This was a land surrounded by natural barriers, a region isolated from the rest of the world by black mountains, ancient forests, and valleys covered in mist. Occasionally, gigantic unidentified shadows hovered across the sky. Most of the time, they were monsters living nearby, creatures accustomed to the hostile environment of the Land of Shadows, but of course, some were merely monsters passing through, traveling across the heavens like wandering predators.
Nessa raised her spear while chanting an ancient, low-toned incantation. Bluish runes began to appear around her body. Soon after, a spike of ice formed beside her, rapidly condensing before shooting directly toward the griffin that happened to be flying through the sky.
Its gigantic body cast a threatening shadow over the ground below, and its wings flapped with enough force to create violent gusts of wind. When struck by the ice spike, it bled only slightly. The magic had pierced a few feathers and superficially wounded its flesh, but it clearly had not been enough to inflict any real damage.
The griffin slowly turned its head to look at the enemy that had attacked it for no apparent reason and released a terrifying roar that echoed throughout the entire region.
Then, irritated, it turned and attacked Nessa. Its body dove rapidly toward the girl, and its enormous sharp claws lunged forward like blades meant to tear her apart instantly.
But just as it was about to reach the girl, the attack abruptly stopped.
Its beastly instincts began screaming danger frantically.
Those sharp, animalistic eyes examined the woman standing behind Nessa. This woman had not moved since the beginning. She had merely stood there silently, calmly observing everything, yet the griffin's instincts, as a wild creature accustomed to survival, immediately sensed an absurdly dangerous threat.
An existence far above itself.
Its body even began trembling slightly.
"Mother, that's why I told you that you couldn't come this early. Otherwise, fighting becomes completely pointless." Nessa turned around to complain to the woman behind her, her violet eyes filled with dissatisfaction.
Scáthach merely shook her head.
"You are not properly prepared to train in a place like this yet." Her voice was calm, but firm. She glanced toward the monsters circling above the clouds. "Right now, you are lucky if you can handle one monster. If there are two or more, you would probably be in danger."
Hearing that, Nessa puffed out her cheeks slightly in dissatisfaction.
She then sat atop the griffin's body, which now remained completely motionless, incapable even of fleeing under Scáthach's pressure. Her purple hair fluttered in the wind as she gazed toward the vast gray sky above them.
"If Arthur were here, we could at least handle three monsters by now."
Her voice carried a mixture of pride and longing.
"When will I be able to see him again?" Nessa sighed once more, clearly showing her frustration.
"He will return soon. What you need to do right now is train properly." Scáthach looked at Nessa affectionately and gently ruffled her hair. "You don't want your strength to fall too far behind his in the future, do you?"
"That's true..." Nessa stroked the griffin's head while speaking. Under her touch, the monstrous creature slowly lowered its head, looking incredibly docile, almost like a gigantic cat. "But I still really want to see him. He's supposed to be my fiancé, but now he's a king in another country. Isn't that strange?"
Scáthach remained silent for a moment.
The title of King of Britain still felt strange when associated with her disciple.
The child she had personally trained was now ruling an entire nation.
"By the way..." Nessa suddenly turned to look at Scáthach, her eyes shining with curiosity. "If I marry Arthur in the future, would that count as a political marriage alliance between our two countries?! Right, Mother?"
Scáthach's expression briefly froze.
Then, after several seconds, she silently nodded.
"I suppose so."
It was true.
But according to what Arthur had previously told her, he would probably try returning to the Land of Shadows as soon as the situation in Britain stabilized.
Deep down, Scáthach knew that child could never completely abandon this place.
"But Arthur doesn't seem interested in this whole King Arthur business." Nessa quickly changed the topic. "He'll probably find a way to come back once he finishes handling his political matters."
She crossed her arms behind her head while continuing to speak carefree:
"So by the time Arthur returns, one or two years will have passed, right? By then, he'll already be almost an adult, and we can get married."
As soon as she finished speaking, Nessa innocently looked at her mother and asked:
"What do you think, Mother?"
For some reason, even though it sounded like an ordinary question, Nessa's violet eyes seemed to carry different emotions as she stared at Scáthach.
Scáthach noticed it immediately.
Even so, she silently nodded and answered calmly:
"I will arrange your marriage once both of you reach adulthood."
"I'm so happy, thank you, Mother." Nessa smiled brightly.
"I raised you myself, and Arthur has been with me for more than five years, so if the two of you love each other, of course I won't stop you." Scáthach smiled faintly while gently stroking Ushaha's hair with her fingers.
"However..." Her voice became slightly more serious. "It is necessary to distinguish whether this is familial affection or romantic love."
"Don't worry about that, my feelings for Arthur are ambivalent," Ushaha answered without hesitation. "But I don't know anything about him."
