After days of marching, the carriage carrying Kay and his companions from Manchester finally arrived at the massive castle gates of the North Wales capital.
The scene before the gates was entirely different from when Kay had first arrived days prior.
The Lion King, Artoria Lancer, had come out personally to wait beyond the gates, and hundreds of banners fluttered atop the walls as trumpets sounded a victory fanfare.
"It is time to disembark, Master."
Medusa, who had been driving the carriage herself, opened the door and spoke.
Kay stepped down from the carriage and stretched. Following him, Tamamo, Jeanne d’Arc Alter, and Artoria Alter—wearing a pouty expression—alighted.
"Brother...!"
The moment Lancer, dressed in gleaming silver armor, spotted Kay, she rushed forward in a panic, completely forgetting her royal dignity.
She threw herself into Kay’s arms and let out a long sigh of relief. The clank of cold armor echoed as they collided, but Kay didn't mind, gently patting her back.
"Hey, I'm back. But seriously, you should take off that armor more often. Every time you hug me like this, it hurts my chin."
"Ah... I—I am so sorry! I shall disarm myself at once!"
Blushing furiously, Lancer hurriedly stepped back. Kay gave a small laugh and pulled Alter forward from behind him.
"Here. I brought her back safely, just as I said. Now, greet each other."
Lancer’s gaze shifted to Alter.
The two sisters had split over a clash of ideals five years ago when Kay disappeared. Lancer, who valued principles and rules above all, and Alter, who acted on her instincts and convictions, were near polar opposites.
When Kay vanished, Lancer had chosen to follow Artoria's lead. Conversely, Alter had broken away, insisting she would find Kay in her own way.
One believed that Britain was paramount at the time; the other prioritized Kay over the realm.
But after a five-year void, and with their common center—Kay—finally returned, a peculiar tension flickered in their eyes.
"...You look like a wreck, Tyrant. To think you fell for Taquin's flimsy trap and ended up rotting in an underground cell. The name of Excalibur Morgan must be weeping in shame."
Lancer crossed her arms and, in her characteristic cold yet polite tone, threw out a provocation.
Normally, Alter would have been livid, but today she simply let out a relaxed snort and draped her arm possessively around Kay’s.
"Thanks to being locked away, our dear brother personally came to rescue me. In the end, it was far more beneficial than staying cooped up in some cold corner of a castle, pretending to be noble. How could someone like you possibly understand the feeling of being carried on my brother's broad back?"
"Wha—?!"
"Now, now, that's enough. You've just reunited after five years, and you're already fighting? Let's just get inside. I've been sleeping outdoors for days, and my whole body is stiff. I'll cook for you all, so everyone, gather in the dining hall."
As Kay mediated by gently tapping both sisters on the head, Lancer and Alter finally followed him into the castle, though both continued to pout.
That evening, in the dining hall of the North Wales royal palace.
The palace chefs had all been kicked out; the massive kitchen had become the exclusive stage for Kay and his Servants.
"Jeanne! The heat is too high! You're burning the outside of the meat! Lower the flames!"
"Gah, you're so finicky! This is exactly how you get a crispy exterior and a juicy interior, you know?!"
Jeanne d’Arc Alter grumbled, yet she adjusted the fire with uncanny precision to grill the meat.
"Tamamo, is the salad dressing done? Medusa, finish mincing that garlic over there."
"Mikong! The special dressing, infused with all my love, is complete~!"
"...Mincing garlic is not to my taste, but since it is the Master's request, I have no choice."
Medusa spun her chain-spiked mace like a whirlwind, performing the feat of perfectly mincing hundreds of garlic cloves in an instant.
By fully utilizing the Servants' extraordinary abilities for culinary purposes, Kay managed to lay out a magnificent feast on the round table within a single hour—enough to feed dozens.
"All right, everyone, sit. This is our first family meal in five years. Though we're still missing a few people."
Seated around the table, with Kay at the center, were Lancer, Alter, and the three Servants.
The table was piled high with garlic butter steak, seafood stew, roasted game, sautéed wild greens, and ox-tongue steak—lavish dishes unimaginable in Britain.
"...I will dig in."
Lancer carefully lifted her fork and took a bite of the meat.
In an instant, the Lion King's rigid expression melted away like spring snow, replaced by a blissful smile. It felt as if the agonizing hunger that had plagued her for five years was finally satisfied.
