When the cold morning fog in Britain began to lift.
A lone white steed, looking as though it might collapse at any moment, and a powered suit following close behind reached the colossal gates of North Wales.
"Haa… haa… I've finally, finally arrived…!"
The pure white armored dress, now caked in mud and dust, slid as Lily dismounted from the saddle.
Her legs nearly gave out beneath her, but her green eyes blazed with a frantic, desperate hope like never before.
All the physical fatigue of riding day and night for days on end—Lily firmly believed that a single moment in her brother's warm embrace beyond these walls would wash every bit of it away.
"Phew. My [Alter Reactor]'s calories are almost depleted. If I don't get one of Brother's meat dishes soon, I feel like I'll starve to death."
Artoria X Alter also deactivated her ethereal form and staggered. The homunculus infant wrapped tightly in her arms whimpered, hungry.
With the gate guards' bewildered stares at their backs, the two used the House Pendragon name as a perfect free pass and sprinted breathlessly into the castle's inner ward.
Kkik-kkig~!
The massive doors to the inner ward's reception room were thrown open forcefully.
"Brother!! Lily's here, Lily's finally hereeeee!!"
Tears in her voice, Lily shouted and rushed inside—but the sight before her was nothing like the tearful reunion she had imagined.
"…Huh? Lily?"
"What the—she's not Artoria, so how did that glasses girl end up in here?"
In the reception room, Artoria Lancer was sipping her tea with elegant poise, while Artoria Alter sat on the sofa crunching potato chips. In one corner was Artoria X, pleased at her successful coupling with Kay, and by the window leaned Artoria Lancer Alter, wearing a strangely content expression despite not having received Kay's seed today.
Regardless, Lily swept her gaze around the chamber. Yet neither her sense of smell nor her intuition could detect the scent of the gentle man she longed for anywhere in this vast room.
"…Wh- where is Brother? Merlin assured me he was here, in North Wales…!"
Waaaauuugh!!
Before Lily could even look for Kay, the infant in Artoria X Alter's arms erupted into a powerful wail. At that sound, the three sisters all furrowed their brows and turned their attention.
"Hold on. Artoria X Alter, what's that little blob of flesh in your arms? You didn't go and pick up some random guy's seed out there, did you?"
Artoria Alter scowled in disgust at the implication. Artoria X Alter pushed up her glasses and answered in her usual detached tone.
"Ah, this? It's a pure-blood Pendragon homunculus created by transferring the genetics of you, me, and Morgan. I stole her thinking we'd all do communal childcare together with Brother."
"…What? That crazy witch has finally crossed the line."
"Brother's gonna pass out when he sees this."
Artoria Lancer Alter and Artoria Lancer gasped in horror at that.
The sisters were appalled by the secret of her birth, yet strangely swayed by Artoria X Alter's miraculous logic of group childcare—after all, Brother's compassionate heart would never turn away a helpless newborn.
Perhaps that was why they looked on the infant kindly. Since their own natures made them unable to conceive with Kay's seed, this child was the key to experiencing a spousal bond with him.
Moreover, if Kay treated this child as his own, the one whom the baby acknowledged as mother would become his true consort. So each of them eyed the child with selfish desire…
"Th- that's not the point here!!"
"Brother Kay! Where is Brother Kay?! Please take me to the room where he is right now!"
At Lily's desperate cry, an oddly heavy silence descended upon the reception room.
Artoria Lancer set down her teacup quietly, Artoria Alter halted her chewing, and Artoria X pouted.
"…You're too late, Lily. And Artoria X Alter."
Artoria Alter licked the grease from her fingers and spoke the cruelest truth conceivable.
"Your brother isn't here. To be exact… He left for the Fairy Country—Cleopolis—just three hours ago at daybreak."
"…What? Th- the Fairy Country? He left…?"
Lily's eyes went dull with disbelief. Artoria X Alter also froze, her eyes widening behind her glasses.
"What kind of joke is this? Wh- why today of all days?!"
Artoria X sighed in response to Artoria X Alter's question.
