"Vampires have an instinctive craving for blood, because the magic power contained within blood is often the most concentrated."
"But actually, inside your body, there is something even more concentrated than blood, do you know what it is?"
Alvin froze for a moment, and then, as if he realized something, he looked at Arcueid in shock.
"That's right~"
There was an alluring, playful note in Arcueid's voice, "From the very beginning, I never planned to drink your blood. After all, there is something far more precious than blood."
She gave a soft hum, lowered her head slightly, and leaned close to the boy's ear. Her sweet breath carried a seductive undertone.
"Hm... after the wedding is over, look forward to it properly~"
'Did I trigger the 'Millennium Castle' DLC or something?', Sensing the faint, elegant fragrance filling his nose, Alvin's body stiffened, his heart filled with the urge to complain.
Arcueid glanced toward the maid standing in a corner of the palace.
"Take him down to rest first."
Although Alvin was now by her side, there was no way those Britannian sisters would truly allow him to remain in the Millennium Castle forever so easily.
Once the 'correction' effect brought by the Counter Force disappeared, they would probably still want to take Alvin back to Britannia.
She needed to prepare an extra layer of insurance.
After watching Alvin leave, Arcueid pondered briefly, walked over to a nearby table, sat down, lit a desk lamp, and began writing a letter.
Once the letter was finished, she summoned one of her First-Embraced maids and handed the letter to her.
"Deliver this letter to the royal palace of Britannia."
The maid respectfully accepted the letter with both hands. After hearing Arcueid's words, she could not help but pause, hesitating as she asked,
"This is?"
"A marriage alliance invitation."
Arcueid smiled pleasantly.
"I know that both King Arthur and Morgan agreed to my conditions on the surface, but each has their own thoughts. At the very least, neither of them will give up on him."
If it were marriage with the White Dragon, gossip would be inevitable. After all, everyone knew about the matter between the 'White Dragon' and King Arthur.
Therefore, the one she intended to marry was not the White Dragon, but Alvin. Everyone in Britannia knew of the Watchman White Dragon, but very few people actually knew the White Dragon's real name.
Marrying a boy named 'Alvin', and doing so in front of all the transmigrators and the people of Britannia.
Once the wedding was set in stone, even they would have nothing left to say, right?
Watching the maid leave with the envelope held in both hands, Arcueid remained seated quietly upon the jeweled throne, resting one hand lightly upon her full chest.
Within her chest, it felt as though the boy's magic power still lingered there.
Indeed, even setting aside the magic of the White Dragon and divinity, his own magic power alone was delicious enough.
Recalling certain intimate scenes from earlier with the boy, Arcueid's once-still heart rippled for no apparent reason.
Although she had already decided to accept his existence this time, and had even planned to marry him to make up for certain past regrets.
Just thinking about having to keep her distance from Alvin during the wedding preparations made her feel like ants were crawling all over her body.
She desperately wanted to savor everything about the boy, not just his blood, but also his affection for her, and even his body.
'How about, sneaking a few bites before the wedding starts?'
The woman suddenly thought.
As if she had thought of something amusing, she lightly licked her fingertip with her red lips. A faint curve quickly formed at the corner of her mouth as she stood up and walked out of the hall.
———
[Camelot Palace]
[Hall of the King]
After returning to the palace, Artoria immediately convened a Round Table meeting. Those attending were Lancelot, Gawain, Agravain, Kay, Gareth, Bedivere, and Lamorak.
Aside from the few Knights of the Round Table currently on missions and Tristan, who was recuperating from injuries, everyone else had gathered here.
Mordred had been thrown into a room the moment she returned to the palace. Officially, it was to recuperate properly. As for whether there was any personal revenge mixed in, that was another matter entirely.
The number of people was not large, but one had to know that the Knights of the Round Table were the most important cornerstone of Britannia. The few present could even decide the future fate of the kingdom.
Even the activation of King Arthur's holy sword required approval from more than half of them. From this, one could see just how great their influence over Britannia truly was.
Lancelot frowned and said, "Your Majesty, do you really believe what that King of the Moon said?"
That the Counter Force would 'correct' the White Dragon's existence someday in the future, even now, he found such a notion hard to believe.
With a gloomy expression, the Iron Knight Agravain looked toward the white-haired mage ahead.
"Didn't Merlin come as well? He should know whether what the King of the Moon said was true or false."
In this era, the Knights of the Round Table still had a very vague understanding of the Counter Force's existence. Naturally, they did not know whether it would truly threaten Alvin as the King of the Moon claimed.
For a moment, the remaining people all turned their gazes toward the white-haired mage.
Merlin fiddled with the staff in his hand and said leisurely,
"Even if you ask me like that, I don't really know either. The Counter Force doesn't target a specific individual unless that individual threatens its survival."
"As for whether Alvin threatens its survival or not, only the two Counter Forces themselves would know."
"But I think you should trust the King's judgment."
The way he said it had that typical riddle-speaker vibe of "those who know, know."
"But speaking of which, there is something I'm quite curious about right now."
Merlin smiled as he looked toward Artoria.
She sat upright, a cloak draped over her shoulders, the golden crown accentuating her dignified and beautiful face. At this moment, Artoria was also staring at Merlin.
"Are you willing to let him leave your side, Your Majesty?", Merlin asked with a smile.
Artoria said calmly, "If this can help him, then letting him temporarily leave the palace is fine."
She said it that way, but everything was already within Artoria's plans.
Artoria did not know whether the King of the Moon and Alvin had any love or hatred in the past, but everyone in Britannia, and even all transmigrators, knew about the relationship between the White Dragon and the Red Dragon.
'Under such circumstances, you, a 'sudden girlfriend,' what are you going to use to compete with me?'