Then she smiled with extreme confidence.
"But it doesn't matter. He'll eventually fall in love with me once we're together."
Hearing those overly confident words, Scáthach fell silent for a moment.
Then, slowly, she murmured:
"That's good. I also hope you can become happier."
"Hmm… I think so too." Nessa suddenly sighed. "But Mother is so biased. You used to spend many nights talking with Arthur. I don't even receive that kind of treatment. You're so good to him."
After finishing her words, she stared at Scáthach for several seconds, thought for a moment, and then grabbed her hand.
"Mother, why don't you marry Arthur too?"
Scáthach immediately frowned.
However, Nessa continued speaking naturally:
"That way, even if Arthur and I get married in the future, we'll still be able to stay with you."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Scáthach frowned even more deeply, and her eyes became colder than usual.
"He is my disciple. That would completely ruin the generational hierarchy."
But Nessa seemed completely indifferent to the cold gaze of the woman before her.
On the contrary.
She merely smiled softly.
"Because Arthur loves Mother very much. Sometimes I wonder if he has feelings for you that go beyond the relationship between master and disciple."
Scáthach froze.
"If he really loves Mother, I wouldn't mind sharing him with you."
"What do you think?" Nessa asked while carefully observing Scáthach's reaction.
"Mother likes Arthur too, doesn't she?" Nessa continued smiling sweetly. "In that case, let's wait for him to return and then marry him together… well, I should say marry him, right? But the Queen of the Land of Shadows doesn't really seem suitable for marriage, so maybe it would be better to marry him first?"
She hid her face in Scáthach's arms and snuggled against her.
"That way, we can stay together forever."
Scáthach remained completely silent.
"Mother, are you tempted too?" Nessa raised her face to look at her. "You haven't said a single word since the beginning. Did you actually consider my suggestion?"
Scáthach finally snapped out of her brief daze.
She slightly parted her lips, about to respond, when suddenly, a voice came from outside.
"Lady Scáthach, a letter from Britain!"
One of the city guards knelt respectfully before Scáthach.
"Britain?" Scáthach slowly turned toward the guard. "Bring the letter here."
They called it a letter, but in reality, it was an extremely thin piece of black wood, almost like a card. Subtle runes flowed across its surface, and a powerful magical fluctuation could be felt emanating from it.
Clearly, the sender had used some special method to seal the message, making it difficult to interpret.
Scáthach held the black card in her hand.
"You may leave now."
Only after the guards had completely withdrawn did Scáthach finally begin deciphering the information contained within the card.
"Who is this message from? Could it be from Arthur?"
Ushaha immediately approached curiously, apparently completely forgetting their previous conversation.
But she could not see anything at all.
Because the card contained a magical image that disappeared as soon as it was absorbed into Scáthach's mind.
Within that magical recording, Scáthach saw Arthur.
And soon afterward, she heard Morgan's voice, filled with mockery and provocation.
"In five days, I will hold a ball. There will probably be many people trying to assassinate the King. Of course, I am not here to invite you to participate. Whether you come or not is entirely your decision."
Morgan slowly slid her fingers across the faint mark on Arthur's neck.
"This is a mark left by someone else. It would be best for you to come to Britain in five days to prevent him from being stolen and devoured someday..."
Then, right before Scáthach's eyes, Morgan slowly approached Arthur and kissed his lips.
"I suppose I'll have to start eating after the ball."
Scáthach's eyes instantly became colder.
"Oh, by the way, don't worry for now. That child is busy with other matters. This is merely an illusion I created."
Morgan snapped her fingers.
The next instant, the Arthur standing before Scáthach vanished like smoke.
"But next time, it won't be an illusion," Morgan said with a provocative smile.
Crack.
Unconsciously, Scáthach's fingers tightened around the black wooden card she was holding.
The object, which seemed as durable as magical steel, slowly began cracking under her monstrous strength before finally shattering completely.
"Mother...?" Nessa blinked while looking at Scáthach in confusion.
She genuinely could not understand why her mother, normally so calm and indifferent, was now displaying such intense anger.
Even when facing terrifying enemies, she had rarely seen her this furious.
"Do you want to see Arthur soon?" Scáthach suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Nessa blinked again, but this time, her confusion quickly transformed into excitement. "Really?!"
"Ah, of course."
Scáthach handed her the remaining fragments of the black card.
"With this, no one will stop you from entering Britain."
This was Morgan's letter.
And also an invitation.
If Nessa carried it with her, even the city guards would allow her entry without questioning her.
"I will come for you in five days."
Scáthach slowly turned to look at Nessa.
Her crimson eyes seemed to contain actual flames burning deep within them.
"Until then..." Her voice became dangerously cold.
"…do not let that woman approach him again."
(End of Chapter)