I, Guinevere, am going to crush you, you curry stick, today!

Looking at the girl in front of her, who had been carried back by Merlin by the scruff of her neck, Guinevere rarely showed such a blank and uncharacteristic expression: "This, this, this..." She stammered for a long time without being able to utter a complete sentence.

And on the other side.

"Come on, Lily, introduce yourself."

Merlin said in a very serious tone.

Then, the fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, wearing a white off-shoulder dress, with her blonde hair tied up in a black bow, and for some reason also wearing black stockings, stood there awkwardly for a long time before finally raising her head.

Her eyes, moist and trembling like a deer's, looked cautiously at Guinevere, who stood blankly by the bedside.

"Nice to meet you... I... I'm called Lily, and I'm... I'm... I'm..."

At first, only her ears were red, but between those two sentences, the girl's face quickly flushed red, making her look like a bright red apple. Guinevere stared back and forth between Merlin and the girl who called herself Lily, speechless for a long time.

Nemia, lying on the bed, mumbled something under her breath, then rolled over and slept soundly. Of the people present, only one magician seemed to be enjoying himself; Merlin even clapped his hands to draw their attention, then said with a smile, "Let's end the introductions here. Lily, you really need to work on your shyness. But never mind, business is business. Do you remember what I just told you?"

"I..." For some unknown reason, the girl's cheeks, already flushed red, turned even redder, as if they were about to bleed. "I...I remember, but..."

"Hey, we're all girls, what's there to be afraid of?"

Merlin, still smiling, spread his hands with feigned helplessness and turned his gaze to Guinevere: "You see, this child is just too introverted. Actually, it's not a big deal. I just told her how to temporarily lift the dragonification curse from your body."

"that is it?"

Guinevere's tone was full of suspicion as she asked the question, while still secretly glancing at the blushing girl beside her.

"of course."

The silver-haired woman nodded and answered with complete composure, "To be precise, it's not a removal. Lily has a special constitution that allows her to withstand a portion of the curse without being affected. So, by exchanging bodily fluids, the cursed magic can be guided out, and you'll naturally return to normal before your magic is fully restored. How about that? Not strange at all, right?"

"Wait, I feel like I just heard some unavoidable words... the exchange of bodily fluids, how exactly does that work?" Guinevere reached out to stop her, recalling certain scenes from a game she had played... She just hoped she was overthinking it.

But even this small wish fell through.

"That depends on how far you intend to go." Merlin grinned like a mouse that had stolen cheese, glanced at the two of them, and shrugged. "But my personal suggestion is..."

"Let's start with kissing."

……

P.S.: Remember to vote! A new chapter is about to begin. Artoria is temporarily leaving the stage. As for who this mysterious new character is, it's really intriguing! (serious face)

Chapter Seventy-Five: Achieving a Small Harmony in Life

"that……"

A seemingly long silence followed. Although there were four people in the room, the only sound was the girl's soft breathing. Then Guinevere raised her hand and pressed it to her temple: "I'm hungry."

"Ok?"

Seemingly taken aback by the girl's sudden, seemingly unrelated remark, Merlin, who had been smiling and waiting for a good show, was momentarily stunned. The girl in the white dress beside him was even more clueless; she remained ostrich-like, her ears burning red as she peeked out from her hair, clearly having heard nothing Guinevere's words. A full half-minute later, she finally looked up, blinked, and asked, "Huh?"

“I’ve slept all day and I’m hungry,” Guinevere added. “Anyway, I’ll go downstairs and get something to eat first. As for how to lift or transfer the curse, and this… this Miss Lily, we can talk about that after I’ve eaten.” She stood up from the bedside, put down her comb, and reached for the cloak hanging on the wall. But Merlin blocked her way with his staff: “Wait, are you just going to leave like that?”

"It's alright, the cloak covers you."

"But the shop owner probably can't understand what you're saying, right?"

“I can gesture with my hands, and I can point,” Guinevere replied, shaking her head. At this moment, Lily seemed to finally realize what was happening. Although her face was still flushed, she was finally able to utter a complete sentence: “Merlin is right, it’s very inconvenient for you like this. Let me go get some food. Finn…”

"Cough cough cough. Yes! Princess!" Merlin coughed loudly on purpose from the side.

