[Faced with the golden-haired girl's insolent command, your adoptive brother, Kay, is furious, looking as if he's ready to fight her to the death.]
[But you consider that the inn room is small and that they have a numerical advantage. Furthermore, to be able to mobilize so many soldiers to surround you so early in the morning, the other party must be connected to the nobles of this territory.]
[To avoid causing a bigger commotion, or even getting hunted down, you decide to temporarily agree to the golden-haired girl's request and go back with her.]
[At the same time, you secretly tell your brother Kay to find Merlin. You also explain that you will find a chance to escape and meet them in the forest outside of town before evening, telling him not to worry.]
[And so, under your brother Kay's worried gaze, you become the golden-haired girl's "captive" and are taken back to her castle.]
"Eunice, I heard from the guards that you brought a boy back. Isn't he... a little too young?"
"So what? Just raise him for a few years and he'll be grown up."
"Er... that's practically a crime. Well, as long as you're happy."
Unaware of the helpless conversation between a certain noble father and daughter, Aozaki Rin was taken to the castle by the golden-haired girl and placed in a spacious room.
Though he couldn't see the specifics of his surroundings, based on the unique fragrance that faintly lingered in the room, Aozaki Rin could tell it was likely a girl's bedroom.
After all the servants had left the room, Aozaki Rin followed the air currents and carefully felt his way to the windowsill. His unfocused eyes "looked" out the window.
Based on feeling, it's probably five or six meters off the ground...
This height was nothing for his current body. After making a quick calculation, Aozaki Rin was about to step onto the windowsill and leap down.
Just then, the sound of several footsteps came from outside the door, forcing him to postpone his escape plan. He feigned a look of bewilderment and sat back down in his chair.
"Little knight, our lady has instructed us to take good care of you. So, would you allow us to take you to wash up first?"
The sound of several maids' giggles was mixed in with their words. They likely called him a "knight" because of the broken sword hanging at his waist.
Speaking of which, it was precisely because it was a broken sword that the guards hadn't confiscated it when he entered the castle. In their eyes, a young, blind boy with a broken sword couldn't possibly pose any threat.
He didn't quite understand the maids' strange whispers to each other, like "Is it really okay for him to be this young?", "Why do you care so much? Maybe this is her type," and "Forget the lady, I'm okay with it too."
Aozaki Rin believed he had been brought to the castle solely because the spoiled-sounding girl intended to use him as a hostage to lure out Merlin.
He realized that if he leaped out the window and escaped right under the maids' noses, the spoiled girl would probably send her men to surround the inn where his siblings were staying once more.
To buy some time, Aozaki Rin could only nod and agree to the maids' request, planning to find another opportunity to escape later.
And so, listening to the maids' footsteps, the boy followed them to the castle's bath.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
"Still sleeping!? Your little brother's been kidnapped!"
Kicking open the door to the inn room, Kay looked at the girl lying on the bed, hugging a quilt, with a trace of drool at the corner of her mouth. She was still talking in her sleep, muttering, "I'm not full yet. Can you buy me another one, En?" He couldn't help but feel a throbbing headache coming on.
A few seconds later, Artoria, who had been deep in sleep, seemed to finally register his words. She shot up from the bed, the single strand of hair on her head standing bolt upright, and stammered in a panic.
"Wh-What?! Who was kidnapped? Was En taken?!"
"Sir Kay, why aren't you saying anything?"
Kay suppressed the urge to start shouting, the veins on his forehead throbbed incessantly.
To think that this girl was the future King of Britain. So many people had surrounded the inn earlier, yet she had somehow managed to sleep through it all. In a sense, that level of composure was truly kingly.
However, Kay was also relieved. It was a good thing the girl hadn't inherited the throne yet; Merlin had been right that her temperament still needed tempering. If she took the throne in her current state, Vortigern would probably laugh his head off in his sleep.
"Sir Kay, what did you mean earlier? Where's En? Say something, Sir Kay!"
Faced with the girl's anxious questioning, Kay took a deep breath to calm himself and said with a stern face.
