Shiomi lifted his arm and rested it on his forehead, breathing lightly.
He had just come out of the bath, and now he'd have to go back in for another wash.
His skin was probably going to end up wrinkled from all the soaking.
"Still feeling tired?" Morgan asked.
"No, not really," Shiomi gave her a small smile. "After all, you two are feeding magic back into me."
It was strange, sure—but not unpleasant. The intense physical contact, the arousal... it brought his Magic Circuits into an active state, making it easier to accept Mana that wasn't originally his.
Morgan leaned down, resting her face against Shiomi's neck and gently bit him.
It hurt a little, but to him, it felt oddly satisfying—like he'd found his place again.
"Shame I'm not a vampire-type fairy. I don't have the power to savor blood," Morgan whispered seductively into his ear.
"If you bite through an artery, I'm dead," Shiomi muttered in return.
Honestly, he wasn't even sure how well his healing ability worked right now.
At that moment, Artoria's hand slid across the bed, her fingertips brushing the bite mark Morgan had left on Shiomi's neck.
"Thinking of leaving your own mark too?" Shiomi asked with a teasing smile.
"No need," Artoria murmured with a small shake of her head.
She was lying on her side, just in the right position to see the mark—it was fading before her eyes, already healing at a visible pace.
Within a minute, it would be gone entirely.
In the end, making a mark like that was just a fleeting act of intimacy.
"The Authority hasn't vanished. Otherwise, you wouldn't be recovering this quickly," Morgan said as she lay on Shiomi's chest, her gaze unfocused and drifting. "If I'd known we'd have this much time after getting back from the Subcategory Singularity, we wouldn't have needed to draw lots at all."
"If you'd done that, you'd just look like a woman with a bit too much libido," Shiomi joked under his breath.
"Would that really be so bad?" Morgan laughed, clearly in better spirits.
For two months after their return from the Temple of Time, she'd been on edge.
Even though she'd known the outcome—knew that even a near-fatal injury wouldn't break Shiomi—seeing him in that state with her own eyes had left her anxious day and night.
It wasn't until today that she finally felt that weight lift.
Artoria shifted closer, nestling into Shiomi's arm until it was almost buried beneath her.
Her hand slid beneath the covers, gently intertwining her fingers with his.
"By the way, what was it like... meeting another version of yourself?" Shiomi asked, his voice curious.
The sudden shift in topic made Artoria pause. She instinctively leaned closer to his head, answering softly but clearly:
"...Just one look, and I could tell—she was carrying the same burdens as I was. Realizing that... it hurt more than I expected. But at the same time, there was a strange, overwhelming sense of pride."
So, the two of them had ended up sharing a drink—just a simple beer from one of Shinjuku Singularity's vending machines.
"Even so, seeing that cold and unfeeling side of Artoria... I suddenly don't find it strange that you could do what you did in the Sixth Singularity," Morgan teased. "At your core, you're a ruthless queen. It just takes something like black mud or the Holy Lance to bring it out."
"Mm..."
Artoria had no comeback. Morgan had struck a little too close to the truth.
"Still, the Artoria in Shinjuku seemed to have no memory at all of Singularity F," Morgan added, her tone suddenly shifting back to serious.
Shiomi nodded. "Yeah, I caught that too when you were reporting back to Chaldea."
By contrast, Jeanne d'Arc Alter clearly remembered what happened in the Orleans Singularity.
"...Even though it's strange for me to say this," Artoria murmured thoughtfully, "I get the feeling the black 'me' is deliberately hiding something."
"Obviously," Morgan chuckled. "The Artoria from Shinjuku knows exactly what Fairy Eyes are. She'd rather say nothing at all than risk a lie that can be seen through."
With the string of incidents that needed attention in the Shinjuku Singularity, this particular issue had unintentionally been overlooked by everyone.
"What do you think her reason might be?" Shiomi asked.
Artoria propped herself up with one hand, the other supporting her head, looking genuinely puzzled.
"I'm not sure... but she's definitely not acting aimlessly. Sorry... It's ridiculous that I can't figure out someone who's supposed to be me..."
"Mm!"
Just as she began to apologize, Shiomi gently pulled her back down and stroked her head.
"You don't need to blame yourself. Servants appear in Singularities for all sorts of reasons—maybe the Counter Force called them, or maybe some divine hand is pulling the strings," Shiomi said gently. "You've already done more than enough."
"Tenkei..."
Because of how she'd moved, Artoria's face was now nestled against his neck.
His scent lingered at the tip of her nose, making her dizzy and lightheaded. Her body was already satisfied, but deep inside, a faint thirst remained—one that only warmth and closeness could ease over time.
Seeing how helplessly dazed she looked, Morgan let out a sigh.
"You've completely turned into a debauched monarch addicted to men. Good thing your loyal Knights of the Round Table couldn't possibly imagine this... or witness it."
Though, truth be told, Morgan thought she wasn't much better herself in that regard.
"If they did see it, would we be looking at something like... Assistant Commander Agravain leading the knights in a royal purge?" Shiomi added with a chuckle.
"There's a phrase for that, isn't there? Something like 'righteous rebellion'?" Morgan said.
"You know a lot more than I expected," Shiomi blinked in surprise.
"I've read nearly every historical text and legend in this human history," she said proudly.
Reading had always been something she loved—it was just a part of herself she kept hidden.
Morgan hadn't wasted the past twenty-some years.
"Hey... maybe you could get off me now?" Shiomi asked. "You're not heavy, but it's kinda hard to breathe."
"Hopeless," Morgan muttered with a smile as she rolled off and lay down on his other side. "We're all exhausted today, and it's still early for dinner. How about just staying like this and napping with me?"
"That was my plan from the start."
Shiomi gently shifted his arm, pulling Morgan close by the shoulder.
Morgan reached out, grabbing the fallen blanket and pulling it up to cover all three of them.
Their entwined bodies radiated warmth, and as the comfort of their closeness settled in, Shiomi's eyelids began to droop. Before long, he slipped into peaceful sleep alongside them.