Compared to that fierce battle last time in Salisbury, the current Gawain hadn't changed much.
Still just as tall, still fully armored from head to toe—the only difference was that she no longer carried the blazing sword in her hand like before. Instead, the sword had been sheathed, making her appear less aggressive.
Looking at this unexpected visitor, Riezel spoke up in surprise.
"You're here?"
There wasn't any hostility in his voice—he just genuinely didn't understand why she had come.
However, it seemed Gawain didn't see it that way.
"Well, this is the royal palace—Her Majesty's chamber. We Fairy Knights have permission to enter freely, so what's the issue with me being here?"
Gawain looked down at Riezel from her much taller height, though she didn't come off as overbearing, her words sounded a bit forceful.
"Or are you scared to let someone you once fought against casually walk into your room? You don't strike me as the petty type."
"And what makes you so sure I'm not petty?" Riezel narrowed his eyes and replied calmly. "Maybe I'm just that kind of person?"
"Talking down on yourself doesn't do any good." Gawain frowned. "Someone who can swing slashes like a raging inferno... if that's what you call a petty person, then I wouldn't mind seeing more of that."
"So what, you trying to kill me with compliments? Or is that your way of praising yourself too?" Riezel shot her a glance. "You can pull off that kind of slash too, can't you?"
"Yes, that's exactly why you caught my attention, Child of Prophecy." Gawain kept her gaze fixed on him. "A swordsman who, like me, can wield flames of the sun and command hounds—your combat style's really similar to mine."
Riezel didn't even flinch at her words and tossed out a response without changing his expression.
"Sun Breathing's just one of my combat styles. Cerberus is just one of my summons. If I wanted, I could bring out lightning storms or even summon a great dragon. Doesn't matter."
He sat down at a table in the center of the room and gestured toward the seat across from him.
"Whatever. You're already here, so sit and let's talk."
Hearing this, Gawain stared at Riezel for a moment before finally taking the seat in front of him.
"Tea or booze?"
Riezel flipped open a few cups and started rinsing them with water, not even looking up as he asked.
"Booze."
Gawain answered without hesitation.
"Is ale okay?" Riezel pulled out a bottle like a magician. "I've got fruit wine and mead too, but there's not much mead left from Salisbury. Well, that stuff's top shelf, and I don't have much of it, so I'm not serving it this time. As for fruit wine—guess you wouldn't like that?"
"I'm not a kid. Ale is fine." Gawain frowned again and glanced at the bottle that appeared from nowhere.
Riezel poured her a glass right away, but Gawain didn't pick it up immediately and just kept staring at him instead.
After a while, she suddenly spoke.
"Facing you like this... hard to believe someone like you is that strong."
Her words came out almost as a sigh.
"Hmm... then tell me—what does 'strong' look like to you?" Riezel raised his own ale with a faint, amused smile.
"I've seen all kinds of powerful people..."
Gawain responded, lifting her glass with a relaxed motion.
"There are those like Her Majesty—just being near her feels suffocating. And then you've got types like Lancelot, who give off this mysterious vibe, and guys like Woodwose who just wear their power on their sleeve."
"But you? You're something else. You're the type who, if someone's not really paying attention, might not even get noticed. It's weird."
"Looking at you now, for a second there, I almost started doubting it."
"Doubting that the warrior who unleashed so much murderous intent and madness in Salisbury, who fought me, Lancelot, and Woodwose all at once and held out till we were all left battered and bloody... was really you, sitting right here in front of me."
Hearing this, Riezel couldn't help but chuckle when, in an instant, his whole presence suddenly changed.
"Well? Do I look the part now?"
Riezel's relaxed and carefree tone from earlier vanished as his voice turned calm and indifferent, and a terrifying aura radiated from him.
"!!!"
Gawain's pupils shrank, and an instinctive, predator-like expression crossed her face.
"That's it! That's the one!" Gawain said loudly, her usually composed voice seeming to heat up as if barely holding back some impulse. "Ah, this is how you were back then! The one with the guts to take on the head of the Fang Clan and the two strongest Fairy Knights all by yourself!"
As Gawain spoke, the chains around her hands began to rattle loudly.
Watching her, Riezel suddenly withdrew all of his aura, suppressing his fighting spirit and presence with Selfless State, minimizing his presence as much as possible.
"You didn't come all the way here just to say that, did you?" Riezel took a sip of his ale and said calmly. "Didn't think the lord of Manchester would have this much free time."
As Fairy Knights directly under Queen Morgan, Gawain, Lancelot, and Tristan all had their own territories.
Gawain's territory was a city called Manchester, located in the northern part of Faerie Britain, very close to the coastline.
In other words, the Fairy Knights were essentially nobles within Faerie Britain, holding a status comparable to the heads of the great fairy clans, or even higher.
