Chapter 50: Things a knight must do for his lord's happiness
[The knights woke up one after another.]
[They greeted you.]
[You responded to them one by one, but your mind was on something else.]
[You found that Artorius's kiss had stirred something in your heart.]
[You realized that this was the wrong emotion.]
[You decided to hide it in your heart and never show it to anyone.]
[Kay finally agreed that you were a good person.]
[He gave you a horse that he had raised for a long time, as a return gift for you giving East Stallion to Artorius.]
[Before you left, Kay sincerely apologized to you.]
[He hoped you could forget all the unpleasant things that had happened before.]
[Looking at him, you found it a little funny—because you didn't take him seriously at all.]
[But you also realized that this was a brother's concern for his sister.]
[You continued your pretense of kindness, expressing to him in a gentle manner that you didn't mind these things at all.]
[This made him think that you were a magnanimous person, and he felt even more guilty about his previous suspicions.]
[Artorius didn't come out to see you off.]
[But you knew she was just shy because of the previous kiss.]
[Sure enough, you soon found her hiding behind a tree, watching you.]
[She also found that you had found her.]
[You smiled at each other and didn't say anything more.]
[You left the village with the knights who had returned from the front line, amid their farewells.]
[You moved away from the village.]
[You came to a forest—it didn't seem to be a forest that people often visited.]
[In the forest, you stopped.]
"Lord Ian, what's wrong?"
The knights, looking at the stopped Ian, were a little confused.
Ian turned around and placed a hand on the sword at his waist.
"It's nothing."
"I just want to ask you to do me a favor."
"What is it?"
"It's just—"
Ian drew the sword from his waist and pointed it at the wounded knights in front of him.
"Can you quietly die here?"
"What?!"
[You killed all the knights accompanying you.]
[This was not difficult for you—after all, these were wounded knights, and you didn't act earlier because you were afraid that other defeated knights would see it.]
[But in this forest, you don't have to worry about this problem.]
[The reason you did this was also very simple.]
[You weren't sure whether Morgan's magic could affect these "latecomers." Rather than risking them returning to the royal capital and witnessing everything you and Morgan had faked, it was better to kill them all here before that.]
[Everything was for Morgan, but at the same time, everything was for yourself.]
Ian bent down, pulled the sword from the chest of the last knight, and dragged the blood-soaked body aside to hide it.
He had done this kind of thing many times, and the edges of his heart had long been smoothed out, leaving nothing.
But to say that he had no guilt at all would be a pure lie.
Fleeing thousands of miles injured, only to die at the hands of a comrade.
This ending was indeed a bit cruel.
But Ian had to do it.
"If you want to find someone to take revenge after death, come find me."
Ian wiped the blood off his face and put the sword back into its sheath.
"This has nothing to do with the Princess."
"I am willing to bear the corresponding guilt for all my actions—but at least now I can't let you break this."
The hooves rose and fell.
Ian once again embarked on a solitary journey.
[You left the forest where the knights' bones were buried.]
[You continued to ride towards the royal capital.]
[It was a lonely journey, accompanied only by the cold wind and the sun.]
[You spent days and nights alone.]
[But you didn't care about all this, after all, you had tasted far longer periods of pain.]
[One morning, you crossed a mountain.]
[You were very happy because you knew that after walking a little further, you would be able to see Camelot.]
[But you didn't expect to see an unexpected situation at the foot of the mountain.]
It was a wheat field.
Ian didn't expect to see a wheat field here—at least when he left Camelot along this road, he had never seen it here.
"Lord Ian!"
Such a shout came from the wheat field.
Then a group of figures emerged from all directions and came to him.
"You're finally back!"
"..."
Ian's eyes swept over the people in front of him, and after seeing some slightly familiar faces, he realized that these were the refugees who had followed him.
"Why are you here? Who told you to come here?"
"The Princess told us to cultivate here!" the refugees answered in unison.
"The Princess?" Ian was a little puzzled.
"Yes... is it strange?"
An elegant figure walked out from the wheat field—it was Morgan.
"My husband is away on business, isn't it reasonable for me, as his wife, to take care of these people?"
"Princess..."
The words came to his lips, but Ian swallowed them back.
As Lott, in name, it was indeed a bit inappropriate for him to call Morgan "Princess" in public.
However, Morgan herself cleverly solved this problem.
"Ian, my husband, I'm tired now, take me back to the city."
"Yes, I understand."
[You welcomed Morgan onto the horse.]
[Amid the farewells of the refugees, you and she rode slowly towards Camelot.]
[The hooves rose and fell on the ridges, leaving traces.]
[You saw the ripe ears of wheat on both sides.]
[You realized that Morgan had done a lot of things during this time.]
"Princess."
Ian held the reins, looked at the rice ears on both sides, and asked Morgan in his arms with some emotion.
"Are these wheat fields all your work?"
Morgan didn't answer the question directly, but instead talked about something that seemed unrelated.
"Ian, I think I said you were my property, right?"
"Yes, Princess, you did."
"Then—"
"Since you are already my property, then everything that property does is also my property."
Morgan's fingers gently stroked the back of Ian's hand.
"Isn't it reasonable to take care of my property?"
"And Ian, don't you think it's a smart move to praise me well at this time?"
Ian smiled and shook his head.
"No, Princess, there's nothing to praise."
"Because in my heart, this kind of thing is just a piece of cake for you."
"If I were to praise everything you've handled like this, I think I might lose my voice."
"Your sweet talk is as good as ever."
"But—"
Morgan's finger gently pinched a small piece of skin on the back of Ian's hand and lifted it up.
"I hope you can explain one thing clearly now."
"Which wild woman who doesn't want to live dared to leave a kiss on your face?"