Boudica was not someone who could be easily fooled.
The man in front of her, who called himself Ian Pendragon, was no different from the Great Sage named Seneca in her memory.
They were one and the same person.
The Queen of Britannia made her own judgment at this moment.
"..."
Listening to Boudica's statement at this moment, Ian realized that his judgment seemed to have been a little off.
She still recognized him and wasn't fooled.
Moreover—
Judging from her recent tone, there was a rather peculiar secret hidden within the amulet she had given him, which was supposedly prayed for from the Goddess of Victory, Andraste.
"Boudica, do you mean..."
"What do you mean by the voice inside the amulet?"
"It's..."
Seeing that the man in front of her didn't deny her words, Boudica gained a little confidence.
She quickly continued:
"Didn't I tell you... that with that amulet, when you and Nero encountered a problem, you could contact me immediately through it?"
"And then—?" the man pressed.
"And then... I just wanted to know if you had listened to the voice inside so far."
After saying this, the Queen of Britannia seemed to have thought of something that made her extremely shy, and she became quite unnatural.
Although it was only a small change, it was completely noticed by Ian.
After all, Boudica wasn't like this just now in front of Tamamo-no-Mae and Mash.
Based on this attitude, he vaguely guessed what that voice he hadn't heard was about.
It probably contained something that Boudica couldn't say directly but wanted him to know.
"I apologize, Boudica, I haven't listened to the contents inside—is it very important to you?"
"..."
Boudica's emerald eyes widened a little the moment she heard Ian's answer, but they quickly returned to normal as if she had figured it out.
She laughed self-mockingly:
"Of course... you have no need to listen to what's inside."
"Nero can do anything, so naturally, you wouldn't have a moment when you thought of me."
"Alas, I'm so foolish. I actually thought you came to Britannia because you heard the voice inside—it seems I was purely overthinking it."
"..."
Ian felt a little heartache for Boudica.
He hadn't said a word, yet she had already described the whole story clearly.
Clearly, this behavior, like the archers on the wall, was a routine that had been rehearsed countless times.
"Boudica, so what exactly is inside... can't you just tell me directly?"
"..."
A blush appeared on Boudica's face, a reaction that only seemed to happen when she thought of something difficult to talk about.
"Seneca, do you really want to know?"
"Of course." Ian smiled slightly. "You've said this much—if I don't figure it out now, I probably won't be able to sleep for the rest of my life."
"Then you have to promise first, after hearing it, you won't think I'm very strange!"
"Hmm." Ian nodded. "I promise."
With this promise from the man, Boudica finally had the courage to speak further.
She glanced at Tamamo-no-Mae and Mash, who were talking softly not far away, and then, with the greatest courage, she confessed to Ian the contents hidden inside her amulet.
"Seneca! I... I hope I can bear your child!"
"..."
"What's with that expression?" Boudica suddenly got anxious. "Didn't we agree that you wouldn't think I'm strange—why are you now making a face like 'what is this person thinking'?"
"I absolutely didn't mean that." Ian's tone was very helpless. "But isn't the request you're making now a little bit too fast?"
In the memories of Rome, the man could somewhat feel the intermittent feelings hidden in Boudica's actions.
So, before she brought up the contents of the amulet, Ian had roughly guessed it would be something like a confession letter.
This was also the reason why his past self in that era never used it.
However—
Ian swore he really didn't expect Boudica to directly fast-forward to the childbearing part.
You know, there was a lot of content before this; was she trying to skip all that?
"This is not fast!"
Boudica earnestly explained to Ian.
"Seneca, think about it—if we only consider having children after we've finished dating, how many years would that take?"
"Why not just have the children first and then date? That way, we'd be doing two things at the same time!"
"If my children could have your bloodline, they would definitely be much smarter than ordinary people!"
A very bold Queen's logic, and also the most straightforward warrior's mindset.
Boudica was still Boudica. For the sake of her Britannia moving up a notch, she was willing to pay any price, even the beautiful memories of romance that she was supposed to have.
"Um... Boudica."
"I did help Nero defeat you a few times—but that's not enough for you to immediately want to have my child, is it?"
Ian looked at the Queen of Britannia, his expression somewhat complicated.
"I think, maybe you were just impulsive."
"I was not impulsive." Boudica answered unequivocally.
"I decided I wanted your children after careful deliberation!"
"I've even thought about the path they should take afterward!"
"..."
After saying this, Boudica realized that she seemed to have defaulted to him reciprocating this feeling.
She quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I was presumptuous—please pretend I didn't say anything just now."
Boudica lowered her head. She knew that after saying this, he would definitely end this awkward topic.
But the Queen of Britannia didn't expect the words she heard next to be...
"Then how many children do you want?"
"What?"
Boudica looked up, her eyes full of surprise.
"What did you say?"
"...Is what I said that hard to understand?" Ian slightly frowned. "Boudica, I'm asking you—how many children do you want with my bloodline?"
"..."
"Then the more, the better, of course!" Realizing this was an opportunity, Boudica quickly answered. "I love children very much!"
"Well, it definitely can't be 'the more, the better'," Ian smiled calmly. "Otherwise, you'd just be having children all the time, wouldn't you?"
"How about this?" The man held up one finger.
"We must have at least one child, but not now. We'll do it after I've mostly finished my business."
