The moonlight was hazy.
A thin mist covered the roads of Britain as the group advanced through the night. The horses' hooves echoed rhythmically against the stone road, breaking the grim silence hanging over everyone.
No one was in the mood to talk.
Only after they had traveled for a long time, until they were absolutely certain the enemy was no longer pursuing them, did the tension in their bodies finally begin to ease.
Even so, no one dared to fully relax.
For the sake of safety, the group decided to continue directly toward Camelot immediately. At the same time, messengers were urgently dispatched to order additional troops to mobilize and occupy the two territories previously abandoned by the Saxons.
Regardless of the ambush they had suffered, those territories still needed to be taken.
"The power of the runes is even greater than I imagined…"
Artoria silently looked at her own hands while riding beside Arthur.
She still clearly remembered the sensation of that power flowing through her body.
Everything had happened so quickly that even now she felt a strange sense of unreality.
After all, only a handful of people had broken through a defensive line formed by an army vastly superior in numbers.
Even now, it felt unbelievable.
Her gaze slowly shifted toward Arthur.
The boy's hair swayed gently in the night wind while he maintained a calm expression, as though what he had done had merely been something trivial.
Artoria hesitated briefly before asking:
"Why did you retreat?"
Arthur gave her a brief glance before replying with a tired sigh:
"Lily, do you really think all the Saxons are a bunch of incompetents?"
He lightly shook his head.
"If there are druids, mages, or anything similar among them, even we would have trouble fighting that many people, wouldn't we?"
His voice remained calm, yet extremely rational.
Arthur had never been someone who underestimated his enemies.
"Did it never occur to you that if the Saxons were truly that weak, then even with the former king gravely ill, he would have simply ordered them driven out long ago?"
Artoria fell silent.
She immediately understood what Arthur meant.
At that moment, they had been pursued by an enormous number of enemies. Even though the Knights of the Round Table were extremely powerful, there were still limits.
If there had been powerful magic users among the enemy…
Or even warriors comparable to the Saxon leaders they had faced before…
Then perhaps even they would not have escaped unharmed.
That was not something they could gamble on.
Especially when the price of failure would be complete destruction.
After several seconds of silence, Artoria asked again:
"What do we do now?"
Arthur slowly took a deep breath.
The cold air of dawn entered his lungs before he released it slowly.
"We'll return and discuss this properly. We need to think carefully about it."
His gaze became somewhat darker.
"I never imagined there would be a traitor among us…"
He let out a humorless laugh.
"This is definitely not something to laugh about."
Without question, the speed with which the Saxons discovered their location and prepared that ambush could only mean one thing:
Someone had secretly informed them.
And not only that.
That person had access to extremely important information.
Only a small group knew the exact timing of the operation and the route used by the army.
Arthur slowly glanced backward.
Milo rode several meters behind the main group in silence.
The girl maintained her usual gentle smile, but Arthur could no longer look at her the same way.
I finally managed to build a good relationship with a tribal leader…
But now everything has gotten completely worse.
My popularity with her has probably dropped into negative numbers.
Arthur sighed helplessly at the thought.
After looking away, he guided the group through Camelot's enormous gates.
The castle torches illuminated the city entrance while soldiers quickly cleared the way for the king's return.
The atmosphere was heavy.
No one spoke for most of the journey.
Mainly because everyone had been reprimanded earlier by Arthur.
If he had not charged forward first during that argument in enemy territory, the entire group probably would have descended into internal conflict because of the Saxons' provocation, and everything would have ended right there.
"My king, what kind of magic did you use earlier?"
As soon as they entered the palace, Gawain quickened his pace to catch up to Arthur.
His normally calm face now showed obvious curiosity.
Earlier, beneath the blessing of the runes, Gawain had clearly felt his power increase dramatically.
It was not merely a slight enhancement.
His entire body had felt elevated to another level.
Even the amount of magic he could channel into his sword.
Everything had increased by at least one and a half times.
Under those circumstances, he had been able to unleash attacks so powerful that even the Saxon army failed to react in time.
It was simply absurd.
And strangest of all, Arthur had never used that ability before.
"I studied it for a while somewhere else."
Arthur casually nodded.
"But the side effects are severe, so it can't normally be used."
Naturally, that was a lie.
The runes did not possess any major side effects.
Arthur simply did not want to continue answering questions about them.
If Gawain started investigating too deeply, the explanations would become complicated very quickly.
So the best method was to cut off the topic immediately.
And to make his lie more convincing, Arthur even deliberately slowed his pace.
