Chapter 81: The Queen and the King

4:57 AM.

The sun was about to rise.

Under the dim, pre-dawn sky, sixteen towering pillars of sunlight, casting light from the ground towards the heavens, stood before a plain brimming with blooming gorse flowers. Countless golden petals rustled and drifted down at 5 centimeters per second, carried by the gentle breeze from the horizon.

And at the center of this sacred and beautiful scene stood a tall, red-haired beauty.

She stood amidst the sea of flowers, dressed in a white ancient Greek gauze dress, unlike battlefield attire. Her figure was remarkably tall, far exceeding that of ordinary women. Her muscles were sleek and powerful, not the delicate softness, but a perfect physique filled with strength and vitality like an ancient Greek goddess statue—a magnificent bosom, a taut waist, long and powerful legs. Above her fair, swan-like neck was a face that truly evoked a sense of 'madness'.

Ordinary words were utterly incapable of describing the beauty of this face. Just by seeing it, Suya understood why King Uther would go mad enough to lead his army to invade Macedon, driven by the obsession to have her one last time before he died.

It was the most perfect masterpiece of a deity, possessing both the classical contours of a sculpture and a breathtaking allure. She needed to do nothing; even merely standing before a city gate would drive the entire populace into a frenzy for her beauty.

And more breathtaking than her appearance was the naturally emanating sharp aura that surveyed the world.

Suya's gaze lingered on that face for several seconds. With his sanity rapidly depleting, he forcibly suppressed the inhuman, pure, and direct evil thoughts that overflowed from the depths of his heart—"I must immediately possess her, defile her, conquer her, make her the most precious treasure in my nest, and sleep every night embracing this peerless darling"—along with a greed far surpassing human nature.

And so,

he reported his name to her, who had posed the question:

"Suya Pendragon."

Suya was his true name; the false surname Pendragon was taken to acknowledge the shared belief of the twenty thousand people gathered behind him.

"Suya, not Arthur, you say? Interesting."

Hearing this, Alexia curved her lips, revealing a smile so confident it bordered on arrogance. She slightly lifted her gaze, her eyes like molten crimson gold, to look at Suya standing outside the sea of flowers. She laughed impolitely and asked:

"Then, Suya, I shall ask you directly—"

"Are you willing to be My Queen?"

The entire plain instantly fell silent.

The first to feel suffocated by this silence were the three people behind Suya. Meli stared wide-eyed, disbelievingly at Alexia III who had posed the question, wearing an expression that seemed to say, 'It should have been so,' yet clenching her teeth.

"She, she, she,"

Lucan clicked his tongue in silent dismay, whispering, "This King is just like that, Meli. Admit it, refusing to bear the King's child that night at the manor was a mistake."

"However, given her personality, she won't mind. Or rather, if you join in, she might even be happier."

"5 gold pounds."

"No more, it's on credit."

Suya, as the one being proposed to, instantly felt his ears go numb. He couldn't quite hear the whispers of the two 'Crouching Dragons and Phoenix Fledglings' behind him. He looked up somewhat blankly at the King in the center of the flower sea, asking with hesitation and a touch of desire:

"Isn't this a bit too fast?"

"I think this is our first time meeting?"

"No, not fast at all. As a Queen, Suya, you are absolutely worthy!"

Alexia looked at Suya, her eyes burning with a brilliant, fervent, unquenchable fire of conquest. Her gaze was sharp as a falcon's, tracing every inch of Suya's uniquely exquisite face, every inch of his skin, from his chest to his waist, to his fingertips and toes, wishing to instantly swallow this bewildered little beast whole.

Under such a gaze, Suya instinctively felt an awkwardness. This… this was even more greedy than the monster lurking deep within his own heart!

Then, Alexia chuckled:

"Well?"

"As long as you abandon your identity as a king now, abandon that heavy destiny that makes even Me feel pity for you, from now on you only need to confide your confusion and desires to Me, reflecting My glory. I shall bestow upon you the most exhilarating joy and pleasure in this world!" "And even, after I conquer Britannia, it would not be impossible to bestow this country upon you."

Suya's heart pounded.

Truly, there had never been a more extravagant promise.

Even if he were to walk away from this legendary monarch alive, taking his subordinates back to the capital of Britannia, with Archmage Merlin absent, he would still have to start from scratch. Who knew how many hardships he would have to endure before he could possibly ascend to the throne of Britannia.

What's more, a small Britannia facing a behemoth like the Macedonian Empire; if he chose the latter, he would have to fight this terrifying woman while striving to become king. This was truly too arduous.

However,

if he agreed to become this king's queen now, he could directly achieve everything in the near future, obtaining all of Britannia in her burning love.

Suya had never been offered such an enticing dream.

There was a precedent for this: the countries the King of Conquerors had conquered, he had unhesitatingly gifted to his subordinates, such as Seleucus, Ptolemy, and other generals.

"What are you still hesitating for? What are you still afraid of?"

"Suya, I promise to treat you with the etiquette of a queen, never allowing you to suffer the slightest grievance. The child you bear with Me shall be the Crown Prince, inheriting the power to rule the entire Empire."

"I will order Aristotle and Antipater to teach our child how to become a worthy King, and then I will personally impart the secrets of kingship. I shall conquer the entire world, seven nations one by one, and finally, ascend that high tower."

Alexia looked at Suya with such fervor and sincerity, speaking the most enchanting words of love in this world:

"After that, what does it matter if I bestow the world upon you?"

Suya forcibly suppressed the urge to immediately agree, slowly raised his head, and looked directly at the King who had proposed to him. He asked in a deep voice:

"Then, what is the cost?"

"Very simple,"

Alexia smiled slightly, pointing to the twenty thousand people behind him,

"You need to make a severance with the destiny you bear."

"I will kill them all for you."

The chilling words, combined with Alexia's serious expression, made it impossible to doubt the truth of her exaggerated statement.

Hearing this, Suya's face instantly turned cold. With virtually no hesitation, he shook his head at the King before him, his pupils turning scarlet in that moment, and his hand raising to rest on his sword hilt.

He unequivocally declared:

"I refuse."

Alexia frowned, not understanding why Suya could refuse so decisively. She believed she had offered conditions that no one in Britannia could refuse.

But after just a moment, she raised an eyebrow slightly, slowly withdrawing the natural madness and infatuation from her face, which quickly became composed.

With one hand, she lifted a barrel of wine from the sea of flowers at her feet, patted it, and revealed an even more satisfied smile.

Then,

Alexia placed the wine barrel on a wine table that suddenly appeared in the center of the flower field. She looked up and seriously at Suya.

"Then—"

"Knight King, Suya Pendragon."

"You are now worthy to enter this courtyard and sea of flowers, to partake in this banquet before dawn, and drink this fine wine with Me."