A ray of sunlight shot in through the window.
It landed squarely on Artoria's eyes.
How awful.
The young woman clutched her head.
Even though he didn't come over yesterday, she had slept worse than ever before.
The knight-princess's hand unconsciously slipped beneath the hem of her skirt.
No feeling...
If it wasn't him, there was no feeling at all.
No, wait.
What was she doing?
Realizing the situation was not right, Artoria quickly stopped her game of solitaire.
Were my words yesterday a little too harsh?
Maybe I should apologize?
Thinking this, Artoria picked up Caliburn, the Sword of Promised Victory, which had been placed to the side.
I'll go find him!
With this thought, the young woman quickly washed her face and then walked out the door.
But she hadn't expected that the villagers had, at some point, already gathered outside.
The moment they saw Artoria, they all knelt down in unison.
"We can never repay the King's grace!"
"My King, it was you who saved us!"
Artoria was a bit baffled.
Everything was fine last night, so how did it turn into this today?
"Honestly, you all. Didn't we agree not to do this?"
"Why would the King need you to act like this?"
The one who said this was none other than Morgan.
She was seen walking over from a distance, and with a wave of her hand, she dispersed the kneeling villagers from before Artoria.
"Sister, what did you do?"
Artoria asked.
"Nothing much."
Morgan smiled faintly.
"I just told them your identity."
"..."
"No!"
"How could you say that out loud!" Artoria grew anxious. "Didn't we agree to travel without revealing anything?"
"Now that you've said that, hasn't the whole thing lost its meaning?"
"Don't worry, I was discreet."
Morgan soothed Artoria.
"Today, we will be leaving this place."
"Their worship of you is just a fleeting moment."
"That's not right either!"
Artoria looked down at her own attire.
"Sister, I'm wearing your clothes."
"By doing this, won't it be the same as telling them the King is a girl?"
"You can rest assured about that, too."
It was as if Morgan had predicted this long ago.
"I've already explained it to them."
"E-Explained?"
"Mm."
Morgan nodded.
"I told them you like to wear women's clothing."
"You are their savior. With a small quirk like that, no one will mind."
"..."
Although she felt that something was strange, Artoria realized that Morgan had already arranged everything.
And all without her knowledge.
"Sister, why did you do this?"
"Because I wanted you to feel how much a good king is loved and revered, Artoria."
"Look—"
Morgan, smiling, pointed to where the villagers had just gathered.
"Weren't they all showing happy smiles just now?"
"Their heartfelt praises, could you not hear a single word?"
"Artoria, isn't this the kind of scene you wanted to see?"
"..."
Artoria fell silent.
Although she didn't like being worshipped like this, the smiles of those villagers just now were indeed deeply etched in the young woman's heart.
Everyone is smiling.
That can't be wrong, can it?
"Mm, I did want to see a situation like this."
"Well then, there you have it."
Morgan patted Artoria's shoulder, appearing very kind.
"This time, you've done quite well."
"Artoria, if you continue like this, you might really be able to become an excellent king—"
"Is that so?"
Artoria clutched the sword at her waist, completely unaware that Morgan's words were laced with a great deal of magic.
"That's wonderful."
One had to admit.
Artoria's constitution was truly terrifying.
Morgan felt that if she had relied solely on her own power, she might not have been able to persuade her.
But—
Behind her was Tiamat.
Handling one Artoria was still a simple matter.
However, that was not today's goal.
A barely perceptible smile appeared on Morgan's face.
She was going to do something even more outrageous.
"Well then, there's no time to lose."
"Let's go now."
"Otherwise, if we get held up by the villagers later, it won't be so easy to get away."
"Mm!"
Artoria nodded in agreement, and then suddenly realized something.
"Where's Ian?"
"He... where did he go?"
"He's already waiting for us," Morgan answered.
"Just a short distance ahead."
"Eh?"
Artoria frowned slightly.
"Why would he be waiting for us there?"
"We didn't... say anything, did we?"
"I told him to."
Morgan stated the reason, pretending to be completely nonchalant.
She silently observed the other's reaction, and after confirming that Artoria was very concerned by her words, she continued:
"Although I'm not sure why."
"But last night, he came looking for me."
"He looked for you?"
Artoria's hand, which was gripping her sword, began to tremble slightly.
"Yes."
Morgan nodded with a smile, and then began to walk forward.
And Artoria followed.
"I was very surprised when Ian came over."
"Artoria, did something happen between you two?"
"..."
Recalling the events of last night, Artoria felt her head start to buzz again.
She answered almost instinctively.
"Nothing happened."
"He probably just felt like finding you, that's all."
"Just felt like finding me?"
"But he—"
Morgan paused, leaving her sentence unfinished.
This naturally piqued Artoria's interest.
"What did you two do?!"
"Nothing."
Morgan shook her head, a subtle smile on her face.
"We didn't do anything—"
"He is your loyal knight, after all, isn't he?"
"..."
Artoria was speechless.
Morgan, however, had arrived at Ian's side.
She appeared to maintain a measured distance from him.
"Alright, everyone's here."
"Let's continue on our way—"
"We need to finish this journey sooner rather than later."
"Okay."
Artoria said this, but her heart was in turmoil.
No.
Something is definitely wrong.
There must...
Something must have happened for her to be so evasive about it!
The more one cared, the easier it was to notice things one usually overlooked.
Artoria's gaze anxiously swept over Morgan.
The young knight-princess soon noticed the marks on the hem of the other's skirt.
What is that?!