His body leaned slightly, as though he were genuinely exhausted.
Artoria immediately noticed his intention, but said nothing.
She simply moved closer in silence and allowed Arthur to use her shoulder for support.
"I see…"
Gawain appeared thoughtful.
He crossed his arms while reflecting on it for several seconds.
Then, quickly, he revealed his usual bright smile.
"Do you need me to carry you back?"
Arthur nearly stumbled.
"Um… that won't be necessary, thank you for your kindness."
He quickly rejected the overly enthusiastic knight's offer.
Gawain seemed genuinely disappointed that he could not help more.
"Very well."
The knight then nodded seriously.
"I will discover who is behind this as quickly as possible."
His voice carried unusual determination.
A betrayal was not something that could simply be ignored.
After making that sincere promise, Gawain finally turned and left through the palace corridor.
As he watched the knight depart, Arthur slowly removed his weight from Artoria.
The look in his eyes deepened.
Arthur slowly looked away, still trying to organize his thoughts after everything that had happened that day, and was about to leave when he noticed the pink-haired girl, who had remained silent throughout the journey back, approaching him with slow and elegant steps.
"Milo?" Arthur called out, lightly frowning after noticing something strange in the girl's expression.
Ever since they returned to the capital, Milo had not shown the same teasing and carefree behavior as before. She had remained quiet ever since Arthur refused to abandon his men and escape alone.
Now, however, when she raised her face to look at him, her eyes seemed strange.
Her pupils were practically filled with tiny heart-shaped sparkles, and a faint blush lingered across her delicate cheeks. She looked completely fascinated.
"King Arthur…" Milo murmured softly, her voice almost dreamy. "Your words earlier made me realize that what I did before was wrong."
Arthur blinked several times, clearly caught off guard.
"Wrong…?"
"I should not have made concessions." Milo stepped closer, clasping her hands before her chest while speaking. "Nor should I have considered sacrificing everything merely to achieve my objective."
She appeared increasingly emotional as she spoke, as though she were finally understanding some important truth about herself.
"To achieve what we desire…" she continued, slowly raising her gaze toward Arthur, "…sometimes we must move forward without hesitation. We must crush any obstacle in our path."
The girl's lips slowly curled into an enchanted smile.
"I truly liked your firm stance earlier."
Arthur froze completely.
Arthur: "???"
What exactly happened to this girl…?
Did I accidentally awaken some strange preference in her without realizing it?
He was beginning to seriously suspect that Milo might have interpreted his decision in a completely different way than he intended.
Before, she had seemed like the kind of person willing to negotiate anything in order to survive, but now… her eyes shone like someone who had discovered a new philosophy of life.
An alarmingly extreme philosophy.
"Well…" Arthur discreetly cleared his throat, trying to ignore the strange atmosphere. "Then… I'm glad you understood?"
Although, honestly, he had absolutely no idea what exactly she had understood.
"Then I shall visit you again in a few days." Milo slowly released the sleeve of Arthur's clothes, still smiling in that nearly hypnotized manner. "Please rest first."
She then shifted her gaze toward Artoria.
For a brief instant, the two girls exchanged silent glances.
Milo maintained her elegant smile.
Artoria maintained a completely unchanged expression.
Yet the atmosphere around them felt heavy enough to freeze the air.
After several seconds, Milo simply looked away and calmly turned to leave, her long pink hair swaying gently as she walked down the corridor.
Arthur watched the girl leave, still somewhat stunned.
"…Is she okay?" he asked.
"I don't know," Artoria replied with complete sincerity while holding Arthur's hand. "But you definitely did something strange."
"Why does it feel like this is somehow my fault…?"
"Let's go back first," Artoria said, ignoring his complaint while gently pulling his hand.
Although Arthur still appeared normal outwardly, she could clearly tell he was exhausted.
In truth, it was not only Arthur.
Even Artoria felt her body becoming heavy at that moment.
They had ridden the entire day, crossed abandoned territories, been ambushed by a much larger Saxon army, forcefully broken through the encirclement, and returned directly without even resting properly.
Even for someone trained since childhood like Artoria, it was extremely exhausting.
And Arthur had still used runes on a large scale during the battle.
Naturally, his exhaustion would be even greater.
---
Inside another palace.
The atmosphere was silent, illuminated only by the soft candlelight spread throughout the enormous hall.
Sitting elegantly upon her throne, Morgan rested her face against one hand while absentmindedly watching the candle flames flicker.
That was when she heard footsteps echoing through the corridor.
Her golden eyes slowly moved toward the entrance.