Gawain, in particular, was the very first to be officially titled a Fairy Knight in the history of the Fairy Kingdom. She had held this title for over two hundred years, making her the most senior among them.
By comparison, Tristan was only appointed about a hundred years ago, and Lancelot around the same time, so to Gawain, they were both juniors.
And yet, the one hailed as the strongest Fairy Knight in the entire Fairy Kingdom was her junior, Lancelot, which was rather interesting.
Unaware of what Riezel was thinking, Gawain noticed him retract his aura, and she calmed down as well, like a beast retracting its fangs.
She took a deep breath and composed herself.
"Her Majesty has already given the order. One month from now, the wedding between you and her will be held. All Fairy Knights and the heads of the fairy clans are required to attend."
Gawain gazed at Riezel and spoke calmly.
"On top of that, there will be thirty envoys, a hundred officials—everyone will be there for your wedding with Her Majesty."
"Following Her Majesty's decree, all attendees have already begun preparations and are gradually gathering in Camelot."
"Manchester isn't far from Camelot, so I got here before the others."
After hearing Gawain's words, Riezel suddenly found that the ale in his hand had lost its taste.
"So you're all planning to go along with her decision and attend the wedding in a month?" Riezel looked at her and asked calmly. "You're really okay with your queen marrying an outsider? Someone who's supposedly the enemy foretold in the prophecy, the one meant to overthrow her rule?"
By now, he had naturally realized the fairies had made a huge mistake.
They seemed to believe he was the savior mentioned in the prophecy—the so-called Child of Prophecy from the rumors.
He could more or less guess where that idea had come from.
Most likely, it was from that first encounter with Woodwose, who kept yelling about being the Child of Prophecy.
Naturally, to divert attention away from Artoria, he had chosen not to deny it.
Given that, and now that the first Bell of Pilgrimage had been rung, Riezel had originally thought Morgan's army would consider him a threat to eliminate, but judging by Gawain's attitude, it seemed she thought differently.
In truth, that was indeed the case.
Gawain truly had no objections to Riezel being made a prince and becoming Morgan's husband.
"Strong individuals coming together is only natural. You and Her Majesty are both people I genuinely respect, so I have no reason to oppose it." Gawain shrugged. "Besides, don't you think a swordsman who embodies the sun and a queen who rules over winter make a good match?"
"Huh?" Riezel almost didn't catch what she meant.
"...Sorry, guess I'm not great at making jokes." Gawain paused, then added, "But honestly, our opinions don't matter much. Britain is, after all, ruled solely by Her Majesty, so her word is absolute. Even if many disagree, no one will step forward to oppose her."
Even though that might have sounded completely authoritarian, in fact, Morgan truly was a dictator in Faerie Britain.
Morgan had ruled over the Fairy Kingdom for the past 2,000 years through sheer authoritarianism and brutal control. Before she became queen, Faerie Britain had been under the dominance of the six great fairy clans.
Each clan held sway over a different part of Faerie Britain, ruling like six rival lords. For thousands of years, they clashed and fought, never bowing to one another, which was the state of Britain before Morgan's rise.
And then Morgan appeared—an awe-inspiring witch capable of wielding grand magecraft.
Starting from the northern region of Orkney, she launched a campaign southward, defeating one clan after another. Eventually, she unified all of Britain through force, and the Fairy Kingdom was finally born.
After that, Morgan was crowned in the Cathedral of the Ash Tree before she granted humans a degree of freedom to lay the foundation for culture and spent 2,000 years building the society seen today.
At the same time, true to her nickname of 'witch', Morgan ruled Britain with an iron grip.
Not only were humans tightly controlled in terms of reproduction, but even fairies were subjected to her rule, forced to bear the so-called Command Spells written by Morgan herself.
Akin to a curse, any fairy branded with Morgan's Command Spell would have their magical energy forcibly drained once a year. If they failed to provide enough energy to meet her demands, they would instantly die, drained of all magical energy, and in effect, their life force.
This was known in the Fairy Kingdom as the 'existence tax'—second only to the fearsome 'Calamity' that caused fairies to tremble.
Whenever Morgan sat on the throne, she would often say this to the fairies:
"I won't forgive you, nor will I save you. All you need to do is obey, bow your heads, and protect this Britain with your cheap loyalty."
Such was Queen Morgan—a terrifying witch and a fearsome dictator.
Earlier, the reason Riezel had said 'What a domineering way to rule' in the throne room was precisely because of this. He knew that the magical energy absorbed from all over Britain had been stored by Morgan within that throne.
Any fairies who couldn't tolerate Morgan's rule had already been dealt with, while those who hadn't were long gone, vanishing into lands unknown—proof of just how overbearing and forceful her rule over Faerie Britain was.
