"Your Majesty!"
Midsummer mornings are always scorching.
"Your Majesty!"
Ryuya lived each day in Britain with great diligence.
"Your Majesty!"
'Who... who is calling me?'
Vaguely feeling as if he had slept for a long time, consciousness returning, Ryuya awoke.
"My head feels a bit dizzy... Morgan, get me a glass of water..."
Calling for his personal witch, but what followed was the emptiness of the royal hall.
"Morgan?"
"Artoria?"
"Merlin?"
"Vivian?"
He couldn't find the familiar people, couldn't see the ones he wanted to see. A bad feeling stirred in Ryuya's intuition.
"What happened? Guards!"
At the king's command, guards quickly arrived.
"Where are Morgan and the others?"
"The Queen and the Royal Advisor left last night, saying they had received Your Majesty's orders."
Facing the angry Sun-Crowned King, the guards answered loyally.
"They left?"
Due to his trust in Morgan and the others, and their formidable abilities, even after marriage, Ryuya did not prevent his consorts from participating in governance. Sometimes, he even handed political affairs over to them.
He never expected to have fallen for their trick last night. His intuition told him this was all Vivian's doing.
"Did they say anything when they left?"
"Yes, the Queen instructed that if you awoke, we were to give you this letter."
[Taking the letter handed by the guard, your unease grew stronger.]
[Opening the letter and quickly scanning its contents, you finally understood Vivian's true purpose.]
[It turned out that after you sought out Vivian wanting a method to prolong the Age of Gods and Britain, the Lady of the Lake realized that both expanding territory and nurturing the Red Dragon Artoria were only temporary solutions, not addressing the root cause.]
[If the Age of Gods lacks mystery, then replenish mystery. What can perfect magic... is only magic itself!]
[Making a bold decision, Vivian wanted to open a channel between the Root and Britain.]
[Yes, though a fairy of Avalon, though a guardian observing everything from the sidelines of the world, having fallen in love, she wanted to protect a child, a child who called her Sister Vivian.]
["Artoria, I want to prolong this era, to etch Britain's eternity into history. But I alone am not enough. I can only open the channel to Avalon. Can you handle the part belonging to Britain?"]
[Before the ultimate entity known as the Root, even a small, simple channel requires a tremendous price.]
[Holding the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad, Vivian knew she couldn't do it alone. She needed someone who could connect to Britain, someone representing Britain.]
["To prolong this nation?"]
[Not opposing Vivian's proposal, Artoria had known her mission since she was very young.]
[In Artoria's view, Britain's future wasn't important, and what truly mattered was the man named Isbel Pendragon.]
["If it is for His Majesty, then I am willing."]
[Responding thus to Vivian, Artoria and Vivian's cooperation was sealed. Then, to perfectly conceal it from you, they dragged Merlin and Morgan into the plan as well.]
[Knowing your dedication to Britain, knowing your burden as king, the four women who loved you more than anyone else achieved their goal. At this critical moment, they prepared to sacrifice two lives to achieve the best outcome.]
["Is, by the time you read this letter, we should have succeeded."]
["Do not grieve, do not be sad, for this is our choice, just as you chose to be king."]
["I know that by doing this, I am deceiving you, but I have no better method, do I?"]
["So, please forgive me. Forgive this willful sister of yours, forgive this great deceiver, forgive this... bad fairy who has loved you from the very beginning, from start to finish."]
Looking at Vivian's final farewell in the letter, Ryuya fell silent.
"This woman... making decisions for me without permission! Opening a channel to the Root... that's not something you can accomplish!"
His fingers clenched. After a brief thought, Ryuya knew, knew where Vivian would perform such a massive ritual.
Because there was only one place she could do it, and that was...
Inside Avalon.
As a massive pillar of light connecting sky and earth flashed, turbulent mana filled the entire Inner Sea of the Planet.
"Artoria, can you still hold on?"
Looking at her younger sister persevering with difficulty under the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad, Morgan had long cried herself into a mess.
But her hands didn't stop drawing the magic circle. She knew they were at a critical juncture, and failure was absolutely not an option.
"It's alright, Sister."
The Red Dragon Bloodline within her had long completely erupted. As Britain's destined child, Artoria could naturally serve as the key to opening the channel.
Her vision was already blurry, and she could barely see anything.
But...
'Your Majesty...'
At this moment, there was only one person in her thoughts. Artoria so wished she could see him one last time before leaving.
Beside Artoria, also serving as a key, responsible for opening the path to the Root, Vivian looked at the Succubus with a smile.
"Stop crying, Merlin. You're a grown Succubus, how many years old are you? Still acting like a child."
She had never known how to handle the weeping Succubus. In Vivian's heart, Ryuya was her younger brother, but wasn't Merlin also her most beloved younger sister?
Ever since this careless Succubus came to Avalon, this place, which had never had any liveliness, gained new vitality.
She was grateful, truly grateful to Merlin. Vivian felt that being able to properly bid farewell to her younger sister at the end was truly a blessed thing.
It's just... if, just if.
If she could also bid farewell to her younger brother at the same time, see Ryuya one more time, tell him she loved him... then there would truly be no regrets.
'No... regrets?'
Staring in surprise at the man who suddenly appeared beside her, Vivian didn't understand, 'How did he find this place? Hadn't I closed the passage to Avalon?'
'Could it be...?'