While Artoria was leading her men to raid Oscar's estate, Arthur was occupied with a far more difficult question: what on earth should he have for dinner?
Indeed.
Even though he had only recently finished lunch, and even though in this era everyone—from the nobility down to the commoners—typically only ate two meals a day, the post-lunch Arthur was already deep in thought over this grueling dilemma.
"I'd better head to the kitchen and see for myself."
Patting his somewhat empty stomach, Arthur decided that practice was the best way to find the truth. He immediately made his way toward the kitchens.
Since it wasn't yet time to prepare dinner, the kitchen was deserted. Declining his personal maid's offer to fetch the chefs, Arthur stepped inside, deciding to try his hand at cooking. He figured he could prepare something as a reward for Artoria and Kay, who were out on their respective missions.
Of course, it was only natural for the cook to sample the food as he prepared it, right?
However, the smile on Arthur's face froze the moment he stepped into the room.
Where were the vegetables?
Where were the tables full of ingredients?
Arthur hadn't visited the kitchen in a while due to his mounting administrative duties, but as a man who understood the vital importance of food, he had made a point of touring the area when he first moved into the castle. He recalled the head chef explaining that after lunch, the staff would prepare the ingredients for dinner ahead of time. They would also leave leftovers from lunch in case any of the castle's high-ranking residents wanted a sudden snack.
Currently, more than half the table was bare. The remaining ingredients weren't even enough for him and Lily to have a proper dinner, let alone any of the "leftovers" the staff had mentioned.
Have I been cheated?
Arthur frowned deeply. Just as he was about to turn around and have a maid summon the chefs, he saw a small hand reach out from behind the table. It stealthily snatched a carrot and quickly retracted.
Arthur: "?"
The kitchen was laid out in a specific layout, with a large central table used for staging both prepped and raw ingredients, as well as finished dishes. That hand had come from behind that very table.
Arthur silently closed the door. He watched as the sound of muffled crunching echoed from behind the table—it sounded like a little rabbit nibbling away. A moment later, that same small hand reached up again, blindly groping around the surface for something else.
Arthur silently moved the remaining ingredients a bit further away. The hand searched for a long time but found nothing. Finally, two small hands gripped the edge of the table, and a head popped up to investigate.
"Your Majesty?!"
Gareth's face first lit up with a look of pleasant surprise, but it quickly froze as she realized she was caught in a stealthy act that a King definitely shouldn't see. She immediately ducked back down beneath the table.
Arthur was so frustrated he actually chuckled.
He rounded the table and found Gareth sitting on the floor, hugging her legs and staring at the ground while muttering to herself.
"You can't see me, you can't see me, you can't see me..."
As he drew closer and heard her chanting, Arthur let out a laugh of pure exasperation. He grabbed Gareth by the back of her collar and hoisted her up, looking down at her from his height.
"Ah! Your Majesty! No! I was wrong!"
Gareth flailed her arms and legs in a struggle, looking utterly pitiful. But the moment her eyes met Arthur's—who was still wearing a look of amused irritation—she instantly went limp. She tucked her head into her shoulders and looked at him with puppy-dog eyes.
"Do you think I'm blind, or just an idiot?"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty... I... I was hungry..."
Gareth looked as if she were about to burst into tears.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from outside. The door swung open, and the head chef appeared at the entrance. The moment she saw the scene inside the kitchen, she dropped to her knees with a heavy thud.
"Your Majesty, it was my—"
"Quiet," Arthur interrupted coldly. "Just tell me what's going on here."
With the head chef's explanation and Gareth's pitiful interjections, Arthur soon grasped the situation.
The primary issue was that Gareth's appetite was simply too massive.
The standard rations provided to the staff couldn't satisfy her. Even when the chefs made extra for the servants, it often wasn't enough for her. However, they couldn't justify making specialized, massive meals just for one girl among the staff. Consequently, the head chef had left a back door open for her, allowing her to come to the kitchen for "supplemental" meals during off-hours. Since Gareth knew how to cook, she would prep new ingredients to replace what she ate, ensuring it wouldn't affect the master's actual meals.
Because Arthur and Artoria were always busy with work, they rarely visited the kitchen, so this arrangement had gone unnoticed for over two months.
But today, Arthur had decided to show up.
"Fine. Get up. It's not a world-ending matter."
"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you!"
"Your Majesty... does that mean I...?"
Looking at the hopeful, pathetic-looking Gareth, Arthur felt a fresh surge of irritation. He dismissed the head chef and then held Gareth up so they were eye-level, letting out a cold snort.
"Do you know why I'm angry?"
"Be... because I was stealing food..."
"How much could those ingredients possibly be worth? Even if you ate everything in this room, it wouldn't matter to me. Or do you think I'm as much of a glutton as you?"
Well, he actually was a glutton.
Ever since pulling the Sword of Selection and Rhongomyniad, his body had entered a phase of rapid strengthening. His appetite had exploded to terrifying proportions; he and Artoria could easily eat enough to feed dozens of knights in a single sitting.
But even Artoria wouldn't get angry just because someone else was hungry and ate something she wanted—especially since the person was genuinely starving and not just wasting food.
However...
"Do you take me for a fool or a blind man? I was standing right here in the room and you still tried to sneak a carrot? And then when you were caught, you hid and started chanting 'you can't see me'?"
"I'm sorry... I... I..."
Gareth whimpered, and fat tears began to roll down her cheeks.
Seeing her like this, Arthur found it impossible to stay angry. He sighed and set her down.
"Enough, stop crying. It was my fault and Kay's. We should have sent you back to Orkney at the very beginning. But it's not too late. Your mother will be arriving soon; I'll have her take you back then."
Gareth was Morgan's daughter.
To be precise, she was the second daughter of King Lot of Orkney and Morgan le Fay. Their eldest son—Gareth's older brother—was Gawain, the "Knight of the Sun" who had already made quite a name for himself in Britain.
Arthur had discovered this recently. Because Gareth's background was so mysterious, he had sent people to Orkney to investigate her. They happened to find reports of King Lot's youngest daughter going missing, which matched Gareth perfectly.
"No!"
Gareth panicked instantly. She lunged forward and hugged Arthur's leg, looking up at him pleadingly.
"I know I was wrong! I'll never steal food again! Please, Your Majesty, don't kick me out! Waaaaah!"
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