CHAPTER 491: CONDITION AND EXCHANGE OF POWER

Normally, this kind of forceful intrusion into Riezel’s body—something capable of interfering with him directly—should have been rendered ineffective by the physical interference immunity effect of ’Self Redemption’.

However, Morgan had already stated before that her ’Stake’ wouldn’t work on Riezel unless there was some benefit involved.

In other words, if there were a benefit, then the situation would be different.

—Can accept and enhance the effects of friendly buffs.

Needless to say, this registered effect listed under Self Redemption was the cause.

Morgan evidently had learned about this and thus developed a form of magecraft that allowed her Stake to affect Riezel by using a more indirect method—imposing a certain degree of restriction that he would accept.

And the result of that was the creation of the skill called the ’Stake of Oath’.

Riezel had vaguely suspected the mechanism behind it, and now that Morgan had personally confirmed it, it served as solid proof.

Still, there was something he couldn’t understand.

"Why are you doing this?"

Riezel stared straight at Morgan, as if trying to read her thoughts, and asked her this question.

"I mean, we’re enemies, not allies, and yet you gave me divine protection and even made a contract to share your power with me. What are you really after?"

Just to keep him in Camelot and marry him?

Such a reason felt completely absurd to Riezel.

He would rather believe Morgan had ulterior motives than accept that the witch who ruled Faerie Britain with cruelty went to such lengths just for a man.

Besides, as Riezel said himself, they were enemies, not friends.

They hadn’t even met face to face before, and yet Her Majesty the Queen was doing all this selfless stuff just to marry him?

What was she after?

No way it was just because she wanted his body, right?

While this thought crossed Riezel’s mind, he failed to notice the complex emotion that briefly surfaced in Morgan’s eyes—an emotion no one else could quite decipher.

Soon, the witch who ruled over winter spoke with indifference.

"Like I said, you’ll understand in time."

Hearing this answer again, Riezel stared at Morgan deeply.

"Alright then, let me ask a different question... What kind of power are you planning to give me in return?"

Riezel’s question made Morgan return his gaze just as deeply.

"You’ll understand in time."

Morgan repeated the same answer with a cryptic undertone, nearly making Riezel frown on the spot.

In the end, Riezel’s voice started to turn cold.

"You really think something like this can hold me back?"

It wasn’t a provocation.

Sure, Morgan had used some unique method to place a restriction on him indirectly, but Riezel wasn’t without a way to counter it.

Among all methods, the simplest was to use the Super-Tier Magic, Wish Upon a Star.

With that cheat magic, which could grant wishes, Riezel could easily wish to lift Morgan’s ’condition’, remove the Stake altogether, and sever the strange connection between them.

Compared to Sun Breathing or Divine Meloe, Wish Upon a Star was the real trump card in Riezel’s hand—his strongest option.

If not for the fact that using Wish Upon a Star required him to consume his own excelia, and in severe cases, could even cause his level to drop, he might have already used this Super-Tier Magic to purge the Stake from his body long ago.

Nevertheless, if push came to shove, Riezel wouldn’t hesitate to use it.

So what if he lost excelia?

He could just train and earn it back.

So what if his level dropped?

He would just level up again.

In the end, Morgan had no actual leverage over Riezel.

If she truly pushed him too far, he would absolutely use Wish Upon a Star to break free from the constraints of the Stake of Oath.

Meanwhile, upon hearing Riezel’s words, Morgan offered no rebuttal.

She didn’t even know about the existence of Wish Upon a Star, but—

"I know what you’re like. If you ever felt like your freedom was being taken away, you’d do whatever it takes to break out of that situation."

As she said this, Morgan’s tone clearly carried a hint of sadness, a bit downcast, like a little girl talking to herself while curled up in the corner of her room in the dark.

She truly understood Riezel well.

She knew that what he longed for most was freedom—a life without restraints, full of ups and downs.

At the very least, hearing Morgan’s voice at this moment, Riezel felt like she might even know everything about his previous life.

However, that feeling quickly vanished when Morgan’s indifferent tone returned.

