"Waaah! Waaah, waah!"
Early morning in the plush bedroom within Camelot Castle.
The peaceful morning air was pierced by Mordred's loud cries.
"Oh, what do I do! Oh, Brother! Mordred won't stop crying! I changed her diaper, and she doesn't seem cold... Could it be that the way I'm holding her is uncomfortable?!"
Lily, wearing a cute apron trimmed with frills over her pure-white nightdress, bounced on the balls of her feet, completely at a loss while cradling the wailing Mordred.
Though she was a princess-knight who once wielded the Holy Sword across battlefields, faced with a squalling newborn not much more than a lump of flesh, she could only be clumsy and overly cautious.
Lily's eyes welled up with tears of embarrassment.
"Don't freak out so much, Lily. Babies can only express discomfort by crying."
Kay emerged from the kitchen, the delicious aroma still clinging to him, and gently took Mordred from Lily's arms.
As his large, rough hand supported the baby's back and neck securely, Mordred's cries, as if by magic, began to subside.
"Now, Mordred. It's milk time, okay? Let's not trouble Mommy Lily—stop, stop."
Kay expertly offered the bottle, warmed to the perfect temperature, to Mordred's tiny mouth. As if she had never cried, the baby gripped the bottle with both hands and began to gulp down the milk.
Lily watched Kay's steady and tender profile, her cheeks flushing a soft pink in the morning sunlight.
"...Hehe."
"What are you giggling at? Starting to wear me out this early in the morning."
As Kay burped Mordred against his shoulder and asked, Lily clasped her hands behind her back, twisting around shyly as she whispered.
"But... it really feels like we're a real married couple. Waking up together, caring for the baby, preparing breakfast... The dream I had every night has become a reality right in front of me. Being a family with you like this makes me so happy."
Lily's blind yet pure declaration of love.
Kay, struck by her straightforward words, scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat.
"Ahem. Well, if it makes you happy, that's good. Anyway, since she's done with her milk, how about we head out? After that big food distribution in the plaza, we've completely run out of fresh vegetables and fruits in the castle. We need to go to the market."
"Grocery shopping?! You're not hauling supplies from elsewhere but buying them at the market...?"
"We're just buying the essentials. It's to keep the people fed, after all."
"I-I want to come too! Let's go together, Brother!"
Lily's eyes sparkled like a newlywed heading out for her first market date with her husband.
"Alright. Let's go together so Mordred can get some fresh air. And hey, you over there peeking through the door crack—come on out too."
At Kay's gesture toward the door, Gareth, who had been peering with her expressionless eyes through the slightly ajar gap, smoothly emerged.
"...Am I coming too, Uncle?"
"Of course. You need to learn some feelings by mingling with normal folks. Consider this Day One of your socialization training. Follow me."
"...Yes."
And so Kay set off on this odd little family outing, cradling Mordred in one arm, with Lily at his right and Gareth at his left.
The market street outside Camelot bustled with more energy than ever, thanks to the army stew Kay had prepared for the people's feeding. Fuller than full, the townsfolk and merchants wore smiles like flowers in bloom.
"Oh my! Lord Kay! Is that you!! That red broth you made last time—I'll never forget the taste as long as I live!!"
"Lord Kay! Please take this freshly harvested cabbage! I insist, no payment needed!"
As soon as he stepped into the market, merchants clamored to give Kay the best ingredients they had, each one trying to outdo the other.
"Haha, I'll just accept the thought. You have to do proper business. Here, payment for the cabbage and tomatoes."
Kay paid with a smile, while Lily beamed as she filled the basket with the vegetables Kay selected.
"Brother, look at this! These apples are so red and pretty! Mordred seems to like the smell of them too!"
When Lily held a bright red apple up to Mordred's nose, the baby giggled and reached out with her little arms.
"She seems pleased. By the way, I still can't wrap my head around potatoes and tomatoes in Britain... what kind of world is this?"
Watching that warm, peaceful scene from a short distance away, Gareth observed with her emotionless eyes.
'...This must be the form that the emotion called happiness takes. Uncle and Lily's heartbeats and body temperatures are slightly elevated. But there's no change within me. I must really be broken.'
As Gareth mechanically analyzed her own empty interior...
Thud!
"Waaah!!"
Right in front of Gareth, a little kid, looking around five or six years old and carrying an apple, tripped on a stone, fell, and banged their knee. Clutching the bleeding knee, the child broke into tears.
"..."
Gareth looked down at the crying child with a practiced, fake smile.
If she were an ordinary person, sympathy or pity, that instinct to help, wouldn't have risen even one percent within her.
In the past, she might have ignored the child as a nuisance and walked right past.