"Hey, Alter. Don't be a picky eater; have some salad. Your skin has been looking dull lately."
As Kay heaped salad onto Alter's plate, she blushed and replied in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Th-thank you, Kay..."
Seeing this, Lancer, unwilling to be left out, held out her own plate.
"Brother, please give me some as well."
"Sure, sure. Eat up, both of you."
The Servants, of course, would not stay idle.
"Ah~ Hubby! Please try these shrimp that Tamamo peeled for you! They're so plump and bouncy!"
"Hey! Get away from the Master with that fishy smell! I've cooked this ox tongue to perfection, so eat this first!"
"Master, your glass is empty. Allow me to refill it."
Tamamo shoved shrimp into Kay's mouth, Jeanne d'Arc Alter piled meat onto his plate, and Medusa leaned in seductively as she poured the wine.
"Whoa, slow down! I only have one mouth!"
Watching Kay's cries of happy distress, Lancer and Alter simultaneously gripped their forks with a sharp, metallic click.
Yet, they looked at one another and let out small, soft laughs.
While it was irritating that more vixens were vying for their brother's attention, sitting around a table Kay had prepared and eating in such a noisy, lively atmosphere...
That was exactly the family daily life the two sisters had missed so desperately for the last five years.
"...It finally feels like a place where people actually live."
At Alter's murmur, Lancer quietly nodded and clinked her wine glass against the other's.
Once the feast ended, Kay was cornered by the palace chefs.
"Sir Kay! What on earth is this dish?"
"To use the tongue of a cow... we never could have imagined such a thing!"
"Please, we beg of you, teach us the recipe!"
"You think you can make it just by knowing the recipe? You need to master the basics first. I'm exhausted today, so I'll teach you some tomorrow morning."
The chefs, treating Kay as a culinary revolutionary, practically begged for his guidance. After promising to teach them, a journey-worn Kay retired to his chambers and fell into a deep sleep.
The Servants likewise dispersed to their own rooms.
On a quiet palace balcony, Lancer stood alone, bathing in the moonlight and breathing in the cool night air.
"Still awake, Lion King?"
From the shadows, Alter emerged, carrying a bottle of red wine and two glasses.
Lancer relaxed her guard and offered a faint smile.
"...You are still awake, Alter? I did not expect you to be the one to offer me a drink."
"Hmph. I'm just in a good mood because our brother is back."
Alter stood beside Lancer, filled the glasses, and handed one over. The two sipped their wine in silence, gazing at the moon.
The misunderstandings and resentments of five years ago had already melted away, more than half gone thanks to a single meal prepared by their brother. Even if they weren't bound by blood, they were sisters who shared the very depths of their souls.
"...So. What is it you wish to say?"
As Lancer asked, Alter swirled the wine in her glass, a mysterious smile playing on her lips.
"Lancer. What do you think of our brother?"
"What do I think...? He is, naturally, the most precious person to me, the one I must truly serve—"
"No, not that grandiose shell. I mean, as a man."
At Alter's blunt question, Lancer's cheeks flared scarlet.
"W-what irreverent things are you saying! Brother is our family, he is—!"
"Stop playing innocent. I can tell just by looking at you. You've viewed that dense blockhead as a man for a long time now. I'm the same. Aren't we all?"
Alter downed her wine in one gulp and leaned against the railing, staring straight at Lancer.
"But as you know, our brother is catastrophically oblivious and possesses a stubborn, mindless sense of responsibility. No matter how much we dress up or seduce him, he'll never lay a finger on us because of those damned shackles—the idea that we are his 'cute little sisters.' Of course, I'm grateful he cherishes us, and it makes me happy that he loves us so much, but..."
Lancer could not refute this and bit her lip bitterly.
"So... on the way here, when we went into the forest from the campsite."
Alter's voice dropped, becoming low and suggestive.
"I borrowed the glamour of that seductive vixen, Tamamo, and while disguised... I gave my maidenhood to our brother."
"...!!"
Lancer's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She almost dropped her wine glass.
"Y-you and Brother...?! And you did so by deceiving him in the form of another woman?!"
"Yes. I know it was cowardly and shameless. But it was the only way to make him embrace me as a woman right then. Isn't the Pendragon line known for taking what it wants by any means necessary? Just as Father took Mother."
Alter shrugged brazenly.
