Because she saw Alvin and the King of the Moon get married today, her mood was low, so she sat alone in the King's Hall handling state affairs, trying to distract herself.
Ariel stood at the entrance of the hall, her gaze discreetly flicking toward the woman seated on the throne. A hint of worry appeared in her eyes.
'It seems the King really likes that boy.'
"Ariel, go prepare some pastries and red tea."
At this moment, Artoria's voice suddenly rang out in the hall.
"Ah… yes!"
The aide was clearly startled for a moment, then quickly reacted, joy appearing in her eyes.
If she could still eat something, that meant the King's mood wasn't especially bad, that was a good thing.
This aide, who had already played out an entire drama in her head, clearly did not know that Artoria had not been thinking about Alvin just now.
In the few days before Alvin and Arcueid's wedding, Artoria had indeed been a little troubled, and often thought about whether she should personally go to the Millennium Castle.
But now that it had already come to this, and according to the frontline information they had already gotten married. There was no need to go anymore.
And besides, there was now something she cared about even more.
Not long ago, Artoria had seen a special countdown appear before her eyes.
On the deep-blue interface was a number that kept ticking down.
She was not unfamiliar with this thing, because during this period, whenever she interacted with any of the traversers, she always heard them mention this special countdown.
After the countdown ended, the traverser would return to their own world.
'Then, what does this countdown now appearing before me mean?'
'If, after the countdown ends, I traverse to the present world just like those traversers… will I run into Alvin?'
As if she had thought of something interesting, the finely sculpted corners of Artoria's lips quickly curved into a faint smile.
Sunlight streamed in through the windows of the King's Hall, casting a sacred warmth over the woman's cool and dignified beauty.
"Your red tea and pastries, Your Majesty."
At this moment, Ariel entered the hall carrying the red tea, placing a cup of warm tea onto an exquisite white jade round table. Steam rose from the tea, and the properly baked cookies gave off a fragrant aroma.
"You may withdraw now," Artoria said.
Ariel respectfully bowed and quietly exited the hall.
Artoria, meanwhile, maintained her upright posture, remaining completely still.
"The tea and pastries are ready. If you don't come out now, I'll have to invite you out."
Soon, her clear, cool voice echoed through the hall.
After a brief pause, a boy's helpless sigh came from the hall.
"Your perception really is scary, Lily."
Alvin appeared soundlessly behind Artoria and continued, "When did you notice I was back?"
Artoria raised her eyes and said calmly, "I just received news from guests who attended the wedding that you returned to the palace. I figured you would go see Sister first, and judging by the timing, you should be coming to find me about now."
Alvin: "..."
"Don't worry. I know Sister's personality. Going to see her first was the right choice."
Even though she said that, it still felt a little unpleasant.
Artoria pressed her lips together, glanced again at the countdown floating in her field of vision, then regained her composure.
"Have some tea and pastries first."
While hosting Alvin for afternoon tea, Artoria suddenly looked thoughtful and said, "Oh right, there's something I want to ask you."
Alvin, who was in the middle of drinking tea, was momentarily caught off guard by the sudden request, then smiled and said, "What is it? There's no need to be so polite between us."
Artoria looked quietly at the boy and said, "A magic dragon scale."
Alvin: "?"
———
At the same time, beneath a birch tree on the outskirts of Britain—
At this very moment, a girl wearing a light green pleated dress sat under the tree. Her short golden hair fluttered in the wind, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the girl's delicate, pure face.
Sajyou Manaka.
"The Age of Gods seems like it's about to completely fade away."
The girl gazed at the towering white walls in the distance and murmured to herself.
From the very first day she traversed to Britain, she had been waiting for the fading of the Age of Gods, or rather, waiting for the death of the "White Dragon."
Because only after the White Dragon died and became a Heroic Spirit would she have a chance to summon him in the present world.
However, the White Dragon was a creature of myth, and theoretically could not be summoned.
At the very beginning, after learning this fact through "Omniscience," even this Princess of the Root did not know what to do.
But afterward, she quickly thought of something.
Alvin was the White Dragon, but at the same time, flowing within his body was the magical power of humans, gods, and… vampire kind.
The White Dragon and divine-state Alvin might not be summonable, but what if it were the human or vampire aspect instead?
As for a catalyst, she had prepared that from the very beginning.
The girl carefully took out a black scale from her bosom.
As long as this existed, summoning Alvin would be effortless.
As if she had thought of something interesting, a playful smile quickly appeared on Sajyou Manaka's face.
"After returning this time, I'll try it out a bit."
"I really look forward to seeing what kind of expression you'll have when you see me then, Alvin~"
———
There were only a little over twenty hours left until the return.
Although he didn't quite know what Artoria wanted his magic dragon scale for, Alvin still handed her one.
And during this final bit of time before returning, he went to see Ishtar again.
"So you still know to come say goodbye. I thought you'd just leave directly."
Ishtar sat in a sunlit garden, her full, long legs crossed, arms folded across her chest as she shot the boy an unhappy glance.
