With Sakura present, drawing the Summoning Magic Circle was incredibly simple. However, due to the lack of magical materials, this Magic Circle was drawn using Shirou Emiya's blood.
This single detail turned his face from red to white.
"Senpai? You can use some of my blood..."
"Sakura, I'm the one who's going to protect you."
He had just been rejected, but the things Shirou Emiya decided to do had not changed.
As the Magic Circle took shape and everyone waited in the courtyard, Shirou stepped directly into the Magic Circle without any Holy Relic.
From Sakura's explanation, Shirou now understood the difference between summoning constrained by a Holy Relic's scope and a completely random summoning relying on the Master's compatibility.
However, Guinevere knew best of all that there was a Holy Relic stored within Shirou's body.
"Declare, Thy body shall be bound beneath my command..."
-
"Crossing the Ring of Deterrence, appear now, Guardian of the Scales!"
The familiar summoning chant, the familiar light and sound effects, and the mist that would always spread when a summoning succeeded.
Because Sakura was present, and because he hadn't thought of the old Magic Circle in the warehouse, Shirou Emiya had finally completed the normal procedure for a Servant summoning.
And before the smoke cleared, Guinevere had already smelled the familiar Mana, and she also felt Saber's wariness from the Mana fluctuations.
When the smoke cleared, just as Guinevere had predicted, the dignified and petite King was staring at her and Medusa, her hand already loosely gripping a cylindrical-shaped object.
However, in the few seconds while the smoke was still clearing, she had also roughly understood the current situation, mainly because she did not sense any fighting intent from these two Servants.
"Yahho, good evening, Miss Saber."
"Tell me, are you my Master?"
At the same time, Guinevere's greeting and Saber's question to Shirou Emiya rang out.
This made Saber, who had been looking at Shirou, turn her gaze to Guinevere, nod, and then look back.
And this time, Shirou knew very well that this dignified and petite Knight girl had been summoned by him. He didn't freeze, but actively showed the Command Spell to Saber and nodded seriously.
"With this, the contract is formed. Now, Master, won't you tell me about the current situation?"
It was a familiar voice, but with a long-lost tone; Guinevere rarely heard Artoria speak so solemnly anymore.
Because of this, Guinevere couldn't help but chuckle and feel a wave of nostalgia, and she couldn't help but apologize to Emiya, who was looking at her in confusion.
"Assassin?"
"Should I say I expected this, or that it's a surprise? But in any case, the conclusion is that I'm going to steal your Saber, and you can assume that the reason I specifically appeared to get close to you is for this very purpose."
The disguise granted by First Hassan's blessing vanished instantly, and Guinevere transformed from the orange-haired girl directly into the ash-white-haired nun.
She had originally wanted to hide her identity, wanting to play with Saber without revealing herself, but seeing the Saber she missed so much, Guinevere couldn't resist revealing her true form and immediately wanted to snatch her to her side.
Hearing Saber call Emiya "Master" was still too grating for Guinevere's ears; she simply couldn't endure it as she had planned.
As Guinevere returned to her true form, Saber stood completely stunned, her hands, which had been loosely gripping the air, trembling slightly.
"Guinevere..."
Amidst her trembling, Saber's lips parted to utter the name. Before she even registered the shock in her heart, Guinevere had already pressed close, breathing a warm puff of air directly into her ear.
Her body went slightly limp, as if a weakness had been exposed. But, startled by Guinevere's extraordinary speed, Saber's heart jolted, and she leaped backward in a sudden retreat.
"Guinevere couldn't possibly have this kind of agility. Who are you?"
When she first saw Saber, Guinevere was overwhelmed by her identity. But being questioned like this caused a sharp pang of pain in her heart, which soon gave way to a sense of clarity.
Just as her Lia had explained, she wouldn't come here. The person here was the original King of Knights, one who had never met her.
"Me? I am, of course, Guinevere. Just a Guinevere who has participated in a few more Holy Grail Wars and retained the relevant memories."
Guinevere chose to lie, because explaining the details was too troublesome, and she didn't want the Saber before her to easily escape her guilt.
Was it the Spirit Origin of this body? Or was Guinevere feeling aggrieved on her own behalf? Guinevere wanted to see the Saber before her wear an expression of profound understanding.
"Miss Saber, will you sleep with me tonight? Morgan won't be here to disturb us!"
"Guinevere, let me say it again. What you saw that day... it was because Morgan drugged me!"
Although she gripped the Holy Sword tightly in both hands, speaking these words with a stern expression and tone, Saber's gaze still dimmed. She recalled the scene of being caught in bed by Guinevere, followed by Guinevere's subsequent despair, and even the beginning of the Round Table's collapse after that.
In Saber's view, Guinevere was entirely innocent; the witch who brought ruin to the kingdom should have been Morgan. Then, she, who had failed to notice Morgan's schemes, was the one who had to bear the heavy burden.
As for her Guinevere's heart-to-heart talks and venting of grievances to Lancelot, that was actually Artoria's initial thought regarding her own Guinevere.
Namely, since she was a girl, Guinevere marrying her would be a waste of her life, so it was fine for Guinevere to play around on her own.
Saber's Guinevere would never say to Saber, "I just like girls. If King Arthur wasn't a girl, I still wouldn't marry her!"
"Um, I have a question. Saber called Assassin 'Guinevere', and Assassin's attitude and words toward Saber...
In other words, is Saber the legendary King Arthur? And is King Arthur a girl?"
Emiya had just been stunned by Guinevere's apology, but the subsequent situation left him even more bewildered. Moreover, if one person was King Arthur, and the other was King Arthur's Queen...
If Assassin were to truly take Saber away, Shirou Emiya wouldn't be able to say a word.
And just as Shirou Emiya interrupted, both Guinevere and Saber's gazes turned toward him, then Saber also looked at Sakura and Medusa, whose faces were written with curiosity.
"Master, are they allies?"
"Don't call him Master! And Emiya and Sakura will marry sooner or later!"
Guinevere's tone was a bit heavy. The few people in the small courtyard who found it funny were all of them. Even Saber withdrew her gaze, seeing Guinevere's completely undisguised expression of annoyance.
Familiar face, voice, unfamiliar smile, emotions, in Saber's memory, her Guinevere was always a bitter and resentful figure.
"Is it really the change caused by several Holy Grail Wars?"
Saber's heart was filled with doubt, and she did not relax her guard against Guinevere.
"Then Saber, you can just call me Emiya. I think if you let you call me Shirou, Miss Assassin will become even more furious, right?"
Shirou Emiya also had a temper. Besides being gentle, he was not an emotional fool. This sentence of his was actually the one that was furious.
What do you mean "will eventually marry Sakura"? Didn't you see that he was just rejected by Sakura?
So, in the small courtyard, Sakura's cheeks flushed red with a bittersweet feeling, Guinevere shot Emiya a glare after feeling his playful teasing, and Saber, who understood nothing about the human heart, felt nothing at all.
"Anyway, Saber, answer me, are you sleeping with me tonight?"
It wasn't necessary to use her Noble Phantasms in a rush, but if Saber refused, Guinevere would use them immediately.
She now wanted to know what face the original Saber would make when flustered.
As for whether they would do something while sleeping together? Guinevere would keep the level of intimacy to that of a friend. After all, this Saber was not her Artoria, even if the hypothesis of the Throne of Heroes was true and all Artorias and Guineveres shared the same True Identity.
However...
"Guinevere, before that, shouldn't we entertain our guests?"
After Saber's reminder, Guinevere also noticed that two Servants' presences were nearby.