As the King of Knights herself had said, all she needed to let go was a strong kingdom and a qualified successor.
For now, she was deeply satisfied with the kingdom's current state. She was satisfied that Guinevere had led the kingdom to a point where it could defeat Rome, and had even created the adorable Mordred for her.
After confessing her love for Guinevere and her willingness to relinquish the throne, the King of Knights broke free from Guinevere's embrace and swept her up into her own arms.
"Guinevere, now it's time for us to discuss the specifics."
The Royal Palace in Paris had no shortage of lavish bedrooms. After carrying Guinevere to their temporary chambers, the King of Knights took the initiative—a rare occurrence. Her decision to abdicate the throne had also allowed her to finally unwind the tightly wound spring of her duty.
However, this did not mean the King of Knights had abandoned her vows.
"Guinevere, if our deception fails in the end, and Camelot truly becomes the Singularity or Lostbelt you described... what will you do then?"
"Then I would stake my life, fighting alongside you to secure a future for this era.
"Lia, you are what I care about most. It's because of you that I care about the people and Camelot. But that doesn't mean that without you, I wouldn't care about them at all."
As she spoke, Guinevere's hair was damp with sweat, and she felt as if her mind were at war with itself. But above her, the King of Knights understood completely, an amused expression on her face.
Flustered and annoyed, Guinevere fiercely flipped their positions, taking the dominant role. Ever since acquiring the replica scabbard from the King of Knights, she had never lost a battle in bed. When they truly went all out, their duels often lasted until dawn, only for both to be defeated by the next day's official duties.
Leaning down, she kissed Artoria. After another brief round, Guinevere finally organized her thoughts and spoke again:
"I still remember the people's trust, their smiles, the way they cheered my name.
"I still care about my only father in this life, the people who watched me grow up, and the knights who followed me, willing to join me in madness and face death by my side.
"If only one faint path remains, if everything I do changes nothing... then I will burn my life to the very last ember, facing death a hundred times without regret."
She had been reincarnated as Guinevere for over twenty years—longer than she had lived in her previous life. She had fully accepted that she was a child of this world, and she was willing to fight for it.
She first considered deceiving the world rather than directly creating a Lostbelt. Beyond the latter's slim chance of success, the most crucial reason was that Guinevere cared about the world's future.
Yet, this concern still didn't outweigh the importance of changing her and the King of Knights' destiny.
Kissing her, confessing her feelings for the world—even Guinevere found her own actions awkward. But it was precisely this awkwardness that once again touched the King of Knights' heart.
After all, if Guinevere had cared only for her and not the world, they would have eventually reached a crossroads and parted ways.
"Guinevere, would you like to hear stories from my childhood?"
The battle hadn't lasted long; after midnight, only tender moments remained. In response to Guinevere's heartfelt confession, the King of Knights began to recount her own journey, sharing amusing anecdotes that remained vivid in her memory.
For instance, back when she was still young and naive, traveling across Great Britain with Merlin and Kay to pursue her ideal of becoming king. Their adventures often began with her meddling in others' affairs, escalated by Merlin's half-hearted attempts to smooth things over, and finally resolved by Kay cleaning up the mess left by the two unreliable companions.
It was those experiences that made Kay more worldly, but also turned him into a sharp-tongued, habitual complainer.
"Pfft," Guinevere chuckled. "Now that we're done talking about Kay, is my Lia thinking about Mordred? I wonder if Sir Agravain can take good care of her... or if he'll end up corrupting her."
"I trust Sir Agravain," the King of Knights replied. "But Guinevere, do you truly intend to have Mordred kill me?"
"I'll explain everything to her—the reasons, the consequences. I'll ask her to willingly let you retire."
Guinevere had considered telling Mordred nothing, but that would be too cruel. She couldn't bring herself to do it.
As they talked, dawn broke in the blink of an eye. They helped each other dress and get out of bed, both still feeling energetic despite the sleepless night.
During the days Guinevere had spent deliberating, Rome's shield formations had already returned to the city after their "surrender." It was uncertain whether their nearly intact forces would cause any trouble.
As the price of the various treaties, all parties recognized Camelot as their suzerain state, agreed to pay the required annual tribute, and acknowledged Camelot's de facto rule over Gaul.
Gaul's opinion? After Gaul opened the gates of Paris and failed to fight for itself, its opinion no longer mattered.
The knights remaining in Paris, who would be granted fiefs across Gaul, were Lancelot and recent graduates from the Knight Academy.
As for the other meritorious knights, Camelot rewarded them generously with wealth, granted them higher noble titles based on their achievements, and expanded the autonomy of their fiefs in Great Britain.
Yes, this created a potential risk, but any attempt to "curb the vassals" would have to wait until the disasters caused by the Decline of Mystery had subsided.
Besides, the loyalty of these veteran knights was beyond question.
"King of Knights, are you truly leading the knights back to Camelot so soon? The fine wine, exquisite food, and beautiful women we prepared for you are still on their way!"
In the Royal Hall of Paris, the King of Knights had once again set up a Round Table. This time, however, only the kings of the various nations—excluding Rome—were in attendance.
As for Rome, after the prince leading the shield formations returned, they had indeed plunged into civil war.
The King of Knights refused to grant a private audience to any faction's envoy, choosing to wait until they settled the conflict among themselves.
"Ahem! King of Cyprus, watch your words! Our King is the sacred ruler of all Europe and will never accept your 'beautiful women.' Cease your attempts to sow discord with such base temptations!"
With Gaul secured, Rome defeated, and the defeated Romans now plunged into civil war, there was indeed no longer any need for all of Camelot's knights to remain in Europe.
Moreover, news arrived from Britain proper: the sun had been unusually fierce these past few days, and all the recently planted crop seedlings had withered and died. Agravain urged the King of Knights to lead the knights home as soon as possible to provide disaster relief and stabilize the populace.
He also requested that Guinevere lead the Mage Corps back immediately to perform the artificial rain ritual she had previously proposed, in order to save as many of the critical grain-producing regions as possible.
Indeed, although Guinevere was prepared to deceive the world, and those she had confided in about the future had chosen to trust and cooperate with her, the final act was still far off. Mordred, one of the key players in that finale, was only five years old!
Several days later, in Camelot City, little Mordred first threw herself into the King of Knights' arms, then clung to Morgan's neck. Only then did she reluctantly stand before Guinevere and grumble, "Queen Mother, you're back so soon too?"
During Guinevere's absence, Mordred's studies had been entirely self-directed. She had read fewer books and practiced martial arts more. She had both wished for Guinevere's early return and dreaded seeing her so soon.
As for Guinevere, she took several deep breaths to suppress the urge for corporal punishment. After crushing Little Mordred in a hug and fiercely ruffling her hair, a demonic whisper escaped her lips.
"Mordred, have you finished the vacation homework I assigned you before I left?"
"Aaaah! Father, save me! I haven't written a single word!"