'King Arthur and… Alvin?'
'Talking business?'
The words Merlin had just said kept echoing in Reines's mind, making her fall into brief contemplation.
After a long time, she gradually gave up thinking.
By now, Reines had already calmed down from the shock of meeting Merlin and even King Arthur one after another. Or rather, after going through so many things in this single day, the young lady of the El-Melloi family had become completely numb.
"I know it may be hard for you to understand, but if everything goes smoothly, the King might just stop here, who knows?"
Merlin smiled, "You only need to know this much."
"And also…", Merlin paused for a moment, "Whatever happened here today, you must not mention it to anyone. No problem, right?"
Reines slowly returned to her senses and hesitated, "You mean the matter of King Arthur coming here today?"
Merlin nodded silently, "This actually concerns your own safety as well."
Alvin had offended far too many nobles in the past. Even though those nobles were now being suppressed by the King, that didn't mean they had truly settled down.
At least, among the twelve great noble houses today, the families of nine of them hated Alvin to the bone. Not to mention the factions hiding in the shadows who also held deep hatred toward the former Watchman, including the Saxons, who symbolized the side of the White Dragon.
After all, Alvin had personally lured the Saxon "enemy army" into the royal capital at that time, then wiped them out completely with Artoria's hand.
If those people learned Alvin had returned, it wasn't hard to imagine what would happen.
That said, with the King's current status and power, as long as Alvin remained inside the palace, no one should dare make a move on him.
Of course, that was assuming Alvin didn't show his face.
Reines lifted her head slightly and looked toward the room at the corner of the stairs. Her beautiful eyes flickered, clearly full of curiosity.
"Another warning for you, don't go upstairs, unless you want to die."
Seeing exactly what Reines was thinking, Merlin gently reminded her again.
Hearing this, Reines's thoughts became even more active.
'Speaking of which, didn't King Arthur say earlier that she came here to find Merlin?'
'So why is Merlin already downstairs while King Arthur is still in the room?'
'What are they talking about?'
Merlin took a tiny sip of the black tea Reines had prepared and smiled, "That's all for my reminder. Whether you choose to listen is up to you."
With that, Merlin turned and walked toward the shop's entrance.
Reines realized and turned her head, "Merlin—"
Before she finished, Merlin simply waved his hand, "Whether it's about the transmigrators or the Camelot Empire, I prefer being a spectator."
"Miss Reines, I know you came looking for me because of the transmigrator situation, but the final decision belongs to the King. Not even I can convince her. So, the only thing you can do is pray Alvin can."
Reines fell quiet for a moment and whispered, "Honestly, I don't have some great ideal, and I'm not thinking about protecting every transmigrator. For me, the ones I truly care about are only a few."
Merlin's gaze deepened as he quietly watched her.
After a long pause, he suddenly smiled, "You don't need to worry about Alvin. If you're looking for other transmigrators, I can at least use clairvoyance to check for you."
"You'd help me?", Reines looked doubtful.
She and Merlin were complete strangers. Why would he help her?
"Of course. Considering you treated me to a cup of tea, and because I got to watch a very interesting story," Merlin smiled.
"Interesting story?", Reines repeated subconsciously.
"Yes," Merlin looked toward the door, "If nothing goes wrong, the real show is only about to begin."
On the surface, this seemed like nothing more than Alvin's return. But one had to remember, a single Alvin was enough to involve the entire Camelot Empire.
Including that witch he himself feared greatly, Morgan le Fay.
Thinking of that woman, unearthly beautiful yet radiating danger from head to toe, Merlin couldn't help rubbing his brow.
Soon, the corners of his lips lifted in an intrigued arc.
'Two former sisters who went their separate ways because of Alvin, now that he has returned, what will the situation become?'
He briefly collected his thoughts, then turned to the blond girl and smiled faintly.
"All right, tell me who you're looking for. Before I return to the palace, I'll take a look for you."
———
Warm afternoon sunlight fell across Artoria's noble and beautiful face.
She was gently holding the boy in her arms, eyes slightly closed, as if reminiscing about the past.
This embrace had lasted nearly half an hour. It was fine at first, but as time dragged on, Alvin was finding it hard to endure.
Not because he disliked it. Honestly, who wouldn't enjoy a full, soft bosom, but he was a little worried about Reines downstairs.
Merlin had already slipped out some time ago, and who knew what nonsense he might be telling her.
He really wanted to interrupt this long-lost warmth, but feeling that soft fullness pressed against his cheek, Alvin ultimately gave up resisting and slowly closed his eyes.
