"..."
Almost the instant the words left her mouth, Mélusine realized what she had done.
Hadn't I promised to protect Artoria and Ian?!
How could I turn around and say something like that now!
"Um, just pretend I never said that, Ian!"
"I..."
"You smell so good."
"Eh?"
Ian's sudden words made Mélusine freeze for a moment.
"Smell good?"
"Mhm."
Ian nodded.
"Very good. Just as good as Artoria."
"..."
Mélusine knew Ian wasn't lying.
After all, her hand was currently on that certain place where he and Morgan had been entangled.
The reinforcement was visible to the naked eye.
Mélusine even suspected that it could directly take a person's life.
"That sounds so awful coming from you."
"Isn't that the same as saying..."
"That Artoria isn't actually that special to you?"
"That even I am able to make you..."
"Hmm?"
Mélusine realized she had once again said something terrible without thinking.
She shook her head, trying to erase everything she had just said.
But Ian began to explain very seriously.
"Artoria is special."
"It's just..."
"Mélusine is also special."
Ian leaned close to the petite swordswoman's ear and gently sniffed her hair.
"Like snow."
"..."
"But, this isn't right, is it?"
Mélusine was starting to regret blurting out those words in the heat of the moment.
She knew that she was perhaps one of the few knights that Artoria trusted.
To cross that line just like this—
"But Mélusine is very lonely, isn't she?"
"Where am I lonely!"
Instinctively denying Ian's assessment, Mélusine's face flushed red.
"I am Mélusine, a Knight of the Round Table!"
"How could I be lonely?!"
"Mélusine's scent has soured." Ian wrapped his arms around her waist.
The fairy swordswoman's naturally slender frame made the action seem all the more beautiful.
"You're lying, aren't you?"
"..."
"Of course not!"
Mélusine, who had been seen through in a single sentence, was still being stubborn.
"If you say I'm lonely, then show me the proof!"
"Mélusine clearly dislikes Barghest's jokes, but she still sits with her to eat and drink every time."
"Mélusine doesn't like Artoria's ideas, but she has never said a single word against them."
Ian looked directly at her, her face already red to the ears.
A dragon's perception is different from an ordinary person's.
But that doesn't mean a being that is a dragon cannot understand human thoughts at all.
One of his hands reached for Mélusine's eyes, gently wiping away the tears that had started to fall at some point.
"Mélusine is afraid of losing them, right?"
"But..."
"If no one finds out, then it should be fine, right?"
"..."
The dragon's bluntness made Mélusine clutch his arm tightly.
"You idiot..."
"Can't you just not say everything so directly... it makes people feel awful..."
"But if you don't say it, then you'll never have a chance to face it, right?"
"Mélusine."
"I've heard humans say there's a type of behavior called being 'accomplices'."
Ian picked Mélusine up.
"Can I be your 'accomplice'?"
"..."
Mélusine couldn't control herself any longer.
"You idiot, 'accomplice' is for when you've committed a terrible crime together!"
"This isn't that!"
"Then what is it?" Ian asked very directly.
"This is..."
Mélusine looked from side to side.
Just as she thought, no one could have imagined that on this half-ruined city wall, two Knights of the Round Table were being so intimate.
"This is what we call a 'tryst'..."
"So, you should call me your 'lover'."
"..."
After saying this, Mélusine herself felt embarrassed.
How could she have imagined that she, who had once sworn to protect Artoria and Ian, would now want to be his 'lover'?
"I see."
"You are my 'lover'."
"Don't say it so directly!"
"No."
Ian gently parted Mélusine's closed legs.
"Only by being direct can you let others know what you are thinking."
"Eh—"
"Mmph—"
"Eeeh—!!"
The fairy swordswoman covered her mouth.
At this moment, she finally understood how good Morgan must have felt.
This was...
A dragon's impact!
And then...
Mélusine was blissfully happy.
----
A few days later.
Seeing Mélusine walking with a limp, a light bulb went off in Barghest's head.
"What happened to you?"
"It's been a few days—"
"And you're still like this."
"..."
Mélusine's face turned red.
"I just fell and happened to hit something hard!"
"Really?" Barghest looked skeptical. "How hard would it have to be?"
Mélusine's face turned an even deeper shade of red.
You could even say it was scalding hot.
She pushed Barghest away, changing the subject.
"It's none of your business, you big oaf!"
"Stop asking so many pointless questions!"
"...So mean."
Barghest pouted.
"But since you helped take me home that day, I'll forgive you."
"But speaking of which—"
Barghest looked at the citizens heading towards the castle one after another.
"What is the King planning to do today?"
"She even summoned Ian directly."
"Wh-who knows..." Mélusine answered, feeling a little guilty. "Anyway, we'll find out if we go and see, won't we?"
"That's true—"
Barghest directly hoisted Mélusine onto her shoulder.
It was a move almost identical to Ian's.
"Let's hurry up!"
"Hey, put me down!"
"Can't hear you—"
"You big oaf!"
Joking around like this, Barghest and Mélusine finally arrived at the castle.
Whether it was luck or coincidence, at that very moment, Artoria happened to be walking out with Ian.
Mélusine became even more nervous.
But she soon realized that the atmosphere felt a little strange.
It seemed like Artoria was about to announce something!
And that was indeed the case—
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Artoria walked to the very front.
She undid the bindings in her hair.
In that instant, her beautiful golden hair fluttered in the wind.
It was a breathtaking sight.
But—
That was not where everyone's attention lay.
Because the next moment, in a clear and serious tone, Artoria spoke:
"Everyone."
"As you can see—"
"I, your King, am a woman."