Artoria dragged the giant bear's corpse back to the village. Because the burden was heavy, her pace was much slower than usual—normally, she would return home before dawn and prepare breakfast. But today, she could only walk into the village in broad daylight under the morning sun, like a legendary hero, amidst the exclamations of the villagers.
"Arthur!"
"Arthur!"
"Arthur!"
Looking at the mutilated corpse of the giant bear, the villagers shouted her name, their expressions almost fanatical. But this was a Celtic tradition. Since ancient times, the Celts had always admired heroes—especially those who could venture alone into the deep mountains and old forests to hunt fierce beasts. They would be surrounded by the villagers, who would express their highest respect through dance.
Artoria, on the other hand, was a bit embarrassed. She accepted the villagers' praises with a very guilty heart—she knew these praises were not actually for her, but on the premise of not exposing the existence of the young dragon, she had to force herself to hold her head high and pretend to be proud.
For a young woman who had studied the way of the knight since she was a child and aimed to be a "perfect knight," this act of taking credit for others' honor was really difficult.
But this was not the worst part. The truly worst part was when she, steeling herself, pushed open the door of her own home.
"Al—"
A familiar call, from her foster brother who had no blood relationship with her but had always treated her with a very strict attitude.
Kay.
"B-brother..."
Feeling her brother's stern tone, the girl, who felt she had done something wrong, subconsciously swallowed, not daring to look him in the eye. At the same time, this girl who had never lied before, her thoughts were racing in her mind—she urgently needed to come up with a reasonable excuse that could both hide the existence of the young dragon and explain why she had not returned home all night.
But it was too difficult, it was really too difficult. Artoria would rather go to the mountains and hunt ten such fierce beasts than to think of, let alone tell, such a lie. So, she just stood there quietly, waiting for the coming storm.
—But, there was none.
The expected questioning did not come. What sounded in the girl's ear was a light and cheerful, even slightly whistling, playful voice.
"Ah, in the blink of an eye, you've grown so big! To be able to hunt in the mountains alone... not bad, you're a real man now. In a few days, I'll take you to the market in town for a drink—you can also show those little girls that knightly code you've learned. I guarantee you'll have them head over heels for you."
...
The girl quickly left. The young brother turned his head and looked at her fleeing figure, as if she had been granted a pardon. His mood was a bit complicated.
—He still remembered the night ten years ago, when he first saw this girl. At that time, facing the five-year-old Artoria, he had determined at a glance that she would definitely grow up to be a great beauty. But his father, the knight who had once worked for King Uther, had told him with a straight face, "You must, as an older brother, discipline your younger brother well."
So, his address for the girl was the more masculine "Al," rather than the more feminine "Ria."
He watched the girl grow up day by day. From the time she was sensible, she was trained by her old man, spending most of the day receiving the education of a king. And her only free time was spent taking care of the horses and patrolling the village.
Kay shook his head. He knew the responsibility the girl carried. The fate of being a "King" was the reason for her birth, and also the goal she had to strive for all her life... but in his eyes as an outsider, such treatment was really too "heartless."
It wasn't that he hadn't tried to change the girl's life, at least to let her experience a "human" life before becoming a true king. But when he asked Artoria if she had rested well, her reply, "Don't worry, brother, I rested well from midnight to sunrise," directly dumbfounded him.
Damn it, from midnight to sunrise... that's less than three hours, right?
From then on, Kay could stay away from this person. Because he knew that for an ordinary person like him to get involved with such a serious idiot was definitely not a good thing—it was best not to know each other for a lifetime.
But, today, this rebellious knight suddenly found that things were not as bad as he had imagined.
"A heavy secret that she has to bear alone, even to the point of lying?"
"She also has something she wants to protect?"
No one had ever told Artoria that when she lied or did something she felt guilty about, her expression was really obvious. She would blush and lower her head, and the little golden ahoge on top of her head would move around like a blade of grass in the water... Her flustered mood was clearly shown by that ahoge.
"She's grown up too!"
Kay was very gratified by Artoria's performance today—he had actually long wanted a younger brother who could sneak out of the house with him, go to town to whistle at pretty girls together. Of course, a younger sister would also be fine.
But at the same time, looking at Artoria's back, Kay was a little concerned again. This young knight knew that he shouldn't pry into others' secrets... just as he didn't want anyone to know that he had already emptied half of his old man's wine cellar.
"But... I'm still very curious!"
Kay turned his head and looked at the mountain forest outside the village, his brow slightly furrowed. That "secret" that could make Al... no, she should be called "Ria" now. That "secret" that could make his well-behaved and sensible younger sister suddenly not return home all night, and even fabricate lies for it... what was it?
"Damn it. She didn't save someone she shouldn't have, did she?"
Thinking of the vulgar clichés in those third-rate knight stories—this rebellious knight couldn't help but shiver.
No, he couldn't stand it anymore! He was already eager to go into that mountain forest and see what evil thing his cute little sister had hidden in there!
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