"Not just Little Mo... you will come back to the palace with me too, right?", At this moment, Artoria suddenly asked softly.
"Hmm?"
The unexpected words made Alvin freeze for a moment.
Artoria tilted her head slightly and looked at the boy quietly, "You should know I have many questions to ask you, and many things I want to tell you, right?"
"And, when I was desperately begging, you still let me use the noble phantasm without reaction. Now you should compensate me a little, that should be fine, right?"
For some reason Alvin felt a bit uneasy inside, but he kept his composure and smiled, "Say it. As long as I can do it."
Artoria lowered her head slightly and, in front of Mordred, pressed her soft red lips to the boy's ear and whispered, "After we return to the palace, accompany me down to the underground of the bedchamber, okay?"
The smile on Alvin's face faltered.
Meanwhile, whatever the two were talking about at that moment was completely unheard by Mordred.
From the moment Artoria said that name, Mordred seemed frozen by some magic; her gaze instantly went blank.
She slowly lifted her head and looked at the boy who seemed only fifteen or sixteen, a look of disbelief and even confusion appearing in her eyes.
"Father?"
———
When a huge hole was blasted through the wall of the building, Gareth outside the house had already begun trembling.
'So it really isn't an illusion. King Arthur really is in that room!'
At that moment, Gareth was glad she had run into Mordred on the road; otherwise she might have been the one in serious trouble now.
'And if I didn't mistake, Mordred just attacked the King?'
One had to admit, that was fearless of her. In the Camelot Empire, few dared to make a move against the King.
"Mordred, don't worry, I will come to save you."
"But not right now," Looking toward the house, Gareth muttered to herself.
If she hadn't been mistaken, when Mordred and the King clashed, there had been a third person in the room who acted as well.
And the power that person used was obviously the white dragon's magic.
A transmigrator who seemingly controls the white dragon core had appeared in the Camelot Empire, this news had to be reported to Morgan immediately.
———
Alvin, Mordred was not unfamiliar with that name. Although she had never seen him, from the time of her birth Mordred had heard countless legends of the magic dragon from Morgan le Fay.
If Mordred held admiration toward Artoria, then toward Alvin she felt mostly curiosity and respect.
Although in the empire today people mostly cursed Alvin.
But the version of the story Mordred knew from her "mother" was different.
In the Camelot Empire there had once been two people who truly steadied the realm.
One was Artoria, and the other was Alvin, who served as the Watchman.
One acted openly, the other in darkness. The Watchman was like the empire's root, doing many of the dirty jobs.
To stabilize the King's position, he did not hesitate to become the public enemy of the empire and let the King personally end his life.
From birth Mordred had been curious about this "father."
But now that she saw him in person, her mind felt completely blank.
'What the?'
'This boy, who looks about my age, is my father?'
"It's about time to return to the palace."
Artoria's calm voice snapped Mordred back to her senses, and she suddenly became aware of her situation.
When Mordred tried to step back a little, Artoria casually glanced at her.
"Little Mo, I don't want to do this again."
Though her tone was calm, the words carried a threat.
In that instant Mordred's body alarmed. Though she knew she needed to report this to her "mother" immediately, reason made her body freeze, unable to move.
There was no escape.
If it were only facing Artoria there might be room to flee, but with Alvin added in, it was an impossible situation.
Under Artoria's steady gaze, Mordred finally sighed as if giving up.
"I know. Do whatever you want."
At the end she irritably offered her hands toward Artoria.
"No need for handcuffs."
Artoria glanced at her and said calmly, "You will not run."
"You are really confident in your strength," Mordred said with displeasure.
"Not only confident in my strength."
Artoria looked at her with meaning in her eyes, "You must be very interested in him, right?"
Mordred froze, then clicked her tongue and turned her face away.
Though she did not want to admit it, one had to concede. Artoria really knew her well.
———
The black-gold carriage rolled toward the palace under sunlight on an empty street.
Inside, Alvin leaned against the soft seat, staring at the European-style buildings in a daze.
After a while he furtively glanced at the golden-haired woman sitting beside him.
Artoria sat upright. Though dressed simply, her figure could not be hidden. Her small red mouth, pale skin, and proud chest rose and fell slightly with the carriage's bumps.