Lily suddenly realized: "Ah, may I ask what Your Highness would like to eat, or is the usual thing fine..."

"Cough, cough, cough!"

As Merlin's coughing intensified, Lily abruptly changed the subject: "...I mean, I don't know what you usually like to eat?"

Guinevere felt her eye twitch violently: "Then... I'll have to trouble you?"

"it is good!"

The girl in the white dress nodded vigorously, turned around, and dashed off. In the blink of an eye, she was already a blur. Her speed was so fast that one might think she was running away—and in fact, she probably really was.

Once the person left, only the wooden door remained, swaying back and forth and creaking occasionally. Nimiao on the bed turned over again, and the afterglow shone on her somewhat pale face, and also fell on the two people facing each other.

"So... what is this doing?"

A gentle breeze spread, confirming that the girl in the white dress was downstairs talking to the shop owner and wouldn't be back for a while. Guinevere then sighed softly, "I think Al was practically ready to cleave a hole in the ground with his sword and disappear... Is it really worth putting her through all this trouble?"

"What?! My supposedly flawless disguise was recognized by you so quickly?!" The silver-haired woman exaggeratedly covered her mouth, her face full of surprise.

The girl rolled her eyes: "I'm not stupid. Besides, even though the clothes are different, the voice hasn't changed much at all..."

"Haha."

Merlin dropped his exaggerated expression and chuckled softly, "Isn't this quite nice? After seeing Artoria dressed as a boy so often, it's nice to see her in a different style sometimes. Or perhaps you don't like her current look?"

“That’s not it…” Guinevere smirked, answering rather spinelessly. As for Artoria’s gender, after Merlin’s hint, it was clearly no longer an issue for either of them. But she hesitated for a moment, then asked, “But I still don’t understand why you made Artoria dress as a woman and go through all that trouble to have her impersonate someone else…”

"What if I told you that the reason I did this was simply so that you two wouldn't mind kissing, and even more so, exchanging bodily fluids?" Merlin said with a radiant smile that concealed his true identity.

“Thank you so much for your kindness and thoughtfulness.” Guinevere returned a sweet smile. “So, what’s the real reason?”

"The emergence of the Tower of Radiance will definitely attract a lot of attention, and countless eyes will be watching. At this time, if Artoria—King Arthur—is also here, it will be very bad, extremely bad. To give an example, it's like Merlin's limited-time gacha pool is about to open tomorrow, but you have neither money nor stones—not good. Sigh, although I myself don't know exactly what this gacha pool thing means, don't mind it, just get the gist!"

Merlin waved his hand: "So from now until the Tower of Radiance appears, the boy named Artorius will remain in North Wales. And by your side will be only a pitiful young girl, Lily. That's the main reason—"

Hearing this, Guinevere understood. Indeed, unless they knew beforehand that Artoria was a girl, almost no one would associate such a teenage girl with King Arthur. But then she worried, "Will this fool everyone? As far as I know, many magicians seem to know how to predict the future..."

"You don't need to worry about that. Don't forget who's standing in front of you."

Although her tone remained flippant and leisurely, her words carried an air of domineering arrogance. Indeed, this was the renowned Merlin, whose fame in later generations was arguably even greater than King Arthur's, a truly household name. Since she said there was nothing to worry about, then this half-baked magician could certainly relax.

He nodded immediately: "I understand. But you said this is the main reason, is there some other reason that requires doing this?"

"of course."

Merlin, with a look of satisfaction that suggested she was a promising student, smiled and said, "There's another reason I decided to do this. But before I tell you, Princess, please answer one question for me." She paused, her smile fading, and the atmosphere in the room grew increasingly serious. Noticing this change, Guinevere couldn't help but swallow hard. The silver-haired woman asked, "Do you think black is better, or white?"

"what?"

"Answer me first, is it black or white? Just say the answer that comes from the bottom of your heart, don't think, don't hesitate—"

Is this some kind of code? What do black and white mean? Merlin kept urging her, but she had no clue. Guinevere decided to take a deep breath and answer according to her intuition: "Black is good."

