"Lord...!"
His long black hair billowed in the wind, and clenching his fists, one of the men closest to the circular portal reluctantly rose.
"This isn't... We'll take good care of him, and you and the lady can be with him whenever you want, so... so, you don't need to take him there. Why are you doing this?"
"I know, I have no doubts that you would..."
Lifting his finger to Seren's nose, smiling, Arthur let the little baby play with his hand after a slight spasm of surprise from the sudden touch.
"But..."
Raising his head, his eyes wandered over the knights in front of him, whose eyes widened as they met his.
"We discussed it and, initially, we don't want Seren to grow up amid all... this. It may seem selfish, and it really is. But... even if we miss his early years and have to place on you the burden of handling everything we've built in our place, we want him to live, at least for some time, a normal life."
"This..."
The knights exchanged glances, all rising soon after. One stretched nonchalantly, letting out an "Aaahh..." as his back cracked, while the others adjusted themselves, mostly discreetly. They all smiled in the end.
"This isn't a burden, my lord, not at all. On the contrary, it's an honor."
"Speak for yourself..." said the man whose back had just cracked and who was now being smacked on the head from both sides. "Hey!"
Ignoring what had just been said, the knight with long black hair continued.
"We will take care of the lands of the little prince and, even if we don't get to see him again, we'll leave them more than ready to welcome him when the day of his return comes."
"We won't see him...? Wait! So the prince won't even know who I am?!"
"It will be over 8,000 years before that day comes; it's obvious we won't see him again. Unless one of us manages to achieve bodily ascension. You should know that."
"Yes, he would know if he hadn't missed all the meetings, or even slept through the ones he did attend."
"Tsk!"
After clicking his tongue, the man approached Arthur and bowed to look at the baby a bit closer.
"You... how can you do this to the little prince?! You'll scare him with that face of yours!"
"Haha! As if. Look, he's smiling at me. It's more likely he'll be scared of you or Tristan."
"Me...? Hey! But I didn't even say anything. Why are you dragging me into this stupid argument? Get out!"
Pushing his companion aside, the youthful-looking knight with short gray hair and crimson eyes approached suddenly, causing an obvious scare in Seren, who immediately retracted his smile and filled his eyes with tears.
"Want to see? Let me show you that..."
Pulling on Arthur's clothes, the little one hid his face in his chest. At this moment, laughter echoed around.
"See? I told you, didn't I? You're much scarier than me, you weirdos!"
"You? But I haven't even tried yet. Watch and learn the proper way to do this."
Approaching, the knight pushed a sad-faced Tristan aside and confidently bent close to Seren, but the little one didn't react, which elicited small laughs around.
"..."
Putting his hand under his cloak and pulling out something small and icy-looking, everyone squinted their eyes and clicked their tongues.
"Humph! As if buying his affection would mean anything..."
"Fool, you know nothing..."
Feeling the sugary smell of the substance in the small container in his hand, Seren turned, showing a big smile on his face as he reached out toward it. Confident, the knight laughed.
"...everything is fair in war."
"Well, if that's the case..."
"What? Geraint, you too? You... You two conspired against us. It's obvious you planned this!"
"What...? Don't say absurd things!"
Taking a white blanket from inside his cloak, Geraint let a small smile escape as he handed it to Arthur.
"It's not our fault if you're incompetent! Especially you, Lamorak."
"Inco... what?!"
The knights exchanged glances, exuding rage in their looks. Pulling up his sleeve, Lamorak clicked his tongue while approaching the King and his son again.
"Alright then, fine. Everything is fair, right?"
The golden bracelet shone at his touch, and smiling, he removed it from his wrist without hesitation. Everyone widened their eyes, and Arthur, also a bit surprised, briefly raised his eyebrows, already seeing the inevitable path this situation would take.
"Which one of you will give more, you fools?!"
The knights exchanged glances, but amidst the ensuing silence, a brief laugh echoed nearby.
"You underestimate me, Lamorak."
"Lancelot, you..."
With his hand on his sword's hilt, the man with long black hair approached, stretching his arms and placing before Seren a bluish sword, as if waves were moving even on its sheath's surface.
"Well..."
"What?! Again?! Damn! Didn't you already give the blanket?!"
"What to do...? One more gift won't make a difference, right?"
"Won't make a difference...?! You bastards..."
"Look, this is strange. It feels like you're completely excluding us, right?"
With a bow in hand, one of the knights approached.
"...I think I'll join too."
"Bedivere, you too..?"
"Well, if that's the case..."
"Galahad... Gawain... and Gaheris, all of you... You idiots! How do you think he'll carry all this? A lance? Are you kidding?!"
While the knights gathered around him with their artifacts in hand, smiling, Arthur sighed.
"Doesn't like... the prince doesn't like me..." murmured Tristan, with a sad voice and expression, crouching nearby where all the commotion was happening.
***************
"You..."
With the dagger hovering over his palm, Seren averted his gaze for a moment, briefly looking at Landric.
"Lancelot...? No... You're different from him, I see..."
Widening their eyes, Bors and Landric felt something warm arising in their chests, which brought a small smile and made both slightly raise their heads. However, unlike what they wished, only Landric responded to his lord.
"I'm glad you held my grandfather in such high regard to remember him even after all this time. I'm really grateful, my lord; he would be very happy to see you, I have no doubt."
"You're quite similar to him too."
Hearing the words directed at him, Bors immediately bowed along with the giant serpent he was mounted on.
"Thank you, my lord. Lancelot is also my grandfather. Our father told us stories about him repeatedly, and I can say, no one would be happier to see you once more than him."
"...Gawain, Geraint, Lamorak, Kay, Percival, Tristan, Bedivere..."
As the names of their ancestors were called, everyone, without exception, bowed even more as a certain sense of satisfaction filled them. In the end, even after so much time and having seen them only a few times when young, somehow, he still remembers them... all of them. And this, more than any relic, makes the descendants present feel strangely happy.
"...Where are they?"
Upon hearing this question, not only the descendants but all those who recognized at least one of the mentioned names slightly raised their heads, and many exchanged glances. However, this time, none of them responded, but rather the imposing voice from the dagger.
"It's good that you remember them, and truly impressive. Your question is valid, after all, from your perspective, it's only been about twenty years. But, the time between worlds is very different, where a day on Earth would be equivalent to a year in this place. Here, over 8,000 years have passed, understand?"
"So, none of them achieved bodily ascension?"
Silence ensued for a moment.
"Seren... how much do you still remember of that time...? Well, no, unfortunately, they didn't, but they tried very hard until the end."
"How much...?"
Observing the surroundings, Seren saw the devastated kingdom and, raising his free hand, restored the translucent bridges to their original state, while the earthen ones continued to crumble below.
"The creation of the gates, the blessings, and so on... I remember every detail. I remember everything."
"I see... truly, you must have taken after me."
"What? Some time ago, you forgot even your birthday, and you still have the nerve to say that?"
"D-Darling, please..."
"At least have the decency to tell the truth, if he inherited this from anyone, it was obviously from me."
"Dear, you... you forgot how much time was left for his return..."
"What...? Humph!"
"N-Darling! Wait, dear, let's talk."
As the voices faded, the dagger fell into Seren's palm, and amidst confused looks, an awkward silence spread. Until it was broken by Landric.
"Forgive my insolence, my lord, but may I say something?"
Holding the dagger by its hilt, Seren nodded.
"Now that we have confirmed your summoning here, if you permit, we need to meet with the regent of this city. By hiding the existence of Your Excellency, the highest crime in the entire Kingdom has been committed, so we must see him immediately to understand the reason and judge him according to the rules."