The bedchamber was utterly silent.
The veils hung low, concealing the beautiful scene on the snow-white bed.
From outside, one could only vaguely see a young man holding a breathtaking beauty tightly in his arms.
Morgan le Fay, with her back to Alvin, froze the moment she heard those words from the man.
This woman, who was so skilled in politics and manipulation, suddenly went completely blank.
She was a little stunned.
"Eh... eh?!"
L-Like me...?
Did he even know what he was talking about?
And when she realized Alvin wasn't joking, a beautiful blush quickly spread across Morgan's fair, stunning face.
Her enchanting eyes shimmered with tears as she gently bit her lower lip.
"Alvin... I don't need your pity."
Alvin acted as if he didn't hear that.
He simply reached out and gently stroked her soft silver hair, speaking tenderly. "I'm not pitying you... Morgan, don't you have confidence in your own charm?"
"Of course not—" Morgan nearly blurted out, but her voice quickly softened.
"But I came later than her... and at the beginning, I only approached you because I wanted to take you from Lily. That's all."
Of course, Morgan was well aware of her own beauty and allure.
But the title of "witch" alone was enough to drive people away…
At least in Britain, whether it was the high-ranking nobles or the Knights of the Round Table, everyone treated Morgan with fear and caution.
Even though for Morgan, all she ever wanted was for Alvin not to fear or reject her…
But—
Morgan le Fay was the one who came after Artoria. And more than that, her initial approach toward Alvin had come with ulterior motives.
That had always been one of Morgan's greatest insecurities.
During past arguments between the sisters, Artoria would often use this very point to stab her.
"My feelings for Alvin are pure and untainted, but you… your motives for approaching him were not pure in the beginning... Even if he did get with you back then, it was only because you seduced him, because he lusted after your body."
Whenever Artoria said that, it was almost like a killing blow in an argument.
Say that Morgan is weak, say she's unworthy, she wouldn't care at all.
But accuse her of seducing Alvin and claim that the love between the two of them was not pure?
That would push her to the edge.
Looking at the woman acting so tough yet so fragile, Alvin's expression was gentle as he spoke softly:
"Feelings aren't that complicated you know. If you like someone, you do. If you don't, you don't."
"It doesn't matter how we started in the first place. It doesn't matter what their motives are ..as long as the feelings now are real, isn't that enough?"
Morgan was visibly moved.
As Britain's foremost schemer and political tactician, this woman wasn't easy to placate.
But Alvin had made no excuses, no sweet-talking, he had even calmly admitted that, yes, he had been seduced at first.
But so what?
Was being seduced by Morgan le Fay something shameful?
Just imagine, a tall, silver-haired big sister gently pressing your head against her chest, whispering heart-melting words softly into your ear… who wouldn't feel light-headed after hearing that?
So, these were his truest feelings.
He liked her, off course, she wasn't the only one he liked but nonetheless, his feelings for her had always been true.
And just as Morgan was still tangled in her complicated emotions, Alvin suddenly grabbed her small hand and gently turned her to face him.
Soon, he was greeted with the sight of this witch of Britain, a peerlessly beautiful woman of national-level allure, with a face tinged with a faint blush and shyness.
She bit lightly on her lush red lips, seemingly unused to being stared at so directly. Not long after, she quickly lowered her head again.
As expected, the shift from prideful and sharp-tongued to shy is the deadliest weakness...
Hehehe... Big sister is so cute. Alvin couldn't help but laugh inwardly.
There was no way he would not like her.
Morgan slightly furrowed her elegant brows, glanced at him, and said flatly,
"What are you laughing at? There were plenty of people in Britain who confessed to me in the past, but I never accepted a single one… Even if it's you, I'm not obligated to accept your confession."
Her expression was ice-cold, and her tone carried unmistakable arrogance, yet the slight stammer in her words betrayed her.
Sister Morgan is definitely a tsundere. Proud, easily flustered, and with a strong sense of dignity… Yep. If it weren't the dead of night, even if I came to her willingly, she'd probably have kicked me out.
Looking at the beauty, Alvin couldn't help but grumble to himself.
He, then deliberately put on a sad, dejected look and said softly:
"...So you're rejecting me?"
Morgan suddenly raised his head and glared at Alvin, a little flustered.
"I—I'm not saying that! I just... I need time to think about it."
As she spoke, her voice got quieter and quieter, until it was nearly inaudible by the end.