Alvin calmly walked into the garden, sat down beside the goddess of heaven, and smiled, "You came back pretty quickly. Seems much faster than me."
After all, not long ago Ishtar had still been attending the wedding at the Millennium Castle, and traveling from the royal city to the Millennium Castle took at least half a day.
"What do you think my mount is?"
Ishtar snorted, "Satisfied now? You married the King of the Moon, you're already a celebrity in Britain. After those traversers go back, they're probably still going to be talking about you."
After all, that was the origin of the True Ancestors, the Moon's UO, marrying a boy out of nowhere. Anyone would be extremely interested.
Ishtar was also very concerned about it. But from the moment Alvin confirmed the wedding to the ceremony itself, she never appeared to stop it.
Their relationship in the past had been somewhat ambiguous, but not to the point of lovers. At the end of the day, in front of Alvin she had always openly called him her "retainer," not her lover.
Since they weren't lovers, she naturally had no standing to stop his wedding.
Besides, even King Arthur, the rightful one, didn't say anything. It was even less appropriate for her to interfere.
Alvin asked casually, "How do you feel about this wedding?"
"Of course it's very—"
Ishtar's words were about to spill out, but perhaps because she was too proud, she swallowed them back down and instead brushed it off lightly, "Of course I don't care. After all, you and I aren't lovers or anything."
As she spoke, a little devilish smile appeared on her face, "I'd really like to see what King Arthur looks like right now. Maybe she's hiding under the covers crying every night?"
'You really don't care?'
'If you truly didn't care, then why do you look like someone who just got dumped,' Alvin squatted down and looked at Ishtar, reaching out to grab one of her hands.
Ishtar instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but Alvin held it tightly, refusing to let go.
She glared at him and said, "Alvin, you're a married man now. Watch yourself!"
Alvin froze, "I can't hold your hand like before anymore?"
"Of course not. You're already married, after all."
Just as Ishtar said this, she saw Alvin's expression dim a little, as if he had lost all his strength. He released her hand and let it fall.
Ishtar froze for a moment and fell silent, but her thoughts churned wildly.
This was the first time she had seen Alvin look so dejected.
'Does he really care about me that much?'
After the wedding, instead of rushing off to consummate things with Arcueid, he came to see her first. That alone was enough to show his feelings.
As these thoughts surfaced, Ishtar quickly shook her head, scattering the chaotic thoughts away.
'No, no, calm down, Ishtar… isn't it normal for Alvin to come see you?'
'You're Ishtar, the most beautiful goddess of Uruk. There's nothing in this world you can't get if you want it.'
'At the end of the day, so what if he got married? It's just a title, isn't it?'
With her charm, making a mere Alvin fall head over heels would be effortless.
Once she figured this out, the gloom that had hung over Ishtar for days vanished completely.
She glanced at the boy and said softly, "You don't need to be so down, I never said I'd never let you hold my hand again. I just wanted some time alone."
"Really?", Alvin looked up instinctively, a bit of light returning to his eyes.
"..."
"Stop looking at me like a pitiful puppy, when has this goddess ever gone back on her word?"
Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, Ishtar quickly looked away, doing her best to keep her tone calm.
Seeing this, Alvin also secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Ishtar was different from the others. From beginning to end, she had always been full of confidence and never believed anyone could be prettier than her. And in truth, that was indeed the case. In the state of Manifestation of Beauty EX, she naturally possessed an overwhelming attraction to the opposite sex.
It was just that after Gaia left, she couldn't maintain the Manifestation of Beauty EX state indefinitely.
But in any case, although this goddess looked very "troublesome" and hard to coax, in reality she was the type who didn't consume herself internally. Once she figured things out, it was "one thought and the world opens wide."
Still, there was one more place he needed to go next.
After chatting with Ishtar for a bit, Alvin took the cue to say goodbye.
Although this time the game's heroines all traversed to Britain and nearly made him "explode on the spot," once the panic passed, Alvin immediately began methodically stabilizing the "pond."
A qualified time-management master needed to make predictions before the yandere battlefield erupted, stabilizing their emotions in advance.
After leaving the garden, Alvin leisurely strolled along the corridor and deliberately went to see Tiamat.
Even though after returning to the present world, no matter how much time passed there would be no actual change in Britain, he himself still missed Mama Tiamat very much.
What outsiders fancied was Alvin's body, but Tiamat was different. Her feelings for Alvin were extremely pure. She only doted on her child.
As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw the naturally airheaded blue-haired shorty.
She sat on a chair, staring straight ahead, as if spacing out, or as if she had seen something and fallen into brief contemplation, so absorbed that she didn't even notice Alvin approaching.
"What are you doing?"
Alvin walked over to her side, squatted down, and followed Tiamat's gaze forward. Aside from a door, there was nothing there.
"Aaaa (nothing)~"
Tiamat shook her head, her gaze falling on her child, and soon continued, "Aaaaa (your magical power tastes even better than before)."
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