Chapter 49: North Wales-4-

The morning after I spent the night with Medea.

There was no trace left of the cold-hearted witch. The face of Medea, waking in my arms, held only the languid softness of an ordinary woman in love.

Whenever we were alone together or making love in bed, she spoke to me in a gentle, polite tone, like a shy newlywed.

"You're awake, Arthur...? You're not too tired, are you?"

But the moment she opened the door and stepped out into any official setting, she would clear her throat and desperately force herself back into her usual blunt manner of speaking.

"Arthur, there can be no compromise when it comes to handling affairs of state as a king."

Still, no matter how coldly she tried to dress up her tone, she couldn't hide the honey-dripping look in her eyes whenever she gazed at me, or the devotion with which she hovered around me and took care of me.

By now, everyone had more than figured out what had happened between us.

"Kuhahaha! A true hero is lustful indeed~! They say great men are always fond of women, and that saying fits you perfectly!"

From one corner of the office, Nobu, munching on the manju I'd made for her, shot me a mischievous grin.

She suddenly twisted her body this way and that and started pretending to be seductive with exaggerated gestures.

"Aaah~ surely the red dragon who commands the world is starving now, wanting to devour even this super-beautiful Demon King of the Sixth Heaven? Nooo~ I don't want that~ I'm going to be ravished mercilessly just like this~!"

Nobu's third-rate one-woman play, complete with sound effects.

But as I signed documents, I answered in a flat tone.

"I'm not pouncing on you. You'll smear the ink, so keep it down."

"...What?!"

At my indifferent response, Nobu puffed out her cheeks, clearly sulking hard.

"You're seriously no fun! I'm an excellent beauty by any standard, so shouldn't any male be overflowing with lust on the spot? There were cartloads of idiot men lining up, saying they'd beat me and fuck me! So why aren't you making a move on me first, you awkward little brat?!"

While Nobu grumbled, Penthesilea, who was cleaning her spear on the opposite side, was also glaring at me with a faint furrow in her brow.

She didn't show it openly, but inwardly her pride had taken quite a hit.

'That witch came before me, the queen of the Amazons? Why hasn't he made a pass at me?'

It was the kind of question mixed with a beastlike fighting spirit.

As for Nobu, if I touched her first, it was obvious her ego would shoot through the sky, so I was in the middle of taming her.

And with Penthesilea, if I rashly tried to pounce on her and accidentally touched the reverse scale by calling her beautiful, there could be real bloodshed. So I was waiting for the right timing. Managing my harem was a highly advanced game of reading the room in its own way.

My gaze turned to Stheno, sitting gracefully by the window with a book in hand.

When our eyes met, she gave me a leisurely goddess's smile and a wink.

Her self-esteem was sky-high, and she was exceptionally skilled at toying with people in the palm of her hand, so I intended to leave her for last as my final target—the so-called final boss—and cook her slowly.

Hmm. Somehow, the farther I go, the more it feels like only the flat-chested ones are left.

"Brother, I've brewed some tea!"

"Arthur, your shoulders seem tense. I'll massage them for you."

"My lord, I've redrawn the topographical map of North Wales!"

Artoria, Morgan, Ushiwakamaru—and even Barghest, silently guarding my side.

Handling official duties surrounded by beautiful, powerful women—this perfect harem life. I took a sip of tea and sank into deep satisfaction.

"Ahh, yes. This is what a real man's happiness looks like."

A few weeks later.

After more or less finishing the internal cleanup of the Kingdom of Nogares, I launched military action at once without even a moment to catch my breath.

The target was the Kingdom of North Galles, ruled by King Cradelmant, the other great power of North Wales who had contested supremacy with Rience.

I did not mobilize a grand army.

I advanced with only a small elite force of soldiers who had surrendered in Nogares, and with the overwhelming martial might of the Heroic Spirits at the forefront, I tore through North Galles's defensive lines in one stroke.

For our legion, which had fought giants and beasts, the resistance of human knights was no different from a stroll.

In the end, King Cradelmant opened the castle gates, came out, and offered his sword at my feet, acknowledging defeat.

Once North Galles fell, the rest of the war was as obvious as fire.

King Caswallon of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, who had resisted Rience to the very end, swore fealty beneath my banner of his own accord, and the smaller petty kingdoms of central Wales as well—Powys, Dyfed, Gwent, and the rest—sent surrender envoys one after another.

