[Time flew by. After that day passed, the life of the one named Lamorak continued.]
[But by now, you no longer knew which stage of your life you had reached.]
[Perhaps as the battles between Vortigern and Artoria grew increasingly frequent, the final war determining the fate of the Age of Gods would eventually arrive, and your life was already like a candle in the wind.]
[Under such a countdown to the end of your life, what should you do, and what did you want to do?]
[Involuntarily, your mind recalled the words Artoria spoke that day. Not knowing the ending was destined to be a tragedy, that pure and kind girl declared as her true self that she would grasp everything.]
[Without a doubt, you believed that was the true desire of her heart.]
[What about you? Asking yourself, did you know what the current you truly wanted?]
[Harboring these thoughts, after a day of absentminded contemplation, you finally knew the answer upon seeing Morgan working earnestly at her desk, handling the affairs of Camelot.]
[Was Morgan not the one you had always wanted?]
[To love her, respect her, and serve her. Morgan's ideals were your ideals. You would exhaust your life to realize the vision Morgan desired.]
[Was everything you wanted not already affirmed in the vow you once made?]
[Whether it was the 'Lion of Britain', the 'Knight of Radiance', or the 'Rival of the King', all these titles were preceded by the same core identity.]
[Morgan's Knight.]
[However, even though you understood your desire and wanted to help Morgan fulfill her bold vow of ensuring all of Britain would never fall, what could you actually do?]
[After all, if the Red Dragon won, everything from the old era would perish with it. In the end, on this land named Britain, only the Lord of the Isle, Morgan, would sit alone on the throne. Everything she was familiar with, including the royal capital, the people, her enemies, and her lover, would be gone.]
[She could only watch over it all in solitude and wait for new people to discover this land.]
[You fell into confusion and regret once again, until one day, Morgan brought you an unusual message.]
[The sender of the message was the Vile King, Vortigern.]
"Vortigern said he wants to see you."
Seated high upon the throne, Morgan rested her chin on one hand, frowning as she pondered.
"He is perfectly busy fighting the Red Dragon. Why did he suddenly reach out to me saying he wants to meet you?"
Regarding the Vile King Vortigern, Morgan had actually met him long ago. Even now, the relationship between them was a nominal alliance.
Yes, an alliance.
Earlier, when Souya went out under Morgan's orders to find Saber and break the Sword of Selection, Morgan did exactly as she had said. She traveled to the north of Britain and met Vortigern in the White Dragon's stronghold, Londinium.
Relying on his eye of destiny, that white-haired old man knew long ago that his niece would come looking for him. Even though he knew very well that the cooperation Morgan proposed was absolutely not out of goodwill, and very likely contained a trap, Vortigern still agreed to it.
At that time, the Vile King's army, originally supported by him alone, was already showing utter exhaustion due to his search for the Anchor of the Planet.
Under the enhancement of Merlin's Magecraft, that group of Anglo-Saxons would very likely be routed by the Celtic army before Vortigern could pull out the Anchor of the Planet.
Without this group of cannon fodder stalling for time, Vortigern's plan would have no chance of success.
Therefore, he was ultimately forced to accept Morgan's 'goodwill' and temporarily reach a private alliance with Camelot.
It was entirely thanks to Camelot's weapons and provisions, along with the support of Morgan's Magecraft, that the Anglo-Saxon army could barely fight to a draw with the Celtic army despite losing the blessing of the Age of Gods and lacking sufficiently strong commanders.
But even so, on the whole, they lost more than they won.
Moreover, this situation could no longer maintain a balance after Artoria took command of the Celtic army and boosted troop morale with the prestige of the Holy Sword.
Yet under such tense circumstances, instead of rushing to salvage his declining position when he had free time, Vortigern specifically sent someone to Morgan to say he wanted to meet her knight, Lamorak.
This instantly made Morgan somewhat unable to understand his actions.
If he wanted to 'borrow' Souya to temporarily hold off the Red Dragon's attacks for him, Morgan felt that given Vortigern's personality, he would most likely come to her door in person to ask.
But just wanting to meet him.
That phrasing was a bit intriguing.
After carefully integrating the information and thinking it over without reaching a conclusion, Morgan cast her gaze toward Souya.
"What are your thoughts, Lamorak?"
By now, the relationship between the two had reached an extremely intimate level. Although Morgan was still stubbornly claiming she did not like Souya and only treated him as a subordinate and a tool to vent her emotions, things were different compared to the past.
She would now occasionally look him in the eye and stand shoulder to shoulder with him.
Sometimes she would also ask for his thoughts on matters concerning him, rather than directly and decisively making the choice for him.
Upon hearing Morgan's words, Souya instinctively began to think. Scenes of his past interactions with that Vile King, as well as certain events from his second deduction, surfaced in his mind.
Come to think of it, this must be the 'suitable opportunity' mentioned in the reward from that deduction, the 'Dragon Core'.
And for some reason, upon hearing the words that Vortigern was looking for him from Morgan's mouth today, Souya felt as if something had entwined itself around him.
This feeling was very strange. If he really had to describe it.
It felt like being entangled by an invisible thread of silk.
Although Souya felt a trace of confusion about this, he still focused his attention on the matter of Vortigern seeking him out first.
Thinking carefully, he felt he had no logical or emotional reason to refuse claiming the reward. Furthermore, he also had some things he wanted to ask Vortigern. Thus, after thinking for a moment, Souya gave his answer.
"Lady Morgan, if the Vile King wants to find me, then I shall go. I believe he has no reason to harm me."
"...Are you sure this is your true thought?"
Morgan fell silent for a moment. For some reason, she felt a slight sense of panic in her heart.
This feeling came and went quickly, almost like an illusion, but it was still detected by Morgan.
"Lady Morgan, if you do not wish for me to go, then I will refuse him."
Souya also noticed the slight anomaly in Morgan's words, so he spoke in the most tactful tone.
But who knew that upon hearing these words, Morgan would become annoyed for no apparent reason? She shot Souya a somewhat dissatisfied look and spoke in a cold voice.
"Lamorak, I have told you before. You do not need to hide your thoughts in front of me. If there is anything you want to say or do, just tell me."
"Since you want to accept Vortigern's invitation so much, then go. Just remember not to beg me to save you if you get hurt."
Having said that, Morgan ignored Souya. She stood up and left the throne room on her own, leaving only Souya standing to the side.
Listening to the "click-clack" of high heels striking the floor fade away into the distance, a hint of helplessness inevitably appeared on Souya's face.