36. Don't Worry, We Didn't Do Anything

A ray of sunlight shot through the window, landing squarely on Artoria's eyes. I feel awful. The girl held her head. Even though he hadn't come to her last night, she had slept even worse than before.

Unconsciously, the knight-princess's hand slipped under her skirt. No feeling... If it's not him, there's no feeling at all. Wait. What am I doing? Realizing what she was doing, Artoria quickly put a stop to her own private solace. My words yesterday... were they a little too harsh? Maybe I should apologize?

With that thought, Artoria picked up the Sword of Promised Victory, Caliburn, from her bedside. I'll go find him! The girl quickly washed her face and walked out the door. But she didn't expect to see the villagers gathered outside. The moment they saw Artoria, they all knelt in unison. "We can never repay the King's grace!" "Your Majesty, you saved us!"

Artoria was a bit stunned. Everything was fine last night; how did it become like this today? "Honestly, all of you. Didn't we agree not to do this?" "Why would the King need you to act this way?" The one who spoke was none other than Morgan. She walked over from a distance and, with a wave of her hand, ushered the kneeling villagers away from Artoria.

"Sister, what did you do?" Artoria asked. "Nothing much." Morgan smiled faintly. "I simply told them your identity." "..." "Wait! Why would you say that?!" Artoria grew anxious. "Didn't we agree to travel without revealing who I was? After saying that, doesn't it defeat the whole purpose?" "Relax, I know what I'm doing," Morgan soothed her. "We'll be leaving today. They'll only worship you like this for a moment." "That's not the point!" Artoria looked down at her clothes. "Sister, I'm wearing your dress. If you do this, won't you be telling them that the King is a girl?" "You can relax about that, too." Morgan looked as if she had predicted this. "I've already explained it to them." "You... explained it?" "Mhm." Morgan nodded. "I told them that you like to cross-dress. You're the hero who saved them; no one will mind such a small quirk."

"..." Although something felt off, Artoria realized Morgan had already arranged everything, all without her knowledge. "Sister, why did you do this?" "Because I wanted you to feel how much a good King is loved, Artoria. Look—" Morgan smiled, pointing to where the villagers had just been gathered. "Weren't they all smiling with happiness just now? Their heartfelt praise, did you not hear any of it? Artoria, isn't this the kind of scene you wanted to see?"

"..." Artoria fell silent. Although she didn't like being worshipped like this, the smiles of the villagers were indeed deeply engraved in her heart. Everyone was smiling. That can't be wrong, can it?

"Yes, this is what I wanted to see." "Well then, that settles it." Morgan patted Artoria's shoulder with a friendly air. "You did well this time. Artoria, if you continue on like this, you will probably become a truly ex-cel-lent King—" "You think so?" Artoria clutched the sword at her waist, completely unaware that Morgan's words were laced with powerful magic. "That's wonderful."

It had to be admitted, Artoria's constitution was terrifyingly resilient. Morgan felt that if she had relied only on her own power, she might not have been able to convince her. But—she had Tiamat backing her. Handling one Artoria was a simple matter. However, that wasn't her goal for today. A barely perceptible smile crossed Morgan's face. She was going to do something even more cruel.

"Well, there's no time to waste. Let's leave now. If the villagers catch up to us later, it won't be so easy to get away." "Okay!" Artoria nodded in agreement, then suddenly realized something. "Where's Ian? Where did he go?"

"He's already waiting for us," Morgan answered. "Just a short distance ahead." "Eh?" Artoria frowned slightly. "Why would he be waiting for us there? We... didn't say anything, did we?" "I told him to," Morgan said, feigning nonchalance. She silently observed her sister's reaction. After confirming that Artoria was very concerned by her words, she continued, "I don't know why, but he came looking for me last night." "He looked for you?" Artoria's hand on her sword began to tremble. "Yes." Morgan smiled and nodded, then began walking ahead. Artoria followed.

"I was quite surprised when Ian came over. Artoria, did something happen between you two?" "..." Recalling last night's events, Artoria felt her head buzz again. She answered almost instinctively. "Nothing happened. He probably just wanted to find you for some reason." "He just happened to want to find me?" Morgan mused. "But he—" She stopped herself, feigning hesitation. This naturally piqued Artoria's concern.

"What did you two do?!" "Nothing," Morgan shook her head, a subtle smile playing on her lips. "We didn't do anything—he is your loyal knight, after all, isn't he?"

"..." Artoria was speechless. By now, Morgan had reached Ian's side. She pointedly kept a small, proper distance from him. "Alright, everyone's here. Let's continue on our way—we need to finish this journey sooner rather than later." "Okay," Artoria replied, but her heart was in turmoil.

This is wrong. Definitely wrong. Something... something must have happened for her to be so evasive! The more she cared, the more she noticed things she hadn't before. Artoria's anxious gaze swept over Morgan. The young knight-princess quickly noticed the mark on her sister's skirt. What is that?!

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