Morgan remained dazed until she saw Nessa leave.
She always liked teasing others for her own entertainment, keeping everything she desired within arm's reach. Whether with Arthur or Artoria, everything had been proceeding exactly according to her plans.
In the end, she had truly accomplished everything she wanted.
Arthur remained in Britain, and Lily was able to grow up healthily without needing to pull the sword from the stone. Everything was developing exactly as it had been planned.
However... Morgan had imagined countless possible reactions from Nessa upon seeing her mother and her fiancé exchanging sweet words in private, but she never expected her to become excited upon seeing her mother and her fiancé kissing.
What exactly was that?
Sharing love?
Or was it something similar to what she herself desired?
Morgan had said from the very beginning that she intended to treat Lily as her wife and Arthur as her husband. That was not a joke, but a genuine consideration. Otherwise, she would never have appointed Lily as administrator of Arthur's court.
Morgan's goal had always been to cultivate the relationship between the two in advance.
Even having planned so many things, she never imagined she would encounter a girl so neurotic and difficult to understand.
"This is going to be complicated...," Morgan sighed.
Bringing Scáthach to Britain had undoubtedly been one of the worst decisions she had ever made.
Arthur truly had no patience at all. How dare he act like that with his own master? Was it simply because he was in the peak of youth, full of impulsiveness?
Or perhaps, even before reaching the room, that woman had done something shameful to deliberately seduce her own disciple?
Morgan sighed again.
In any case, the matter was already settled. That child was probably jumping for joy right now, wasn't she?
No.
The one probably jumping for joy was Scáthach.
Scáthach had likely never imagined that that timid, herbivorous creature would finally take initiative.
"This is going to be complicated...," Morgan murmured once more.
"Never mind. Let's deal with another matter first."
She turned her head toward a distant point. Somewhere in that direction was a prison holding many Saxons captive.
"I'll interrogate the prisoners for a while. That might help me relax."
Morgan left the corridor, and a flash of coldness crossed her normally gentle eyes as she disappeared into the darkness.
---xXx---
The next morning, Arthur opened his eyes and pinched his own cheek, feeling a strange sense of unreality.
"Was I dreaming last night?" he muttered to himself, touching his lips.
However, that was merely a thought born from overwhelming happiness. In any case, it definitely had not been a dream...
Even now, he could still feel the soft memory of his master's lips on his from the night before, and those intense red eyes remained etched into his memory.
Stay calm, stay calm!
Arthur lightly slapped his own face to regain his usual composure, quickly washed up, and left the room.
Outside, the sounds of combat echoed through the courtyard.
The constant clash of weapons produced a pleasant sound, and for some reason, Arthur felt a strange familiarity with it. Without wasting time, he quickly walked toward the source.
As soon as he reached the courtyard, a figure dressed in purple entered his field of vision.
Scáthach had returned to her usual attire, which perfectly highlighted her imposing figure. Wielding her spear, she advanced against the knight before her. The man was also using a spear, and the two had clearly been exchanging blows for some time.
Scáthach's opponent was Lanmarok.
After waking early, Scáthach had coincidentally found several Knights of the Round Table training. Eager for the opportunity, the two decided to test their strength.
As a knight of King Arthur, Lanmarok naturally wished to discover for himself the capabilities of the king's legendary master.
"How did you sleep last night?"
While Arthur watched the two training, Nessa suddenly appeared behind him as if out of nowhere. Leaning slightly, she rested her chin on Arthur's shoulder, turned her head to look at him, and asked with a playful smile.
Hearing her words, Arthur immediately recalled what had happened the previous night and felt a pang of guilt. Unable to face her directly, he replied as naturally as he could:
"Yes, I slept well."
"That's good, that's good." Nessa's tone was light, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "It seems having my mother here to keep you company is working out quite well, whether it's protecting you like last night or giving you advice about mental health."
Arthur's eyelids twitched slightly.
A strange sense of tension filled him, and for a moment he feared Nessa might have discovered something. However, the girl had already easily noticed the panic on his face, and as if remembering something particularly amusing, her smile became even more charming.
Arthur quickly regained his composure. Not daring to prolong the subject, he immediately changed the topic.
"Did you sleep well with Lily last night?"
Nessa nodded.
"Yes. Lily said yesterday that she wanted to investigate something, so she asked me to tell her everything about you in the Shadow Lands. In exchange, she also told me what happened to you here."
As soon as she finished speaking, Nessa looked at Artoria, who was walking toward them, and waved with a bright smile.
"Good morning, Lily."
"You're so outgoing... You've already gotten along with Lily that quickly?" Arthur thought as he watched Artoria approach.
"Good morning," Artoria greeted.
As she spoke, she cast strange glances at Arthur.
Before, it had only been suspicion. However, last night, Nessa had stated with absolute certainty that Arthur was extremely attached to his master. In exchange for that information, Artoria also told Nessa what had happened between Arthur and Morgan.
Because of all this, Artoria now had almost complete certainty about one thing:
Arthur definitely had a strong sister complex.
"What is it? Is there something on my face?" Arthur asked, confused by Artoria's strange gaze.
"No, it's nothing."
Artoria looked away from the people training ahead and changed the subject.
"Your master is truly amazing."
"Of course. After all, she is my master," Arthur nodded. "But Sir Lanmarok is also quite powerful."
Lanmarok's spear strikes were terrifyingly strong, something even the spectators could easily notice. That overwhelming strength was something most people simply could not withstand.
Not even Scáthach received his attacks directly. With each exchange, she used refined techniques to deflect most of his force.
Still, Scáthach had not even used her runes yet.
At this point, the two were only training, not engaging in a life-and-death battle.
"Lanmarok's strength is probably among the greatest in all the Round Table," a female voice said beside Arthur.
Another woman had appeared beside Arthur without him noticing.
She wore a crown, a regal dress, and golden heeled sandals. Her posture was elegant and noble.
She looked more like an empress than anyone else present, observing everything with a natural sense of superiority.
Upon noticing Morgan's indifferent gaze, Arthur felt a strange sense of discomfort and even wondered if he had gone back in time.
Still, he decided to greet her.
"Good morning, Morgan."
Morgan cast only an indifferent glance in his direction, gave a slight nod, and looked away again, returning her attention to the training ahead.
Arthur was surprised.
Why did that reaction feel so sudden—and so cold?
On the other hand, perhaps it was not so strange.
Morgan had always treated the world with that same distance. When Arthur first met her four years ago, she was exactly like this: cold, reserved, as if isolated from everything around her.
It was only later that her personality became much more open and relaxed, making Arthur gradually forget how she used to act.
"It looks like Morgan has returned to her old habits... What happened?" Arthur thought.
He was not the only one who noticed.
Even Artoria felt something was wrong. She looked at her older sister, opened her mouth slightly as if to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
While Arthur was still reflecting on all this, the training ahead came to an end.
Scáthach and Lanmarok had not fought to the death; they had deliberately avoided escalating the fight.
"It looks like you didn't rest even while I was away. You're already waking up early."
Scáthach sheathed her spear and walked toward Arthur.
She had already noticed his presence the moment he arrived in the courtyard, but she had not greeted him earlier because she was busy training with Lanmarok.
"Master."
After staring at Scáthach for a few seconds, Arthur's gaze immediately lost some of its usual focus.
---
(End of Chapter)