"At that time, if you still want to—we'll keep going here in Britannia until you get pregnant. How about that?"
"Boudica, can you accept these conditions?"
"..."
Heaven and hell were just one sentence apart.
Boudica never expected him to agree to her request.
"Seneca, I'm not dreaming, am I?"
"You know whether you're dreaming or not," Ian answered patiently. "Or... even though I've made such a promise, do you still not believe I'll keep my word?"
"No, that's not it!" Boudica quickly shook her hands.
"I just... I just didn't expect that I would actually be qualified."
"What's this about 'qualified'?" Ian looked at Boudica in front of him, his words carrying a deliberately put-on rogueishness. "As a man, would I refuse a beautiful woman's request to carry my child?"
"That's a sign of impotence—I would never be that kind of person."
"And the fact that you actively requested this completely exceeded my imagination—Boudica, I love your courage."
"..."
Ian's words made Boudica a little embarrassed. She nodded, agreeing to the vow they had just made.
However, she quickly realized a new problem.
Or rather, a situation that was incomprehensible to a person naturally belonging to this era.
"Speaking of which—"
"Why do they call you Ian Pendragon?"
The inevitable question had come. Ian hesitated for a moment and replied:
"It's complicated to explain. Boudica, just consider it to be my other name."
"Of course, I still remember everything from before."
Ian was actually a little worried that Boudica wouldn't be able to accept this.
After all, anyone would be confused by the sudden appearance of another name.
But the Queen of Britannia not only accepted it naturally but also seemed to have a strong interest in it.
"Then, in that case—"
"Are Tamamo-no-Mae and Mash really your wives?"
"That is technically correct—but maybe calling them girlfriends would be better."
Ian didn't intend to treat his relationship with his girlfriends as some kind of unmentionable secret.
They worked so hard to satisfy his various kinks, even becoming submissive for him, that they deserved the title he gave them.
Otherwise, wouldn't they just become unspeakable objects?
Boudica, upon hearing this, was as joyful as an explorer who had discovered a new continent.
"In that case—"
"Nero doesn't oppose you having lovers?!"
"But... her possessiveness over you was clearly very strong, wasn't it?"
This question was a little tricky.
Ian thought for a moment and decided to be honest with her about the current situation.
"Boudica, the situation is actually like this..."
Over the next few minutes, Ian recounted the general events from his memory to Boudica.
This included Nero going berserk, touching the Holy Grail, and completely disappearing in the flames.
Of course, Ian didn't mention how he knew these things—that wasn't the key point, and he knew Boudica wouldn't care.
And that was indeed the case.
"This..."
The Queen of Britannia was breathing slightly heavily. It was clear that she found everything Ian had just confessed to be somewhat unbelievable.
"So this Singularity now is because Nero became that way?"
"Not necessarily."
Ian's expression became much more serious.
"All in all, Boudica, I need your help now."
"..."
Since Ian had put it that way, Boudica naturally wouldn't refuse his request.
She nodded, indicating that she agreed to his plea.
But quickly, the Queen of Britannia continued:
"Ian, I don't want to stand by—but you should know that our situation here is also very bad."
As she spoke, Boudica looked at the soldiers who were still fighting hard.
"I really want to keep my promise and help you save Nero."
"But Britannia also needs me very much right now—I can't abandon my people; that would make the Goddess angry."
Although she had been painfully betrayed by the people of Britannia once, Boudica, upon returning to her homeland, still deeply loved this land.
She protected Britannia without holding a grudge until she personally transformed it into the beautiful place it was now.
At this moment, the black shadows were trying to destroy all of it.
It was indeed unlikely that she would ignore this situation, abandon the people of Britannia, and go with him to save Nero.
"Let's handle tonight first, then talk about the rest!" Ian replied. "Otherwise, everything is just empty talk."
"That's right." Boudica nodded. "Pushing back the enemy is the primary goal now."
And so—
The two who had secretly reached an agreement returned to the battle.
Boudica picked up her bow and arrow and once again hunted the endless stream of black shadows.
And Ian used Memory Projection to utilize weapons that weren't originally his.
Of course, this time he used the much easier-to-master Excalibur (Sword of Promised Victory)—although the lethality wasn't as exaggerated as before, it at least wouldn't cause a heavy burden on his body.
As for Tamamo-no-Mae, she continued to use her mirror to survey the nearby situation, hoping to gain some useful information to help her husband.
And Mash was constantly on alert beside the fox demon, afraid that someone might disturb her.
It was a battle that lasted the entire night.
Unknowingly, dawn broke.
Just as Boudica had said before, the aggressive black shadows began to retreat like a receding tide, gradually revealing the original appearance of the land.
Boudica wiped the sweat from her forehead and shouted, "Thank you all for your hard work," to declare the end of this battle.
The soldiers embraced and cheered, celebrating their victory.
However—
When Boudica looked at Ian, she found that the man's expression was out of place with the surroundings; in fact, it was even more serious than before.
She realized that he had thought of something else and immediately asked:
"Seneca, did you think of something again?"
"Yes," Ian nodded.
"I'm thinking now... if there's any way to follow these retreating black shadows. That way, maybe we can find the source of the problem."
"..."
Boudica was silent for a moment, then replied.
"In that case—"
"How about trying my chariot?"