'Have to say, helping Lily pull the sword from the stone in the game was the right choice,' Looking at the scene, Alvin sighed inwardly.
In the original plot, Alvin's mission given by the system was to pull the sword from the stone in Artoria's place and become King Arthur.
In the end Alvin did pull the sword, but only halfway and then put it back.
In the Type-Moon history, Artoria cursed by the sword would have physical development frozen at sixteen.
However, because of Alvin's interference, the curse fell upon him instead, and Artoria was spared the stunted development.
If not for that, the suggestive CG recollections of Artoria's developed body would not exist.
Recalling those heart-fluttering suggestive CGs even now made Alvin's heart flutter.
Honestly, Alvin did not mind returning to the palace with Artoria.
After all, what he had gone through before was game plot, separated by a screen.
And now... After returning to the palace, some scenes that had only existed in the game might play out in reality.
For example, the "Artoria in the bath" Alvin had rewatched, or the "King at work", all those pleasant images.
But, no matter how he looked at it, it seemed he was about to unlock brand new CGs that the game had never shown.
Alvin quietly checked his personal interface floating in his view and sighed worriedly.
From just now his "white moonlight" entry had been flashing pink in his interface, and behind that text Artoria's name appeared, with an inexplicable black heart.
That heart was half black, half pink, showing a gradient, what did this mean? Alvin did not really know.
'Feels like this is not good,' Alvin absentmindedly thought this and glanced at the single-tailed girl across from him.
"Little Mo, why do you keep peeking at me?"
"I-I..."
Since boarding the carriage, Mordred had been secretly spying on Alvin.
Caught out by him and watched by Artoria too, she was suddenly embarrassed. The normally defiant girl found herself speechless.
She clenched her hands, looking helpless, and quietly turned her face away.
"N-no, it's nothing!"
Compared to the arrogant Mordred previously, now she resembled a dutiful girl next door.
'I like Mordred's line: I am the knight who dares to rebel against the King!'
'Although rebellious Little Mo was interesting, in this gentler state she was kind of cute,' Alvin thought.
Sensing the boy's gaze, Mordred bit her lip and, as if throwing caution to the wind, looked up at Alvin and said, "I just want to know, everyone in the Round Table said you were personally killed by King Arthur. How did you trick everyone?"
At these words, not only Mordred, but Artoria also silently looked at Alvin.
The Sword of Promised Victory's destructive power was undeniable, especially after releasing thirteen seals. If Alvin had truly wanted to die and abandoned the white dragon's self-healing, even the white dragon could be killed.
Artoria had once watched the sword unleash its scorching magic barrage and completely engulf Alvin.
So how had he hidden it from everyone?
"This is a long story. For now, think of it as an illusion," Alvin said.
"You can do illusion magic?", Mordred could not help asking, her eyes full of curiosity.
"Hmm, a little bit, I guess," Alvin hedged.
Even such an answer swept Mordred's previous gloom away and her eyes sparkled looking at Alvin.
Actually, thinking it over, returning to the palace wasn't so bad. At worst she'd be under soft house arrest.
If she could interact with Alvin, it would be worth it.
After all, whenever her mother mentioned Alvin she appeared deeply sad and even disappointed.
Making that emotion show on the cold unfeeling witch might imply a very special relationship between them.
While in the palace, she could find a chance to get closer to him and maybe learn secrets. At the thought Mordred felt hopeful.
After some travel the carriage smoothly entered the palace and soon stopped before King Arthur's bedchamber.
When the three descended, the guards at the door were stunned. Though they had never seen Alvin, they certainly recognized King Arthur's face and performed a standard salute, "Your Majesty!"
"Did anything happen while I was away?", Artoria asked calmly.
"Nothing major occurred. The interrogation chamber caught several transmigrators again. Two Round Table knights have already gone personally."
At those words they secretly glanced at Mordred and were taken aback.
'What exactly did the King go out to do? Why is that rebellious knight here?'
Artoria's voice sounded again, "Take her to rest."
"Yes, your majesty!"
The two guards bowed then, and unconsciously looked at the unfamiliar boy, hesitating, "And him?"
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