'Marry him? Do you think these people will acknowledge your wedding?"
Once Alvin's crisis was resolved, he would return to the palace anyway, back to her side.
'But just in case, it would be better to personally go to the Millennium Castle.'
Thinking this, a hint of a smile appeared in Artoria's sacred cyan eyes.
Just then, a messenger responsible for reporting hurried into the hall, saluted, and said, "Your Majesty, there is someone outside the palace claiming to be an envoy from the Millennium Castle, requesting an audience."
'The Millennium Castle?'
They had just dealt with the King of the Moon. How could she already have new moves so soon?
Artoria frowned slightly and said, "What did they say?"
"They only said that the King of the Moon sent a letter, and that the contents of the letter seem to be related to... to a boy named 'Alvin.'"
For some reason, Artoria's heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat.
She quickly suppressed her emotions and said, "Let her in."
"What is that woman trying to do now? The King just left, and she immediately sent someone with a letter."
"Did she go back on her word?"
"We should have struck first earlier. If we joined forces, it might not have been impossible to keep her here forever…"
Upon hearing that Arcueid had sent an envoy, a flurry of discussion immediately erupted in the Hall of the King.
Artoria said nothing, but for some reason, her intuition had been sounding alarms nonstop since earlier.
'The King of the Moon… what on earth is this woman trying to pull now?'
"Let her envoy in."
Artoria's expression was blank as she lifted the red tea on the table and took a sip.
Soon, the envoy from the Millennium Castle was guided into the Hall of the King and met the King of Britannia. Those sacred cyan eyes made her noble and beautiful face even more breathtaking.
Artoria sat before the throne, watching the Millennium Castle's envoy.
Then, her calm and pleasant voice echoed through the hall.
"Does Arcueid have anything else to add?"
The envoy's heart tightened. Despite having followed Arcueid for many years, when facing the King of Britannia, she still felt an instinctive sense of awe. She quickly lowered her gaze and offered the letter with both hands.
"My master asked me to deliver this letter to you."
At first, when she learned that Arcueid wanted her to act as an envoy to the royal palace of Britannia, she had felt uneasy, afraid that she might not return alive.
But when she found out that the True Ancestor only intended to personally write a letter to marry that boy named 'Alvin,' the envoy immediately felt relieved.
After all, harmony was preferable in all things. As long as the True Ancestor was not sending some kind of declaration of war, it was manageable.
Artoria opened the envelope and gave it a cursory glance.
Then, as if she had seen some sensitive words, the expression on her face froze instantly.
Crack!
Her fingers unconsciously tightened.
Dense cracks spread across the teacup until, finally, it shattered into pieces.
Seeing this, everyone present felt a chill in their hearts.
The Millennium Castle's envoy stood there with her head lowered. The heart she had been holding finally died on the spot.
The corners of her mouth twitched violently as she screamed inwardly,
'True Ancestor-sama, what in the world did you write in that letter? How did you manage to anger King Arthur this badly?'
Before this, she had even thought that being an envoy and delivering a letter was no big deal.
But now it seemed… this was a high-risk profession.
"Did they make some outrageous demand?", Seeing Artoria's expressionless face, Agravain asked in a deep voice.
Kay's expression was just as serious, "Your Majesty, what did they say?"
Judging from the combat power the King of the Moon had displayed earlier, she was indeed a troublesome enemy. But if she kept testing their bottom line again and again, even mutual destruction would be preferable to letting her run rampant.
Artoria did not speak. She simply tossed the letter onto the table.
Kay picked it up and skimmed it. His expression quickly became strange.
Agravain, Lancelot, and the others gathered around, and upon seeing the contents of the letter, their expressions also turned somewhat subtle.
From a certain perspective, the King of the Moon's request was not excessive. At least, in the letter, she sincerely stated that if the White Dragon were to encounter 'correction' by the Counter Force in the future, she would spare no effort to protect Alvin.
And the prerequisite she proposed was only one.
In fact, that condition could also be seen as preserving King Arthur's reputation. For both sides, it was beneficial without drawbacks.
What Arcueid proposed in the letter was not marriage with the White Dragon, but marriage with the boy named 'Alvin'. Nothing more.
———
"Have you heard? The King seemed to be in a really bad mood during today's meeting."
"That King actually... could it be related to the transmigrators?"
"If you have to say, it does seem to be related to the transmigrators. I heard it's about that boy from the banquet some time ago. Seems like he's going to marry someone."
In the palace garden, two knights on patrol were speaking quietly to each other.
At that moment, a pleasant girl's voice suddenly came from nearby.
"What are you two talking about?"
It was an elegant noble girl. Her smooth golden hair flowed freely, and beneath her long black silk-clad legs were a pair of deerskin short boots. She had a fresh, pure temperament, and a harmless smile on her face.
The two knights exchanged glances. The black-armored knight in front hesitated and said,
"You are… Miss Reines?"
During this period, Reines had been staying in the palace, so the patrolling knights were familiar with this noble young lady from the 'Clock Tower.'
"Good evening, gentlemen."
Reines first performed an elegant bow, then asked casually, "What were you just talking about? Something about the boy from the banquet getting married?"
"Oh, it's like this. At the last banquet, didn't the King invite a boy to dance? The 'King of the Moon' who descended from the Moon seems to have taken a liking to him, and even proactively proposed a 'marriage alliance' to the King."
"The boy from the banquet?"
Reines repeated softly, then, as if recalling something important, her expression suddenly changed.
"What was that person's name?"
"If I remember correctly, it seemed to be… Alvin?"
"But I still can't understand it. For the King, a marriage alliance doesn't really have any downsides. Why would she be so angry…"
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