To become a king and a magician

"Continue to observe. Although he is an acquaintance of the master, he is a magician, and betrayal is commonplace for him."

"I know that, but..."

After hesitating for a moment, Atalanta looked at Aozaki Aoko, who was also looking at the revolving restaurant through binoculars.

"Qingzi, what are you doing here?"

"Nothing much, just here to scout out enemy positions... Why did Orange have to leak my and Tiger's story to Lydia? She's making things difficult for me. I was planning to go on a food tour with Tiger tonight... Tch!"

Aozaki Aoko's words clearly revealed her resentment towards her older sister. If she were told where Aozaki Touko was now, she would probably rush over and fight to the death. This was probably a common occurrence between the two sisters.

"But... that's quite a clever plan, Lydia. She's made herself up so beautifully, and wearing such a revealing dress. Tiger, where are your eyes looking? She's not even as old as me. Wait till I teach you a lesson..."

Listening to Aozaki Aoko's incessant mutterings and growing resentment, Atalanta couldn't stand it anymore and looked behind her: "Aren't you going to do anything about your Master? The Queen of the Land of Shadows."

“That’s quite interesting.” Scáthach seemed to enjoy watching the drama unfold. “How to manage one’s time to be with multiple women is, in a sense, one of the many qualities of a warrior. After all, an excellent warrior will naturally attract women. I’d like to see how that elf is capable in this regard.”

"That's it, Rei. Can I hand over the surveillance duties to Aoko and go back to your place first?"

"No, let's be patient a little longer, Ata."

"Haa..."

With a helpless sigh, Atalanta looked back at the revolving restaurant and saw Natsukawa Tora chatting happily with Lydel. Suddenly, she had an urge to shoot him in the head.

————————————————————————

Atalanta and Aozaki Aoko were secretly watching.

Natsukawa Tora and Lydia gradually started communicating more. Although they hadn't seen each other for five years and there was some awkwardness between them, it quickly disappeared after they talked about each other's lives.

After taking another sip of wine, Lydia smiled and said, "So you've had so much going on over there... It must have been really tough for you in every way."

"It's alright. Actually, I don't do every task that the old man Gem gives me. Sometimes Aoko happens to be there, so I just let Aoko do it for me."

"Qingzi..."

After mentioning her old friend's name for a moment, Lydia suddenly changed the subject: "Speaking of Aoko... Orange told me something quite interesting before."

"Orange... Ah, is it the thing you mentioned in the letter about needing to verify its authenticity?"

"Well, because I'm really concerned, I wanted to ask the person involved if it's true or not. After all, the truth of that matter is quite important to me, mainly because it involves some family issues."

"So what is it that you want to confirm?"

Lidel swirled her wine glass and asked Natsukawa Tora with a serious expression, "Tora, Orange said... in that other world, you lived with Aoko for four years and even became lovers... is that true?"

“Hmm…that’s right.” Natsukawa Torara nodded. “It was about four years ago. At that time, I encountered a rather troublesome situation that I couldn’t handle alone. I was also ambushed and unable to use magic. Aoko could use it because of Meryl’s magic, but she needed magical energy to maintain Meryl’s spell, so…”

"Magic replenishment, is that it?"

Lydia couldn't help but feel a little helpless. She had thought the two of them had naturally come together, but it turned out that they had accidentally jumped to the finish line...

"Nahu, do you like Qingzi?"

"I like it," Natsukawa Tora laughed. "I like it in every sense of the word. Speaking of which, is this what you wanted to confirm?"

"Yes, because the person I like was suddenly taken away from me without my knowledge. Of course, I can't just stay silent and pretend I don't know. I have to ask him for an explanation, right?"

Lydia said with a smile.

Upon hearing her words, especially a particular sentence, Natsukawa Tora's smile froze for a moment, then his eyes widened slightly: "Lydel... what did you just say?"

"Huh? Didn't you hear me? I said the person I like was taken away."

