An Unexpected Visitor

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Brother Arthur?”

“Huh? Mordred!? What the—why are you here…?”

Arthur let out a pitiful voice at the sudden arrival. The blond boy in front of him—Mordred—sat down right across from him with a cheerful smile, even though no one had invited him to.

‘Kei—!! I’ll even take Morgan at this point!! Somebody, please come help me!!’

Arthur was in full-blown panic. And it was understandable. After all, the mastermind behind the revolution that would lead to his execution was none other than the boy sitting before him.

Unlike Rod, who sometimes gave him advice (from Arthur’s perspective), Mordred had never been particularly close. Arthur had no idea what he was thinking, and honestly, he didn’t want to get involved.

“Ah, I’d prefer you didn’t call anyone… I just want to have a friendly, brotherly chat, just the two of us.”

As Arthur reached for the bell, Mordred stopped him with a smiling face. Cool and composed, Mordred contrasted starkly with…

‘You’ve got to be kidding meeeee!! I don’t wanna talk to you at all!!’

Arthur was inwardly screaming. He was already rattled by the Good Deeds Notebook’s revelation that someone would poison him in the future—until he remembered something important.

‘Wait, my death’s not for a while, right…? I’m probably safe for now… In that case, maybe I should try to get some information out of him?’

“Yeah… you’re right. It’s been a while. Let’s catch up, just the two of us.”

Now that he felt safe, Arthur instantly calmed down. Remarkably opportunistic.

“Fufu, I’m glad to hear that. You’ve changed, haven’t you? I heard you appointed a commoner as your personal maid and even visited an orphanage. Did Sister-in-law Morgan say something to you?”

“Oi, hold it!! What’s with this ‘Sister-in-law Morgan’ stuff? Don’t say creepy things like that.”

Unaware of Mordred’s probing gaze, Arthur yelped in confusion.

“Huh? Didn’t Father tell you? Apparently, Morgan reached out about it. They’re planning to announce it officially soon…”

“Ughh…”

Arthur groaned at the pitiful realization. Why was Mordred, of all people, better informed than him?

It was a terrifying hint at the breadth of Mordred’s information network—but of course, Arthur failed to grasp that. He was simply despairing at how, just like in his previous life, things were being decided without him.

“But judging from your reaction, it’s not like you’ve grown particularly close with Sister-in-law Morgan. So then, why the sudden compassion for commoners?”

“Ah… well, you see… If you think about the issues facing Britannia, even you’d understand, right?”

“Issues, huh… What do you think they are?”

Feigning ignorance, Mordred tilted his head, and Arthur—remembering his past life—answered with a smug, confident look.

He knew the cause that led Mordred to start the revolution—Arthur was certain he held the upper hand now.

“The biggest problem is the disparity between the nobility and the common people. That’s why I’m taking steps to elevate them and reduce that gap. And to do that, I have to get to know them. That’s why I visited the orphanage. Healing them was part of that effort.”

Wasn’t that perfect? It wasn’t just an offhand excuse either. Originally, he’d crafted it in case Morgan scolded him for healing commoners—but now it was proving quite useful.

As for Mordred’s reaction…

“I see… So you’re actually thinking about understanding the common people, huh? Does that include these cookies too?”

“Ah, yeah…”

He picked up the snack cookies on the table and stared at them curiously.

They were there just because they were tasty—but Arthur wasn’t about to admit that. He could read the room now. As Mordred nibbled on the cookie, his expression shifted from innocent to serious.

“Maybe… I could count on you now…”

“Hm? What was that?”

Arthur leaned in, but Mordred dodged the question with a playful smile.

“I have a favor to ask… Could you inspect the dwarves’ mine for me?”

“Huh…? The dwarves’ mine?”

“Yes. I heard there’s been a bit of conflict between commoners and nobles there. I’d go myself, but compared to you or Brother Rod, I don’t have many nobles in my faction. It limits what I can do.”

Ugh, it sounded like a pain… People had recently started mistaking Arthur for a good guy, but he wasn’t that altruistic. He’d help friends or save his own skin—but random dwarves? No thanks.

“You’re not thinking of refusing just because it’s a hassle, are you? You did just say you care about the common people, didn’t you?”

“Ugh…”

Could this guy read minds!? Arthur’s eyes landed on the Good Deeds Notebook glowing ominously on the desk.

‘No way—did I just trigger a flag!?’

A few days later, sightings were reported of Arthur, mysteriously disguised, heading toward the dwarves’ mine with his entourage.