The three of them walked through the palace corridor. Arthur turned her head and looked out the window. Through the glass, she could see a light drizzle falling outside. From time to time, armored puppets passed through the hallway. Whenever they saw Morgan, they all bowed respectfully.
Clearly, Morgan had some sort of mechanism within those puppets that compelled them to obey her commands.
If only the Land of Shadows had something like this… Arthur couldn't help but think.
"What's wrong? Do you want to learn how to make them too?" Morgan seemed to have sensed Arthur's thoughts and turned to look at her with a smile.
Arthur shook her head. "I'm not interested. I can deal with all of these puppets on my own."
"Oh?" Morgan raised an eyebrow slightly. "On your own?"
"The armor looks quite sturdy, but the dolls hidden inside should be pretty fragile."
"Indeed, but they won't take off their armor," Morgan replied, pausing briefly. "Besides, you're being far too naive if you think you can figure out how these Knights are made just by looking at them."
Arthur sighed and turned her gaze back to the window.
As expected of a woman who had lived for hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of years, it was impossible to fool her with simple tricks…
"Oh? You're not thinking about my age, are you?" Morgan turned to Arthur with a smile.
"No, no… you're overthinking it, Morgan," Arthur replied immediately, thinking to herself: Does Morgan have mind-reading abilities or something?
"I do have a bit of mind-reading skill," Morgan suddenly said.
Arthur: "…"
"But don't worry, I didn't use it on you." Morgan raised a finger and lightly tapped Arthur on the forehead. "If I knew everything you were thinking, you'd have no value at all."
Arthur let out a sigh of relief upon hearing Morgan's next words.
Although she knew this goddess-like woman seemed capable of almost anything, she truly hadn't expected her to know even a little about mind reading… That was genuinely frightening.
Then again, it was also possible that Morgan was lying—after all, this woman loved to lie.
Artoria followed the two of them in silence, not saying a word.
The atmosphere between those two… was truly strange.
Just how many things is Arthur still hiding from me…? Artoria couldn't help but wonder.
"By the way, what brings you here?" Morgan suddenly asked.
Artoria hesitated for a moment, unsure how to respond, and almost at the same time, Arthur hesitated as well.
One of Arthur's main reasons for seeking out Morgan was that her precognitive abilities had reached a bottleneck, and she wanted to ask Morgan for advice on how to improve them.
Another reason was her concern for Morgan's situation. Could it be that Morgan hadn't appeared in recent days because of the incident with the ghosts Artoria had mentioned earlier in Camelot—meaning that Morgan was being monitored and couldn't leave easily?
Despite these thoughts, Arthur remained silent. With Artoria present, there were some things she couldn't say outright.
Even if it wasn't necessarily something that needed to be hidden, perhaps Morgan didn't want her sister to know.
"Don't worry. Say what you want to say." Morgan seemed to read Arthur's thoughts and spoke with a smile.
"Is it really okay?" Arthur hesitated briefly.
"Yes, of course," Morgan replied with a smile.
Arthur nodded. "Morgan, has something been troubling you these past few days?"
"So that's what this is about?" Morgan smiled faintly and reached out to pinch Arthur's cheek. "Do I need your permission before doing anything now?"
"No, it's just that I feel a bit uneasy…" Arthur turned her face away, avoiding Morgan's fingers.
Morgan paused, then removed her veil, revealing a face of breathtaking beauty. She smiled and said, "Really? You came here because you missed me?"
"That's not exactly it," Arthur offered a small explanation for her behavior.
"Then you missed me—you're just saying it differently." The three of them unconsciously entered the main hall. Morgan calmly walked to the throne, sat down gracefully, crossed her legs, and murmured to herself:
"I see. Your Master has been absent for half a month. Being alone wasn't enough to satisfy you, so you came looking for me. I see."
"You've completely twisted my original intention, Morgan," Arthur immediately protested flatly. After a pause, she continued, "I was just worried that something might have happened to you…"
"Don't you miss me?" Morgan asked with a smile, staring intently at Arthur.
After locking eyes for a moment, Arthur sighed and nodded slightly. "A little."
After all, she had spent more than four years with Morgan. To Morgan, four years might not mean much, but to Arthur, four years was a very long time…
"Now that's better. What I hate most are men who aren't honest." Morgan smiled in satisfaction, then turned to Artoria. "So, do you think the ghosts that have been appearing across Britain lately are my doing?"
"No!" Artoria suddenly lifted her head and looked straight at Morgan. "I don't think my sister has any reason to do that."
"Reasons… if we're talking about reasons, it could be to get revenge on that old man—and there are plenty of others besides." Morgan lightly tapped the arm of her chair with her fingertips. "But it wasn't me, believe it or not."
"What's the story behind these ghosts?" Arthur couldn't help but ask.
"Hmm…" Morgan thought for a moment. "If I had to say, I'd say it's related to the Saxons."
"Saxons?" Arthur repeated.
"Yes," Morgan nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, King Uther should have already sent someone here—"
Knock, knock.
There was a knock at the door, and then an imposing knight entered. He walked straight up to Morgan, knelt down, and presented a letter to her.
It had been delivered by the gate guard. No one would dare enter this palace and confront this unpredictable witch unless it was absolutely necessary.
"Open this letter for me," Morgan said, looking at Arthur.
"Why me?" Despite complaining, Arthur stepped forward, took the letter, and tore open the envelope.
"If you're curious, you can take a look first." Noticing the curious expression on Arthur's face, Morgan crossed her legs and leaned back against the throne, gazing at Arthur like a queen. "In any case, I already more or less know what King Uther wrote."
Without hesitation, Arthur opened the envelope. Artoria glanced at Morgan, then walked over to Arthur's side, her gaze falling on the letter.
Apparently not very cautious about physical proximity with the opposite sex, Artoria didn't even notice how close she was, her eyes reflecting the contents of the letter.
Arthur felt a faint sensation as the girl beside her drew closer, and for a brief moment, an odd feeling washed over her. Then, suddenly, she noticed Morgan sitting not far away, watching them with a teasing look.
Arthur pretended not to notice and immediately refocused her attention on the letter.
(End of Chapter)