"The person you like...Aoko?"

"Pfft~~~" Lydia couldn't help but chuckle. "Why do you think it's her? Couldn't it be you? Or are you knowing full well, but deliberately playing dumb to try and fool us?"

"..."

"It seems to be the latter. Do you find it incredible that I like you?"

Xia Chuanhu spread his hands: "To be honest, I was shocked... I never thought you would like me. I don't think I've ever done anything that would make you like me."

"You stole my first kiss, and you still say you didn't?"

"First kiss... That time on the plane in Paris, that was this guy's doing, right?" Natsukawa Torato poked his chest, hinting at Sajō Aika inside him, "That time?"

"That time. If I had to say, you didn't really do anything. It's just that I gradually became attracted to you during our time together, and there were also some self-interest factors involved."

Lydel gave a wry smile: "Becoming a priest at such a young age, apprenticed to Aozaki Touko, the prized student of Lord El-Melloi, with individual combat strength comparable to a Servant—there are probably only a handful of mages as outstanding as you in the whole world, let alone the first generation of mages. If your bloodline could be integrated into the Archerlot family, what kind of offspring would be born? Nobody dares to imagine."

"Furthermore, considering your relationship with the Mineral Family, a marriage alliance with you would also be beneficial to the future development of the Plant Family."

"Because of these factors, I eventually came to like you—that's how I'd describe it if I had to."

55. Straight ball attack

The truth revealed by Lydia left Natsukawa Torama speechless for a moment.

There are two reasons why she would like herself.

On one hand, she was bothered by the fact that her first kiss had been stolen, and on the other hand, she gradually developed feelings for him during their cohabitation.

On the other hand, there were various considerations as both a magician and a monarch.

"What? Disappointed?" Lydel said, as if mocking herself. "Actually, five years ago, when you were in Misaki City, I was thinking of finding an opportunity to bring you back to the Archerlot family. I would use any excuse, as long as I could let you meet the elders in the clan first, so that they wouldn't keep urging me to get married every day."

"Does a plant monarch also get pressured to get married?"

"A monarch isn't such a great person. While being a monarch, I am also a member of the Archerlot family. I have to consider the survival of the family. Besides, I was almost thirty years old at that time, and the family often recommended some excellent young magicians to me."

The new generation representative of an ancient family, a genius magician who has reached a high level at a young age, a descendant of a magician whose family has declined but whose bloodline is ancient and excellent... In short, she is sent on a blind date.

"And then what? Didn't you meet anyone you liked?"

“I turned down most of them, and only went to appease my family. Even if I went, I think none of the excellent magicians were as good as you. The most obvious reason is that none of them are as good-looking as you.”

Lydia's overly blunt evaluation made Natsukawa Torama unable to hold back, and he chuckled, "You really think too highly of me."

Thinking about it carefully, this assessment isn't wrong. During that period, Natsukawa Tora's appearance was almost indistinguishable from Arthur's, and with Arthur's prince-like looks, not just anyone could compare. It's no wonder that Lydia didn't fancy anyone else.

"Of course, appearance is only part of it. The most important thing is that they are all people with ulterior motives: those who covet the Archerlot family's wealth, those who want to use my power to revive the declining family, those who simply want to use my reputation to promote themselves... you name it."

"From a magician's perspective, I don't think there's anything wrong with their thinking. There are countless people like them in the magic world, and I also know quite a few female magicians who married men like that."

Ultimately, the magicians who went on blind dates with Lydel weren't interested in Lydel herself, but rather in the "Monarch of the Plant Family" and the "Head of the Archerlot family."

"If it were me in the past, I probably wouldn't have looked down on those people so much, but unfortunately, I met you before I met them. From the very beginning, you never cared about my identity, right?"

"Whether I'm a globally renowned idol, a descendant of the Clock Tower's prestigious family, or a monarch of the plant family, you've never cared about any of these identities of mine. You've always treated me as just an ordinary person, [May Lydel Acherlot]."

