Guinevere's originally cold expression crumbled the moment Agravain left.
Agravain had just informed her of the intelligence he had received.
Lancelot was very likely to raise the sword of rebellion once again.
It wasn't that Agravain was disregarding the laws; he was warning her, warning her that she must never meet Lancelot again.
Guinevere understood this all too well.
At the same time, her self-loathing intensified.
In life, because of her, not only did the Knights of the Round Table fall apart, but even Camelot perished.
She had thought that by spending the rest of her life in a convent repenting for her sins, she could at least pray for the King she loved.
But she hadn't expected that even in death, she would find no liberation.
Furthermore, not only was she not liberated, but even that King was trapped within a physical form, unable to find release.
Even the King's spirit and mindset had changed so drastically that she could hardly believe it was the same King she loved.
After descending into the world as a Servant, the first war she witnessed was the civil war among the Knights of the Round Table.
Whether out of shame for his past sins or because Guinevere was by the King's side, Lancelot chose to follow the King he had once rebelled against—a King who had now changed utterly—and, along with several other companions, wiped out the Knights of the Round Table who resisted the Lion King.
After the Holy City of Camelot was built, Guinevere voluntarily requested a room in the depths of the palace from the Lion King to serve as a cell for prayer. She moved in that very day and had never stepped outside since.
Because of this, she had never received the King's "blessing" and still retained her original character from when she was alive.
However, the Knights of the Round Table who gathered around the Lion King again had their temperaments change one by one.
Especially Sir Tristan.
According to the reports the Purification Knights occasionally gave her, that gentle and refined knight had shockingly become an executioner who could smile genuinely in the face of hell and fire cruel arrows without hesitation.
As for Agravain... he hadn't changed much, still giving off a gloomy vibe just as he had in life.
Then, Gareth died.
The accounts of her death were varied and strange, but what terrified Guinevere most was that all the rumors pointed to a single conclusion.
The one who had killed her with his own hands was Sir Gawain of the Knights of the Round Table.
Her elder brother.
He was no longer the Knight of the Round Table she knew, and the King was no longer the King she was once familiar with.
She was incredibly thankful that she had chosen to isolate herself, no longer looking at the scenes she didn't want to see.
But Agravain's report this time shattered her relief once again.
Among those fighting against the Holy City Camelot were a guest with Gareth's spirit core and an outsider with Galahad's spirit core.
Two individuals with incredibly deep connections to Lancelot.
Add to that her current self-isolation deep within the palace...
Good grief, basically all the conditions for Lancelot to rebel again had been met.
Even though Guinevere had heard the Purification Knights speak much of Lancelot's outstanding performance after returning to the King's command, she couldn't help but think, 'This guy is bound to revolt again sooner or later.'
If it weren't for the fact that Agravain only wanted to talk and didn't care to listen to her, she would have wanted to persuade him to slay Lancelot as soon as possible.
The world was definitely targeting her.
"Lord, please protect the King, and do not let her suffer through so much pain and torment again." Guinevere could do nothing now but pray.
After all, she wasn't a combatant or a logistics support; she was just an expendable ornament within the Holy City.
"Gareth..."
As one of the few women among the Knights of the Round Table with a relatively gentle personality, Guinevere had been on quite good terms with her.
Until Gareth was killed by Lancelot.
The more she thought about it, the more guilty she felt, until Guinevere couldn't even focus on her prayers.
She simply stopped praying and looked up at the moon outside the slanted window.
The sky had turned completely dark, and the moon was out.
In the Sun King's territory, the markets had closed, and every household began to shut their doors and windows to prepare for the cold night.
Led by Nitocris, the girls went to the large bathhouse not far from the pyramid to bathe.
Meanwhile, the boys gathered together to discuss how to plan their future itinerary.
Among the locals brought out from the Holy City, only Saria and Luzelde were willing to leave with Daniel and the others.
The others had taken a liking to the stable and peaceful life on the Sun King's side and intended to stay and contribute.
So, those being hosted as guests were only Daniel and a few others.
Well... the treatment was quite good.
The girls at the front got to soak in a warm bath, while the boys could change into new clothes.
For Daniel, who only had a pair of sleeveless pajamas left after releasing his Demi-Servant state, this was great.
Of course, Daniel still refused the shoes.
After all, the clothes were simply sewn from high-quality new cloth, but the shoes were all used; who knew if someone had athlete's foot.
"Mr. Daniel, what will happen to you if this era is successfully foundation-restored?" Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly asked a question that had troubled him for a long time.
Although Luzelde didn't understand what they were saying, he joined in for the excitement, listening just for fun.
Bedivere also looked over with some concern.
"After the foundation is restored? No need to ask, I'll obviously be running away to leave this world," Daniel answered with a shrug. "I'm not a local; I'm an illegal resident without an identity. If I don't run, I'm worried the world will dispose of me as a foreign object while it performs self-repair."
"Eh? Running away?" Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at Daniel in shock.
"Well... actually, I have the ability to leave this world at any time. So, whether you mess up and cause the Human Order Foundation to fail, or successfully restore it, I have the ability to run to another world before this era finishes its self-repair," Daniel answered with a shrug. "Of course, if there's a chance, you'll probably meet a female swordsman with a similar ability in the future, except hers is passive, while mine is active."
"However, as a price, I seemingly cannot stay in a certain world for long. Well, in that regard, my ability is still very similar to that female swordsman's."
"...Alright, since the Human Order is already being incinerated, what is there left that's unacceptable?" Fujimaru Ritsuka gave up thinking and chose to let things be. "By the way, Mr. Daniel, who is that female swordsman you just mentioned?"
