Chapter 97: Fairy's Prank -5-
Today’s full-time caregiver for Kay was Lily.
“Kay! The weather is just perfect today. I found a secret spot where the wildflowers are blooming beautifully. Let’s go on a picnic!”
Instead of her usual armor, Lily wore a light, flowing dress. In one hand, she carried a basket overflowing with sandwiches, and with the other, she gripped Kay’s hand tightly.
Mordred, too, followed closely behind them, bouncing with excitement while clutching Fou in her arms.
The place they reached lay beyond the walls of Camelot: a vast garden carpeted with nameless wildflowers in full bloom.
“Wow! Look at all the flowers!”
Mordred dashed into the garden, chasing a swarm of butterflies, while Lily spread out a picnic mat with a radiant smile.
“How is it, Kay? Peaceful and lovely, right?”
“Yeah. It’s nice.”
Kay plopped down on the mat in his shrunken form and stretched. Though his body had been reduced to that of a child, this languid afternoon with his beloved family was truly the greatest rest a warrior of the Abyssal Realm could ask for.
“Ah, I’ll be right back. I need to... well, I have some business to attend to!”
Perhaps because she had drunk too much tea in the excitement of the picnic, Lily’s cheeks flushed as she hurried off toward the woods in search of a restroom.
“…Hey, don’t go too far! Be careful!”
Kay called after her, then kept a watchful eye on Mordred, making sure she didn't trip while she played.
While Lily was away,
just as Mordred picked a handful of brilliant yellow wildflowers and turned to run toward Kay, someone abruptly blocked her path.
“Oh, to meet you in such a place. It is truly an honor, Princess Mordred.”
The man had greasy blonde hair and a striking, upturned mustache. Dressed in luxurious silks and bedecked with various jewels, he introduced himself as Duke Eustace.
He was a powerful lord who ruled Cambenic, a wealthy trading city located between southern Shropshire and northern Herefordshire.
Since the death of King Uther, he had reigned as the de facto absolute ruler of Cambenic. Recently, following the founding of Logres, he had been pressured to swear fealty to Artoria; thus, he remained in Camelot under the guise of negotiations.
“Who are you?”
Mordred asked, hiding the flowers behind her back and narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
“Hahaha, I am Duke Eustace, Lord of Cambenic. I have heard much of Your Highness—that you inherit the most noble blood in Britain and are the future king.”
Eustace wore a sleek, serpent-like smile as he edged closer to Mordred.
He harbored a dark ambition: to win the favor of the young princess, who was still a political blank slate, and thereby seize actual power within House Pendragon.
“Your Highness, I wish to cultivate a deep friendship with you, so I have prepared a small but very precious gift. Here, please look.”
From his cloak, Eustace produced an ornate silver bracelet inlaid with shimmering blue gems.
While Mordred was momentarily captivated by the sparkling jewels, she instinctively stepped back, sensing a damp, ominous aura emanating from the bracelet.
“It’s pretty... but it feels creepy. I don’t want it.”
“Ahaha, there is no need to be shy. If you wear this bracelet, I, Eustace, shall grant you anything your heart desires.”
Ignoring her refusal, Eustace reached out and forcibly grabbed her small wrist, attempting to snap the bracelet onto her.
Right then.
“Hey. The kid said she doesn’t want it.”
Snap!
A small but iron-strong grip clamped down on Eustace’s thick wrist.
Startled, Eustace turned his head to find Kay glaring at him with cold, piercing eyes.
“Keep your filthy hands off our child. That’s enough—get your face out of here.”
Unable to recognize Kay in his transformed child state, Eustace’s mustache trembled with sudden rage.
“What is this brat... How dare you lay a hand on me, the Great Lord of Cambenic!”
Just as Eustace raised his other hand to strike Kay across the cheek—
“Don’t hit my daddy!!!”
KRAAAANG!!
Sensing the danger, the dragon factor dormant deep within Mordred’s body instinctively exploded with mana.
A shockwave of powerful mana, like a bolt of crimson lightning, swept through the area. Eustace’s massive frame was flung through the air like a piece of paper, slamming into a tree trunk dozens of meters away.
“Guh... cough...!”
Eustace spat out blood, his ribs fracturing in agonizing pain.
Despite her young age, the overwhelming power of a pure-blooded Pendragon and a homunculus inheriting the blood of the dragon was absolute.
Only then did Eustace realize the horror of the being he had provoked. He shrieked in terror and began to flee desperately into the forest.
“That... that monster...!!”
However, his escape was short-lived.
