CHAPTER 493: DEEPER BOND AND INTRUDER

"..."

A solemn atmosphere replaced the previous noise and excitement, restoring the throne room to its original state, no longer loud or chaotic.

Now, the fairies knelt in unison throughout the room, lowering their heads toward the throne as if all the playful and malicious attitudes they had moments ago were just an illusion, leaving behind only reverence and submission as their queen arrived.

Of course, that included Tristan and Woodwose.

No matter how much dissatisfaction they felt about the wedding or how strongly they resisted it internally, the moment Morgan appeared, all of it was suppressed.

Needless to say, this was the kind of scene only a tyrant ruling through fear could create—an unchallengeable dictatorship that allowed no dissent.

Morgan cast a condescending gaze over the sea of kneeling fairies below her throne, and there was no affection in her eyes, nor the satisfaction one might feel upon seeing loyal subordinates—only a cold contempt that no one else could truly understand.

"Take a look at this, my husband."

Morgan paid no attention to the fairies under her command but spoke to Riezel beside her.

"After seeing this, do you still think my way of ruling is too domineering?"

It was clear that Morgan took to heart what Riezel had said to her earlier in this very place.

Riezel looked completely calm as if the wedding about to begin wasn’t even real and was just a performance—even his gaze toward the kneeling fairies was just as indifferent.

He understood exactly why Morgan said that.

Before the two of them appeared, he had clearly seen the attitudes and behavior of the fairies in this room.

Because Morgan couldn’t bring herself to leave the throne unattended, even when she stepped away to get dressed, she kept her magecraft lens active the entire time, keeping watch over the throne room.

She had stayed on her throne for years and rarely left it.

She didn’t even have a room outside of this throne room, which was why she had gone to the room prepared for Riezel to change and get ready.

Thanks to that, Riezel witnessed the entire situation in the throne room from start to finish, seeing how the fairies behaved. As a result, even though Morgan, who called herself his wife, had changed clothes right in front of him and let him see everything, he still couldn’t enjoy it at all.

Just thinking about how he had become a monkey for these cruel fairies to gawk at for amusement was enough for him to understand why Morgan ruled them through fear and tyranny.

Simply put, they didn’t deserve mercy.

"If you’re gonna do this, then hurry up and get it over with."

Riezel spoke with a flat, emotionless tone, clearly not planning to stick around any longer than necessary.

Morgan didn’t object, and in fact, she didn’t waste a single word as she immediately addressed all the fairies below with an air of total dominance.

"Since you followed my command and showed up for the wedding, I’ll offer you one line of appreciation—good work."

"As you can see, today is the wedding between me and the man I have chosen as my husband. I will officially become his wife here, and he will become the ruler of Britain, second only to me. He will be both a king and a prince."

"I will not allow any of you to oppose this."

"I will not allow any of you to feel dissatisfied."

"You will remember this—every part of Britain belongs to me and my husband. Without our protection, the Fairy Kingdom has no tomorrow."

Morgan’s declaration was domineering and forceful, as if those attending the wedding weren’t friends or allies but decorative background figures meant to sing and dance.

Naturally, the so-called envoys and officials of this country, already subdued by Morgan’s rule through sheer power, dared not voice a single complaint.

""We will remember Your Majesty’s instructions!""

All the fairies bowed deeply, their voices filled with fear and respect as they pledged their loyalty to the two royals on the throne.

"You may leave."

Morgan, remaining completely unmoved by any of it, gave a single command, causing the area directly in front of the throne to be cleared.

All the officials and envoys who had the right to attend the wedding moved to the sides, standing neatly in two rows.

Fairy Knights like Lancelot, Gawain, and Tristan stood closest to the throne on the left side.

Clan heads like Woodwose, Aurora, and Spriggan stood equally close on the right.

Only Riezel and Morgan could stand at the very center because only they were allowed to be on the throne, making them the undeniable center of attention.

"Officiant, step forward."

Morgan gave the order, and an elderly-looking fairy slowly walked up and stopped right in front of the throne, beginning the ceremonial procedure.

To be specific, it was a series of formal declarations, similar to a human wedding, offering all sorts of blessings, followed by praises and songs. Later, the couple was to exchange tokens, which meant exchanging wedding rings.

However, Riezel was only here for show and didn’t actually want to marry Morgan, so of course, he hadn’t prepared any rings.

Morgan understood this perfectly, so she had a fairy from the Wind Clan bring up a tray.

On that tray were two identical, finely crafted rings made entirely of platinum, each inlaid with jewels.

Riezel hadn’t paid any attention to the rings at first, but once they were presented before the throne, he was surprised to realize that these rings didn’t seem like ordinary items.

’Mystic codes?’

Yes, these two rings were ’Mystic Codes.’