But a new rule Kay had impressed upon her last night came to mind.
'If you cannot feel it with your heart, I will teach you to understand it with your head.'
'Do what Uncle tells you. Follow the actions Uncle says are right.'
'If it's what Uncle says... helping someone weaker is an uncle's rule.'
Gareth bent at the waist. Then she grasped the child's shoulders, dusted off the dirt and lifted them up in one clean motion.
"Don't cry. It's just a little scrape on the knee. It won't affect your life."
Though her consolation was distinctly dry, when Gareth brushed the dirt from the child's clothes, the child sniffled and nodded.
"Hic... thank you, Sister Knight."
"...Yes."
"Good job, Gareth."
Then Kay's large hand came down and rested on Gareth's head.
"It doesn't matter if it didn't come from your heart. You learn with your mind by acting. What you just did was the right thing, and it helped that little one a great deal."
Kay ruffled Gareth's hair gently and gave her a sly grin.
Gareth still didn't fully grasp the emotion that came from doing the right thing, but from the weighty warmth of Kay's palm... she strangely felt a tickle somewhere in her chest.
"...Yes, Uncle. From now on, I'll keep doing as you say is right."
A genuine smile, free of deception or madness, spread across Gareth's lips for the first time.
Watching from behind, Lily felt her chest swell with emotion.
The nephew she had nearly broken, the family that almost collapsed... Kay was gathering all those shattered pieces together and setting them firmly back in place.
After finishing their shopping, Kay and his group took a seat on a quiet park bench in a corner before returning to the castle.
Basking in the warm sunlight, Mordred drifted into a gentle sleep across Kay's lap, while Gareth sat nearby, blankly observing the grasshoppers.
"Brother. Here, some lung bread."
Lily sat close beside Kay and offered him lung bread, a common street food in Britain. Her shoulder hovered just shy of resting on his arm.
"They still sell this? It's really just a palate cleanser."
Kay took a big bite of the bread, crumbs dusting the corner of his mouth.
"Ah, Brother. You've got crumbs on your mouth."
Lily smiled and gently wiped the crumbs from Kay's mouth with a handkerchief she pulled from her pocket. In that natural touch, Kay's gaze met Lily's, lingering deeply.
In her green eyes was nothing but blind, sweet devotion aimed solely at the man before her.
"Brother."
Lily lowered the handkerchief, tilted her head slightly, and moved closer to Kay's face.
"I… After fighting on the battlefield for five years, the first thing I wanted to do when I saw you again was this. Just like you did with Sister Artoria before… I want a kiss, just you and me…"
In that moment, Lily's moist lips hovered so close they almost touched Kay's.
No way the beasts present would stand idly by and let this perfect pink romance unfold.
Crash!!
"Master!! I hunted down a gigantic beast out in the outskirts! Let's make lunch out of this!!"
Bagest burst in, dragging the carcass of a monstrous boar the size of a rocky mountain with one hand, smashing through the park's stone wall.
"Eek?!"
The ruined atmosphere sent Lily leaping back in fright, and the napping Mordred woke with a start and began fussing again.
But Bagest wasn't the only one barging in.
"Oh my! Master? You said you were just going to the market, but what kind of indecent petting were you planning with a young knight lady in the park at midday?!"
Tamamo, perched on the roof of a nearby tea house, flashed in view before jumping down.
Then pushing through the market crowd, Artoria X Alter appeared, wearing a jersey and glasses that gleamed in the sun.
"...Using Mordred as bait to enjoy a date, I must express my profound disapproval at Lily and Brother's shamelessness. I hereby demand ten crepes as immediate compensation."
"Honestly... these lot scent us out like ghosts whenever I'm not around."
In an instant, Lily and her sweet newlywed tableau was ruined, replaced by a riotous melee that mixed Bagest's hunting trophy and Tamamo's jealousy throughout the park.
"You- you people are unbelievable!! How dare you disturb our precious time with Brother—I'll make you nothing but dew on my Holy Sword starting today on!!"
Lily's face turned beet-red with rage as she drew Caliburn from her waist and charged at Tamamo.
"Waaah!!"
The commotion made Mordred's cries grow even louder, and even Gareth, who had been watching insects from afar, came over and remarked blandly.
"Uncle, is this also part of a good daily life?"
"Well... I suppose?"
Even peaceful daily life comes tangled up in messy affairs of the heart... but it's still better than before, Kay thought.
And.
'I felt a gaze...'
Kay sensed someone watching them from afar. He wondered if it was Merlin in the present, but it lacked Merlin's usual unpleasant aura.
Who on earth was watching them? For now, he decided to wait and see....
"Fou."
The beast continued to watch him.
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