"Sigh. It's Caster's fault. We were planning to roll around with Brother until morning, but then Caster shows up and…"
Artoria X mimicked Caster's sweet, innocent voice:
"'Oh my, Brother. What are you doing here? Lady Britomart invited us to the Fairy Country as thanks for saving Ireland, yes? We must depart before morning to ensure the fairy realm's exotic ingredients remain fresh! Oh, and please ignore that lustful beast over there. Now, shall we depart for the fairies' paradise?'"
"…And true to form, he locked arms with her at the mention of exotic ingredients and left! Tamamo-no-Mae, Medusa, and Jeanne d'Arc Alter—being his lovers—quickly followed under the excuse of being Servants! He claimed the invitation was only for him, yet Caster tagged along as both a fairy and guide!!"
With Artoria X's heartbreaking testimony, the full scope of the situation became clear.
Caster, who had seemed the most innocent of the fairies, had taken advantage of Kay's greatest weakness—mysterious cooking ingredients—at the decisive moment amid the chaotic brawl, and lured him into the Fairy Country, a sealed realm, successfully kidnapping (or rather, escorting) him. The Servants were just extras.
"Ah… ahaah…"
thud
Lily's knees hit the floor.
Five years of hellish waiting.
The guilt of having deserted her elder sister, Artoria.
After bearing all those sacrifices and pains, riding day and night, he still departed for an unknown realm with only a three-hour difference. And, of all people, he was cradled in the arms of the most cunning fairy sister.
"W-Waaaaaahhhhh!!!!"
Lily, the princess knight of the Great Sword of Election, flung herself face-down on the reception room floor and began bawling like a child. Her mental fortitude splintered into dust.
"This can't be happening… my meals… Brother's cooking… my calories…"
Artoria X Alter also sank to the floor, her face as pale as ash. The infant in her arms, oblivious to the chaos, giggled merrily.
In the end, the five Pendragon sisters left behind in North Wales cursed the conniving, victorious Caster and resigned themselves to an infuriated teatime.
Meanwhile, completely oblivious to the pandemonium in North Wales…
On the road to Britain's sole fairy city—the nation of fairies...
"Wow…! Now that we've passed through the mist, the air smells like honey!"
Kay's eyes sparkled as he savored the enchanting scenery of the Fairy Country.
In his mind's eye, he was already running happy circuits, envisioning what dishes he could create with unseen fairy realm herbs, the meat of mystical beasts, and exotic fruits.
"Hehe. Brother, are you that pleased?"
At that moment, Artoria Caster sidled up beside Kay and wrapped her arms tightly around his broad shoulders.
Behind her bright smile overflowed the exhilarating triumph of having completely outmaneuvered her sisters left behind in North Wales.
Leaning her head on Kay's shoulder, Caster let out a silent cheer in her heart.
"Hey, little one. Isn't it a bit too clingy to latch onto Master's arm like a leech? That arm is my reserved seat, you know?"
"Indeed. The other arm belongs to this Tamamo-no-Mae, so would our fairy guest kindly step back?"
But the joy of victory was short-lived.
Jeanne d'Arc Alter, Tamamo-no-Mae, and Medusa—who clung silently like a shadow behind Kay—shot her savage glares.
"Oh my, Brother is the one I escorted here, isn't he? Why don't you all go quietly enjoy the scenery?"
Caster retorted without missing a beat, batting her eyes defiantly.
"Ah~ I really want to see the fairy country's market street soon. Maybe we'll get a glimpse of golden apples or fairy tears—those exotic spices, right? Lady Britomart! How much farther until we arrive?!"
Kay ignored entirely whatever tug-of-war was unfolding behind him and addressed the one leading the way, Lady Britomart.
"Yes, Lord Kay! Just beyond that crystal waterfall is the glorious city where Her Majesty the Queen awaits: Cleopolis!"
Beyond the sprawling, crystal-like waterfall, the Fairy Country—an oasis of fantasy and gastronomy untouched by mortal footfalls—revealed its majestic, mysterious visage.