Without waiting for anyone to answer her, Artoria pulled Ian and ran towards the other side of the courtyard.
Their footsteps echoed down the corridor, which gleamed with moisture, until they completely disappeared in the distance.
"Is the King in such a hurry to punish that person?"
The young soldier said dazedly, but suddenly felt a chill.
It was a gaze that wished it could kill him.
But when he turned his head, he found there was no one nearby at all.
Eh?
Come to think of it, there did seem to be someone here just now.
Who was it...
On the other side.
Grabbing Ian's hand, Artoria ran with him all the way.
Closer now.
The young woman rounded a corner.
They had arrived.
She stopped in front of a pair of heavy, massive doors.
Creeeak—
The doors were pushed open by her, swinging out in an elegant quarter-circle.
"Let's go inside!"
Artoria said this, then directly led Ian inside.
The doors closed once more, and no one noticed a figure that had followed them to the outside of the door.
Inside the doors.
Artoria could feel her heart pounding.
A lone man.
A single woman.
Alone in a room.
Just him and her.
Countless tags echoed in Artoria's mind, weaving all sorts of strange fantasies.
To be honest—
If she hadn't become the King of Britain, she might have had a rather fascinating life.
Just as the young woman was lost in her wild thoughts, she felt a wave of warmth.
Ian had embraced her.
"Don't panic, I'm here."
The first half of the boy's sentence filled Artoria with warmth.
But the second half elbowed her right back into the ice cave of reality.
"Artoria is the King of Britain."
With just that one sentence, Artoria felt an unfathomable chasm appear between her and Ian.
Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something.
But in the end—
The only sound the young woman made was that one phrase.
"That's right, I am the King of Britain."
"..."
"Oh, right—"
Artoria looked at him.
"Why did you hit those people?"
"Didn't you say you wouldn't bully people randomly?"
"If you're always like this, everyone will come to hate you."
"Because some people said things I really didn't like—"
As he spoke of this, Ian began to grow heated.
"So, I made a move."
"My King, I am sorry."
"Things you didn't like...?"
Artoria frowned slightly.
"Yes."
"They were speaking ill of Morgan." Ian recalled everything he and Morgan had encountered on the streets of Camelot. "They were very harsh words—"
"..."
Artoria's pupils widened in that instant.
If she had been able to barely maintain her reason before, then the moment she heard the name 'Morgan', she felt she could no longer think rationally.
"So, it was because of her that you were seen fighting?"
"Mm."
Artoria felt her head buzzing.
If the "punishment" from before was just an excuse to bring Ian out and be alone with him in a room.
Then now, she truly wanted to "punish" him.
I was the one who came first...
Meeting him, doing those things with him, it was all me first...
I refuse to give him up like this...
Artoria gasped for breath, one after another.
She walked to the throne.
This was a place only the king could reach, and it was where she would receive the people of Camelot in the future.
That was why it was so quiet here, with no one else around.
But—
Why did she have to hear those words, here of all places?
Why would he fight for her sister?
Shouldn't all of that have been for me?
As Artoria thought this, her body unconsciously sat down on the throne.
"You have gone too far—"
"I am going to punish you, Ian."
Artoria took off her cloak and placed it on the throne, as if laying down a covering for it.
The King's armored skirt dropped to the floor.
The secret that belonged to Artoria, the one that would throw Britain into chaos if it were ever revealed, was displayed before Ian.
"Come here."
"Today... if you don't satisfy me, I won't let you leave."
Artoria exhaled hot air softly.
"Absolutely not."
Strange sounds echoed in the silent throne room.
Artoria's hands rested on the armrests on either side of the throne.
Although she had sounded so cool when she said she wouldn't let him leave, when it actually came time to feed him, it was another matter entirely.
One touch and her defenses crumbled.
Two touches and she was panting.
Three touches and she was letting out low cries.
The young woman's legs trembled in the air.
In that moment, she felt as if she had returned to how things were when they first met.
Only she knew him.
Only she could possess him.
"Ian—!"
Artoria cried out with her eyes closed.
Her hands, too, came to rest on his head.
In that instant, the young woman's legs stretched out perfectly straight in the air.
And then, there was only Artoria, collapsed bonelessly on the chair.
"You seem very happy—"
Ian stood up and looked at her.
"No, I'm not."
Artoria exhaled softly.
She held on to all her remaining reason and looked at him.
"It was terrible."
"What you did was terrible!"
"It was Morgan who made you like this, wasn't it!"
"Continue! I haven't said I'm satisfied yet!"
"..."
"Alright."
"As long as you think it's appropriate, my King."
In that moment, the throne became a feeding ground for a dragon.
To be precise, Artoria became the feeding ground.
Camelot's rain had stopped, but in the throne room, a new rain began to fall.
How many times can a girl lose all reason to extreme pleasure?
Artoria didn't know.
But she understood one thing.
If she didn't do this, Ian would absolutely go back to Morgan's side.
But...
It couldn't go on like this, either.
Was there a way to keep him by her side, openly and rightfully?
A way to call him into a room with just the two of them, even without any reason?
Even if Morgan was right there, to do it anyway!
Wait.
There was.
And hadn't she already done it just now?
"Ian."
Using the last of her reason, Artoria, whose legs were being held and whose eyes were filled with hearts, looked at him as he paused.
"Ian—"
"Come and be my Knight of the Round Table."
"I need you."
What Artoria didn't know was this.
Her final whisper had long since been heard by Morgan, who stood outside the door.
To the background sound of his feeding, she gripped her own arm.
"Make him a Knight of the Round Table?"
"Artoria."
"You will absolutely regret making this decision."