Artorius?!
Another prince? Another son of Uther?!
The crowd erupted in uproar—Artoria's identity was too shocking to ignore.
...and whispers about King Uther's immoral life fanned the flames of scandalous gossip.
"I'm sorry. Although you have drawn the Sword of the Chosen and, according to prophecy, perhaps I should acknowledge you as king, your origins are too strange. As a son of Uther, I refuse to recognize you as the new king," Artoria said seriously.
Arthur, however, didn't seem angry at all—he wore a casual, friendly smile.
"Well, there's nothing I can do about it. After all, only a few know my true identity. But I do know you. You were sent to Sir Ector's household to be raised at five years old. It's no surprise you don't know I exist."
First, acknowledge your opponent.
Instead of hiding, it's better to affirm the other's identity.
Just as Arthur expected, after a brief moment of astonishment, the crowd's gaze toward Artoria subtly shifted.
It was no longer respectful curiosity for a knight's squire, nor the fear and hostility inspired by an inhuman being.
This was the seed Arthur planted in their hearts with his painstaking words.
The inhuman king—one beyond mere mortals—was always destined to be the Chosen King with absolute power, according to Uther's plan.
But Artoria is a red dragon, not a human.
If you are not human, you can never be like humans, nor truly belong among them.
"Artorius," Arthur said softly.
Why did he have to intervene? If he had remained silent, none of this would have happened.
But it didn't matter. Even if she is a real red dragon, what does it matter? Now that he wielded the Sword of the Chosen, he could no longer lose the kingship.
The rules of victory had long been set.
"That's not right, my sister—the Princess of Camelot, Artoria Pendragon."
"——!"
The false identity and disguise were exposed so easily?!
Not only Artoria, but Merlin was stunned.
It's true Merlin prophesied the Chosen King and King Uther's death ten years ago. But the outcome—the death of King Uther—was a destined inevitability. The Ideal King plan began fifteen years before Artoria's birth.
After she was born, her identity was deeply hidden.
Now, besides Artoria herself, only three people knew the secret: Merlin, Ector, and Kay.
The secrecy was impeccable—even Morgan was kept in the dark.
But Arthur… how did he know?
No matter how he learned it, the key now was how to respond.
This was the critical point.
There was no doubt Arthur's move struck at the heart of Artoria and Merlin.
Being a woman was a fatal weakness.
It wasn't that Arthur opposed the queen's claim outright.
Though British tradition forbade female kings, the infusion of Roman legend and customs softened the public's resistance—especially with benefits to the realm.
Rather, in these turbulent times, the people needed a brave king to lead resistance.
"Women are not as strong as men" was common sense in this era, and subconsciously, few accepted a female king.
Furthermore, if Artoria was female, wouldn't it be more legitimate for Morgan, the eldest princess, to take the throne?
If Artoria's gender had been revealed from the start, Morgan would have been nominated long ago.
There would not have been a ten-year vacancy on Camelot's throne.
"There's no need to prove this point. It's meaningless," Arthur said, pointing at Merlin. "Besides, Merlin, I'm very angry. Your specialty is illusion, but you'd better not do anything unnecessary. You raised my sister as a man and deprived her of the life she deserved. If not for my father's orders, my sword would be pointed at you now."
Now that Arthur had decided to act, he would act thoroughly.
If they didn't shatter Artoria's heart now, it would only lead to bigger trouble later.
With this thought, Arthur looked to Morgan. He knew nothing of magic and could neither tell when Merlin would lift the illusions nor remove the permanent [cognitive distortion] magic on Artoria.
Morgan's help was needed for both defense and breaking the spell.
But Morgan didn't grasp the seriousness of it. The naive girl didn't know how Arthur had discovered the secrets; she only thought he looked handsome now.
As a result, she barely heard Arthur's words, staring at him with starry eyes, muttering nonsense like, "Hehehe~ My little Arthur is so handsome, it's amazing~!"
"...Ahem! Sister, Sister!"
"Ah? What's wrong?"
Morgan looked around in panic and confusion, as if waking from a dream. She nervously approached Arthur and whispered, "Have you won? Or should I fight Merlin?"
No, can you beat him?
The sky cleared, the rain stopped, and Morgan felt she could function again.
Arthur didn't want to see Morgan get beaten by Merlin again when the weather turned sour.
Morgan wouldn't want to lose face.
Being beaten in front of so many people without the power to help—how could that be called strength?
"Arthur…"
Agravain saw everything. Morgan's reaction made the knight doubt his life—and piqued his curiosity about Arthur, his strange brother.
If things kept going like this, would that troublesome woman be more honest?
Agravain looked at his nominal mother with undisguised disgust.
Tsk, trouble.
"Sister, don't talk nonsense," Arthur said, embarrassed. "You just need to stop Merlin from casting illusions on people. Also, Artoria seems to be under a magic of cognitive distortion. Can you remove it?"
"Oh? Oh! Got it. No problem. Easy."
Morgan paused, then recited a spell that made Arthur frown.
On the other side, Artoria had no time to react, and Merlin could only watch helplessly as the magic lifted.
When people looked again, Artoria was still a handsome young man.
Though dressed in men's clothes, it was clear a beautiful girl stood there.
...Although her feminine features seemed a little... pitiful?
People looked at Morgan, then Artoria, and whispered.
"Your Highness Artoria, you are so pitiful."
"It's all Merlin and King Uther's fault."
"...Your Highness is still young and has room to grow. You'll be as great as His Highness Morgan someday."
That's for sure!
Arthur couldn't help but nod in agreement.
But isn't Lancer Artoria charming?
What he wanted wasn't just the Quilt King.
Even if he couldn't wield it, it was still pleasing to the eye.
Arthur hated Merlin and Uther for trying to mold Artoria into a British tablet and condemned them fiercely.