[In Queen's Calendar 2018, April—After days of fierce battles, due to the return of the Child of Prophecy Artoria and others, as well as the sudden reappearance of Fairy Knight Gawain—who had been missing for a long time and directly joined the Nocknere faction—the Northern Fairy Army barely held on against the repeated assaults from the joint Windfang, Earthfang, and Sandfang coalition under the pressure of Duke Woodworth of Oxford.]
[At this time, a sage from Orkney brought news of the outcome of a fierce battle that had taken place at the End in Orkney.]
[Britain's strongest fairy, Fairy Knight Lancelot, fought a final battle against Guinevere of the Northern Fairy Army atop the ruins of Orkney. Lancelot was defeated by Guinevere, and though she transformed into the Great Calamity and continued fighting, she was ultimately vanquished by the hero Guinevere.]
[Following this battle, the hero Guinevere also died of exhaustion.]
[Upon learning the outcome, Queen Nocknere of the North was so grief-stricken that she could hardly continue fighting. However, the main leaders of the Northern Army, led by Fairy Knight Tristan, were furious and began advocating for a more aggressive strategy.]
Huh? Too grief-stricken to continue fighting? Who?
Guinevere paused upon seeing this news.
So that's how it is… Nocknere really did have feelings for him.
Honestly, even though he had only observed through the screen, Guinevere had somewhat sensed that Nocknere seemed to pay extra attention to him. Still, he'd always treated the idea of "she likes me" as one of those infamous self-delusions—never daring to take it seriously. He'd just thought of her as a really easygoing superior.
But if she really did like him... then those parting words she said to him at the end… might have meant something more...
Guinevere suddenly felt a heavy weight settle on his heart.
He kept reading.
[Meanwhile, after news of the decisive battle at the End spread, and Woodworth—unable to capture Edinburgh—learned that the reinforcements he had been expecting could no longer support him, he gave up the assault on Edinburgh.]
[As the fairy coalition began to withdraw, the forces of Edinburgh, who had long been on the defensive, launched a counterattack. Fairy Knights Tristan and Gawain led a night raid on the Windfang, Earthfang, and Sandfang coalition. In particular, Tristan fought with unprecedented ferocity, pushing herself to the brink of death and only surviving thanks to Gawain's intervention.]
[In this battle, Tristan—who had long suffered from a poor reputation and was considered a disgrace among the Fairy Knights—stunned everyone by wiping out nearly 40% of the enemy forces alone. Her name gained enormous prestige throughout the Fairy Kingdom, and the defeated coalition began to fear her as the "Bloodstained Princess." ]
[This surprise attack not only crippled the enemy forces, but also greatly diminished Woodworth's personal prestige. The clans he commanded began to distance themselves from him.]
[Later that same month, the "Londinion Knight" Gareth and Oberon returned to the Round Table Army and persuaded their leader, Percival, to withdraw from Woodworth's alliance. The Round Table Army regained its independence.]
[The Round Table's departure dealt another heavy blow to the already weakened coalition. Woodworth was forced onto the defensive and withdrew his forces to fortify Oxford and Salisbury.]
[After this, both major factions in the Fairy Kingdom ceased hostilities and adopted defensive postures, plunging the land into a temporary peace.]
[In Queen's Calendar 2018, May—With the threat from Woodworth neutralized, Queen Nocknere and the Child of Prophecy traveled to the End in Orkney to pay respects. There, Queen Nocknere carved a statue of the "Dragonslayer Hero" Guinevere amid the ruins.]
[In June, Clan Chief Murien of the Winged Clan proposed restoring the lordship of Boggart Sheffield, which had been controlled by the Palus, to better mobilize Sheffield's productivity.]
[In July, Queen Nocknere remained in the Machina Factory for a prolonged period, poring over the manuscripts left behind by Dragonslayer Guinevere, engrossed in researching firearm technology. She neglected state affairs entirely, leaving governance to Murien.]
Seriously? Sister, really?
Seeing this, Guinevere's heart grew heavier.
If it had been Bavanzi who collapsed after his death, he wouldn't have been surprised—that had worried him before.
But Nocknere… in his mind, she'd always been the strong, commanding type. He never imagined she would break down so completely after his death, while Bavanzi, on the other hand, went on a bloody rampage in response… He could understand Bavanzi just venting her rage, but the contrast was stark.
Come to think of it, he could now see why the former Northern Queen Mab had been completely crushed by the Savior Ash despite having overwhelming advantages. These two were clearly cut from the same cloth—outwardly calm, rational, and powerful, but completely undone emotionally by the loss of someone they loved.
As for Artoria... Guinevere wasn't worried about her.
No matter how sad or heartbroken she might be, she would pull herself together. She was always that kind of strong girl—something Guinevere had always admired in her.
\[In Queen's Calendar 2018, September—After numerous attempts to reconstruct the Dragonslayer Guinevere's firearm designs, Nocknere successfully developed an automatic Machina rifle.]
\[To honor the rifle's original designer, she named the Fairy Kingdom's first automatic weapon: Type Will I.]
