Looking at the girl's beautiful eyes, like a deep green forest, and the trace of apprehension hidden within, Souya's heart finally softened, and he agreed to Artoria's request.
Upon receiving his affirmative answer, a joyful expression immediately appeared on her pretty face, and her ahoge moved along with it.
"Then I'll go and change my clothes first, is that okay, Lamorak?"
"Naturally. It would be too conspicuous to walk around in armor all the time."
He smiled lightly, then followed her back to her temporary residence. During this time, the two of them deliberately avoided the knights coming and going. Although it was completely unnecessary, the process was still thrilling but not dangerous.
After the girl had changed into a set of casual clothes identical to his, the two of them once again left the banquet venue, and followed a winding alley in the opposite direction.
Along the way, the two of them tacitly did not say much, just walking side by side in the silent night.
After walking for about another twenty minutes, as the surrounding houses gradually became sparse and dilapidated, he finally understood where she wanted to take him.
It was the town's city wall. Because of the constant wars, the lords who managed this place had basically chosen to save their own skin and run away, so the important city walls of the past had long been in disrepair. But this also made it convenient for some people who wanted to climb up and enjoy the scenery.
"Al, do you want to go up?" He turned to look at the girl beside him.
"Can I?" Her eyes were full of expectation, her greenish-blue eyes shining in the moonlight, making one inexplicably think of the lush green forests of Britain.
Without answering, he just smiled and expressed his meaning with his actions. He was the first to step onto the mossy steps that had not been cleaned for a long time, and then extended his hand to the girl below.
Seeing this, a smile also appeared on her face. She placed her hand in his, and the two of them helped each other up onto this not-so-high city wall. But in Britain, where the terrain was mainly plains and mountains, this height was already enough for them to see some different scenery.
Standing together on the high wall, a cool evening breeze blew on their faces. What came into their view was the vast plain that spread out under the boundless starry sky, dotted with the black of the stars and the night, quiet and unbelievably beautiful.
"It's so beautiful..." Artoria couldn't help but say.
"Yes, it's so beautiful, this land, this sky," he echoed softly. After speaking, he subconsciously looked at her beside him. At this time, the girl was completely immersed in this picturesque scenery, a smile on her clear and pretty face. The forest in her eyes, under the reflection of the sky, had also turned into a brilliant starry sky. Mmm, not just the land and the sky, the person is also beautiful.
"Mmm... Lamorak, is there something dirty on my face?"
As if because his gaze was too deep, or because the girl herself cared a lot about him, she quickly noticed his gaze. It's unknown if it was an illusion, but he always felt that in such a dark situation, her face was unexpectedly flushed.
So he chuckled lightly and deliberately teased, "No, I was looking at the scenery over there."
"How could that be! You were clearly looking at me just now..."
As if she hadn't expected the usually serious him to joke with her, and seeing him deny his words, she was suddenly a little anxious and shyly angry. But she soon saw the undisguised smile on his face under the moonlight and immediately understood that she had been teased. Instantly, her pretty face became even redder, like a ripe peach, and her gaze also became evasive.
"Honestly... why are you also making this kind of joke, Lamorak? You must have been corrupted by Brother Kay!"
Looking at the Artoria who, in the past, always wore a mask and pretended to be serious, and after taking off her armor, her face finally had the appearance a 15-year-old girl should have, the smile at the corner of his mouth couldn't help but widen.
The so-called crown is just a shackle.
After this joke, the atmosphere between them clearly became much more relaxed, and even their mood, with the dissipation of the previous emotions, became a little cheerful.
Blowing in the evening wind, looking at the sky, the two of them simply sat down on the city wall. Perhaps it was the scenery at this moment, the state of mind, and even the person sitting beside them were all correct. Artoria began to take the initiative to pour out her heart to him.
"Lamorak, actually, I sometimes think, this king, do I really have to be one? Or rather, does the one who becomes king really have to be me."
Hearing these words, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and subconsciously turned his head to look at her who had said these words. In his eyes, when the girl said these words, she was not looking at him, but at the distance. Her eyes also held an indescribable meaning.
Clearly, she was not joking. She was really doubting the king's theory that Merlin had instilled in her since she was a child. Realizing this, he didn't know how to answer and could only respond with silence.
And she seemed not to be expecting his answer, and continued to speak to herself, "Merlin said that in the near future, Britain will eventually be destroyed by the white dragon. At that time, the people will be displaced, and they will not have enough to eat and will not be able to live. And only I can save all this, only I can defeat the white dragon. So I believed it, and took it as my life's principle, because Merlin said I existed for this. If I don't become a king, then the person Artoria Pendragon will have no meaning of existence."
The girl's tone was very light. She was like telling an irrelevant story, but he could see the her in the story from her words. A little girl who was given a mission and expectations from birth, no, to be precise, it should be a tool created to become a king. Such a her, how sad.
He knew that everything Merlin had said was just a lie formulated according to the will of the world. And she, before she was even born, had already fallen into this lie. Thinking of this, he opened his mouth to say something, but found that he seemed to have no position at all to comfort her. After all, wasn't what he was doing now and what he was going to do also deceiving her? Such an evil, like Merlin, what reason did he have to comfort her?
But she seemed to have seen the sorrow on his face and mistakenly thought he was sad for her, so she smiled and extended her hand to wave in front of him. "Don't be sad, Lamorak. What I was talking about just now was the me of the past. That kind of me has long been left in the past forever."
Saying this, the girl's eyes flashed slightly, her tone serious. "The me of now is the me who has found the true meaning of my existence under your guidance, and has thus been reborn. Just as you once said, one is first a person, and then a king. To be a person first and then a king, this is the path I must walk."
Looking at her green eyes that seemed to be filled with light, his mood was very complicated. He really wanted to say something to her, but also understood that once some words were spoken, many things would have to change.
Frankly, he really hated the current him, so indecisive, so wishy-washy, always either in endless internal conflict or on the road of depression. Now, seeing that both Gareth and Artoria had found what they really wanted and were pursuing, and were no longer hesitant or indecisive, this feeling of shame and annoyance became even more profound.
Suddenly, his mind recalled Percival's words from before, and the thoughts that had been interrupted by her. As if he were about to make up his mind, he slowly let out a breath. Since he had decided what to do, and what he should do, then he should no longer be hesitant or indecisive. Perhaps he would bear a bad name, perhaps he would fail everyone's expectations, or perhaps he would have to pay with his life and everything as a price, but as long as the result was what he wanted, wasn't that enough?
He felt he was a little foolish. He had never thought of himself as a good person. Even if he had a clear and everlasting heart, and had the nobility of water in his soul, but who said that 'bad people' couldn't have these things? Good people who walk in the sunlight have golden souls, and why can't the evil people who crawl in the shadows have a jet-black will?
Casting aside the so-called shame and the good and bad of fame and fortune, what he did was all for what he sought. Since he was destined not to be a partner of justice, then he would do what Morgan's knight should do. If they were destined to face each other with swords in the future, then at least let their current getting along be real.
In a daze, it was as if some pink things in his heart had dissipated. He raised his head again, and the gaze he looked at her with was no longer confused and evasive, but was replaced by a frankness.
"Hm?" The girl looked at him with some confusion. She always felt that the Lamorak before her had become a little different in that instant. But if she had to say, there wasn't much, perhaps just that his eyes had become a little brighter?
But she didn't want to dwell on these things. The night was still very long, and she still wanted to chat more with him. After all, this was a rare time for the two of them to be alone, plus they were about to reach Londinium. The free time in the future would only become less and less.
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