Lydia liked this about Natsukawa Tora; she didn't need to wear a mask or pretend in front of him. The days she spent living with him in that apartment were the most relaxing time of her life.

“Lydel…”

These were her true feelings, and Natsukawa Tiger could tell. He had never realized that Lydia evaluated him in this way, nor had he realized her opinion of him.

"Hmm, it feels much better to say it out loud... but I'm a little disappointed that you haven't responded at all. Even though my motives weren't pure, I genuinely like you and have waited for you for five years. Don't you have any thoughts on this?"

"My feelings... I have so much to say, I really don't know how to express it. Do you want me to act all touched and respond to your confession right now?"

“Then I’ll kick you aside and dump you; that wouldn’t be like you at all,” Lydel laughed, then her face darkened. “Before the Holy Grail War even started, my clan came to pressure me to get married again. They really have perseverance to keep going all these years…”

"And then? What was your answer?"

"I'll come back to get married after the Holy Grail War ends. I don't need you to arrange anything for me; I'll find the most suitable person myself." After making such a bold statement, I came to Japan. My original plan was to bring you back after the war, but who would have thought that Orange would suddenly tell me some devastating news about you and Aoko...

Natsukawa Tora smiled somewhat awkwardly: "I'm really sorry... How about I go with you to Archerlot's house and put on a show?"

"Tiger... I want to smash this table over your head right now, really."

Perhaps she had drunk too much, Lydel stared at Natsukawa Torama with flushed cheeks: "Marry me, Torama. Right after the Holy Grail War ends."

"Huh?"

The impactful words left Natsukawa Tora momentarily stunned.

marry?

And Lydia?

[Fox spirit...do you dare agree?]

(Aige, please don't interrupt...)

After giving a perfunctory reply to the boastful Sajō Aika, Natsukawa Torara rubbed his temples: "Um... Lydia, are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking? By the way, this time you're not allowed to play dumb like before. Yes or no, that's your only answer."

"Of course, I won't let you break up with Aoko. It's acceptable for a man to have one or two wives or concubines... This is my biggest concession."

Lydia spoke with great conviction, but behind that conviction, one could sense that she was putting on a brave face, and her hand holding the wine glass trembled slightly.

Calling out the man she's secretly loved for years to propose to him must take all the courage a woman needs, and she probably needs the help of alcohol to finally make up her mind.

Thinking about it carefully, Lydia seems to be almost forty years old, right? He was already almost thirty when they met, so many years have passed, he should be approaching forty.

The two met about nine years ago... She has spent about a quarter of her life waiting for him.

"Can you jump from being close friends of the opposite sex to getting married all at once?"

It felt like a close male classmate from high school suddenly calling you to the back of the school building and confessing his feelings to you.

After a moment of silence, Natsukawa Tora shook his head: "I'm sorry, Lydia. Your proposal... I cannot accept it."

56. It wouldn't make sense without some bloodshed.

Refuse.

Hearing Natsukawa Torama's serious reply, Lydia wasn't too surprised; in fact, she probably expected it.

Even so, a sense of loss still welled up inside me...

"Can...tell me the reason?" Lydia's voice trembled slightly.

"Is it because my motives for wanting to get married aren't pure? Or is it because I'm not as good as Aoko? Surely you don't think I'm an old woman who's almost forty, do you?"

Lydia knew that these guesses were all wrong. She could roughly figure out why Xia Chuanhu refused her. Even though they hadn't seen each other for five years, he might have undergone some changes that she was unaware of, but Lydia still had some understanding of his nature.

And it is precisely because that is his nature that he will not agree.

“It’s not for those reasons, Lydia,” Natsukawa Torato replied. “I understand your difficulties, and you’re in no way inferior to Aoko. As for age… I remember you and Aoko are the same age, right? I’m with Aoko now, do you think I would care about that?”