"That’s why the condition I’m offering is that you stay in Camelot until we’re married. Not for your whole life."

If it were just staying in Camelot for about a month, Riezel probably wouldn’t have felt so strongly opposed—maybe that was what Morgan had in mind.

Besides, she couldn’t offer a condition that demanded Riezel remain in Camelot for the rest of his life since that kind of condition would be far too harsh, like imprisoning his entire future.

Even if Morgan offered an overwhelmingly powerful power in exchange, it wouldn’t have been enough to make it happen.

If the power offered in exchange was significantly more valuable than the condition, then the person proposing the condition could enforce it to some degree, but if the power was weaker or cheap in comparison, then not only would the condition lose its binding force, it might not even hold at all.

Otherwise, anyone could use an insignificant power to impose ridiculous terms on others.

Besides, if the level of restraint and restriction became too severe, turning the Stake of Oath into more of a burden than a benefit, and deeming it a negative, harmful thing, it might no longer affect Riezel at all.

In other words, the interference immunity from Self Redemption would be in effect, so the effect of the Stake of Oath could be nullified.

For this reason, when developing the Stake, Morgan had carefully considered all kinds of factors and added multiple restrictions to the magecraft, which was how the Stake ended up taking its current form, something that absolutely wouldn’t put Riezel at a disadvantage.

However, this only made it harder for Riezel to understand.

Why did she go to such lengths to do all this?

Putting aside the Stake of Oath for now—even just the fact that Morgan was willing to trade what was likely an incredibly powerful power in exchange for having him stay in Camelot for a single month—it didn’t make any sense to him.

He truly couldn’t figure out what her goal was.

Did she really believe that if they got married, he would obediently stay in Camelot and live happily ever after with her?

No matter what, she had lived for thousands of years, so there was no way she could still be that naive, right?

Unfortunately, Morgan didn’t seem like she planned on explaining anything further.

She only told Riezel one thing.

"The divine protection that comes along with the Stake... that’s part of my essence as a fairy."

"I gave up that part of myself a long time ago—but if it’s you, you should be able to make some use out of it."

"As for what it does, that’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own."

After leaving him with these words, Morgan said no more about the Stake, and then, as the supreme ruler of Britain, she gave her final declaration.

"Less than a month from now, the wedding will begin."

"Until then, take your time and enjoy Camelot."

"My dear husband."

===

*Thud!*

As Riezel left the throne room, the doors slammed shut.

Ignoring the fairy guards standing respectfully on either side, Riezel walked down the empty corridor, thinking about what Morgan had just said.

’Husband... huh?’

He thought he would feel uncomfortable being called that, but perhaps because of the Stake of Oath, he still couldn’t bring himself to feel any resistance toward the wedding with Morgan.

In fact, it even felt like something that was supposed to happen.

’...Did Morgan add that effect to the Stake on purpose? Or is it because the divine protection in me comes from the essence she abandoned?’

Riezel couldn’t figure it out and could only rub his forehead in the hope that his brain could provide an answer.

’Now that things have gone off the rails from the original story, figuring stuff out like this is way harder than I thought.’

Without the benefit of foresight, things didn’t feel terrifying, but they were definitely more troublesome than before.

Thankfully, Riezel wasn’t the kind of transmigrator who would become useless the moment he lost his advantage of knowing the future.

’A wedding in a month, huh?’

Riezel’s eyes flickered slightly.

’Alright then, let’s see what kind of mess this stirs up.’

===

Riezel had once again settled into a leisurely life in Camelot.

Lancelot and Gawain still dropped by from time to time, and their attitudes remained exactly as they had before, completely unchanged.

It was unclear whether they were entirely unaware of Tristan’s attack on Riezel or if they knew and just deliberately avoided bringing it up.

Tristan also stopped bothering Riezel altogether as if she had vanished without a trace.

Rumor had it she had been holed up in her room ever since and refused to come out, which showed that this violent Fairy Knight had taken quite the blow this time.

She had shut herself off from the world and didn’t even have the mood to visit the National Slaughter Theater in New Darlington like she usually did, which alone spoke volumes about how powerful Morgan’s slap really was.