"Just as I thought!" The silver-haired woman clapped her hands, making no attempt to hide her delight. "I knew you'd understand. When it comes to white dresses, of course, you have to pair them with black bows and stockings! Vivian actually said that if you're going to be white, you have to be completely white from head to toe. Seriously... I don't even want to admit that someone with such a lack of taste is Merlin's disciple!"

"...I suddenly realized that I was a fool for thinking about this seriously for a moment."

"Haha. Let's leave it at that for now. Although I'd like to spend more time with you two, Orkney is a long way off, so I'd better get there as soon as possible. Don't let Lily's usual demeanor fool you; she's still a naive girl. Remember to take care of her whenever you can. Of course, even if it leads to bed, I wouldn't mind. Besides, you're so beautiful, I'm sure even Uther would agree to your relationship, so don't worry about anything. Good luck! Don't waste this great opportunity I've prepared for you—"

Footsteps approached from outside. Merlin smiled again, and before Guinevere could speak, she turned and instantly transformed into a shower of petals, swirling and fluttering through the small room as if a rain of flowers had fallen, filling the air with a delicate fragrance. But the petals, upon landing, melted away like snow in late winter, leaving no trace. In just a moment, the flowers danced and fell, and the woman in the white robe vanished, just as she had appeared that morning—coming unexpectedly and leaving swiftly, leaving only the girl's raised hand, suspended in mid-air, unsure whether to lower it.

The girl in the white dress appeared outside the door: "Merlin..." She looked around, seemed to pause for a moment, but didn't seem too surprised: "He's already left?"

"Yes."

She finally lowered her hand. She looked towards the door; the girl in the white dress was holding a wooden plate in her left hand, piled high with at least ten baked potatoes, and three large glasses filled with water in her right. The glasses looked wobbly, as if they might fall to the ground at any moment. But for Guinevere, this scene was commonplace; she even subconsciously asked, "Ten potatoes...that doesn't seem like enough, does it?"

“I had already eaten something before you woke up, so…” Before she could finish speaking, “Lily” froze.

There was another long silence.

Guinevere made a fist, put it to her mouth, and coughed lightly twice to break the silence: "I have a travel companion. We've had to part ways temporarily... I'm not quite used to it yet, and I've started to mistake you for him... I'm sorry."

"No...it doesn't matter."

The two seemed like actors in a bad comedy; one spoke in a strange tone, his mood complicated, while the other stammered, head down, looking very guilty. Neither of them spoke first, and they quietly placed the plate of buttered potatoes and the cup on the table. The girl in the white dress turned around: "Should we wake Nimiao up?"

“Let her sleep a little longer. She’s been traveling with us at night these past few days; it’s really been tough on her…” As she spoke, Guinevere glanced at the white-dressed girl, who had finally realized she’d given herself away and was now looking flustered. Guinevere couldn’t help but press her slightly aching temples again. This was so embarrassing…

"That, that..."

Not wanting to see the other person flustered, and seeing that the girl couldn't seem to find an excuse for the moment, Guinevere kindly offered her a ladder: "Merlin told you, didn't he?"

"Yes! That's it." He nodded vigorously.

"Anyway... you must be quite confused by Merlin suddenly asking you to be my bodyguard. How about... we introduce ourselves first?" Presumably, by the time they finish the introductions, she'll have calmed down and improved her acting a bit, avoiding another embarrassing blunder. Thinking this, she smiled and said, "My name is Guinevere—"

In a sense, this was a belated self-introduction. As she gave her name, she felt a sudden sense of relief, and was about to continue, "I am the King of Scotland..."

"Wait a minute." But suddenly a hand was raised to stop him.

Guinevere was stunned: "What's wrong... wait, why did you suddenly come closer? I suddenly have a bad feeling..." As she spoke, the girl in the white dress also rang out: "I can only roughly understand what you mean right now, so we can talk about it later. Let's break the curse first."

"The way to break the curse is... why did you put your hand on my shoulder, wait..."

"Merlin said that breaking a curse requires exchanging bodily fluids, and compared to blood and other fluids, exchanging saliva through kissing is the simplest and least side-effect-free way to break a curse. I agree with that statement. Or is there some reason why we can't do it?"

"I think we should just bleed you out. It'll only hurt a little, I can bear it. This is your first kiss, it should be saved for something more important. It's such a waste to do it now, especially with someone like me..."