Perhaps because she didn't want to stay in a passive position, she cleared her throat and casually changed the subject
"I forgot to remind you earlier, you need to be careful with the two people you brought back today."
Alvin was stunned for a moment before speaking. "Let's not talk about Ishtar... Tiamat is just a spirit body. Shouldn't be a big problem, right?"
"Even if she is a spirit, she's still the Mother of Creation. I don't know why a being of her caliber would become a transmigrator, but we have no idea whether she's truly just gathering intel in preparation for descending upon Britain with her true body one day to overthrow the nation in one strike."
For a woman like Morgan, she trusted absolutely no one, except for Alvin and Artoria.
Alvin didn't even need to be explained.
As for Artoria… even if she didn't get along with her sister, Morgan still trusted King Arthur's integrity.
Although Morgan had always wanted revenge on everything, even to the point of destroying the country... but if someone had to end Britain, she wanted to be the one to do it with her own hands.
If it were Tiamat who did it… that, Morgan couldn't quite accept.
"Also, you'd better keep an eye on that goddess too," Morgan continued.
"Ishtar…?" Alvin blinked for a moment, feeling a bit speechless.
After all, that incompetent goddess who fumbled in every way imaginable… she's someone to be cautious of?
Morgan's voice was crisp and cold as she said indifferently,
"That's why I said you're an idiot... Ishtar was summoned by King Marco, right?"
"Yes... why?"
"Even during the Age of Gods, even with cheating, King Marco could never have summoned a divine spirit... unless this planet's will was giving him a backdoor."
Alvin's eyes flickered slightly as Morgan continued,
"Didn't you notice something off about that goddess?"
Alvin asked sincerely,
"What makes you say Ishtar is 'off'?"
"She's suppressing her true personality... Ishtar, as she is now, probably isn't in her real form," Morgan revealed the truth.
Manifestation of Beauty: EX — a unique Authority belonging only to Ishtar, goddess of Venus.
But in her current materialization, in order to suppress her true self, Ishtar had forcibly reduced that Authority to B-rank.
If she were to fully unleash it, she would become the true goddess of Venus in every sense, not this slightly unreliable, constantly fumbling version.
Divine spirits belonged to the side of the planet's will — Gaia.
That was something Alvin had realized the moment he first saw Ishtar.
In other words... Ishtar's descent into Britain had likely been quietly permitted by Gaia herself?
Alvin pondered for a while, then sighed with admiration:
"As expected, you're more dependable when it comes to things like this, big sister."
A top-notch woman like Morgan le Fay, marrying someone like her was like gaining a brilliant military strategist who thought everything through for you...
Not only was she breathtakingly beautiful, she was also absurdly powerful.
If she had any flaws at all, they'd be her sharp tongue and tsundere nature.
But for Alvin, her tsundere nature was undoubtedly a plus.
Also, being born a queen, she naturally had a strong sense of pride and a tendency toward control.
Of course, for some people, being insulted like that might actually be considered a reward.
...Alvin didn't have any such peculiar kinks in that regard, but considering her irresistibility, he didn't mind Morgan's sharp tongue at all.
After all, a woman who was once cold and proud, now letting out sweet gasps she couldn't suppress, that was the kind of visual contrast that really hit hard.
"You chose me... so what about Lily?"
Just then, the charming woman glanced at him with a meaningful look.
However, hearing her words, Alvin hesitated slightly and replied,
"That's exactly what I wanted to discuss with you..."
"Mhm."
Morgan answered briefly, indicating she was listening.
"I like Lily too."
Morgan: "..."
The atmosphere in the bedchamber seemed to freeze entirely at that moment.
For an instant, Alvin even felt like Morgan might stand up on the spot and throw him into the basement for a nice long round of 'discipline.'
But slowly, Morgan's body began to relax.
She raised her head and looked at Alvin with a complicated expression.
"I knew you couldn't possibly let go of Lily."
"Can you let go of her?" Alvin countered, to which,
Morgan replied coldly,
"What is there for me to let go of... It's not like there's any real emotion between us."
"If there were truly no emotion, then you wouldn't care so much about her."
Alvin smiled and said.
"If I'm not mistaken, during the years you were away from the palace, you were secretly keeping an eye on her, weren't you?"
"That was only because I wanted to find her weakness... and completely destroy her. Nothing more."
Morgan said coldly,
"If I made you choose between me and her, what would you do?"
