NOVEL WEB Chapter 32: Chapter 32: He Never Deceived Me
It was clearly a vibrant spring, yet it felt so cold.
The grass and trees were withered and silent, as if they were dying.
From the thin clouds, a few rays of cold sunlight shone down.
The girl stood in the green field, her deep green eyes gazing at the distant forest on the horizon.
Her soft golden hair, still like that once-splendid wheat field, swayed in the wind.
Only this time, there was no one to admire it.
...A sword.
The girl named Artoria held a sword tightly in her hand.
It was a wooden sword, covered with mottled scars.
It was the one he often used.
The grip of the hilt had become smooth from use. Holding it in her hand, she could almost feel the warmth the other person had left on it.
Although she knew in her heart that it was an illusion, she still wanted to seek that false comfort.
Unlike the swords in her own hands, which always broke, his sword never broke.
He just used this wooden sword every day, day after day, patiently teaching her.
Artoria caressed every nick on the sword.
The rough touch was like the scars of time past.
...
"I did those things, yes, but..."
"I'm sorry, but I am not a knight, nor do I like being called one."
...
"'A good person'... huh? What a heavy word."
"In a world like this, that's hardly a comforting blessing..."
...
"We're the same age. You can just call me by my name."
"A normal address is fine. Just like that, try saying it...
"—'Alvin'."
...
"Becoming a knight doesn't require anyone's acknowledgment, Altoris."
"If you grip that sword in admiration of another's virtue, you should first ask your own heart: what is it you wish to protect by becoming a knight?"
...
"A sword that cannot kill cannot hope to protect anyone."
"If the path is wrong, persisting ten thousand times is a futile act... Today, I will make you understand this."
...
"I'm happy to be your first friend, Altoris."
"Not only that, you will have more and more friends in the future. Don't be too hard on yourself."
...
"People live for the pursuit of 'peace of mind'."
"No one is born with a purpose. No one is born to be a king, Altoris."
"In other words..."
...
"—Become a person before you become a king."
The echoes lingered in the girl's thoughts.
Her deep green eyes stared blankly at the distant horizon.
Become a person...?
That's so hard to do.
Without your light to guide me, I can't do it...
Those sharp sword edges.
They were... the gentlest things in this world.
"He will come to see me. I am certain of it.
"I want to hear his answer, face to face."
With a firm voice, the girl replied to the magus.
So, she did not leave, but chose to stand here and wait.
Artoria waited, waiting for the person who came to practice with her every day.
He had never missed an appointment.
However, until the faint morning light also gradually dimmed, turning into the hazy, sickly light of an afternoon shrouded in gray clouds, he did not come.
"...He's not coming."
A gentle voice sounded slowly in her ear.
The regretful tone was like a sigh, yet also like a lament.
The white-haired magus's figure appeared beside the girl, gazing with her at the distant forest. The warm smile on his face was as kind as ever.
"Whose emotions do you think you are waiting for, Lily? That is the heart of the son of the Vile King Vortigern...
"—He is not human."
The incubus's voice was light and airy.
Like a thin mist, it instantly dissipated in the sighing wind.
"..."
Artoria was silent, her palm tightening slightly.
The magus raised his eyes to the pale, cold sunlight of the spring afternoon, a faint, pleased curve appearing on his lips.
Soon, that gentle, guiding voice continued to sound in the girl's ear.
"Alvin Pendragon...
"Last night, I followed him, watching him flee to the west.
"You know what that direction means, don't you... Lily."
Indeed.
The girl knew all too well.
The fortress city in the center of the island, the once-glorious capital of Britain, had now fallen into the hands of the Vile King Vortigern.
Is that... his home?
"Your senior is truly full of surprises. He actually noticed my spying and chose to attack me.
"That swordsmanship... it's really amazing."
"..."
The girl remained silent.
The only sound was the creaking of the sword hilt being squeezed.
Having fought with Su Shu for so long, she could of course recognize the sharp sword wound on Merlin's face.
Dark, still, like a deep shadow.
Undoubtedly, it was... his style.
"Well, it's just a small wound. Don't worry about me, Lily~"
The magus smiled gently.
The curve of his lips accordingly became more pleased.
He wanted her to see it.
So, the incubus deliberately chose not to use an illusion to cover his wound.
"Unfortunately, I wanted to keep him and question him, but he escaped. It's very close to Londinium, so I couldn't pursue him any further.
