Wryneck and Toneriko talked for a long time—about the future of Fairy Britain, about war and peace, about whether Uther could become the first true ruler of Fairy Britain. They spoke calmly, unlike before, when any mention of Uther would set Wryneck off. It was real progress.
"...Uther's in his twenties, right? At most, he has ten years left," Wryneck said, frowning. "Are you planning to have a child with him to inherit the throne? You know that's impossible—whether you're a human like him or a fairy like you. Even Mab couldn't pull that off."
"...I could use magecraft..." Toneriko weakly retorted, but immediately sensed Artoria's dark mood beside her. Artoria had opinions about her relationship with Uther but said nothing, just radiated pressure.
Wryneck, his wits now fully online, rolled his eyes. He seemed to have noticed something between the two.
"If you ask me, you'd be better off letting this human beside you become Britain's ruler. She's from that pan-human history, right?" Wryneck said seriously. "And my instincts tell me—she's extremely powerful. If you're going to have a child to inherit the throne by magecraft, it'd be best with her."
"W-what are you talking about?!" Toneriko, for all her theoretical knowledge, had no practical experience, and Wryneck's offhand remark left her flustered.
Artoria, on the other hand, was quite calm. She just glanced at Wryneck meaningfully and gave him a nearly imperceptible nod: You've got potential.
Truth be told, Artoria much preferred this pure-hearted Morgan. If possible, she'd rather Toneriko not get tangled up with that short-lived Uther, who, to make matters worse, might even be a parallel version of her father. If those two got together... it'd be a hellish joke.
Incidentally, the hellish joke was a term Artoria had picked up from Aoko, and she found it very apt here.
She didn't want Toneriko's relationship with Uther to get any closer—she'd rather make a move herself. Artoria, as a mature and open-minded king, had no qualms about stealing a woman. Even Lancelot on her timeline was slain by her hand—Uther was nothing by comparison!
Not that she'd interfere with the coronation or kill Uther, but she'd look for a chance to win Toneriko over. Artoria already knew Uther's ultimate fate—if she did nothing, Uther would inevitably be poisoned to death by Aurora.
Neither Artoria nor Aoko felt any guilt about that. You couldn't morally manipulate them. The only thing that pained Artoria was knowing Toneriko would have to face Uther's death and the collapse of her ambitions—but it was inevitable. The fairies would never accept a king who could only live thirty years; sooner or later, Uther would die.
As for having a child together someday, Artoria thought it was no big deal. She'd already had Mordred with the evil Morgan in another timeline, and now Morgan/Toneriko was a paradise fairy with a great personality. If Aoko could bring her back to pan-human history, it'd be perfect.
While Toneriko's mind was in a jumble, Artoria quietly sat down beside her and comforted her by resting a hand on her thin shoulder. But instead of calming her, it only made Toneriko's heart pound faster, leaving her dizzy.
Wryneck, with his high emotional intelligence, tactfully excused himself to give them privacy.
Meanwhile, Aoko, snacking in her room and watching via surveillance, was quite pleased with Artoria's swift progress. This strategy fit her plans perfectly and had Artoria's approval—a win-win.
Toneriko was incredibly stubborn; Aoko had tried several times to suggest draining the Phantasmal Tree and entering the Queen's Calendar, but Toneriko always refused. Deep down, she still couldn't let go of Britain, built on a pile of corpses.
Aoko suspected Toneriko might be too influenced by Morgan's memories. In pan-human history, Morgan and Artoria were at odds because the fate of the island's ruler was at work. Now, with Morgan's memories, perhaps the same attachment to the land was affecting her.
The best way to resolve emotional entanglements is to use a new emotion to replace the old one. Fairy Britain wasn't worth that much devotion. If their super knight king could unleash her irresistible royal charm, winning over this little girl would be a piece of cake.
Artoria, with her delicious pastries and tea, chatted with Toneriko late into the night. The king's mature worldview and life experience were just too powerful—though nothing happened, Toneriko ended up falling asleep on the sofa with her head in Artoria's lap.
— Divider —
"The coronation isn't far off. We need to speed up our plans," Aoko said to everyone after breakfast. "I need to head north to find a fairy who's extremely important to all of us."
"Who is she?" Toneriko asked curiously. "A fairy of the King's Clan?"
"No," Aoko shook her head. "She hasn't been born yet, and strictly speaking, she's not even truly a fairy. You could call her a mimic."
Though Toneriko didn't understand, she didn't ask further. Instead, she obediently sat next to Artoria—seems Aoko's taming strategy was almost complete. Artoria's beauty trap was just too powerful. If Toneriko wasn't still fixated on the coronation, she'd have run off with Artoria by now.
"So, for this mission, I need you and Artoria to come with me. Wryneck and the others will stay in Salisbury in case anything happens."
No one objected to Aoko's plan. Consort Yu had already gone off to nap in the Ark World, and Pepe should have arrived in Norwich by now. He'd just sent word yesterday saying he hadn't found the fake fairy called Spriggan, so everything seemed normal for now.