"The oath is sealed!"
In the blood-soaked trench, surrounded by three corpses, Merlin declared the final words of the oath.
An invisible bond seemed to form between her and Suya.
And so,
She cast a gaze filled with ill intent upon Suya, who seemed oblivious to the unequal treaty he had just signed.
"Hmm, what to do next? Oh, right—"
A mischievous, impish glint flashed in Merlin's rose-red eyes.
With the oath sealed, she could demand anything from Suya. This meant she no longer needed to pretend; she could simply treat Suya as a slave.
A slave with the identity of a king.
This would be a grand magic, even more potent than the summoning magic of the Age of Gods!
However, such an act would undoubtedly be inefficient, causing the slave to feel angry and deceived, leading to resistance.
For a magus who would resort to any means to reach her desired Root, the correct approach was—
"Then, my King."
Merlin politely lifted her skirt, took a step back, and curtsied slightly like a lady.
"The most urgent matter now is to leave this place and return to the capital to inherit the throne."
"I await your decision!"
Until her goal was achieved, Merlin was not stingy with flattery towards the impostor who had just replaced the king before her, feigning ignorance of his true nature.
But, during this process,
Her gaze towards Suya was calm, scrutinizing.
If this person were a clueless idiot, blinded by excitement at having a beautiful magus steward, attempting to behave improperly towards Merlin, or treating her with haughty arrogance,
Merlin would immediately make him understand who the real master was!
However,
To Merlin's surprise,
After Suya stood up, he said nothing. He neither supported nor opposed her suggestion, merely gazing at her calmly with his emerald-like eyes.
"..."
Then came a long silence,
Which made Merlin feel a little uneasy.
Had this man never seen a beautiful magus before?
"My King, do you have any objections?"
At this moment,
The young woman's slightly anxious voice fell upon Suya's ears, as if she were truly a loyal subject eagerly coming forward to serve Suya!
But Suya had already read the genuine delight bubbling up from the depths of her heart from her slightly raised eyebrow and the fleeting hint of smugness in her eyes!
The true nature of this cool, arrogant magus girl,
Seemed to be completely different from the appearance she presented on the outside?
"No rush for that." Suya nodded, indicating he understood, then continued to silently gaze at the girl before him.
"No rush?" Merlin's brows furrowed instantly.
Outwardly, she remained very calm, fitting her persona as a dignified steward, but the smile on her lips had stiffened:
"My King, you may not quite grasp the situation."
"Then allow me to explain—"
"The enemies you killed, those two Macedonian scout cavalrymen, belonged to the Imperial Companion Cavalry. They communicate directly with the cavalry troop, and they operate in teams of three."
"As far as I know, they rendezvous every 10 minutes, and killing two scout cavalrymen means that their captain could discover something amiss here at any second."
"Therefore—"
"The enemy you will face will be a professional-grade assassin!"
"Professional-grade? Assassin?" Suya slightly furrowed his brow, finally hearing a term he was somewhat familiar with.
This 'assassin' you speak of, is it the kind I'm thinking of, a class called Assassin?
Merlin patiently exhaled a sigh, explaining rapidly:
"That's right, with your current strength, you absolutely cannot defeat such an enemy, so—"
However, at this point,
Suya shook his head, interrupting her with a bitter smile,
"None of that matters."
"You..."
Merlin's words choked in her throat, utterly exasperated. She increasingly couldn't understand what this person was thinking.
You can't win, yet you won't run. What are you trying to gain?
"My King, now is still..." Merlin still wanted to persuade him.
"Listen to me, Merlin." Suya shook his head again, interrupting her once more, and said gravely,
"I don't know if I truly have a court steward, nor do I know the meaning of my standing here. In fact, when you said you would honor me as king, I almost wanted to laugh."
Suya turned his head and looked at Arthur Pendragon's corpse on the ground, silent for a moment, then laughed self-deprecatingly:
"People expect a strong, noble king, one who can lead them to defeat powerful enemies and achieve prosperity and peace."
"Wouldn't it be better for that guy to be king?"
Upon hearing this, Merlin was momentarily stunned.
What did he mean?
Didn't he just stab him to death? Why is he putting on an act now?
Suya continued his performance.
His eyes gazed blankly around the battlefield, his gaze finally resting slowly on the back of his right hand.
There, a scarlet dragon crest was visible.
Staring at this royal mark of the Pendragon family, Suya let out a deep breath, as if he had instantly been isolated from the world. He mumbled to himself, alone and dazed:
"I clearly wanted to save him..."
"But why did he give me this crest?"
"Clearly... he was more suitable..."
And at this moment,
Watching the three parts collapse, three parts confusion, three parts bitterness, and ninety-one parts agony on Suya's face.
He looked like a ruined king who had sung "Clearly" nine hundred and ninety-nine times, then put on a mask of suffering and cried out, 'All is broken, my love forever lost.'
Merlin's heart instantly throbbed wildly!
At this moment, she couldn't see a single trace of falsehood in Suya's expression!
And this Suya made her consider a terrifying possibility—
He,
Perhaps he wasn't the impostor she believed him to be.
He might be—
The true son of King Uther!
The new King of Britannia!
She couldn't help but stare blankly at the place where Suya's sorrowful emerald eyes were fixed,
Looking at the dragon crest imprinted on the back of Suya's hand!
Then,
The strange scene she had just witnessed in her mind overlapped with the boy before her!
It seemed... it seemed...
This guy indeed first stabbed Arthur Pendragon with a sword, then suddenly began to flail his limbs, looking like he regretted it and wanted to save him, pleading, "Don't die!" as he tried to rescue Arthur Pendragon.
At that time, the guy almost attracted the Seleucids, which gave her quite a fright, so Merlin remembered this scene particularly vividly.
And the crest on this guy's hand was indeed—Arthur Pendragon had willingly grabbed his hand just before dying, as if readily giving it away, and finally even entwined their fingers passionately and held them up.
In the world of magi, the transfer of a magic crest, which is inherited through generations, cannot be taken forcefully if the person themselves does not consent. Such a thing, like an 'organ,' is very difficult to 'deprive.' Even if forcibly deprived, it would result in incomplete or incompatible magic circuits and the collapse of the crest.
And now,
The magic crest Merlin saw on the back of Suya's hand,
Undoubtedly,
Showed no signs of collapse or damage.
Then the meaning and complex relationship behind this… could it be that Arthur Pendragon was the fake? A substitute who carried the crest to conceal the truth of the royal bloodline's incompetence?
Thinking this, Merlin couldn't help but gasp!
Her expression suddenly became somewhat pained—
If Suya was the genuine article, then forming such an overreaching oath with the genuine article meant she was playing with fire. If the royal family or knights loyal to the new king discovered this, this forcibly signed oath could easily be corrected or erased,
And what she would face...
Would be a kingdom-wide hunt by Britannia and the pursuit of various inhuman monster knights!