She had no idea what the words meant after being "translated" by the dragon language. She watched as the girl in the white dress placed her hands on her shoulders, and suddenly, a clear smile like a lily bloomed on the girl's face: "Don't worry, although this is my first time, I've seen Brother Kai... my brother has done it with other women many times, so it shouldn't be difficult."

"So it's not a question of whether it's difficult or not, mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm—"

Outside the window, the sunset painted half the sky a fiery red. Before nightfall, the last rays of light shone into the room. On the creaking wooden bed, two girls' bodies drew near and overlapped. One of them struggled for a moment, but eventually gave in and was pushed onto the bed by the other...

……

P.S.: Qingbai is back with his diligent work! Every time I intend to write just two thousand words, I end up with three or four thousand... Please remember to vote for him/her in his/her hard work!

Chapter Seventy-Six: A Belated Self-Introduction

Change often comes unexpectedly.

Nimiao understands this all too well.

However, after just one nap, the whole world had changed when he woke up—his "father's" two magnificent black dragon horns and wings were gone, and he looked like an ordinary human. Moreover, his face was flushed, as if he were sick, and he didn't know what had happened. The older sister he had met for the first time, whose name he still couldn't remember, seemed to have other things to do and had temporarily left; no one knew where she had gone.

Even though the big guy and the big bird that had been by her side had also suddenly disappeared earlier, ... although she couldn't quite put her finger on the difference, it felt different nonetheless. Nemia was downcast for a while because of this, but this low mood didn't last long. After Guinevere fed her half a roasted potato, the girl returned to her usual cheerful self, befitting her age.

After finishing the remaining half of the cooled potato, licking the grease off her fingers, she turned around to find Artoria... Lily had already devoured the remaining eight or nine potatoes and was gulping down water. Even with her new identity, her whirlwind eating speed and appetite seemed unchanged. Nimme, with crumbs still clinging to her lips, stared blankly as the girl in the white dress gulped down at least half a liter of water in her cup, her eyes shining with longing and admiration. The next moment, she suddenly grabbed her own cup, "gulp gulp gulp gulp gulp—whoa!" but lost her grip and was drenched in cold water.

After helping the little girl change her clothes, it was another flurry of activity. By the time things settled down, it was completely dark outside. A few days earlier, the three of them would have been preparing to depart by now. However, a portion of the curse on Guinevere had flowed into Lily's body in a way that made her blush just thinking about it. The latter's appearance remained unchanged, and she didn't feel any discomfort. Although Merlin hadn't explained the reason in detail, Guinevere could roughly guess that it was most likely related to the dragon's heart within Lily.

The curse was diluted, the dragon horns and wings vanished without a trace, and her feet, once covered in black scales, returned to human form. This long-lost appearance brought Guinevere a sense of relief. Because this "ritual" was essentially an exchange rather than a one-sided gift, although she lost nearly half her magic power, she also received replenishment from Lily. Now, with her eyes closed, she tried a few simple spells, experiencing only a slight sense of awkwardness and resistance. She believed that before long, with the increase in the number of "uh-huh" sounds, this feeling would gradually disappear.

"..."

Thinking back to what had just happened, Guinevere shifted slightly, her gaze sneaking to the side. She caught sight of the girl in the white dress wiping her mouth with a handkerchief. Even though she knew it was mostly just butter and water stains, her ears still involuntarily turned red. Two lifetimes, experiencing earth-shattering changes and witnessing the vicissitudes of life, her first kiss, which had been with her for decades, was gone just like that… It was truly heartbreaking…

It doesn't seem like I'm that sad.

In short, now that Guinevere has temporarily returned to normal, there's no need to travel in the dark anymore. At this time, Britain is teeming with monsters and ferocious beasts. If the location is even more remote and desolate, bandits and robbers only dare to rob at dusk, hurriedly heading home as soon as night falls. Those who are slower are likely to become food for monsters like demonic boars and wyverns. Even with their exceptional strength, the two encountered several crises on their way from the deserted village, but fortunately, they escaped unharmed in the end.

Upon hearing this from Nimiao, the girl immediately cheered.

