Souya had fantasized countless times about the scene of personally summoning a Heroic Spirit.
It included the classic "Type-Moon masterpiece" scenario: under the moonlight, a young boy sitting on the ground, a beautiful and powerful Servant standing amidst dissipating light, uttering the opening line of the story, "I ask of you, are you my Master?"
It also included the apprehension and anxiety after experiencing the story of Britain: wondering if the summoned Morgan would realize he was Lamorak himself, and whether she had forgiven him for his repeated departures.
But generally speaking, these were all relatively normal summoning scenarios that fell within his expectations.
Yet, just as Souya was feeling a slight surge of emotion upon sensing that familiar yet strange aura...
What he heard was not the normal inquiry of "Are you my Master?", nor did he see the stunningly beautiful figure of the Queen. Instead, caught completely off guard, what he faced was a sharp staff thrusting straight toward his neck.
Instinctively, Souya tried to dodge backward, only to be astonished to find that his entire body seemed to be shackled by something, completely unable to move.
Clearly, Morgan had cast magecraft on him the instant she attacked.
In a moment of desperation, Souya couldn't care about anything else. Taking advantage of the fact that the magical energy within his body hadn't yet stagnated due to the summoning ritual, he violently erupted it.
"Understanding/Unlocked!"
Brilliant golden Magic Circuits crawled all over Souya's body almost instantly. Supported by Souya's massive magical energy, this magecraft—which was originally just the most basic "understanding, analyzing, and destroying"—erupted with power far exceeding its upper limit. In a mere instant, it identified the nature of the magecraft Morgan had applied to his body and destroyed it.
The next moment, accompanied by the faint sound of glass shattering, the very instant the staff was about to touch Souya's skin, he narrowly grabbed its tip.
But even so, Souya's palm was ultimately pierced, and blood carrying a peculiar aura instantly splattered out like blooming flowers.
"Eh?"
Before Souya could breathe a sigh of relief, the figure originally hidden in the black light seemed to have noticed something and abruptly stepped out from the light.
Following that, the staff Souya was still gripping in his hand vanished instantly. Replacing it before him was a stunningly beautiful woman wearing a sexy black dress, a crown of thorns on her head, her snow-white long hair tied up high, and a black veil covering her face.
This, naturally, was the Caster Souya had anticipated: the Queen of Britain, the Master of Fairies, and the lover he hadn't seen across hundreds of years.
Morgan le Fay.
Instinctively, the words slipped out of Souya's mouth.
"Lady Morgan..."
Without many words, after clearly seeing Souya's face and sensing that identical soul, Morgan lunged forward and bit down hard on Souya's shoulder.
Everything happened so suddenly and so unexpectedly.
Feeling the pain from his shoulder and the slightly trembling, delicate body of the beauty in his arms, Souya couldn't help but freeze.
But what followed was a surge of emotion and an immense throbbing in his heart.
He instinctively wrapped his arms around Morgan's waist, rested his head on her shoulder, and gently sniffed the scent belonging to his lover.
Everything was so familiar yet strange.
Although it had only been a little over a day since he woke up from the dream, under the throbbing and longing brought about by those memories and feelings, the sensation was undoubtedly a long one.
And for Morgan, this longing was even more unbearable.
After all, from the moment she disappeared, she had been searching for traces of this guy before her without a moment's rest.
That obsession named love had crossed time and surpassed locations, finally guiding them to meet again in this moonlit garden hundreds of years later.
"...Lamorak, you despicable, hateful, and foolish knight..."
After a long while, it wasn't until the light symbolizing a successful Heroic Spirit summoning gradually dissipated, ultimately turning to ash on the ground along with the magic crest, that Morgan and Souya snapped out of the throbbing of their reunion.
But even so, Morgan's hand showed not the slightest intention of leaving Souya's neck, as if she were afraid he would suddenly disappear again.
Just like that, under the moonlight, the two looked at each other, their breaths intertwining, just like their first moment of intimacy hundreds of years ago.
Hearing Morgan's words, which clearly contained immense resentment, Souya couldn't help but smile wryly.
"I'm sorry, Lady Morgan, I..."
But before he could say what he wanted, Morgan proactively raised her hand and pressed it against his lips.
"Do not say sorry to me. What you owe me is far from something that can be resolved with such a simple sentence."
She gazed deeply at the lover belonging to her before her. In her beautiful azure eyes, there was no longer the tsundere pride and reserve of the past, but a love as scorching as fire.
"I do not care what name you have now, what your identity is, nor do I care what method you used to go to Britain and return here again. None of this matters."
"I only know that you are my Lamorak, my knight, my lover, and the husband of Morgan le Fay."
"What you owe me is the oath you once swore to accompany me forever, and my love for you."
No one could understand how complex and restless Morgan's mood was right now.
Countless attempts, countless searches.
From searching for his aura in Britain across every era, to no longer being confined to Britain, but spanning all of Europe and even the distant East.
Like a phantom of the era, she hid in history and trekked through time.
All she did was to reunite with her beloved once more.
During those countless searches, she had long understood her own heart.
So she swore to no longer confine her feelings and affections within laughable nobility and royal majesty.
The Queen of Britain, Morgan, had already completed everything she was supposed to do. The her right now was the wife of the Knight of Radiance, Lamorak: Morgan.
Once, during yet another journey back and forth between the Reverse Side of the World and the Inner Sea of the Planet, she felt a summoning.
It was a backup plan she had left behind, moved by Artoria's words back then.
A clone placed beneath the Throne of Heroes, to be summoned representing the Queen of Britain, Morgan le Fay.
The moment she felt she was being summoned, Morgan was so excited and expectant.
After a long, fruitless search, she had finally welcomed a turning point.
But when she answered the summon and followed the guidance of the Throne of Heroes, what she saw was a lowly magus who had summoned her using a wine cup she had once shared with Lamorak.
Upon seeing it wasn't that person, the excitement in Morgan's heart instantly faded, replaced by desolation and silence.
But she didn't get angry, because she had no heart to waste excess emotion and attention on people unrelated to Lamorak.
However, just as she was about to leave, that magus actually tried to use a so-called Command Spell to forcefully order her to do things for him.
Thus, ultimately, that magus's body was burned to death along with his soul by the Flame of Shadows.
Later on, many more people vainly attempted to summon her, and among them were even those who impersonated Lamorak's name. But without exception, those people all died.
This was an insult to her, and also an insult to Lamorak.
And this time, she had originally sensed an aura belonging to Lamorak, and just as she was preparing to manifest and crush yet another lowly bug that didn't know its own limits...
Unexpectedly, after the magecraft was broken and she perceived the soul signature contained within that fresh blood, she was abruptly stunned.
When she stepped out of the ritual and saw that familiar face and those eyes, as well as the identical soul, ripples finally appeared in Morgan's state of mind, which had been like stagnant water for hundreds of years.
She had finally reunited with him.
"You never personally spoke of your love to me, Lamorak."
In the night garden, the beauty under the moonlight said this.
"Then, Lady Morgan, please allow me to express it to you through my actions."
The young man in black answered softly, then kissed the lips of the beauty in his arms. In the moonlight, they embraced tightly, lingering. Between their noses were ambiguous breaths; their tongues intertwined, sucking.
Under the bright moon, the figures of the lovers blended together.