With the coronation taking place today, Camelot had already taken on a festive yet solemn atmosphere by early morning.
The moment they stepped outside, soldiers could be seen patrolling the ramparts and streets in every direction. Ever since the Round Table took over the city's defenses, the number of troops stationed here had multiplied several times over.
Along every route leading toward the royal city, Enforcement Knights stood guard at the checkpoints with imposing severity.
By noon, lords great and small who had come to attend the coronation passed through strict inspections one after another, leaving the places where they had stayed the previous night and arriving at the ceremony grounds before taking their assigned seats.
As the ruler of Orkney, the Land of Terminus, and the half-sister of the King of Knights, Morgan and her companions were naturally escorted to the front row, where they had an excellent view of the ceremony.
It was worth mentioning that Kay of the Round Table had been waiting at the intersection early that morning to personally welcome them and arrange their seating.
At the very least, that respectful and friendly treatment made everyone feel quite comfortable.
While they waited, Samael casually ate the dried fruit prepared on his plate and looked around in boredom.
The square resembled an open-air theater, built in a distinctly Roman style with arched colonnades. The fountain at its center was decorated with rose motifs, and traces of Roman influence could be seen everywhere.
The surrounding marble columns were carved with a mythological epic depicting the gods of the Pantheon joining forces against a certain White Titan.
Among the humanoid Roman gods, however, there was one fluffy, antlered creature whose adorable appearance looked completely out of place.
It stood with both arms spread wide, surrounded by six winged fairy figures.
Horned God Cernunnos and the Six Primordial Fairies...
So the Celtic pantheon really had been incorporated into the Roman Pantheon and preserved through culture.
One could glimpse the whole from a single detail.
From these scattered traces alone, it was obvious that Britannia, once incorporated into the Roman Empire, had been deeply influenced by Romanization.
The Celts of the present day did not seem to reject the advanced culture, aesthetics, and other legacies left behind by Rome either.
Like many other regions that had broken away from the Roman Empire, the Celts apparently regarded themselves as inheritors of Rome's legacy.
They even showed tremendous curiosity toward that murky period of history, repeatedly trying to prove just how close Britannia and Rome had once been.
This unexpectedly interesting bit of historical archaeology stirred a trace of nostalgia in Samael.
As time passed, the deep blast of horns rang out, signaling the opening of the coronation.
Samael immediately began to feel bored and could not help yawning.
As far as he was concerned, ceremonies like this were all variations on the same theme. They simply traced the ancient history of the land and emphasized the sacred lineage of the ruling family.
In short, it was mind-numbingly tedious.
Hopefully they would not make too much noise. Maybe he could get some sleep.
Lately, taking care of these troublesome little disasters had been exhausting.
During the day, he had to mediate their arguments and find things to keep them occupied. At night, he still had to coax them to sleep and tell them stories.
He was genuinely beginning to feel worn out.
But before the Ancient Serpent could attempt to develop the skill of sleeping with his eyes open, the white-robed Druids onstage, who were recounting history and singing the praises of the royal bloodline, suddenly pulled off quite a spectacle using the newly compiled history of the Pendragon family.
As the Druids chanted, incense and rare treasures were solemnly offered to Horned God Cernunnos, the Six Primordial Fairies, and...
A victorious Queen wearing a golden crown, wielding sword and shield, while riding upon the back of a Great Dragon.
"Pfft!"
Samael spat out his tea.
He nearly choked to death.
The encrypted inscriptions on the stone tablet recording the history of the Pendragon family had been activated, projecting one vivid image after another before the crowd.
Britannia was a land blessed by the Dragon and the Queen.
Those of Pendragon blood were born carrying the lineage of both Dragon and Queen, granted the right to rule by heaven itself, obeying divine revelation and governing Britannia by sacred mandate.
Put plainly, the Pendragon family claimed descent from a certain Divine Great Dragon who blessed this land and Boudica, the Queen of Victory...
Which apparently meant that Boudica spent her days riding a dragon, then spent her nights being ridden by one.
As for reproductive barriers, or how such offspring were supposedly produced...
Well, dragons were notoriously lustful anyway.
Dragonkind existed everywhere, so apparently one more Pendragon bloodline did not make much difference.
Slander!
Barefaced slander!
Samael's blood instantly rushed to his head, completely banishing his drowsiness as he furiously defended himself in his own mind.
Could these people please stop thinking such filthy things?
Boudica and I were completely innocent. We had a pure and wholesome friendship!
Nothing beyond friendship ever happened.
There wasn't even time for anything like that to happen...
The fact that these people had somehow managed to claim a distant relation to him was bad enough.
But now they were even inventing nonexistent romantic scandals between him and Boudica from centuries ago.
The Ancient Serpent seethed inwardly.
Before Samael could recover, even his beloved student Nero was dragged into the story.
According to the epic currently being recited, the Rose Emperor, who had once been persecuted by the Roman Empire and forced into exile, had been taken in by Queen Boudica in Britannia and gradually brought back onto the right path.
When Nero later returned to the City of Seven Hills and inherited the imperial authority of the Divine Ancestor Romulus, she supposedly incorporated Britannia into the Roman Empire out of gratitude while granting her "mother," Boudica, and the Celts a high degree of autonomy.
Through the Magecraft projection, the Rose Emperor, outlined in points of light and broad lines, clasped hands with Boudica as they signed a covenant together.
The two looked so close they might genuinely have been mother and daughter.
Although this version clearly contained a fair amount of Celtic wishful thinking and artistic exaggeration, it was at least still within the bounds of reason.
Samael, meanwhile, had somehow been forced to take responsibility for the Pendragon family's draconic bloodline and was already beginning to question his entire existence as a serpent.
He rolled his eyes, too exhausted to complain anymore.
By the time those Druids finally finished jumping around and putting on their grand performance, Samael, one of the supposed people involved in this glorious history, was still deeply irritated.
For the Celts, however, a small nation with a limited population, this story was effectively a massive boost to national pride.
Their supposed sacred lineage and former glory gave them tremendous psychological satisfaction.
With the crowd now thoroughly excited, the coronation finally moved on to its main event.
Amid obscure and difficult chants in Ogham characters, patterns of light pulsed in rhythmic waves, awakening streams of Ether beneath their feet that resembled the veins of the earth itself.
Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum!
One Magecraft node after another activated, forming a vast network like intertwining roots.
A colossal golden Magecraft array surged into the sky, resembling a spear of light piercing heaven and earth.
Before countless watching eyes, it seemed to knock upon the gates of heaven and open the palace of the gods.
Creak...
Within the dazzling golden radiance, a rosewood door covered in intricate gilded patterns slowly swung open as countless pupils contracted in awe.
Beyond it lay a vast hall where light and shadow intertwined.
Rose-shaped stained-glass windows framed with carvings of phoenixes reflected a sacred brilliance.
Then came the scrape of armor and the solemn rhythm of approaching footsteps.
As their vision gradually adjusted, the spectators saw the Knights of the Round Table arranged on either side.
And surrounded by them, the exalted Child of the Dragon descended into the mortal world.
***
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
[email protected]/PinkSnake (50 Chapters Ahead).
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.
***