"You acknowledged her identity?"

"Yes."

After briefly explaining the situation, Ethan was surprised to find that Arthur had chosen a course of action never seen in any version of the legends.

He didn't deny her identity, nor did he get involved with numerous other children of the same age. After confirming Mordred's identity, Arthur directly acknowledged her as his child.

"Wait!"

After listening for a moment, Ethan suddenly caught the key detail.

"Child?"

"Mm."

Arthur wasn't surprised Ethan noticed. In his memory, his old companion had always been quick-witted. "Perhaps my sister was disturbed while casting the spell, which caused some issues with it. She didn't end up giving birth to a son as she originally intended."

After all, he had studied various versions of the legends and even unofficial accounts. He had always been wary of his sister. So, the moment something felt off, he immediately sensed it and personally led his knights to Morgan's place, intending to stop her malicious actions.

Unfortunately, Arthur was a step too late. By the time he arrived, Morgan's spell was already in its final stages. Though it affected the spell's effectiveness, it didn't break it entirely. It only caused a deviation in the final outcome.

Faced with the situation, Arthur didn't force Morgan to abort the child, nor did he abandon the child. Instead, he allowed the child to be born and raised her with care.

Mordred, King Arthur's illegitimate child and niece, in the commonly known stories, was born after Arthur's half-sister Morgan le Fay used special means to bewitch him—either by taking advantage of his drunkenness and using drugs to make Arthur mistake her for Queen Guinevere, or by using magical illusions to deceive him.

Of course, in another world, Mordred was an artificial human created by magic—because in that world, Arthur was a woman, so the above methods wouldn't have worked.

The world Ethan was currently in seemed closer to the mythological version of King Arthur, and Morgan's knowledge of magic confirmed this.

However, what he never expected was this: Mordred had turned into a girl? Friend, did you wander onto the wrong set?

"Is it because she's a girl that you acknowledged her?"

"That is indeed a factor."

In this era, the chances of a girl inheriting the throne were very low. Of course, the key point was that Arthur was confident he could prevent his child from repeating the "old path."

"Seems like you've done a good job so far."

Still, straightening out a rebellious child was no easy task.

"I've come to understand that as well."

Hearing this, Ethan already guessed what kind of favor Arthur was about to ask. It was nothing more than sending Mordred out to gain experience and giving her a proper education. Perhaps after broadening her horizons, she would mature quickly.

"I hope you can teach her just like you once taught me."

Ethan was momentarily stunned and didn't respond. Bedivere, standing beside them, was already shocked.

As one of King Arthur's closest knights and a member of the Knights of the Round Table, Bedivere's abilities were unquestionable, and his intellect was certainly intact. He immediately understood what Arthur meant.

"Your Majesty!"

Arthur raised his hand to stop Bedivere from saying more.

"Loholt doesn't have the ability to govern this country. Mordred's potential is much greater."

Although Morgan's spell had gone slightly wrong and turned a son into a daughter, it wasn't entirely a bad thing. The unstable magical energy nearly killed the unborn child, but the fetus that survived the ordeal actually benefited from it, gaining extraordinary talent—akin to being strengthened by magic from birth.

From the moment she was born, Mordred naturally possessed magic. This magic continued to grow as she matured. When she reached an appropriate age, she learned to control it from her mother, and her strength rapidly increased.

Although Mordred was still young, she had already become one of the strongest among the Knights of the Round Table, rapidly earning recognition through her exceptional power.

This was vastly different from the Mordred in the legends, who never enjoyed such status or influence.

Ethan suddenly recalled what Arthur had told Merlin earlier: that he would pass the throne to a worthy individual at the appropriate time.

"You think Mordred is suitable?"

"How will we know if she is, unless we try?"

Arthur didn't know if Mordred was suitable, but he was willing to give his daughter a chance. At the very least, Mordred had already shown extraordinary talent. If she could continue developing, she might become a knight even more outstanding than himself. But whether she could become a great king, he was uncertain.