"Agravain?" Morgan said, slightly raising her brows in surprise upon seeing the man enter the hall. "This is rare."
She tilted her head slightly, her long hair cascading over her shoulders.
"You actually took the initiative to come speak with me."
Normally, Agravain avoided meeting her whenever possible.
Morgan knew better than anyone that her son deeply hated her as a mother… and that because of her, Agravain had developed an almost sick aversion toward practically every woman.
"It seems you have something important to say," Morgan continued slowly while observing the knight's rigid face. "Then speak quickly. You probably do not wish to spend any more time with me than necessary, correct?"
Agravain remained silent for a moment before replying:
"The King has returned."
"Yes, I know." Morgan lightly nodded. "Based on the time that passed, I assumed they would return soon… although it seems they returned somewhat earlier than I expected."
She slightly narrowed her eyes.
"You came here in such a hurry merely to report that?"
"We were ambushed by enemy forces," Agravain continued.
Morgan's lazy smile disappeared almost instantly.
"Enemy forces…?"
"The enemy forces outnumbered ours several times over," Agravain replied. "But miraculously, no one died."
For a brief moment, Morgan fell silent.
Then her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"An army that large could not have appeared from nowhere…" she murmured. "So it was an ambush."
Her mind immediately began connecting the dots.
The Saxons' sudden retreat.
The abandoned territories.
The overly easy advance.
And then, at the exact moment… the encirclement.
Morgan let out a humorless laugh.
"It seems there is a rat hidden among you."
"Is the child alright?" she suddenly asked, turning her eyes toward Agravain.
Although her voice remained calm, there was an almost imperceptible change in her gaze.
Agravain hesitated briefly before answering:
"Probably. We managed to break through the enemy blockade from the rear and escape." He paused briefly before continuing: "But we cannot rule out the possibility that they were attacked during the retreat."
His gaze hardened slightly.
"After all… in that situation, the king was the first to charge forward."
Even Agravain, someone extremely rigid and cold, could not hide the respect he felt at that moment.
Morgan silently observed Agravain's expression.
Then a small smile once again appeared on her lips.
"I'll go see him later."
She lightly tapped her fingers against the side of the throne before suddenly asking:
"There were tribal leaders accompanying you this time as well, correct?"
"Scott, Duke Bell, and Lady Milo," Agravain immediately answered.
Morgan closed her eyes for several seconds.
When she opened them again, only coldness remained within them.
"Hmm…" she murmured. "Then go and kill all three immediately."
Agravain abruptly raised his eyes.
"The other party may not necessarily be the traitor," Morgan continued calmly. "But there are no assassins among the Knights of the Round Table. Therefore, the informant can only be among the tribal leaders."
She slowly crossed her legs.
"After all, only they had access to the information coming from above."
Then she raised her eyes toward Agravain.
"Go."
Agravain remained motionless.
"But… those three tribal leaders are not necessarily guilty," he slowly said. "Wouldn't doing that be a bit—"
"Too cruel?" Morgan interrupted immediately.
Her smile became thin and dangerous.
"You have no choice, Agravain."
She slowly rose from the throne and walked toward him.
"All you need to do… is obey me."
The goddess gently placed her fingers on her son's shoulder.
"You also wish to help the King, do you not?"
Her voice became almost seductive.
"In that case… kill the suspects first."
She slightly tilted her head.
"Ah, of course…" Morgan casually added. "If you are discovered, then I never gave you this order. Understood?"
Agravain remained silent for a long time.
His jaw was rigidly clenched.
But in the end, he merely nodded slowly.
"…Understood."
He turned to leave.
But before he could exit the hall, Morgan called out to him again.
"Ah, wait a moment."
Agravain stopped.
"I shall investigate more deeply first." Morgan smiled faintly. "Perhaps I can uncover something more interesting."
She then let out a soft amused laugh.
"Besides… that boy truly seems to dislike the indiscriminate killings committed by the kind-hearted Morgan."
Her smile became enchanting.
"Although he already has much blood on his hands… it is still not too late for him to redeem himself."
She slowly closed her eyes.
"After all… no one knows what I did in the past besides my children."
Then she looked toward Agravain once more.
"But I trust my good children would not speak badly of me to the King, correct?"
Agravain's expression became extremely complicated.
For an instant, it even seemed as though he wanted to say something.
But in the end…
"…Yes."
"Very good." Morgan smiled in satisfaction. "You may go now."
She slowly turned toward the palace window, gazing at the moonlight outside.
"I shall also go visit that child."
(End of Chapter)