She could only see Artoria at first, but after her bizarre growth in the deserted village, she could not only be noticed by others, but also see other people herself. Because of this, the girl is now extremely enthusiastic about everything around her and is not afraid of strangers at all. In addition, she is now very cute, and if she sweetly calls out "uncle" or "aunt," she can often get a lot of all sorts of little trinkets. However, because she is nocturnal, she doesn't have many opportunities to interact with others. When she learned that she could go out during the day and sleep at night, she was overjoyed and ran around the room and hallway with her hands raised.

While talking to Lily, Guinevere kept a close eye on the girl. Occasionally, when Lily was about to fall or bump into something, she would summon the wind to help her up. In a way, this could be considered a form of daily exercise.

"She... doesn't seem very interested in me?"

From the moment the two finished their "ritual" and woke Nimiao until now, although she obediently thanked Lily when she handed her the peeled potato, she hadn't spoken a word to her. She seemed completely unconcerned about why a stranger was there. Watching the girl run in and out, greeting other guests in a sweet tone in the corridor, the girl in the white dress hesitated slightly before speaking.

That said, Guinevere was quite surprised that Nemium genuinely didn't recognize Lily as Artoria. After all, although Nemium always called her "Dad," she usually clung to "Artoria's older sister," and Artoria's relationship with Nemium was clearly much closer. Logically, it was just a change of clothes; there was no way she wouldn't recognize her…

After much thought, she could only conclude that Merlin had secretly done something. However, since even Nemia, who had spent several days with Lily, couldn't recognize her true identity, it seemed unlikely that she would be exposed for the time being. Thinking this way, the image of the silver-haired woman in the white robe seemed to become a little more reliable. With these thoughts in mind, she shook her head: "First of all, although we were interrupted earlier, since we'll be spending some time together, let's start with self-introductions..." Seeing Lily's somewhat hesitant expression, she quickly added, "Of course, it doesn't need to be too detailed, just a casual introduction will do."

This is a good opportunity to gather some intelligence.

She thought to herself with a cheerful mood.

"Um... okay." Although her voice and appearance were almost unchanged, perhaps due to psychological factors, Guinevere felt that Artoria had undergone some subtle, indescribable change—in a positive sense—after becoming Lily. The large black bow on her head swayed gently in the evening breeze as the girl in the white dress stood up: "My name is... Lily. Although I'm still an immature apprentice swordsman, at Merlin's... master's instruction, please allow me to stay by your side for a while to learn various things. Please... take good care of me."

Perhaps it was the unfamiliar clothing, but despite trying to appear poised and confident, the girl bathed in his gaze stammered as she spoke, nearly biting her tongue several times. "You weren't this shy when you pounced on me..." Guinevere thought to herself, then stood up. "Perhaps you already know—"

She smiled at the girl in the white dress: "My name is Guinevere, daughter of King Leod Ogland of Scotland, and I have an older brother who is six years older than me. About ten years ago, I received this Wind Mark and Star Sword from Terenas, the Queen of the Lake... A few years ago, I began learning swordsmanship from my father... Because I heard rumors about the royal selection ceremony and was curious, I went south alone with my father's permission..."

It took an unknown amount of time, but aside from the fact that she was a time traveler, Guinevere recounted almost her entire past experiences without any concealment. Lily listened quietly without interrupting. The voices of the girl and others could be heard from the hallway outside. Because of the poor soundproofing, the sounds of laughter and movement on the first floor could also be heard from here, but within this room, the conversation flowed quietly like water.

“My mother left this world when I was just born. I never saw her. But before she died, she gave me a nickname… Fina. I like this name very much, after all…” The name Guinevere always reminded her of that tragic story, but this reason was naturally not something she could tell others. In the eyes of Leodogran and the others, perhaps she was just insisting on using this name because she missed her mother.

“People close to me usually call me by this nickname, not Guinevere. Like a nickname or something…” She twirled a small tuft of hair between her fingers and smiled. “If possible, I hope you will do the same.”

After speaking, she paused, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled before looking ahead.

A dim, yellow light shone in the room, and in its flickering glow, her emerald green eyes were quiet and gentle. It seemed as if only a moment had passed, or as if in the blink of an eye, yet endless time had flowed through her fingertips, and then the girl smiled slightly.

"Fina".

"exist."