"At this moment... he already knows he's been exposed.
"One Vile King Vortigern has already thrown Britannia into such turmoil. If news of the White Dragon's child's emergence were to spread, knights from all over the island would come to surround and kill him.
"Alvin Pendragon...
"—If you were him, Lily, would you choose to come back and walk into a trap just to see your fated rival?
"No... such a foolish act. Do you really think your senior, the Pale Silver Star, doesn't understand the stakes?
"Perhaps he is already gathering a large army and marching this way.
"Give up your fantasy, Lily."
"..."
The girl remained silent.
That hesitation, that sorrow, that indignation...
And the emotions that surged like a tide, wanting to question him.
All brewed in that silence.
Like sour water, it slowly seeped from the bottom of her heart.
She slowly, slowly closed her deep green eyes.
"Alvin, his target...
"—from beginning to end, was you, Lily."
To make her the ideal king, a little white lie like this shouldn't matter, right?
Besides, ninety-nine percent of what I said was the truth~
Thinking this with pleasure, the incubus let out a soft sigh on the surface.
His tone accordingly became one of bitter lament.
"Do you think your meeting was a coincidence?
"Do you think just anyone can spar with you, the child of the Red Dragon?
"Do you think there's a reason why he was so patient with you, of all people?
"Do you think you know for what purpose he instilled those words in you?"
With each question Merlin asked, his voice became higher, the content sharper.
"—Alvin Pendragon, that cunning man, he tried to wear down your will, make your spirit lazy, and crush your resolve to become king, Lily!
"He tried to pull you over to the Vile King Vortigern's side!
"You can remember, can't you...
"—Remember how he deceived your emotions with those fragmented words."
Remember...?
Looking back, the girl thought in a daze... indeed, she should have noticed it long ago.
"I'm not a good person. If you think that, you'll regret it sooner or later."
...Regret.
The hints in those words.
Those details that were almost plain to see.
His sword moves, his origin, his face, his...沁人 words.
It's just that she didn't want to think about it.
From the bottom of her heart, she was avoiding that possibility.
Alvin... Senior...
That smile.
—Was it all a disguise?
Her hand holding the sword was trembling.
"Lily, face reality..."
The incubus sighed softly.
A mist flowed in his violet eyes.
"Alvin Pendragon..."
Savoring the girl's rich despair and sorrow, as one would savor the beauty of a flower, the incubus sighed deeply, with great pleasure and intoxication.
"—He deceived you. He is a liar."
Clatter.
The wooden sword she was holding suddenly fell.
The silver-haired boy reached out, subconsciously wanting to catch it.
And then, the sword passed through his transparent wrist—
It fell gently to the ground, kicking up dust.
"Merlin, you know what."
The girl gently opened her eyes.
That pair of translucent, jade-like eyes were, as always, pure and clear.
The deep green lake was rippling slightly, as if about to overflow.
But she tried hard to suppress that tide-like, unspeakable sorrow.
Artoria just smiled.
She wiped the corner of her eye and said with a gentle smile.
"When I close my eyes, I have a fleeting illusion.
"It's as if Senior is standing in front of me, just like before..."
Her voice fell.
That faint, pleased smile suddenly froze on the incubus's lips.
The wind sang softly.
In place of the boy's hand, it gently caressed the girl's cheek.
"I have this feeling, although it sounds a bit mushy to say, Merlin...
"—I feel that Senior, he is watching me."
"..."
It was finally the incubus's turn to be silent.
He gave a bitter smile.
Merlin couldn't accurately describe the sense of loss he felt at this moment.
No longer pleasant, no longer sweet.
Only a shameful, indescribable bitterness, like having done something wrong.
For the first time, the incubus felt his own foolishness.
This Garden of Avalon, this world-detached ideal land, actually had something it could not isolate.
"He will come. Senior will definitely come...
"Even now, I still firmly believe it.
"He never deceived me. I don't believe he would deceive me.
"Because he said—"
The dark clouds drifted leisurely.
A clear wind suddenly blew from afar, gently kneading the accumulated clouds like a cotton candy.
It suddenly revealed the original soft, blue-green sky of early spring in Britain.
Bathed in this clear sunlight, the girl named Artoria, with a smile that bloomed like a flower, said with a laugh.
"He said he would watch me grow into a person with his own eyes.
"Please watch carefully, Merlin.
"I will prove this to you."
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