Chapter 131. Queen of Britain 3/?
When the head of the house finally appeared, it became clear that Artoria's true sex was no secret to him, which was only logical, since he was the one who had raised her, even if he still nursed some resentment in his heart over having to bring her up as a man. Thus, when he was told of the current situation, he visibly sighed in relief, knelt before the new king, and swore his loyal service. Kay followed after him, having at first believed Merlin had done something horrible and turned his brother into a sister. As did Artoria Lily, on whom far too many revelations had fallen at once, yet she still chose to follow what turned out to be her foster family.
Yes, it was today, amid everything else, that she was told she was adopted. It was, without a doubt, not the most pleasant of news, filling the young knight-girl with bitterness, but she coped with it fairly quickly, acknowledging that regardless of her origin, Sir Kay was still her brother, and Sir Ector was still her father.
Once everything was settled, our whole group prepared to set out. I, not wanting to risk creating prejudices that some witch had bewitched the king, could not teleport us directly to London. However, I did teleport us to a point thirty kilometers from the settlement, roughly a day's journey for a traveler on foot—a distance we covered quite briskly thanks to the horses we had purchased for a generous sum.
When we once again arrived at the little house set aside for our company, the same one from which I had brought everyone to my realm… Entertaining the guests was far from my main concern; another, far more pressing matter had my attention. Thus, sitting on my throne before the assembled knights and my loyal chronicler, I shared my thought:
"I need to change my image."
"Excuse me, what did you say, Your Majesty?" Osvaldo asked in confusion.
"As the future Queen of Britain, I must mind how the people see me, which means I need to abandon tones that are too dark, both in my clothing and…" I looked at Oz. "In my wings."
"The people mustn't see me as a witch who deceived the king or, worse still, a demon."
"But forgive me, Your Majesty, my wing color is my natural color!" the raven in human guise protested.
"True," I did not argue.
"Mei, what do you think about this?" I turned to the one whose intellect clearly surpassed that of everyone present put together.
"Do not worry, Your Majesty. Using magical energy to turn the great chronicler into a white raven will be no trouble at all," the girl answered with a faint smile.
"WHAT?!" the raven exclaimed, stunned. "Your Majesty, you're not serious, are you? I am your loyal chronicler, a part of you. You wouldn't do this to me because of a woman, would you? Would you?!"
Ignoring his displeasure, I turned to my knights.
"I'm counting on you," I said, and then vanished from the throne hall, intending to spend more time with my fiancé, who was revealing more and more of his sweet side.
"…" With the princess gone, the throne hall fell silent, and Oz's face looked as though he had been betrayed, but he still had hope left.
"My dear comrades, you were just joking, right?" he looked at the three knights.
"Consider it your punishment for not keeping a proper eye on Her Majesty," Yae Rin grinned, and the next instant she shot forward at full speed toward the man who had turned to flee.
In the end, only two remained in the hall.
"Shall we help her catch him?" Kevin suggested.
"No need. Let her blow off some steam; she's been looking for a suitable chance for a while now," Mei replied with a smile, shaking her head.
The capital of Night Nirvana, the center of my realm, for all its seemingly incredible splendor and majesty and, thanks to Mei and her personal assistants, its considerable advancement, still felt a little empty. For now, the population of my realm consisted of knights. Admittedly, some of them were in relationships with one another, which did lead to a slow population increase. But it takes quite a lot of time for even a single generation to grow up.
Even then, the population growth is not particularly high, which is why I kept being reminded of the need to bring in people from outside who would be glad to settle in these new conditions. Conditions in a world where there are no natural disasters, where medicine is so advanced that, essentially, anyone who wishes can become long-lived, where the soil is always fertile, and crime is suppressed so quickly it can barely exist. The last point, incidentally, is one of the main reasons I am in no rush to take in refugees. Far from every sentient being is willing to accept such strict control. So my plans involve recruiting those refugees who from the outset are simply seeking a peaceful, quiet life, and I do have a few such candidates in mind.
"Father, watch me win!" came Mordred's cheerful cry, overflowing with happiness ever since her resurrection. After all, she had received what she wanted most in the world: the attention of her father, the King of Knights, and his approval of her becoming king. I had even started to feel more and more often that she had lost her tomboyish edge and become just a sweet, happy girl…
"DIE! Hahahahaha!" My thoughts were cut off by another of Mordred's shouts. She was currently standing at an arcade cabinet, playing a fighting game where, controlling a white‑haired girl with pistols, she battled a man with a cane. All I could do was smile a bit helplessly at my earlier musings, then walk over to see who she was playing against. Coming around to the other side, I saw Sir Kay, not quite sure what he was doing, holding a gamepad and trying at least to figure out the controls before the next round began.
"My dear Mordred, it's not fair to bully the weak~" I whispered seductively into the ear of the future king, making her involuntarily blush and look at me in protest.
"He's a knight, you know, and a knight shouldn't be afraid of new challenges!"
"And I will definitely take my revenge, you'll see, Your Majesty—next round I'll beat you!" Sir Kay declared, his resolve suddenly burning bright.
"See? He's not giving up, so it's fine!" Mordred replied to me, paying no attention to the knight who took advantage of her distraction to rapidly whittle down her HP.
"Hee-hee, be more attentive, or you'll lose," I giggled despite myself at how enthusiastic these knights were about video games.
"WHAT?! How dare you use such a despicable tactic?!"
"Your Majesty, all's fair in war!" Sir Kay shouted back, and the hall was filled with the sound signaling his victory in that round.