Lancer trembled, seized by a mixture of shock, anger, and searing jealousy.
"You... you beast!! How could you deceive Brother and commit such a scandalous act—!"
Just as Lancer began to raise her voice, Alter tapped her shoulder to silence her.
"Don't get worked up. I didn't tell you this just to provoke you."
"...What are you plotting?"
As Lancer glared with hostility, Alter smiled, her silhouette framed by the moonlight.
"I may have made the first move, but I realized that I alone cannot completely shatter our brother's 'sister' barrier. Furthermore, those Servant women... their bodies are dangerous, and their skills at flirting are no joke. If we include the woman he left behind in the Mystic Realm, our places might vanish without a trace."
Alter's eyes glittered with a serpentine cunning.
"That is why I am proposing this, sister. Let us form an alliance."
"An... alliance?"
"Yes. To strip away that hard shell and force him to recognize us as women, I need your help. A coalition to keep those interloping Servants in check and ensure that we completely monopolize the spot by our brother's side."
Alter brought her lips close to Lancer's ear.
"Next time an opportunity arises, you will sneak into our brother's bedchamber with me. Cast aside your haughty Lion King shell and take him as a woman. If the two of us attack together, even a blockhead as dense as our brother will have no choice but to surrender."
"M-me, with you... and Brother?!"
Lancer's face turned a shade of red so deep it looked as if she might explode.
"Of course, I don't mean in our true forms. He's become quite strong; he might actually be able to defend himself by force. So, we'll change our appearances, just as I did. Tamamo is actually quite favorable toward us—perhaps it's the confidence of a self-proclaimed primary wife—so we'll use her to achieve our love."
The pride of the Lion King and the dignity of the Queen of North Wales were shattering into pieces before this depraved and shocking proposal.
"H-how could I... commit such a shameless act!"
"Oh? Then you're fine with continuing to pine away in a cold corner of the castle while other women steal our brother away entirely?"
"That is absolutely unacceptable!!"
Lancer shouted instantly, her breathing becoming ragged.
Her noble reason fought to reject it, but the longing of a woman, suppressed deep within her heart, reared its head like a venomous snake.
The fatal temptation that if she were with Alter, she might actually be able to break through that iron wall.
Alter chuckled and pressed her wine glass into Lancer's empty hand.
"Think about it. We are sisters bound by the same father and mother. Good things are always tastier when shared. I can't stand the thought of other women, but sisters who've been together their whole lives? That's fine. Even someone as selfish as I am doesn't dream of having him all to myself. Though, I do want to be the most loved, of course."
Alter winked and leisurely strolled away from the balcony.
"Give it some thought. Ambushing our brother in another form is certainly unethical, and it's a piece of trash move to exploit Kay's sense of responsibility. But other than that, it might take ten years for him to recognize us as women. We might be grandmothers by then, so we should be loved, even through such cowardly means. Otherwise, the first thing to break won't be Britain, but us."
Those were her final words.
They say Saint Martha once subdued a pitiful dragon that knew nothing of love.
These two were also dragons. And they were tormented because they knew love all too well. They knew it was a cruel thing to do to Kay. But they were that starved for affection, and Kay was that precious and lovable to them.
Left alone, Lancer gripped the wine glass with trembling hands and looked up at the night sky.
The heat in her face refused to subside.
"...Honestly, you've gone mad, Alter."
Lancer let out a small sigh, yet she found it impossible to erase that fatal proposal from her mind.
A dangerous, sticky alliance between two sisters, aimed at crossing the line of kinship.
But it was the only logical conclusion. They had tried to appeal to him for years, but there was no way the oblivious Kay would have noticed.
Moreover, having gained extensive experience with women in the Mystic Realm, his mental walls had become even more formidable in a different sense. It was no wonder myths often employed such tricks.
Even Zeus took the form of a husband to impregnate Heracles's mother.
Though she hated to admit it, she felt she understood that impulse.
"To put it in Brother's terms... this is no time to be picky. To win his love and spend the rest of my life atoning through service... that wouldn't be so bad. We are all sinners for failing to protect him five years ago and failing to punish Merlin. Committing one more sin won't change that. If there is a limit to how much I can make him happy as a sister, then as a lover, I can surpass that limit. After all, we are the children of a trashy father. Children resemble their parents. The Pendragons were a twisted family from the start."
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