Along with her, Beryl also seemed to have disappeared.

Riezel had deliberately gone looking for Beryl a few times but couldn’t find him anywhere. It looked like he vanished the moment Tristan shut herself away.

’What’s that guy planning?’

Riezel had a vague feeling that the guy was up to something.

Sure, his strength might not be all that impressive right now, but when it came to sheer brutality, he was even worse than Tristan.

No—actually, compared to Beryl, Tristan was nothing more than a paper tiger.

Riezel, who knew the original work well, was fully aware that Beryl was far more dangerous than Tristan, Woodwose, or even Morgan. He was the kind of demon that, if left unchecked, would most likely stab you through the heart from behind when you least expected it.

Given his special identity, Riezel paid closer attention to Beryl than to other powerful fairies like Morgan, Lancelot, or Gawain.

Beryl had probably noticed that as well, which was why he was smart enough to steer clear of Riezel.

Riezel had even tried using magic to track him down, but it still didn’t work.

’Guess I’ll just leave him alone for now.’

Riezel didn’t dwell on it too long and simply gave up chasing after Beryl.

After all, that guy’s real enemy wasn’t him—it was the ’outsiders’ who would soon arrive in Faerie Britain.

’They should be showing up any time now, right?’

Riezel couldn’t help but think this.

During his time in Camelot, with nothing better to do, Riezel had at least figured out what point in the timeline he was in.

It was roughly one month before the original story began.

In other words, one more month, and the story would officially start, and by then, the foreign traveler mentioned in the Mirror Clan’s prophecy would arrive in Britain.

Artoria, the Child of Prophecy, would be the first to meet them and form a bond with those like-minded companions who would join her on the path to overthrow the Queen.

In the original story, it was only after meeting that outsider that Artoria truly began her pilgrimage. One by one, she rang the Bells of Pilgrimage, setting off on the path to save Britain, rescue the Fairy Kingdom, and become the true king—the savior.

Now, there was only one month left before that moment arrived, and coincidentally, it would be just after Riezel and Morgan’s wedding.

’Will Artoria end up meeting those people like in the original story?’

Riezel truly wasn’t sure about that.

Because of his interference, Artoria hadn’t yet decided whether she would save Britain, but she had already rung the first Bell of Pilgrimage and gained a certain level of power.

With her current condition, Artoria probably couldn’t take on the Queen’s army just yet, but she should have more than enough strength to protect herself from all kinds of malice.

Whether someone like her would, like in the original story, be seen as too weak to be acknowledged by the fairies, fail to even reach the Bell of Pilgrimage, and end up so dejected she fled to the Nameless Forest and ran into those outsiders—that was hard to say.

Riezel just hoped that girl had enough sense to lay low after receiving his message instead of recklessly charging into Camelot.

Given what he knew about Artoria, if she found out he was in Camelot, there was a high chance she would come running straight into the trap.

If it came to that, he figured he would have to give her head a few good knocks.

Fortunately, the thing Riezel had been worried about never came to pass.

Time kept ticking by, the days passed one after another, and for an entire month, Riezel didn’t run into any more incidents.

And as time went on, the day of Riezel and Morgan’s wedding finally arrived.

===

Today, fairy nobles from all over Faerie Britain—every city and every territory—began arriving one after another in Camelot, entering the royal palace.

Meanwhile, the palace rang bells that rarely sounded, announcing to the citizens that today was the most joyous day in the two thousand years since Morgan’s ascension.

All the high-ranking fairies of noble status entered the palace and gathered in the throne room since the wedding between Riezel and Morgan would be held right there.

*Ding-Dong—Ding-Dong—Ding-Dong—*

As the pleasant chime of bells continued to echo, while it didn’t ring across all of Britain, it did resound throughout the entirety of Camelot.

"Is it starting?"

At this moment, everyone, whether they had openly come to attend the wedding or had arrived in secret, turned their eyes in the same direction.

Over there stood the most important throne in all of Faerie Britain—the place where the two most noble figures in Britain would be joined in marriage, becoming husband and wife.