[You have discovered the secret of your "adoptive brother" Artorius's disguise.]
[Thinking back, you realize the signs were there all along.]
[For example, you all used to sleep in the same room until you reached a certain age, after which your foster father had you sleep in separate rooms.]
[And every time it was time to bathe, your "adoptive brother" would deliberately disappear, as if hiding from something.]
[Now, all these questions have been answered by tonight's revelation. Although you are curious about why your adoptive sister, Artoria, was hiding her gender, you still refrain from asking.]
[After returning home, your older brother Kay simply says, "So, you found out, huh?" with an as-expected tone, and doesn't press any further about the night's events.]
[You climb into bed, close your eyes, and rest, preparing for the day to come.]
[However, in your sleep this time, you once again hear the voice of that carefree, older-brother figure you haven't heard in a long time.]
[At the same time, you catch a rich floral fragrance.]
"I knew it. You've always been able to hear my voice through Artoria, haven't you?"
Hearing the magnetic, somewhat carefree voice, Aozaki Rin subconsciously opened his eyes, sat up, and turned his head toward the sound.
But he immediately froze, taken aback by the strange sensation of his body being nestled in a field of flowers.
He distinctly remembered falling asleep in his bed. Could it be possible to have a dream within a dream?
Stumped by this slightly philosophical question, Aozaki Rin wore a look of confusion.
"Your thinking is correct. This is indeed a dream, just a slightly special one."
Before the boy stood a young man in a white robe, his long white hair nearly touching the ground. He held a staff as tall as himself, and his magnificent violet eyes were sizing him up.
In his eyes, the boy before him wore simple, rustic clothing. His delicate and cute face, though filled with some bewilderment, showed little tension. And though his golden eyes were unfocused and unable to see, they held a certain deep, mysterious quality.
"Excuse me, but are you..."
Rin asked instinctively. He felt no fear towards this familiar voice he had only ever heard in his sleep, only curiosity.
"A mysterious older-brother figure, of course~!"
"Or, you can call me the Magus of Flowers—Merlin."
After his teasing remark, Merlin cleared his throat and introduced himself a bit more formally.
"Merlin?"
"That's right, it's me."
As if anticipating the boy's shocked reaction upon realizing who he was, Merlin put on an air of inscrutable wisdom, his eyes secretly watching the boy.
As if sensing this expectation, Aozaki Rin, who had been perfectly calm, suddenly became a little awkward.
His brow furrowed in a troubled knot, a hesitant, worried look on his small face. After a long moment, he finally spoke, full of apology.
"I'm sorry, I haven't heard your name before. Are you famous, Mr. Merlin?"
"...Er, not really. Just average, I suppose."
Faced with the boy's innocent, unintentional counter-question, the court magus Mr. Merlin, a household name known by all in the land of Britain, felt as if a knife had just been stabbed into his heart.
He awkwardly curled his toes a few times, his eye twitching.
Still, it wasn't the boy's fault.
After all, ever since being adopted by Ector, this boy had either been learning about farming or practicing swordsmanship. His family seemed to have been intentionally or unintentionally shielding him from everything happening in the country.
But that wasn't the right way to do things. The boy was now a part of this era; sooner or later, he would find out everything.
Just like tonight, when he had stumbled upon one of Artoria's secrets.
"Then, is there a reason you came to see me tonight, Mr. Merlin?"
Though he still hadn't figured out this dream-within-a-dream business, Aozaki Rin decided to probe the other's intentions first. He recalled that at the beginning, the man had mentioned his adoptive sister's name.
"Well, I just came to confirm something."
Remembering why he had entered the boy's dream in the first place, Merlin felt a little embarrassed.
Just moments ago, he had been doing his usual routine: entering Artoria's dream after she fell asleep to continue the lessons on statecraft that they hadn't finished the night before.
But to his surprise, the girl wasn't as serious as usual. Before he could even speak, she suddenly asked:
—[Merlin, can I truly become a worthy king?]
This had taken Merlin completely by surprise. For a moment, he thought that old fiend Vortigern had somehow discovered Artoria's true identity without his knowledge and sent someone to bewitch the usually strong-willed girl.
It was only after he learned from Artoria what had happened that night that he understood.
Although Merlin had taken note of the boy when the old knight Ector first found him, he never expected the boy to be the one to trigger Artoria's inferiority complex.
Looks like there's still a long road ahead...
The thought flashed through Merlin's mind, but Aozaki Rin couldn't understand his previous answer and simply continued to ask.
"What is the relationship between you and Sister Artoria, Mr. Merlin?"
"You can just call me Merlin. As for our relationship, hmm, let's see... I suppose you could say I'm that child's teacher."
Merlin chuckled softly and continued to explain.
"After all, I've been teaching her the knowledge necessary for a certain role every night. It's been going on for several years now."
"Every night? Like this, in a dream? But if that's the case, doesn't that mean she gets no time to rest?"
Aozaki Rin blinked. It wasn't that he didn't doubt the words of this carefree man who sounded somewhat unreliable. But when he recalled how his adoptive sister, Artoria, often looked exhausted and yawned in the mornings, he knew that what Merlin said was most likely true.
"There's still time to rest, just a little less of it. After all, that child shoulders an important mission... Or rather, she was born for that mission, so she has to work this hard."
Merlin spoke slowly, revealing parts of the truth as if testing the waters, hoping to see the true nature of this boy whose future his eyes could not prophesize.
He expected the boy to be confused, to understand, or to accept his explanation. But Aozaki Rin, with a completely serious expression, refuted him directly.
"No one is born for a specific purpose. What you're doing is simply forcing my sister's hand."
Merlin froze for a moment, then nodded with a bitter smile.
"...You're right. But it was Artoria's own choice."
"Then... could I ask you to shorten her lessons a little each night, Merlin?"
Aozaki Rin paused before making his request.
Even though he knew this was just a dream, the nine years of shared memories had already made him subconsciously see Artoria as his family. The thought of the girl having to endure such intense education every night felt far too oppressive.
"What's the point of doing that?" Merlin didn't agree immediately, wanting to hear his reason.
"At the very least, it would let my sister get a little more sleep."
"...You have a point. She's still in her growth phase, after all. It wouldn't be good if lack of sleep affected her physical development. Very well, I promise."
Merlin said, as if talking to himself, and then nodded, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"To think that I, of all people, would be lectured by a child. What a surprise."
"But with you by her side, perhaps that child's destiny might just change, even if only a little."
His voice began to grow distant. In the dream garden that Aozaki Rin could not see, Merlin's body slowly faded away.
"Well then, until fate brings us together again, let's meet in the real world next time, En..."