"So, the Sun-Crowned King was actually a fairy born from the Inner Sea of the Planet. He combined the majesty of Britain's White and Red Dragons and opened a path to the Root."
Having chatted with Merlin for a long time and learned most of the magical terminology, listening to Merlin recount the deeds of the man named Isbel Pendragon, even Kaguya felt a bit stirred.
"Yeah, yeah! Is, he was so cute when he was little, but when he grew up, he was like a true king."
The more she spoke, the sadder she became.
Feeling her fragile little heart needed mending, Merlin dragged Kaguya to the largest commercial street in central Snowfield City and randomly picked a bar.
'Forget it, she is my Servant after all, and she told me a lot of knowledge. I'll just humor her a little.'
With that thought, and believing it unlikely other Masters or Servants would come drinking, Kaguya brought Merlin to the bar.
But she soon regretted it.
"Wahh, Kaguya, you don't know how much I missed him after Is left."
Sitting at the bar counter, Merlin was no longer wearing her Camelot mage robes. Both she and Kaguya were dressed casually.
A plain white silk top, jeans, sneakers, and a light-colored jacket, fully embodying the essence of a youthful beauty.
Drinking while gazing at the clear liquid in her glass, Merlin seemed nonchalant, but every word she spoke was profound.
"When Is was still here, although everyone was busy, we were very happy."
"Morgan worked hard to help Is with governance, Artoria trained the knights. Although I was a bit worse, I tried my best not to cause trouble."
With glass after glass, Merlin missed the beautiful times of the past.
And Vivian, the first and only fairy friend the Succubus encountered. But Vivian had her own ideas, and she never became Ryuya's wife in the end.
Thinking of this, Merlin grew even sadder. Her purple eyes seemed to see the scene of them all picnicking together in the Inner Sea of the Planet. Her voice was soft, like thin snowflakes.
"You all really liked the Sun-Crowned King."
It was clear from Merlin's words that everyone held great affection for the man named Isbel Pendragon. Listening to Merlin's murmurs, Kaguya couldn't help but think of the man who saved her from the infinite loops.
"It's alright, Merlin." Moving closer to Merlin, Kaguya also picked up a cup of sake and swirled it, "We will win. We will win this Holy Grail War and realize our wish."
As snowflakes fell over Snowfield City, the last snow of winter began.
"Realize our wish? Impossible. That was an act connecting to the Root, defying a certain Counter Force. Even if he died, Is couldn't go to the Throne of Heroes, no matter how great he was."
Well aware that Camelot's continuation defied Alaya's plan for the Age of Gods to end and humanity to advance, Isbel Pendragon, as the primary representative, would naturally be rejected by the Counter Force.
In other words, Ryuya didn't even qualify for the Throne of Heroes.
"As a King, he was truly an excellent, wonderful King."
"But as a lover, he deceived us."
Kaguya listened quietly without speaking.
"Is, he was so young, yet he nagged like an old man, even lecturing us on what to do. He even managed to persuade Uther and Vortigern, those old guys."
"Really, he was younger than me, yet he only called me idiot, dummy and stuff, never called me 'sister' once."
"I'm so jealous of that Vivian, Is called her 'sister' many times."
Her seemingly carefree expression sounded like complaining? No, to Kaguya, it seemed more like reminiscence, because she saw a smile on Merlin's face.
A moment of silence, as if pondering the past. Merlin stopped drinking.
After all, she was the Avalon's Saint of Swords with Grand Caster potential. Let alone this sake, even hard liquor couldn't affect her if she didn't allow it. If she didn't want to get drunk, she simply wouldn't.
Curling up slightly, hugging her knees, she looked dazed, "Really, he promised to love me for a lifetime, promised to take care of me for a lifetime."
Merlin seemed to laugh self-mockingly, "A lifetime... that's a period where missing a single day, a single minute, a single second doesn't count as a lifetime. Why did he leave like that?"
"Really, I don't want that much, I don't really need a whole lifetime that long, I..."
The more she spoke, the more confused and disjointed she became. Merlin herself didn't know what she wanted to say anymore.
"Even if it's not a lifetime, it's fine. Even a few decades would be okay."
"If that's not possible, a few years are okay too. A few months are okay. A few days are okay. Not seeing him is okay. It's not like I must see him all the time. I could just stay in Avalon forever without going out. But couldn't you just live properly?"
"I'm not greedy, I'm really not greedy... As long as you are living well, that's truly enough already."
Kaguya remained silent. Even though she had never met the Sun-Crowned King, she could hear the girl's love for the man from Merlin's words.
"It's too much, Isbel! You're a huge jerk!"
Standing up abruptly, startling several people watching Merlin and Kaguya from a distance, Merlin downed the drink in her glass in one go.
"Isbel, I don't want you to leave. I don't want you to save Britain or Camelot."
"I just want to be with you quietly. I just want to eat with you, play with you, have picnics with you, do happy things together."
"You said, as long as I was obedient, as long as I behaved, you would take care of me forever. I'm very well-behaved now, and very obedient. But where are you? Where did you go?"
The usually carefree, always laughing Merlin was actually suffering more than anyone inside.
As an eternal troublemaker, across countless parallel worlds, without exception, she was always the super beauty who watched everything with amusement.
Viewing everything from a god's perspective, treating all as her interest, Merlin only stumbled here with Ryuya. Falling into the vortex of love, she didn't just lose her lover… she lost her own life.
Tears welled in her exquisite face, her voice choked, "Shinomiya Kaguya, I want to see Is again. I really wish this Holy Grail War could grant my wish. I really want... I really want to see him again."
"Even if he doesn't remember me, even if he doesn't love me anymore, even if he has a new life, I still want to see him, even just once."
Crouching down, burying her head on the table, the voice from Merlin's heart echoed in Kaguya's ears.
"Isbel Pendragon, Merlin Ambrosius loves you, has always... loved you."