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Gawain and the others left the room. He seemed worried in his capacity as a guard, but there was no chance the goddess would do anything to Arthur. She might do something to him in another sense, of course, but that would be more than welcome.
In any case, they were alone now. Arthur had been the one to order it, yet the realization brought all his nervousness rushing back. Had she been put off by such an obviously ulterior-motivated command? He glanced sideways at her.
“W-we’re all alone now, aren’t we?”
Levia looked down bashfully, both hands resting on her knees as she fidgeted with nerves. The sight knocked Arthur down yet again. How many times had this happened now? If this were boxing, he was getting dropped so often the audience would be booing him for being hopelessly weak.
No. He could not take any more of this. If it continued, he would cease to be himself. He would burn away completely. Before that happened—before that happened, he had to say it.
His love.
“L-Lady Levia!”
Arthur grabbed Levia by both shoulders and shouted.
“I shall speak plainly! I want you to marry me!”
A declaration of love. He had already sent Gawain ahead with the proposal, but something like this still had to be said properly in one’s own words.
“Today convinced me! I can think of no one but you! There is no woman more wonderful than you! Please, become my wife!”
It was a cry straight from his heart. At his confession, Levia’s cheeks turned red and she murmured, “Lord Arthur…” in a small voice. For an instant, the corner of her mouth seemed to twitch, but surely he had imagined it.
“Hehe, what a passionate man you are. I may be lacking in many ways, but if you will still have me…”
“Oh! Lady Levia!”
Arthur embraced her, and she let out an embarrassed, “Ah! Really, Lord Arthur…” He felt a shiver run through her, almost as though she had broken out in goosebumps, but judging from that reaction she simply was not accustomed to men. Every little gesture she made was unbearably endearing.
Arthur pulled back slightly and gently brought his face closer. He intended to kiss her.
But Levia wrapped her arms around him again and cooed, “Lord Arthuuur…” Apparently she was reluctant to let the embrace end. Arthur trembled with joy at being wanted and broke into a grin at how adorable she was. For a moment he thought he heard a faint “Ueegh…” but his hearing must have been acting up from all the tension.
From there, Levia took the lead and they settled into full-on lovey-dovey mode. Arthur sat on the sofa while Levia leaned against him at his side. They exchanged sweet little lines like, “Lord Arthuuur.” “What is it?” “Nothing at all,” and, “L-Lady Levia.” “Hehe, you needn’t call me ‘Lady.’” “I-is that so? Then… L-Levia.”
It was the sort of innocent interaction one might expect from students. Arthur did not mind it at all. Quite the opposite. It felt as though he were finally reclaiming the gray youth he had never had.
“Lord Arthuuur.”
“What is it?”
“There is actually something I would like to ask of you.”
“Haha. What might that be? Go ahead, ask me anything.”
Her first request of him. What could it be? If she wanted a ring, there was no need to worry; Arthur fully intended to prepare the finest one money could buy.
“Well, Lord Arthur… you have a brother, don’t you?”
“You mean Kay? What about him?”
“When I think about marrying you, there is one thing about him that I simply cannot stop worrying about.”
Worrying about him…? Arthur almost felt a pang of jealousy at the wording, but immediately realized that could not be what she meant. She was probably concerned that his relatives might oppose the marriage.
“Hehe. There is no need to worry. Kay will surely give us his blessing.”
“That isn’t what I mean. I’m worried about the succession.”
Ah, that. Arthur understood. Kay, as the eldest son, should originally have been head of the family. If Kay were to have children, there might be people who supported them instead—in other words, Levia feared a succession dispute. Perhaps something similar had happened in the Gran family.
But there was no need to worry about that. Arthur and Kay had already discussed it. Once Arthur had a child of his own, Kay would formally renounce his right of succession.
Not only had Kay handed leadership of the house to Arthur, he was even willing to give up his succession rights for his sake. Arthur could not have been more grateful for his brother’s determination to support him completely.
“Haha. There is no need to worry. Kay will—”
“So I would like you to slip this into your brother’s food.”
Levia smoothly produced a small bottle from inside her clothes and handed it to Arthur. Wondering what it was, he looked down at the bottle in his hand. What he saw was—
a grotesque skull symbol.
A pirate flag had nothing on it. The skull was disturbingly realistic, with nearly half of the original face still attached and blood pouring from its mouth. The image practically radiated the message, I will absolutely kill you!