Morgan seemed to notice the surprise in Riezel’s eyes and spoke from the side.

"I made these myself. They’re not quite as rare as the Tower or the Garden, but they’re just a step below that level. One of my proudest creations."

As she spoke, Morgan skipped any symbolic exchange rituals and simply picked up the two rings with her lace-gloved hand, slipping one onto her own finger and personally placing the other on Riezel’s.

"It’s yours now."

Something in Morgan’s tone made Riezel fall silent.

He could tell the power in the ring on his finger was far from ordinary.

Mystic codes, like magic items, were objects imbued with magecraft or magical effects that generally fell into two types.

One type was used to assist magi when casting magecraft, which could help reduce magical energy consumption, shorten chanting time, or even enhance the power and effectiveness of magecraft, making most magi hold these in high regard.

As for the other type, it was more like typical magic items, possessing built-in magical effects or abilities that activated upon use.

Riezel’s Divine Meloe, Origin Ring, Wyvern Amulet, Giant’s Glove, and even the Hero Clan’s treasure gifted by Lizbeth all belonged to this second category, while the ring Morgan gave him fell into the first.

Its function was simple.

Just like ’Mage’, it supported the wearer’s magic, either boosting its power or lowering its magical energy usage.

And as Morgan had said, though it didn’t reach the level of the Tower or the Garden, it was still among the finest mystic codes. In Riezel’s estimation, it could match the performance of his D-rank Mage.

Wearing this ring, Riezel’s magic output wouldn’t double, but it should increase by around fifty percent at the very least, which made him glance at Morgan again, his eyes now showing a subtle change as he looked at the tyrant queen.

Morgan, unfazed, lightly tapped her own ring against Riezel’s, and at that exact moment, he felt the strange bond formed between them due to the Stake growing much stronger.

It was like some ritual had been completed, which made this bond, already more powerful than an attendant contract, become even deeper and more unbreakable.

At the same time, a surge of knowledge suddenly rushed into Riezel’s mind.

It was a magecraft.

It was the power Morgan had decided to offer in exchange for Riezel staying in Camelot for one month, up until the wedding.

Now that the wedding was done, the two of them had officially become husband and wife in name.

Since the ’condition’ had been fulfilled, Riezel naturally received the power Morgan promised him—one of Faerie Britain’s ultimate weapons, a grand magecraft.

"You..."

Riezel’s gaze toward Morgan shifted once again.

He knew that the power Morgan intended to trade him had to be extraordinary—perhaps even one of the grand magecrafts she prided herself on, like the Mirror, Tower, Garden, or Coffin.

However, what he hadn’t expected was that the power Morgan chose to give him turned out to be that particular one.

It was indeed one of the four grand magecrafts, but among them, it was without a doubt the strongest one.

Yet Morgan actually handed over her strongest trump card just like that?

"That’s not all..."

Morgan spoke calmly as if she could read Riezel’s thoughts.

"Try feeling it again—there should be another change happening."

Upon hearing this, Riezel was momentarily stunned, then he turned his gaze toward the throne before him.

He could feel that this throne, infused with the magical energy submitted by all the fairies across Faerie Britain, each offering imbued with command spells, had now connected with him.

In other words, he could now use this throne and the magical energy stored within it.

What did that mean?

Riezel, familiar with the original story, looked at Morgan with an increasingly complex expression.

Morgan only faintly smiled at that.

"I told you. You’re also a ruler of Britain."

Needless to say, what Morgan meant was that since Riezel was a ruler, he had the right to sit on the throne and the right to use it.

"...Did you already know something?"

Riezel asked aloud, beginning to suspect that Morgan had foreseen her own fate in the original story, which caused her to plan ahead, leaving the throne’s authority in his hands as a contingency for when she was gone.

Unfortunately, Morgan said nothing and simply turned her back.

"I just wanted to let you know, even now, I’ve never regretted anything."

A rarely heard softness in Morgan’s voice reached Riezel’s ears.

"No matter what, this Britain belongs to me."

"I was fated to rule as the king of this Britain."

"Even if I don’t save the fairies, I’ll still save this Britain—that will never change."

Finished saying all this, Morgan turned to the high-ranking envoys standing below the throne and declared:

"If Britain is fated to have a true king, then that king will either be me or my husband—not some so-called Child of Prophecy."

"If the one who rules Britain can’t be me or my husband, it can be you—but it must never be her."

"Artoria, my sworn enemy from Proper Human History... I’ll never hand this Britain over to you."

"You understand?"

As these words left Morgan’s lips, the fairies kneeling on the ground hadn’t yet reacted, but a figure hiding in the corner suddenly trembled.

"!!!"

Seeing this, Riezel’s expression shifted slightly, and without hesitation, he activated teleportation magic, appearing right in front of that figure.