Lily, returning from the woods, had heard the thunderous roar of the mana discharge. In an instant, she drew Caliburn and appeared before him, the tip of her blade pressed firmly against his nape.
“And where do you think you are going?”
Behind Lily’s pure, white smile flickered the merciless killing intent of a king.
Shortly after the commotion, inside the inner castle of Camelot.
Duke Eustace, bound and forced to his knees, was looked down upon with freezing glares by Artoria and her sisters.
Caster waved her staff, examining the blue gemstone bracelet that Eustace had dropped.
“...Analysis complete. On the surface, it looks like a simple, expensive piece of jewelry, but inside, runes of fascination and mental interference are cleverly inscribed. It is a type of brainwashing Mystic Code.”
At her words, the air in the conference room froze instantly.
“Using the wearer’s mana as a medium, this bracelet breaks the reason of anyone the wearer touches or holds hands with, imposing blind suggestions. It seems the plan was to put this on Mordred and then use her to control everyone around her one by one.”
“...You dared to try and put such a filthy dog collar on my daughter?”
Kay’s voice, coming from the body of a young boy, was small yet as cold and murderous as a demon crawling out of hell.
“I-It’s a misunderstanding!! I merely intended it as a gift of friendship...!”
Eustace tried to make an excuse, but Bagest’s massive hand clamped over his mouth, applying pressure that threatened to crush his jawbone.
Artoria, seated on the throne, pressed her fingers to her brow in thought.
“Cambenic is an economically vital trade city in these early days of Logres. If we execute him immediately, the merchant guilds of Cambenic will likely revolt... the justification and the cleanup would be...”
“What is there to worry about? Just make the pig’s crime public—that he plotted to use a brainwashing Mystic Code on Mordred, which is practically an assassination attempt. We have more than enough justification. Then, chop his head off, send the army, and seize the city of Cambenic by force. Anyone who resists can just be fed to the magical beasts.”
“Ah...! That is a splendid strategy. I was thinking too much in terms of politics.”
Artoria’s eyes sparkled as if she had just reached an epiphany, while Eustace, falling into utter despair, foamed at the mouth and fainted.
“You guys handle the rest. I have to go comfort our child.”
Leaving the murderous atmosphere of the conference room behind, Kay approached Mordred, who was wrapped in a blanket in the next room, looking anxious.
“Daddy... I was a little scared earlier, so I blew that bad man away. Did I do something wrong?”
Mordred clutched Kay’s collar, her voice trembling on the verge of tears.
“No. You did very well.”
Kay pulled Mordred, who was now a similar size to him, into a tight embrace with his small arms.
“You were so brave, unleashing your mana to protect your dad. My daughter, I'm so proud of you. You are a truly wonderful child.”
“Daddy...”
Within Kay’s warm praise and tender embrace, Mordred finally seemed relieved, resting her head on his shoulder.
The realization that her power was a reason for praise rather than fear caused a surge of overwhelming affection to bloom in the young child's heart for the first time in her life.
And so, the conspiracy of the Lord of Cambenic was futilely suppressed, and Camelot once again strengthened its warm family bonds.
Around that time, in the deep underground waterways of Camelot’s inner castle.
Following the dark and damp water path, a woman draped in a black cloak was infiltrating silently.
Her name was Umiin.
“...That bastard Merlin. To think the first task he gives me for an assassination is simply pouring this little vial into the drinking water.”
Umiin pulled a small, transparent glass bottle given to her by Merlin from her cloak.
Inside swirled a clear, colorless, and odorless liquid, but it was no ordinary poison.
The Elixir of Hatred.
The base of the potion contained Kay’s genetic material, which Merlin had extracted through most devious means.
This was not a poison that destroyed or killed the human body.
The moment it was ingested, it would induce a mental derangement, forcibly replacing all love, goodwill, respect, and gratitude toward the owner of the genetic material with pure hatred, loathing, and extreme contempt. It was a horrific cursed drug.
Umiin shook the bottle and murmured coldly.
“That incubus... he really does play dirty.”
The moment this drug was absorbed by those around Kay through the drinking water and food,
the blind love and attachment of the Servants and sisters—who burned with a devotion so fierce they would give their lives for him—would be transformed in an instant into a bone-chilling murderous intent and contempt.
“If it means meeting Lord Xiang Yu again... I don’t care if someone else’s family is torn apart.”
Umiin had shattered and reconstructed her own body to perfectly mimic another person. She had kidnapped one of the castle's maids, analyzed her body, and altered herself to be an identical match, even internally.
With the Mystic Code provided by Merlin, not even the Servants, the Fairy Eyes, or raw intuition would be able to detect her.
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