'As expected, she has grown a lot… in every way,' Alvin sighed inwardly.
"Feels nice, doesn't it?"
A pleasant voice suddenly whispered at his ear, pulling Alvin back from his thoughts.
Artoria lowered her lashes slightly. The solemn, holy aquamarine eyes that always carried authority were now tinged with faint gentleness.
Alvin froze for a moment, as if he hadn't heard clearly, "What?"
Artoria quietly looked down at the boy. At the face she had longed for day and night over the years.
Then, as if teasing him on purpose, she asked again softly, "Holding you like this, feels nice, right?"
"Yes, it feels very nice," Alvin answered honestly.
No denying it, even though the CG illustrations were already top tier, compared to the real thing, it wasn't even close.
That majestic bosom, that tall and alluring figure, this was something he could never have experienced in the past.
Just as Alvin was fully sinking into the warmth, Artoria's gaze grew even gentler.
A soft smile touched her lips, "Alvin, I don't know what you went through, but I'm truly happy you came back."
"No matter how you once forced me to kill you, no matter how I begged you and you refused to respond—"
"But I'm still really happy you came back, Alvin?"
Her words at first carried the emotion of reunion, but the more Alvin listened, the more wrong something felt.
By the end, the wonderful sensations from her body had completely vanished.
At this moment, Alvin began sweating profusely.
———
Wearing gold-rimmed glasses, a sharp and well-dressed blond woman stood quietly outside a certain house, staring at the empty street. It looked like she was zoning out, or deep in thought.
Ariel, the assistant lady Artoria had promoted in recent years.
As someone who often followed the King, Ariel knew the King's personality and even some of her habits quite clearly, enough to guess her intentions most of the time.
But this time, the King's behavior had completely baffled her.
Ever since Ariel was promoted years ago, King Arthur's trips outside the palace could be counted on one hand. Most of the time she was buried in government affairs.
But this time, not only did she leave the palace, she even followed Merlin all the way here, and she had ordered the street to be cleared beforehand, 'What exactly is the King planning?'
Just as the assistant was thinking this, she saw the white-haired mage walking out of the house with a blond girl.
"Lord Merlin," Ariel immediately greeted him, then turned doubtful eyes toward Reines.
Supposedly Merlin came personally to capture transmigrators? To outsiders this girl might look unremarkable, but Ariel could clearly sense the magic circuits in her body.
No doubt, she was like the other magi: a transmigrator from the "present world".
"Miss Reines wanted to find someone, so I helped her a bit. I'm on my way back to the palace now," Merlin said cheerfully.
Ariel paused. Seeing Merlin smiling so calmly, she almost wondered if she misheard.
'What?'
'Weren't you here to arrest people? How did you end up helping a transmigrator?'
'And after helping, you're just going back to the palace, what exactly did you come for?'
Just as Ariel's mind filled with complaints, Merlin added, "Miss Reines has a special status, so she doesn't need to be arrested for now. If there's a problem, I'll take responsibility."
"Of course, if you don't believe me, ask the King once she comes out."
If anyone else said this, Ariel would doubt it. But since it was the Camelot court mage, even the assistant lady could only bow slightly.
"In that case, please feel free to go."
"Thank you!"
Reines nodded to Ariel, then added, "Miss Ariel, if you see my friend come downstairs later, please tell him I went to save my brother first. After that, I'll find a way to come back for him."
Reines didn't have many friends in the present world. One of them, Alvin, was with King Arthur right now. The other, Gray, was at Camelot Palace.
The only other person she cared about, even slightly, was Kenneth, the man she could barely call her "brother."
According to what Merlin had said, one of the Twelve Lords of the Clock Tower, Kenneth, had also transmigrated.
And now he was in trouble. Though she didn't have much affection for that "brother," Kenneth was still of the El-Melloi family, and in the Clock Tower he had been Alvin's teacher.
If something happened to him, it would at least be troublesome.
Ariel gave Reines a strange look, then quickly turned her doubtful gaze to Merlin.
But Merlin had no intention of explaining. His eyes were fixed on a certain point down the street, and soon he smiled, "Miss Ariel, if someone tries entering the house later, let her through."
Ariel's head filled with question marks, "Mr Merlin, the King is inside the house right now, correct?"
"Yes. She's speaking with a transmigrator," Merlin said.
"In that case—"
Before Ariel could finish, Merlin softly interrupted, "But if that child really intends to force her way in, you won't be able to stop her."
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