Bedivere, standing nearby, stared speechlessly at Fujimaru Ritsuka.
You can accept it, but I can't accept this reality!
"Musashi. Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu."
Chapter 20: Title-chan Decides to Sleep First Tonight
"Is he alright?" Bedivere looked with some worry at Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had curled up in a corner in self-isolation, then turned to ask Daniel.
"Don't worry, he's long since adapted to this situation," Daniel answered with a shake of his head. "It's just that suddenly learning that someone who was a symbol of his own country is actually of a different gender than recorded—it's just a bit hard to accept for a moment."
"Right, right? Mona Lisa is super perfect." Da Vinci-chan stood tall and proud to the side, looking very smug.
"Even though the inside is a middle-aged man," Daniel undermined him from the side.
"That's right, the inside is a middle-aged man. So, Excellency Daniel, would you like to go soak in the large bath with this old man?" Da Vinci-chan asked in a teasing tone, nudging Daniel's back with his elbow while grinning mischievously.
"I refuse." Daniel's expression froze, and then he refused sternly with a resolute face. "To be honest, I am a man driven by lust; what I can't stand most is the temptation of beauty."
"Even if I rationally know that Da Vinci-chan is just using a beautiful woman's appearance and is actually a teasing middle-aged man inside, the visual impact could easily snap my string of rationality."
"And, Da Vinci-chan, you probably wouldn't want to see the scene of a boy standing at attention to your body, right?"
"I don't mind, you know." Da Vinci-chan blinked, his smiling face and tone of voice filled with malice. "After all, my work is so perfect that even I, a universal man, am deeply obsessed with it, let alone others."
"Speaking of which, I remember Da Vinci-chan never married in life... and was even once accused of being inappropriate with a'same-sex assistant'." Mash suddenly changed the subject, sizing up Daniel as if assisting Da Vinci-chan. "Mr. Daniel's face is quite delicate, but an Eastern face probably isn't within Da Vinci-chan's strike zone, is it?"
"What a coincidence, my strike zone actually focuses on delicate and clean. Hmm—looking closely, Excellency Daniel's Eastern face is surprisingly suitable." Da Vinci-chan had a smile on his face, and it was unclear if he was joking or being serious.
But Daniel was truly a bit frightened.
If Da Vinci were using the body he had as a man in life, no matter what kind of beautiful youth he was, Daniel could guarantee he'd face it with a calm smile.
But now Da Vinci was using the female body of the Mona Lisa... the face was beautiful, and the figure was also superb. If such a lethal weapon were used for temptation... Daniel really didn't dare use his meager reserve of dignity to guarantee he could hold out.
After all, he was a 'Lecherous Super Person.'
So, in panic, Daniel couldn't help but hide behind Sanzang.
"Don't worry, I'm the Platonic type, I don't indulge in physical contact," Da Vinci-chan said with his eyes narrowed in a smile, kindly trying to persuade the Daniel who was attempting to avoid him.
A spiritual romance... that sounds even creepier!
Hearing Da Vinci-chan's words, the smile on Bedivere's face, who was watching from the side, instantly froze.
Platonic romance... he had seen that type of lovers before.
The final result of those two people's Platonic romance was the splitting of the Knights of the Round Table, the collapse of Camelot, and the fuse that turned the King into her current state.
"Da Vinci-chan!" Fujimaru Ritsuka immediately noticed the change in Bedivere's expression and quickly realized the reason for his sudden dejection, so he immediately called a halt to Da Vinci-chan's teasing of Daniel.
"Sorry, Bedivere, I didn't mean to say that." Da Vinci-chan paused, also realizing, and turned to apologize to Bedivere.
"It's alright, it has nothing to do with you." A lonely smile appeared on Bedivere's face. "I just suddenly recalled things from the past."
"It's better to think less about those messy things," Daniel reminded from the side. "Keep your mindset steady at all times, lest I tell you all the walkthroughs, only for you to change the final ending because something went wrong somewhere."
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind." Bedivere still maintained that smiling face.
Only, compared to before, it seemed even more lonely.
Mash and Sanzang were assigned to the same room.
After all, Da Vinci-chan's current identity was a fake, and the distinction between male and female was hard to pinpoint accurately.
So, to avoid the current somewhat awkward atmosphere, the two glanced at each other and, with perfect tacit understanding, both stepped backward, preparing to return to their room early.
As for who Da Vinci-chan would share a room with tonight... they expressed that they didn't want to know.
"Ah? Are you guys finished talking? Then I'm going to find Mama to sleep." Luzelde, who had long since fallen asleep because these people were always saying things he couldn't understand, suddenly woke up, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and stood up to head outside.
As a result, following the direction he left, everyone's eyes fell on Sanzang and Mash, who already had one foot out of the room.
"Mash?" Fujimaru Ritsuka murmured in a somewhat unbelievable tone.
How could you leave me alone and run away by yourself!
The resentment and sorrow within made Mash's heart skip a beat.
Shaking her head, Mash turned and ran away with an extremely resolute attitude.
I'm sorry, Senpai!
But the atmosphere just now was really too heavy; if she ran slowly, she feared she would...
-------------------------------
Hope you enjoy this fanfiction if you do and would like to read the next 50 chapters in advance, pls do check out my Patreon:
patreon.com/MariaLight
Also don't forget to give me a Power Stone if you do like this fiction. Your support really motivates me to continue doing my best in translating, Thanks!!