?
Guinevere slowly typed a question mark.
Seriously?
He barely understood the theory behind automatic firearms himself—his notes only briefly touched on it.
And she actually pulled it off?
Guinevere didn't get it—but he was stunned.
\[In October—Faced with Nocknere's dereliction of duty, the Child of Prophecy Artoria stormed the palace and confronted her directly.]
"Look at you now! Just look at the useless mess you've become!"
"Do you think Guinevere would be happy seeing you like this? You idiot!"
"You think Guinevere chose you for nothing? Do you know what he valued most in you? He followed you because he believed you would be an outstanding leader, that you could build a better nation, and that you could give everyone a better life!"
"Didn't you say you'd only fall in love after you truly became queen? Look at yourself now! How are you any different from a useless wreck?"
"Guinevere believed in you. Even if it meant becoming our enemy, he chose to fight for you! And what right do you have to sit here weeping and doing nothing?!"
[After being scolded face-to-face by the Child of Prophecy, Nocknere lashed out, and the two began to fight.]
[Midway through their brawl, Nocknere suddenly collapsed into Artoria's arms and burst into tears.]
[The next day, to the delight of the Northern Fairies, Queen Nocknere returned to the palace and resumed her duties. She was once again the determined, capable ruler they knew—now fully devoted to rebuilding the north.]
But when he saw Artoria scolding Nocknere, Guinevere felt a pang of guilt.
All that talk about believing in Nocknere to build a better country, to give everyone a better life... Honestly, he hadn't thought that far ahead. He'd only chosen to follow Nocknere because she seemed like the safer bet to escape from that bastard Lancelot.
—Well, not that it mattered now. He was dead. Whatever others thought of him now, he'd never have a chance to correct it.
Still, in the end, it led to Nocknere recovering... That was a good thing.
Guinevere thought.
[In November, the magical beasts in Edinburgh were completely eradicated. Nocknere ordered the Palus capture squad to move north to the lake district and continue capturing Palus.]
[Having witnessed your battle in Glasgow, and after seeing the completely flattened Orkney—left behind by your duel with Lancelot—the Northern Fairies, unaware of the details, believed that you had shattered the land itself.]
[You were given the title: "Shatterer of the Earth."]
Me...
At this point, Guinevere couldn't even be bothered to complain.
No wonder there were such things as baseless legends… Even with more than half the witnesses still alive, the rumors were already this wild. He didn't even want to imagine how things would look after a few hundred years.
Still, not a bad title. At least it wasn't a negative one.
[In Queen's Calendar 2019, February—After half a year of recovery, the Nocknere Army, now equipped with upgraded arms and mounts, began its counteroffensive against the clan coalition.]
[The Northern Fairy Army split into two forces: one led by Fairy Knight Gawain and Sheffield Lord Boggart marched on Manchester; the other, led by Fairy Knight Tristan, the Child of Prophecy Artoria, and Gloucester Lord Murien, advanced on New Darlington.]
[Although the fairies of Manchester had already perished in civil war, Woodworth had stationed troops there. But with overwhelming equipment superiority, both Manchester and New Darlington were quickly reclaimed by their original lords.]
[The two forces then joined and retook Gloucester.]
[After these defeats, Salisbury Lord Aurora betrayed Woodworth, tearing up their alliance and offering support to Nocknere's army to assault Oxford.]
[But as the Northern Army approached Salisbury, the Londinion Round Table Army marched on it. Gareth, the Londinion Knight, revealed her identity as Ainserl, head of the Mirror Clan. She uncovered Aurora's crimes, including the genocide of the Mirror Clan and the massacre of human children after selecting suitable pawns.]
[The Round Table declared Aurora a traitor, and after negotiations with the Northern Army, they jointly attacked Salisbury.]
[Salisbury fell within half a day. Aurora attempted to flee but was captured and executed. Her deputy, Coral, was spared due to her good reputation. Murien later persuaded Coral to reorganize the remaining Wind Clan fairies.]
[The Round Table Army then pledged allegiance to Queen Nocknere.]
[In May, Nocknere personally led the full army against Oxford to confront Woodworth's forces directly.]
[After a bloody battle, Woodworth's army was defeated. Woodworth himself attempted a decapitation strike but was captured with the help of all allied forces, becoming a prisoner of the Northern Fairies.]
[Upon hearing of Woodworth's defeat, the Earth Clan of Norwich quickly surrendered to Nocknere's army. Thus, Fairy Britain was finally unified under the Northern Queen Nocknere.]
[In June, Queen Nocknere was crowned at Salisbury Cathedral.]
[That same day—against the objections of her court—she posthumously named the long-dead Dragonslayer Guinevere as the King of the North.]
Huh?
At this point, Guinevere was completely dumbfounded.
What the hell? King of the North? Me?