Chapter 42: The Servants' Taboo Topic
"Ah, this lovely young lady,"
Under everyone's astonished gazes, Roland pointed his chopsticks straight at principal Da Vinci.
"May I know more about you? First of all, what do you do for a living?"
"Oh?"
Da Vinci slightly raised an eyebrow in surprise — she hadn't expected any student to actually dare to flirt with her at the party.
"As you can see, I'm the principal of Chaldea Academy."
"I see," Roland earnestly raised his hand to continue, "May I ask, do you have a lover?"
Principal Da Vinci smiled: "I'm already married."
"Oh, oh, is that so, is that so…" Roland nodded sharply, "Didn't expect you to be a married woman — that makes me like you even more!"
Roland, are you stupid?! — Eikou screamed internally.
When a Servant — someone living a "second life" — tells you she's married, that's obviously a roundabout way of rejecting you!
How could you not understand such a simple implication?!
"However… that's not exactly accurate,"
Principal Da Vinci kept her ever-present "Chaldea black-market merchant customer-service smile."
"To be precise… I'm the husband."
"———!!!"
Not only Eikou, but all the Servants in the room gasped sharply!
Da Vinci—this woman… had just casually broken the most forbidden taboo among all Servants!
Normally, a Servant would never voluntarily mention marriage from their past life.
As a certain Sun Knight once said during the CCC event: ["I, Gawain, though I have not forgotten the wife of my past life, will not for that reason abandon the freedom that comes with being a Servant!"]
Because constantly bringing up one's former social relationships—especially marriage—would seriously affect one's popularity, as well as their "likability" (though sometimes it attracts types like Tristan or Lancelot, those maniacs for married women).
So normally, everyone absolutely avoided this topic.
But beyond all of that, there was one taboo among taboos—the topic of gender transition among Servants!
At Chaldea Academy, countless Servants had gone through gender changes. People were already used to it, but if possible, they'd still avoid mentioning it outright.
This was classic Type-Moon style—a method of "editing human history (A.K.A. boosting sales)" seen all too often.
After all, who wants to be admiring a beautiful girl or a mature, alluring woman, only to suddenly remember that in actual history, that person used to be some rough old dude—just the thought kills the mood entirely!
And on top of that, Da Vinci voluntarily transitioned—into the form of his own wife, Mona Lisa!
(Note to readers: I'm not sure why the author wrote this. I couldn't find that info on the Type-Moon wiki, and it's definitely not true in real life.)
Compared to something like Artoria's "In my version, King Arthur was female," Da Vinci's gender issue was on a whole different level of complexity!
"Married" + "gender transition" — to bring up the two most sensitive topics right in the middle of a party, Da Vinci truly was the undefeated champion.
Eikou was speechless.
That damn Da Vinci, dropping two bombs like that in a row—just how much did she hate being flirted with by Roland?!
"Ah, ah…"
Roland had clearly taken a psychological critical hit; his brain was short-circuiting.
No matter how much he wanted a girlfriend, someone like Da Vinci was still way out of his league.
That mental wall—there was just no way he could climb over it!
Give up, Roland! — Eikou shouted in his heart. These women are way too terrifying. You can't handle them! Run while you can, don't torture yourself anymore!
"Ugh…!"
Roland gritted his teeth in frustration.
He still refused to give up.
He wanted to try again.
"If I give up now, I might end up single for life!"
Roland bit down hard, clutching his chopsticks like a tragic knight gripping his sword.
And then—
He pointed them straight at Queen Medb!
"!"
Seeing that, all the guys immediately stood straight, eyes full of admiration.
Even in this situation, he wouldn't give up? Already found a new target that fast? Damn, I'm moved to tears here!
Eikou finally couldn't hold back anymore. He grabbed Roland by the collar and whispered urgently: "Please, I'm begging you, run with us already! These women are not people we can handle!"
"No, my instincts tell me—this time, I'll succeed!" Roland said, eyes blazing. "I'll bet everything on this one chance!"
"You're kidding me, you don't even have the skill Instinct! Even if you did, how many times have you bet already? My instincts tell me you're definitely going to fail again!"
[You have activated Instinct C]
[Result: great success.]
[You clearly sense that tonight, a woman from this party will take you home.]
Goddamn it, who told you to activate my skill?!
Wait—hold on, that omen's real?! I'm actually going to get taken home by one of the women here tonight?! That's way too terrifying a future!!!
Eikou shivered.
He glanced around at all the women in the room — the one who seemed most interested in him was Murasaki Shikibu.
Perhaps noticing his gaze, Murasaki looked back at him, her eyes shy yet filled with anticipation.
Could it be… the one who would "take him away" tonight was her?
"..."
For a moment, Eikou thought, "Actually, that might not be so bad."But he immediately shook his head hard — Not so bad, my ass! If Morgan ever found out, he'd be dead for sure!
This party was far too dangerous — not just for Roland, but for him as well.
He had to run. Now!
"Roland, stop being stubborn about this meaningless party! Focus on staying alive!" Eikou quickly shoved his shoulder.
"No way, I still haven't talked to the pink-haired lady over there,"
Roland stared at Queen Medb sitting across from them,
"That innocent and adorable appearance, that gentle noble aura, and that mature charm so unlike a student… No mistake — she's the most wonderful woman I've ever met!"
"That's the biggest landmine you've ever stepped on. You'd be better off with Astolfo than her." Eikou lowered his voice, protesting.
"Landmine? In what sense?"
"You sure know how to latch onto keywords," he muttered. "I'm not trying to badmouth her, but the number of men she's slept with probably outnumbers the times you've gone outside naked. You seriously want to be with her? What, your 'tragic fate' isn't miserable enough yet? Her private life is a complete disaster!"
Roland straightened his face. "I can fix her."
What the hell is this idiot saying?!
He was completely hopeless! Eikou screamed internally. I should've never followed this fool here — he's nothing but trouble! To hell with him, I'm leaving with Gawain and the others.
If they stayed any longer, one of these women was definitely going to eat him alive.
"..."
The two Round Table Knights and the rest of the Twelve Paladins were also glancing his way.
Their eyes seemed to form an internal group chat, all saying the same thing: "That's enough, right? Let's find an excuse to leave?"
Gawain: "Told you, this party was cursed from the start. Get involved with older women and you're guaranteed to suffer."
Charlemagne: "Let's bail. I've lost all my cool points just by being here!"
Eikou: "Wait a bit longer. Roland still hasn't escaped yet!"