Dawn.
Having been carried in Ian's mouth the whole way, Mélusine finally saw the walls of Camelot.
"We've arrived..."
Holding the spear Artoria required, a glimmer of hope appeared in Mélusine's eyes.
Although she still didn't know for what reason Ian's mother had appeared, at least...
She was back in Camelot!
A fierce wind blew.
The great dragon used the high city walls as a landing point, flapping its wings violently.
After a few foundation stones from the wall were blown loose, he changed back to his human form, and he and Mélusine finally came to a stop on top of it.
But—
The moment she and the spear in her arms landed, Mélusine felt a sharp pain.
The damage inflicted by Tiamat was by no means minor.
She hadn't felt it much while being carried in Ian's mouth, but now that she had landed, her focus returned to her own body, and Mélusine immediately collapsed to the ground.
So painful—
It felt like her bones were about to break.
Mélusine bit her lip, but didn't let out a single whimper.
Although her petite figure was enough to evoke a sense of pity, at her core, she was a proud swordswoman.
Whimpering just because of pain was too embarrassing!
However...
As the petite swordswoman did her best to endure the physical pain, she saw a sight that made her blood rush.
The faint light of dawn shone in the distance.
And against this backdrop, Ian stood there.
But...
He was in his natural state.
A single glance was enough to take in every part of his body.
Including...
That.
"Eh?"
Mélusine's mouth fell open, and for a full fifteen seconds, she couldn't say a single word.
And when her brain finally rebooted, she immediately shouted.
"Ian, what do you think you're doing?"
And then, a piercing pain.
"Ow, ow—"
"..."
Ian didn't answer Mélusine at all, but instead walked towards her, step by step.
The petite swordswoman had a bad feeling.
After all, the last time she had suffered that ultimate humiliation, the situation had been just like this.
The exact same silence;
The exact same doing-as-he-pleased;
The only difference was that now, she couldn't move at all.
"Don't come over here!"
"Ian, don't you come over here!"
Mélusine's resistance was futile.
Ian, as usual, walked right up to her.
With a soft push, the petite swordswoman was knocked to the ground.
The morning light shone from behind Ian, casting the shadow of a huge object squarely onto Mélusine's face.
"No!"
"You can't do this!"
"I won't be able to explain this to Artoria!"
"..."
Ian remained silent, only lowering his head further.
"You... don't!"
Mélusine shut her eyes.
She couldn't dare to imagine what was about to happen.
She hadn't even explained the first time clearly, and now a second time was coming.
How did it turn out like this!
However—
What Mélusine felt next was not the thick, suffocating heat from before.
But rather...
A kiss?
A ticklish, tingling sensation, with a bit of suckling.
Mélusine's eyes shot open, only to find that Ian was not humiliating her as he had before.
He was just lowering his head, kissing her shoulder.
"You..."
"Is it better?"
Mélusine had just started to speak when she was interrupted by Ian.
He looked at her and asked seriously.
"It shouldn't hurt as much as before, right?"
"Eh?"
Although she had a feeling this was the case, hearing Ian confirm it himself, Mélusine couldn't help but be a little surprised.
He wasn't using that thing on her.
Instead—
He was kissing her wounds.
And what was even more surprising was that Mélusine found that the places Ian had licked now really no longer throbbed with pain.
"How did you do that?"
"Because I know Mother very well."
Ian answered Mélusine's question.
"I know how to deal with the effects of her attacks."
"..."
Tiamat's roar echoed like a phantom in Mélusine's ears.
"So—"
"Was that really your mother?"
"Yes." Ian rubbed Mélusine's shoulder. "She was very angry, but she wasn't angry at you."
"I escaped from that sea."
"She wants me to go back with her."
"..."
This was something Mélusine had never heard before.
Or rather, she hadn't heard it so clearly.
"So you escaped?"
"And your mother, Tiamat, was trying to capture you and bring you back?"
"Something like that."
"Then..."
"Do you want to go back?" Mélusine asked cautiously.
After all, this concerned Artoria.
She had sworn to protect the two of them!
But the moment she finished speaking, Mélusine wished she could take it back.
Because she suddenly realized that if Ian had wanted to go back with Tiamat, he wouldn't have stepped in when she was being attacked, let alone carry her all the way back to Camelot like this.
"Is the Sea of Life a terrible place?" Mélusine added, trying to recover.
"It's not terrible."
"But—"
"I yearn for the outside world more." Ian looked at Mélusine.
"I want to see more people, people like you, so I don't want to go back no matter what."
"Like me?"
"Mhm." Ian nodded.
"Mélusine is very cute."
"..."
Being praised like this by Ian again, Mélusine's face instantly turned red.
She wanted to avoid his extremely serious gaze, but because she moved too much, she pulled at her wounds and cried out.
"It hurts..."
"Ngh—"
"What are you licking?!"
The moment she shouted this, Mélusine began to tremble all over.
Because Ian had once again started his licking.
Shoulder.
Collarbone.
Neck.
And then...
Her chest, where the injury was most severe.
Mélusine just watched as Ian pulled open her clothes and began to treat her wound.
And yet, she found herself despicably feeling a hint of pleasure from it.
Yes.
Even though it was supposed to be a completely pure act of healing, she found her legs were trembling.
The kind where you're in pain and trembling at the same time.
And when he bit down on a certain spot, Mélusine found her mind went completely blank.
So...
It feels this good?
How does he know so much?
Did Artoria teach him, or was it Morgan's handiwork?
But whoever it was, they must have felt considerable pleasure from it!
Before Mélusine could think too much, she heard words that instantly snapped her back to reality.
"You smell so good."
"But nothing is flowing out."
"Mélusine, you're so dry."
"Hey! What kind of thing is that to say!"
Having recovered, Mélusine gave Ian a shove.
"When you see Artoria later, don't you dare say any of this!"