Someone like Morgan didn't need to listen to anyone's opinion, nor would she, since others' complaints and objections were nothing more than the buzzing of insects to her.
For this reason, when Morgan decided to marry Riezel, no matter what others thought, they had no choice but to accept it.
Understanding what Gawain meant, Riezel fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked a question.
"What about Beryl Gut?"
Riezel's unexpected question caught Gawain off guard.
"Beryl Gut?" Gawain looked surprised. "You know that shady human?"
"Something like that..." Riezel nodded vaguely. "Isn't he Morgan's husband?"
"Him? Her Majesty's husband?" Gawain frowned at once. "I don't know where you heard that, but I can tell you right now—that shady human isn't Her Majesty's husband. Her Majesty's never mentioned anything like that. When she introduced Beryl Gut to us, she used the word 'partner.'"
Her answer made Riezel fall completely silent.
Now there was yet another thing that had gone off-script.
According to what Riezel knew, in the original work, Beryl Gut was the one Morgan acknowledged as her husband.
He had played an extremely important role in the birth and rise of Morgan and Faerie Britain, so without him, there wouldn't have been a Morgan who ruled Faerie Britain for two thousand years, and Faerie Britain itself wouldn't exist.
Because of that, Morgan acknowledged him as her husband, even if there was no love at all between them.
Now, however, that plot had been changed.
"Can you tell me where that guy is now?" Riezel asked again.
"He's in New Darlington."
Even though Gawain was confused about why Riezel was asking about that shady human, she still answered him.
"He caught the eye of Her Majesty's adopted daughter, Fairy Knight Tristan. Tristan gave him free rein in New Darlington, so he set up a slaughter theater there. Every day, fairies and humans fight and kill each other in that place, and he watches it all for entertainment."
As Gawain said this, her face twisted in clear disgust.
It was obvious she found that kind of thing repulsive.
"New Darlington, huh..."
Riezel tapped his finger on the table, looking deep in thought.
At least that part was still the same as in the original work, unchanged.
In other words, the plot might not have shifted too far.
"Will he be attending the wedding too?"
Riezel's heart stirred as he asked another question.
"...Probably?" Gawain replied, sounding a little unsure. "He often acts together with Tristan, and his relationship with Her Majesty isn't as simple as it looks on the surface, so there's a good chance he'll show up."
"Is that so?" Riezel smiled. "In that case, I'd like to meet him at least once."
Perhaps, through Beryl Gut, he could find out what exactly had happened to Morgan.
At the very least, by observing Beryl's condition, Riezel would be able to get a sense of how the outside world was doing and when that foreign magus meant to aid the Child of Prophecy might arrive in Faerie Britain.
As Riezel was thinking about all this, Gawain suddenly spoke up.
"...Since you mentioned Beryl Gut, let me give you a word of warning too." Gawain gazed at Riezel seriously. "Be careful of Tristan."
Riezel snapped out of his thoughts and raised an eyebrow at Gawain.
"Tristan?"
He calmly turned his gaze toward Gawain.
Seeing this, Gawain hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"In Britain, fairies each have different natures, but they can be both harmful and beneficial. They might be dangerous, but they also have their merits."
"But Tristan is different."
"She's a fairy who brings only harm—someone who enjoys toying with life and trampling on the weak. It doesn't matter if her victims are humans or fairies—she treats them all the same, like playthings."
Gawain clearly didn't like Tristan's way of doing things, so he gave Riezel a heads-up.
"She can kill for all kinds of reasons or for none at all."
"Even if it was just on a whim or a random impulse like 'I'm bored, so I'll kill someone,' she wouldn't hesitate to strike down those around her."
"And the worst part is, she just so happens to be Her Majesty's adopted daughter and one of the Fairy Knights, so I had to protect her in the past too. Her Majesty really spoils her and keeps indulging her behavior, even letting her kill people as she pleases."
"At the same time, Tristan worships Her Majesty and sees her as the greatest being of all."
After saying all that, Gawain's intent became clear to Riezel.
"You're saying that while others wouldn't dare go against Morgan's order, Tristan might actually still come after me?"
At Riezel's question, Gawain gave an answer that was half yes, half no.
"Even Tristan wouldn't dare openly defy Her Majesty, but yes, she might still try to come after you."
Hearing this, Riezel chuckled.
"Well, the question is... is she strong?"
Riezel's casual question made Gawain narrow her eyes slightly.
"I'm giving you a warning, not advice." Gawain said with a blank expression.
Others might not understand what she meant by that, but Riezel understood it perfectly.
"Alright, thanks." Riezel raised his glass toward Gawain.
"I only said that much because you're strong." Gawain stared straight at him, her eyes intense. "I hope I get the chance to fight you again."
Hearing this, Riezel smiled faintly before calmly responding.
"So do I."