One thing was clear. If Mordred continued to stay with Morgan, she would never become a competent ruler. That's why Arthur wanted to send Mordred to Ethan, to walk the path he had once taken—to broaden her horizons and gain experience. It would help her understand deeper truths, and also prevent her from relying too much on her strength. Ethan had far too many people who could easily suppress her.

Once her strongest trait was no longer her trump card, she, like Arthur had once done, would start to see the flaws that her strength had previously concealed.

If she could correct those flaws, Arthur would be more than willing to give her a chance. Handing over the throne wouldn't be a problem. As for any opposition? By the time Arthur achieved his goals, his personal prestige would have peaked. No one in the kingdom would be able to question his decision. His daughter inheriting the throne would be a minor issue.

"Anyway... Britain is destined to be ruled by a queen in the future."

Arthur ended the conversation with that joke. Ethan slowly made his way back to the room that had already been prepared for him.

As expected, he saw Diana.

"Judging by your expression, did Arthur give you a troublesome task?"

Ethan waved his hand. Neither of them were ordinary people. Today, they hadn't fought, hadn't undergone any high-intensity training, and hadn't engaged in certain other activities, so they weren't tired at all, even without resting.

"Not really. I'm just a little surprised. Looks like my influence on this world is pretty significant."

If he hadn't come to this world, Merlin wouldn't have had the idea to take Arthur traveling. Without going to other worlds, Arthur wouldn't have known about the King Arthur legends and his eventual fate. Without that foresight, he wouldn't have been so cautious around Morgan, and he wouldn't have been able to alter Mordred's birth at the critical moment.

In that case, Mordred would have been a "normal boy" like in the legends. And because of Merlin's warning, that this child would destroy the kingdom and because Arthur wouldn't have known which child it was, he would have exiled all the children of that age group. Mordred would have grown up outside, then returned to Arthur's side as a knight.

In the end, just like in the legends, he would rebel while Arthur was away fighting Lancelot and attempt to seize the throne. Arthur would be forced to return to face Mordred's rebellion, and the two would clash at Camlann. Mordred would die in that battle, and Arthur would be fatally wounded and die shortly after. The kingdom he had built with his own hands would fall apart.

Of course, given how things had developed so far, that ending was no longer possible.

Especially since Arthur had even asked him to take Mordred out for "training." As long as Mordred met Arthur's expectations, she might become the kingdom's first heir and inherit the throne when Arthur saw fit.

For whatever reason, Mordred now had no reason to rebel. In fact, she should do her best to maintain King Arthur's rule, unless she didn't want the throne at all and was dead set on destroying the country her father had built. But if she really did that, even her mother Morgan wouldn't support her.

"Aren't these changes a good thing?"

Diana was well aware of how the King Arthur legend played out. After hearing about the changes from Ethan, she didn't feel there was anything wrong. In fact, she thought this kind of "happy ending" was far better than the original story, where almost everyone died.

"Everyone got what they wanted. Isn't that great?"

"I think it's pretty good too."

Ethan didn't dwell on the matter. Sometimes, when he entered a certain world, what he wanted most was simply to change the ending that had left him feeling uncomfortable in the first place.

As for how much his interference had caused the plot to veer off course, that was the least of his concerns.

So far, aside from the Diablo world he had visited early on—where he had been just a bystander and hadn't changed anything—every other world he had entered had been completely derailed from its original storyline.

"Then what are you worried about?"

"I was just thinking... if Mordred joins us too, won't there be too many kids on the ship?"

Strictly speaking, Laura could no longer be called a child. But Ethan still habitually saw her that way, based on his past perspective. He had earned plenty of eye rolls for it, but he still couldn't shake that impression.

Even Sherry had grown a lot. She was getting closer and closer to the agent version of Sherry from the sixth game of the Resident Evil series in his previous life.

However, this question was clearly directed at the wrong person. Upon hearing it, Diana simply patted the empty spot beside her, then gestured for Ethan to come over.

"I actually think there are too few kids on your ship. You could use a few more."

(To be continued.)