Just like that, I came to reign as the absolute overlord who had unified all of North Wales in one sweep.

It might seem too fast and too easy, but this was Wales. More specifically, I had only taken the northern half and the lands above central Wales, so it didn't take all that long.

In this era, everything was power.

Of course, there were political matters and internal intrigues too, but when it came to bringing down kingdoms, power could settle everything. Our small elite force was simply overwhelming.

It wasn't as though they had knights on the level of the Round Table, so it wasn't particularly difficult.

"All right, North Wales is completely in our hands. Our next target is Ireland across the sea."

I summoned the military commanders and began drafting a plan for the conquest of Ireland.

And amid those busy days, tremendous good news arrived—news that made the entire army erupt in cheers.

"Brother! Arthur, brother!"

Artoria came running out of the infirmary and threw herself into my arms.

Behind her, Morgan was walking over with a slightly tired but overflowing smile.

"Merlin confirmed it. Th-there's... a life growing inside my belly!"

Artoria clung to my neck, her eyes shimmering with tears of joy.

The ultimate life-form born from the combined genes of three Pendragons—what you might call a super egg—had perfectly implanted itself in Artoria's womb and begun growing in good health.

"Really? You've done well, Artoria. And you too, sister."

I stroked Artoria's back and squeezed Morgan's approaching hand tightly.

"From now on, absolutely do not set foot on the battlefield. Take good care of yourself, understood?"

"Yes! Since this child carries your genes, mine, and my sister's mixed together... I'll cherish and raise the strongest and prettiest child in the world!"

So now, I was going to become a father too.

Meanwhile, across the sea in Ireland, the situation had become dire.

"King Rience has fallen in battle! And now a king who carries the true bloodline of Pendragon has united North Wales in an instant and set his sights on the isles!"

King Anguisaunce, the Ard Rí of Ireland, sat upon his throne, sunk in deep worry.

The Kingdom of Munster in southern Ireland, which he ruled, was the strongest power on the island.

When King Gillamoure, the original Ard Rí, submitted to the tyrant Vortigern, Anguisaunce had driven him out and raised himself to the seat of Ard Rí. He was a monarch with both the pride and the national strength to do such a thing.

But even he, faced with the invasion of King Rience and his overwhelming military might, had been forced to kneel in humiliation and be reduced to a vassal state in order to protect his land and people.

"This is grave... To that man Arthur, the new overlord of North Wales, our Ireland will surely appear as nothing but an enemy."

The previous Ard Rí had submitted to Vortigern, the traitor of Britain, and Anguisaunce, though it had been by force, had chosen to become a vassal of Nogares.

King Anguisaunce muttered as he wrestled with the problem.

"If they invade Ireland under the banner of righteousness, we have no means to stop them. Rather, there will be those who say they are riding the tide of a new age and try to cling to Pendragon, who defeated Rience."

As the royal council fell into silence in the face of a crisis that threatened the nation's very survival, a clear, limpid voice cut through the heavy air of the audience hall.

"Father. Then before the point of their sword turns toward us, should we not extend our hand first?"

The doors of the audience hall opened, and a woman of dazzling beauty enough to blind the eyes walked in.

She was Princess Isolde, the most beautiful woman in Ireland, coveted even by King Rience, and the beloved daughter of King Anguisaunce.

"Isolde. What brings you here?"

Isolde bowed respectfully to her father, then looked around at the ministers with calm, intelligent eyes as she spoke.

"I heard the news of the war. I am told that this new king, Arthur Pendragon, unlike the tyrant Rience, is a hero who cherishes his people and values righteous cause. Father, before he leads his army across the sea, I will personally go to North Wales with an envoy."

"You mean to go yourself as an envoy?"

Isolde nodded firmly.

"Yes. I will go and, in the name of my father, the Ard Rí of Ireland, propose an alliance and a treaty of peace. If they seek to conquer Ireland by force, they will have to accept enormous losses. But if we first show proper courtesy and swear submission and cooperation, then we may preserve our country without bloodshed."

A cold intellect and decisiveness hidden behind peerless beauty.

At his daughter's bold proposal, King Anguisaunce's hardened face finally eased, and he began preparing a new diplomatic gambit on which the future of Ireland would rest.

The curtain was rising on the opening act of a great upheaval, one that would entwine the fates of Britain and Ireland, the two islands.

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