"Cough, cough—"
At night, on the city walls of Camelot.
Mélusine had gone around in quite a large circle before finally finding a place where she could be alone with Ian without fear of being seen by others.
"Um, you know why I asked you to come here, right?"
"I know." Ian nodded.
"You said—"
"You were going to teach me how to be more popular with Artoria, right?"
"Good that you know."
The petite Mélusine put her hands on her hips, striking the pose of an instructor.
"While it's true I can't beat you in a sword fight, but—"
"When it comes to other things, I'm ten thousand times better than you."
"For example?"
"For example, my status as a Knight of the Round Table!"
"See? Didn't I become a Knight of the Round Table just a few days after I arrived?"
"Ahem." Mélusine cleared her throat.
"Of course, it might have a tiny little bit to do with you."
"But!"
"This also reflects, from a certain angle, that I'm actually very popular, right!"
"Probably."
"What do you mean, 'probably'?!"
Mélusine stood on her tiptoes and poked Ian's head.
"Anyway, I'm just more popular than you!"
"As long as you do as I say, I guarantee Artoria will like you."
"Alright, so what should I do?"
"..."
Sensing that Ian had become serious, Mélusine didn't keep him in suspense any longer.
"Actually, it's very simple—"
"Artoria, our King Arthur, is not a difficult person to get close to."
"As long as..."
Mélusine held up a finger, trying to add persuasiveness to her words.
"You can properly express that you care, she will definitely understand."
"I, Mélusine, will teach you how to do that right here."
One couldn't communicate with Ian in a normal way.
This guy had dared to humiliate her on their very first meeting.
If she tried to explain the theory to him normally, he probably wouldn't understand.
To put it bluntly, she had to do a practical drill—
"..."
"Okay, I understand."
"Then what should I do?"
Seeing that Ian was following her rhythm, Mélusine was secretly delighted and quickly went into action.
"First of all, you have to let the other person feel your sincerity."
"Sincerity?"
"Yes."
Mélusine nodded.
"If you want to make someone happy for you, you must first be sincere yourself."
"..."
"What's with that expression."
The professional instructor Mélusine stopped mid-sentence.
She noticed the way he was looking at her seemed a bit off.
Was that...
Confusion?
"It's nothing."
"I just wanted to ask, were you serious about what you just said?"
"Of course I'm serious!"
Mélusine became a little anxious.
"Ian, don't you dare think I'm joking!"
"I'm telling you!"
"I'm saying these things to you with utmost seriousness!"
"If anyone else asked me, I wouldn't even answer!"
"Then—"
"Is it like this?"
As Ian spoke, he took Mélusine's hand with complete naturalness.
It was an opening move almost identical to a knight's salute.
"..."
Mélusine blushed.
She found that from this angle, he looked...
A little heart-stopping...
"Cl-close enough!"
Mélusine shook her head.
"But, this is just the beginning! The crucial steps are still to come!"
"Is that so?"
The moment Mélusine's words fell, Ian knelt on one knee and looked up.
Still holding her hand, he met her gaze directly.
"This is right, isn't it?"
"..."
She hadn't felt it during their fight, but after this intense, soul-gazing moment with Ian...
Mélusine's other hand clutched her chest.
So fast.
It's beating so fast.
My power core is beating so fast.
It felt like...
It was about to activate.
"This is right, isn't it?"
Ian asked once more.
His gaze had not moved from Mélusine by even a millimeter.
"Mélusine, it's like this, right?"
"..."
Feeling a tingling sensation from Ian's stare, it took Mélusine a while to recover.
"Y-You have some talent!"
"But—"
"It's still missing something!"
"Missing something?"
"Yes!" Mélusine nodded quickly, temporarily breaking their eye contact.
She was afraid that if she looked away a moment later, she would start thinking strange things.
"Because this isn't the crucial step yet!"
"The truly important thing comes later."
"And that is—"
"I like you, Mélusine."
"That's right, that's it! Well done..."
"..."
"Huh?"
DONG—
Mélusine felt as if someone had struck a bell inside her head.
In an instant, all her ability to think vanished.
No.
It wasn't just her ability to think, but also her self-control.
Pop.
The wings she usually kept retracted spread out behind Mélusine, making her look as beautiful as a butterfly.
Her brain was rapidly dissipating heat.
Puffs of hot air escaped from Mélusine's body.
As someone skilled in using ice, this was something that would absolutely never happen to her normally.
But it was precisely because of this that Mélusine's crashed brain finally recovered a bit of normalcy.
"What did you just say?"
"Say it again—?"
"I like you, Mélusine."
Ian repeated it without the slightest hesitation, as if it was a completely natural act for him.
"I remember it's like this."
"..."
If before it could have been a misconception,
Then this time, Ian's words were a genuine wake-up call.
That's right.
The things she was trying to teach him couldn't compare to what was already in this guy's head.
"Why are you so skilled at this..."
Mélusine gripped the two Arondights at her waist.
"This isn't real, is it?"
"How can you say these things to me?"
"You can't, Ian."
"I'm the guardian of you and Artoria—"
"That's how it's supposed to be!"
"..."
Seeing Mélusine's blushing face, Ian was a little confused.
"Is this wrong?"
"Of course it's wrong!"
"You should be saying this to Artoria—"
Mélusine stopped before she could finish her sentence.
Because in the midst of this flustered confession, she saw something unimaginable fly past under the moonlit night.
And almost at the same time, Ian had a similar reaction.
"Hey, Ian, you saw that, right?"
"I saw it—"
"It's a dragon! / It's a dragon."
Looking into the distance, the two spoke in unison.