“Th-this is…”
Arthur turned toward the woman beside him, trembling, only for her to continue with a pleasant smile.
“We should eliminate future sources of trouble. For the sake of our future together.”
This was the one concern Levia had been worrying about.
Even if she gained the status of a count’s wife, the source of her authority would still be Pendran blood. Lord Kay possessed that blood and, more importantly, was the man who should originally have inherited the house. If something were to happen to Arthur and Kay rebelled, plenty of people would side with him. Levia could hardly allow that.
Unaware of any of this, Arthur was horrified. It was not the first time someone had said such a thing to him. He had heard the same argument many times since becoming lord.
Naturally, he had rejected every such suggestion. He trusted Kay, and he had always sensed a faint malice from the people who advised him otherwise.
Yet, astonishingly, he sensed none of that from her.
Arthur was still young as a head of house, but he had nevertheless survived the treacherous world of nobility. He took pride in having seen through countless calculating schemers. There was no possibility that someone like him could fail to see through the acting of a teenage girl. Which meant this had to be genuine goodwill. Just as he had suspected earlier, something similar must have happened within the Gran family.
“W-wait. Please, wait. Kay is not that kind of man. Kay has always—”
“Perhaps Lord Kay himself is not. But what about his wife? What about the people around her?”
Kay’s wife. Arthur had spoken with her often enough as family, but never about anything like this. He had believed that an agreement between the brothers was sufficient where succession was concerned, and that Kay would speak to her himself if necessary. So…
“A woman may lose her head over a man, but that is comparatively rare. A child, however, can drive her to it very easily. If Lord Kay were to die, his wife would surely make the claim herself: that her child is the rightful heir to House Pendran.”
…It was not impossible.
Arthur knew of no such case among the people close to him, but disputes like that occurred in noble houses all over the world. There was no guarantee it could never happen here. And so he hesitated.
Levia was not one to let an opening like that pass. She climbed onto Arthur’s lap and gently cupped his cheeks in her hands, then looked directly into his eyes and whispered softly.
“I am doing all of this for you, Lord Arthur. Your noble bloodline must be preserved. I am asking you this even knowing you may hate me for it.”
Her smile was soft, almost like that of a mother looking lovingly at her child. At the same time, there was a sensuality to it that made Arthur acutely conscious of her as a woman. The atmosphere left him dizzy.
G-goddess… If the goddess says so, then… No! I cannot kill Kay… B-but the goddess says she is doing it for me…
Arthur struggled with himself internally. He was plainly beginning to lose his grip on reason, but he had no awareness of it. That was simply how overwhelming Levia’s charm had become.
“Lord Arthur… You are a wise man. Surely you understand…?”
“Y-yes… perhaps…”
“That is right. There is no need to think so hard. Simply act as you wish, as your feelings tell you.”
“As my feelings tell me…”
His eyes gradually went unfocused. Feelings. What were his feelings? Dear to him. Precious. He wanted to love her. He wanted to be loved. What did he need to do to be loved…? He had to kill Kay… But…
Arthur was sinking deeper and deeper into Levia’s allure, yet some small part of his reason remained and fought desperately against those swollen emotions.
To bring that struggle to an end, Levia brought her tempting lips close to Arthur’s ear and whispered as though delivering the final blow.
“Lord Arthur…”
“Ah… Levia…”
Arthur shuddered.
A beauty capable of bringing a kingdom to ruin. The last remnants of his reason produced those words. But he could not resist. He did not want to resist. Doing as she said was surely happiness itself. That was what he wanted…
Arthur had fallen completely into Levia’s trap. He was entirely in the palm of her hand. Levia leaned toward his ear once more to finish the job—
“You venomous woman!!”
BOOM!!
The door was kicked off its hinges, and Gawain charged in with sword in hand. Apparently he had been listening from outside, and his face was twisted with fury.
He immediately swept his sword sideways at Levia. She evaded it with a light backflip and landed on the opposite side of the table.
“Sir Gawain, would you mind not interrupting? We are in the middle of an important conversation.”
“Important conversation, my foot! You would tear two brothers apart! I, Gawain, will never permit it!”
“A lowly knight like you may not understand, but I am making a proposal with the greater picture in mind. Isn’t that right, Lord Arthur? What do you think?”