*WHOOSH!*

At almost the exact same moment, a torrent of overwhelming magical energy came crashing down, surging like world-devouring darkness, like a furious wave—its target was clearly the figure behind Riezel.

However, Riezel’s swift arrival caused the magical torrent to crash into him instead.

"Decompose."

Riezel extended one hand, as if to block the torrent like a mantis trying to stop a cart.

In the next second, crimson waves surged across his palm, colliding with the oncoming magical torrent.

*Buzz!*

As soon as the magical flood touched the crimson waves, it began melting like snow under intense heat, and within moments, it had been completely broken down—dispersed like a shattered tide, gone without a trace.

"W-What?"

"What just happened?"

"A fight breaks out?"

Such a sudden shift threw the kneeling fairies into panic.

Lancelot, Gawain, and Woodwose shot to their feet.

After glancing at Riezel, who stood protectively in front of the hidden figure, they turned to Morgan, who stood on the throne with her hand extended—the expressions on their faces began to shift.

"Ri-Riezel!"

At the same moment, the figure shielded behind Riezel instinctively cried out.

She was a girl wearing an elegant outfit with a hat pulled low over her face, seemingly trying to hide her identity on purpose.

Unfortunately, although Riezel had blocked Morgan’s attack, the blast of wind it stirred up blew her hat away, revealing her true face.

A delicate face with a trace of youthfulness, long golden hair, and a beautifully crafted staff in her hand—without a doubt, she was a magus.

Who else could it be but Artoria?

"It’s her!"

Woodwose recognized the so-called foreign magus right away and grinned, showing his fangs.

"It’s her?"

Gawain also seemed to recognize Artoria, but for some reason, looked completely shocked.

"Who?"

Lancelot frowned, clearly having forgotten this was the fairy girl who had been by Riezel’s side a month ago at the Cathedral of the Ash Tree and who had gotten caught up in her sudden assault back then.

As for Tristan, Aurora, and Spriggan, their reactions were all different.

Tristan didn’t know who Artoria was, but seeing the wedding interrupted, she actually started smiling.

Aurora kept her usual warm and gentle smile, looking completely unbothered by the sudden chaos.

Spriggan raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued.

Meanwhile, the rest of the fairies had noticed Artoria by now as well, but upon seeing her unfamiliar face, some looked surprised, while others seemed confused.

"Who is she?"

"She’s not one of us, is she?"

"An intruder?"

"Well... things just got interesting."

One fairy after another spoke up in excitement, and some even had a gleam in their eyes, clearly getting fired up.

"Riezel!"

Artoria, on the other hand, seemed completely unaware of how dangerous things had just been or how dangerous they still were. She simply looked happily at Riezel, who was standing protectively in front of her, and called out in delight.

But in response to that, what she got was a good whack on the head.

*Pa!*

Riezel turned around and smacked Artoria squarely on the head.

"Ouch!"

Artoria yelped, clutching her head and crouching down.

"What the hell are you doing here, you dumb fairy?"

Riezel looked at Artoria with nothing but irritation in his eyes.

"D-Dumb?!" Artoria protested loudly while still holding her head. "I came to save you, y’know?! Is that how you treat your savior?"

Upon hearing this, Riezel honestly wanted to crack open this dumb fairy’s head to see what the hell was inside.

’Save me? You?’

Riezel thought speechlessly, and Morgan, on the throne, clearly shared the same thought.

"I’m impressed you actually managed to sneak in here all by yourself. Guess I underestimated you."

Morgan looked down coldly at Artoria from her throne.

"But do you really think that, with only one Bell of Pilgrimage rung, you could walk into my palace and take someone out of here?"

Surprisingly, Artoria responded to Morgan’s words with unexpected calm.

"Queen Morgan..."

Artoria looked straight at Morgan, the queen who, for some reason, gave her a strange feeling, like they were similar yet different—the one prophesied to be her fated enemy.

In the next moment, Artoria made her declaration.

"Yes, it’s true. It’d be pretty hard to get Riezel out of here all on my own."

Somehow, she pulled out her hat from who-knows-where and put it back on, then flashed Morgan a big smile.

"That’s why I brought help."

As soon as she said this, something happened.

*BOOM!*

With a deafening explosion, the ceiling of the throne room suddenly blew apart, sending rubble and debris raining down on everyone below.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

Not stopping, the explosions kept coming one after another, blasting through all sides of the throne room and filling the air with waves of fire and thick smoke, covering the entire space.

"Watch out!"

"Fall back!"

"Your Majesty!"

Meanwhile, the Fairy Knights and clan heads all turned pale at once—some drew their weapons to protect themselves, while others rushed toward Morgan, smashing away the falling rubble from above.

In an instant, the entire throne room descended into chaos.