, Arthur demonstrated with a smile on his face. "Like this—relax your eyebrows and your face, and you'll be able to smile naturally. Come on, try."
Artoria stared at Arthur blankly.
She had known Arthur for less than three months, but he seemed to have matured a great deal… at least compared to the immature boy he had been at the beginning, he was far more composed now.
"You mean… I have to understand the hearts of the people…?" Her tone was filled with deep confusion.
From a purely logical perspective, as long as the tribes could be united and everyone could be led to drive the Saxons out of Britain, that should be enough, right?
If she did a good job, others would obey—surely that was how it worked.
"Yes, you need to understand the hearts of the people." Arthur nodded. "At least, I think a king who understands people's hearts is more lovable."
After all, if I had to choose between A and F, F would probably be better, right?
"More lovable…?" Artoria tilted her head slightly, a puzzled expression on her face, the strand of hair atop her head swaying gently.
"Hm." Arthur looked at the girl, sighed, and reached out to press her cheeks.
He placed his hands near her mouth and gently pulled it open.
"Like this."
Under Arthur's "guidance," Artoria forced a stiff smile.
"Pfft—"
Seeing that smile, Arthur could not hold it in. He covered his mouth, turned his back, and let out a quiet laugh.
"That's very rude of you," Artoria said, displeasure evident on her face. "Why are you laughing?"
"Uh… I just remembered something funny." Arthur finally turned back, suppressed his smile, and coughed lightly.
"In short, if you want to become king in the future, it's not enough to rely solely on an authoritarian leadership style; you also need to try to understand other people's thoughts."
Artoria's face took on a thoughtful expression.
"Let's take these knight tools to Kay first," Arthur said.
Artoria nodded and was about to take a step forward when a commotion arose not far away.
"Oh! Such a shame, it was just a little short."
"Not just a little—it's like it finally budged just a tiny bit!"
Artoria's gaze fixed in that direction, as if she wanted to see something beyond the crowd.
"Shall we take a look?" Arthur noticed her gaze and said.
She nodded slightly, and after much effort, they squeezed through the crowd and saw a group of people pointing and talking in front of a giant rock.
"The sword in the stone?"
Arthur murmured to himself, looking at the sword embedded in the massive rock not far away, as well as the knight desperately trying to pull it out.
He had seen this scene almost every day this month. Day after day, groups of knights came here to try to remove the sword, but so far, no one had succeeded.
"The sword that chooses the king—Caliburn," Artoria said softly. "Merlin said that whoever pulls the sword from this stone will become king."
"He also said that only the Red Dragon of Britannia could pull that sword out, didn't he?" Arthur added.
Because of Merlin's words, the Saxons had been acting like madmen lately, searching everywhere for the Red Dragon of Britannia. To them, the Red Dragon was their greatest enemy, and they needed to eliminate it as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, to this day, the Saxons still did not know who the Red Dragon was.
Upon hearing Arthur's words, Artoria fell silent, her gaze fixed on the Sword in the Stone, a faint unease visible on her face.
After a moment, she finally spoke. "Let's go."
She did not tell Arthur that she was the Red Dragon because it involved too many things.
It was not that she did not trust Arthur—it was simply that she did not want him to know too much.
Knowing too much would not do him any good.
Although Vortigern had defeated King Uther and then mysteriously disappeared, the Saxons still occupied most of Britannia's territory. If news spread that she was the Red Dragon, it would lead to her death—and Arthur would be implicated as well.
Therefore, the fewer people who knew, the better.
(End of Chapter)