“Y-yes… perhaps she is right…”
Still caught in Levia’s influence, Arthur answered in a vacant voice. What was right? What should he do? Where was he? Who was he? Tell me, Goddess.
Seeing his lord plainly out of his senses, Gawain flew into a rage and attacked Levia. Sharp slashes came at her one after another, but she avoided every one with acrobatic movements. After several exchanges, Levia retreated behind Arthur and wrapped her arms around his neck to taunt Gawain.
“Hehehe. You can’t attack me from here, can you? Now, Lord Arthur. Order Sir Gawain to stand down—whoa!”
A thrust.
The sword passed directly beside Arthur’s head. Levia barely managed to duck out of the way in time.
“Y-you bastard! Don’t you care whether Arthur lives or dies?!”
“I would never make such a mistake! Look at him! Lord Arthur has not moved an inch! He trusts me completely!”
That was Gawain’s claim, but of course it was wrong. Arthur was simply too dazed by Levia’s charms to react.
Gawain continued thrusting, while Levia kept dodging from side to side with Arthur caught between them. It looked rather like an unusual game of whack-a-mole.
Arthur still did not move in the slightest. Even lethal attacks passing directly in front of his face failed to make him flinch. Apparently Levia’s charms had become dangerous in more ways than one.
“It’s over!”
A sharp horizontal slash came for Levia as she popped up above Arthur’s head. Apparently deciding she would not have enough time to drop back down with gravity alone, Levia jumped backward instead. She immediately took a defensive stance, only to notice that Gawain had stopped moving.
“L-Lord Arthur…”
Gawain’s eyes were wide with shock.
Something brown was flying through the air. It happened to fall near Levia’s hands, so she caught it reflexively. What’s this? she wondered, then looked up—and froze as well.
…Arthur’s head felt strangely cool. What was wrong? It was almost as though something that ought to be there was missing…
Still dazed, Arthur puzzled over the strange sensation. Gawain looked at him in confusion and spoke.
“L-Lord Arthur. I… I had no idea. You were, um…
wearing a wig.”
…A wig?
Wig…
WIG?!
Arthur snapped awake instantly.
He patted his head frantically with both hands, but the sensation he expected was nowhere to be found. “Huh?! What?!” he cried as he rubbed and stroked it, only to feel bare scalp beneath his fingers.
“Fuhahahahaha! A wig! IT’S A WIG!!”
A vulgar laugh erupted from behind him. Arthur turned to see Levia pointing at him and laughing hysterically, the wig in her left hand.
“Wha—wait—”
“Y-you cheated, asshole! You had a secret weapon like that hidden away…!”
She covered her mouth, shoulders shaking as she desperately tried to stop laughing, but apparently it was impossible.
“E-even Tanaka had some left on the sides! You’re completely bald! Y-you have to tell someone about that beforehand! That’s grounds for divorce!”
Levia collapsed onto the floor clutching her stomach, laughing so hard she kicked her legs. She was completely defenseless, but the utterly unexpected turn of events had left Gawain too stunned to take advantage of it. Before long, perhaps drawn by the commotion or summoned by the butler, several voices could be heard approaching from the hallway.
This was bad. Arthur could not let anyone see him like this. Not even the Twelve Knights or Kay knew his secret. When his hair had begun thinning enough to alarm him, he had acted immediately and spent a fortune having something made that was indistinguishable from the real thing. Having it exposed now would only make the whole thing even more embarrassing.
“G-give it back! Please, give it back!”
Arthur stretched an arm toward Levia behind the sofa, his voice thoroughly pathetic, but she was just barely out of reach. Seeing him reduced to such a sorry state only made her laugh harder.
“A-are you trying to kill me…?! Officer! There’s a murderer over here! He’s trying to make me laugh myself to death!”
Levia stood and headed for the door.
Still holding the wig.
She appeared to have forgotten about the marriage entirely. Or perhaps it had simply dropped far down her list of priorities. There was a deeply malicious gleam in her eyes now, one that practically announced, I’m telling everyone.
Arthur reached out desperately, trying to stop Levia for several different reasons, but failed and tumbled onto the floor. Seeing that finally brought Gawain back to his senses.
“Ah! L-Lord Arthur! Are you all right?! Are you injured—”
“Forget that! Go after her! Chase her down and get it back!”