Alvin showed a hint of helplessness and replied softly,
"Morgan, do you really hate Lily?"
"Do you still remember why you once wanted to overthrow this country… to kill King Arthur?"
Seeing the silent woman, Alvin continued,
"It was because of the choices made by the former king and Merlin, right?"
Because they didn't trust Morgan le Fay, the former king and Merlin created the 'Red Dragon' — Artoria.
After that, everything Morgan did was essentially to prove that their choice had been wrong.
When Alvin finished speaking, he saw a strong hatred flash across Morgan's beautiful, refined face, a reaction she had never shown in front of him before.
But gradually, she calmed down and said quietly,
"My desire to destroy this country wasn't simply because of Merlin and my father's decision."
"Then what else was it...?" Alvin asked instinctively.
Morgan glanced at him and said,
"You'll find out someday."
Alvin looked confused, hesitating:
"You can't tell me now?"
"I don't want to talk about it right now... But what you said is right, the real fault doesn't lie with King Arthur. It's Merlin."
Morgan's voice lowered, filled with dangerous undertones:
"Always looking down on the world from above, raising Artoria from an innocent girl into the King Arthur she is now... I wonder if that nightmare ever feels regret."
Alvin also fell silent.
In the version of the story he knew, Artoria had pulled the sword from the stone herself and become king.
But... since he and King Uther had set up this scheme, it was impossible for Merlin not to be the driving force behind it.
"Lily isn't as emotionally clueless now as she used to be," Alvin suddenly said.
"That's because you're here," Morgan said coolly.
"If you hadn't returned to Britain...hah.. forget about understanding people. Even working with the transmigrators this time probably would've been impossible."
It was only because of Alvin's return that she began to change and began to stop treating the transmigrators as outsiders to be purged.
Even though Morgan hadn't been in the royal palace before, once she returned and learned the inda and outs of the matter, she was able to guess the rough trajectory of Artoria's change in attitude.
"You really understand Lily well,"
Hearing her words, Alvin said with a smile.
The one who understood Artoria best in this world wasn't Alvin, her husband, it was none other than Morgan le Fay.
Morgan glanced at him and snorted coldly,
"If you want to kill someone, you first have to understand them. That's just basic common sense."
"Totally your style," Alvin smiled.
But seeing Morgan's expression, he quietly let out a breath of relief.
He hadn't come tonight expecting Morgan to accept Artoria so soon, he had just wanted to feel out her real thoughts.
Judging from this, although Morgan spoke as though she disliked Lily, she didn't really hate her… otherwise, that day when Merlin took Artoria to Avalon, Morgan would've found a way to pursue them and kill her.
This woman's world wasn't large, but her sister clearly still occupied a place in it. Maybe not a big one, but there was still complicated emotion.
Maybe it was guilt for having an affair with her sister's husband, or maybe it was simply hard to bear seeing that once-pure girl now carrying the full weight of the crown…
Whatever the reason, Morgan didn't truly hate Artoria that much.
She didn't really want to kill her either.
At the end of the day, she was just a little tsundere.
Of course, it was still unrealistic to expect her to accept Lily right away, things had to be taken step by step.
Alvin asked,
"Lately, is Lily still the one running things in Britain?"
Morgan gave a brief "Mm" and said lightly, "I don't really have much interest in the throne anymore."
After she spoke, she gave Alvin a lingering glance, then asked, pretending to be casual:
"By the way… sneaking into my bedchamber this late, won't Lily be mad if she finds out?"
Alvin shook his head and said.
"I don't know... But I felt like you were in a bad mood tonight, so I wanted to see you first."
As he spoke, he snuck a glance at the tsundere elder sister.
She seemed slightly touched, a trace of joy and shyness flickering in her eyes, though she quickly concealed it.
In fact, now that the things were out in the open, Morgan understood that it was impossible to take Alvin away with her. What she truly wanted, deep in her heart, was to be seen as someone who mattered.
Alvin gently stroked her silky silver hair, then suddenly seemed to remember something as he said.
"After what you said earlier about Gaia, I've been feeling a little uneasy… I'm going to go check on Tiamat and Ishtar, just in case anything really has gone wrong."
Morgan was clearly in a good mood and nodded softly,
"Go ahead."
Alvin got out of bed slowly, stretched leisurely, and walked out of the bedroom.
After looking around and confirming that no one was around, he quickly ran towards Artoria's bedroom...