"En was taken. Anyway, this is all because of Mer—"
"Ah, there you are! I knew you'd be here. So, how did you rest last night? I, for one, had a truly wonderful evening."
A carefree voice suddenly interrupted Kay's words.
Outside the door, Merlin, who had been passing by as if looking for something, spotted Kay and Artoria in the room and walked in with a pleased smile.
Merlin slung an arm around Kay's shoulder, a slightly weary but satisfied smile on his face, as if he wanted to show something off. But before he could speak, he noticed two very unfriendly gazes fixed on him.
"Er, why are you two looking at me like that? By the way, where's En? Isn't he with you...?"
—And so, one minute later.
"I admit this was my fault, but do you really have to tie me up? Aren't we companions traveling together? Doesn't doing this hurt your conscience?"
Merlin, tied hand and foot and bouncing on the floor, struggled to try and move the two with his words. Unfortunately, it had no effect.
"What do we do now, Sir Kay? Will En be in danger?"
Having understood the whole story, Artoria ignored the caterpillar-like creature on the floor who was now murmuring in a gentle voice, "Lily, I'm your teacher, you know. Even if I have no merits, I have worked hard. How can you treat me like Kay does?" Her face was filled with worry.
"He won't be in that kind of danger. I'm more worried about a different kind of 'danger'."
Kay rubbed his temples, recalling the way the golden-haired girl had looked at his adoptive brother. A slight unease stirred within him.
"What do you mean?"
Artoria blinked, not understanding. Kay didn't explain, but just continued.
"That's not important. The problem now is how we're going to get En back. Even though he said he could escape on his own, that castle has so many guards posted outside alone. It won't be easy to get out."
Stroking his chin, Kay pondered for a moment, then his gaze fell upon Merlin on the floor. A vicious glint flashed in his eyes.
"In my opinion, the simplest way is to just chop off this bastard's head, present it as an apology, and they should return En to us."
"...That makes sense."
Artoria thought for a moment, then nodded seriously, as if she had truly considered the feasibility of this plan. She turned to look at Merlin's head.
Hearing this horrifying conversation, the Merlin on the floor was greatly shocked and hurriedly said.
"Wait! I don't think that's a good idea! What if she wants me, not my head? Wouldn't you just be angering her?"
"Tsk! Then what do you suggest we do?"
Kay clicked his tongue unhappily. At the same time, as if remembering something, a look of realization flashed across his face. He grabbed Merlin by the collar and dragged him up from the floor.
"Right, don't you know illusion magic? Why don't you just use your illusions to rescue En from the castle?"
"Er, well, I could... but for me, a great court magus, to use illusion magic to bully a local lord is a little... unseemly..."
"So now you remember your dignity as a court magus? Where was that dignity when you were sleeping with her daughter!?"
"Ah, ow, ow, ow! I was wrong, I was wrong! Don't step on my little finger, it's going to break!"
Watching her brother expressionlessly stomping on the man's hand, and the white-haired creature on the floor who was about to roll around in pain, Artoria frowned deeply, as if deep in thought.
A moment later, the strand of hair on her head suddenly stood up straight, and her face lit up with excitement.
"Sir Kay, Merlin, I've figured out how to rescue En!"
Inside the castle.
The golden-haired noble girl, Eunice, looked at her radiant but slightly melancholic reflection in the mirror and sighed softly. She couldn't help but think of the white-haired man who had lain beside her last night, whispering sweet nothings in her ear.
"That bastard, he better hope I don't find him! Or I'll castrate him!"
A dangerous light flickered in her eyes as she subconsciously tightened her grip on the mirror frame, her knuckles turning white.
Just then, with a rush of hurried footsteps and a knock on the door, a maid hastily ran in.
"What's the hurry? Don't tell me the boy we just brought back has run away?"
Eunice frowned, looking as if she were about to lose her temper, but the maid quickly waved her hands and said urgently.
"No, my lady, the little knight is still in the bath. I-It's that man! Two wandering knights have captured that man and brought him here. They're outside the castle right now..."
"What? Have them brought to me at once!"