Morganropa

It was no surprise that the room was thrown into chaos by the sudden intruder. Morgan was familiar to Marianne and Lord Glutton, of course, but Edward, who didn’t know her, looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“Weren’t we supposed to keep outsiders out? What is he doing?”

“Don’t blame your subordinate. He was just doing his job. I’m the one who gave the order. With his status, he couldn’t defy me.”

Morgan responded to the indignant Edward with a blank expression. Then, as if to prove her point to the suspicious Edward, she pointed to the crest engraved on her robe’s chest—her family’s emblem.

“That crest… it can’t be…”

“I apologize for the late introduction… My name is Morgan le Fay. I serve as the head of Avalon.”

“My apologies for my rude behavior. But… for the head of Avalon, a key royal institution, to come all the way out to this remote region… what business brings you here?”

Realizing Morgan’s identity, Edward hurriedly bowed his head. Though both were nobles, Morgan’s rank was far above that of a provincial lord like him.

Listening to the exchange, Arthur began to sweat. After all, he was the one who had sent Morgan the letter asking her to come.

According to his plan, he was supposed to corner Lord Glutton in the earlier exchange, reveal his own identity, and then have Edward arrest him and hand him over directly to Morgan.

Arthur had hoped to smugly show off his success to Morgan—and also get her to rough up Lord Glutton for acting so high and mighty.

I mean, if I were interrogated endlessly by that guy, I’d go insane.

…That was the idea, but Morgan arrived much earlier than expected, and Lord Glutton hadn’t been cornered at all.

“Hey, Morga—”

“Richard, thank you for following my orders and infiltrating Dorf. Leave the rest to me.”

“Eeek!!”

Then, with a rare smile and even a wink, she made Arthur yelp involuntarily.

Why is she in such a good mood? Terrifying!

“Hmph. So this one was your subordinate… But what crime have I committed? I merely purchased goods as agreed and, as thanks for a rare trade, introduced Lord Arthur to Lord Edward. What crime is that? Even if our factions differ, there’s no law that forbids noble trade within our own country, unlike in foreign lands…”

“You’re right, that in itself isn’t a crime. But I doubt Prince Arthur has any interest in gemstones, does he…? I’ve never heard of him wanting orichalcum accessories.”

Even as Morgan pressed him, armed with the contents of Arthur’s letter, Lord Glutton remained perfectly composed.

“Ah, that? Orichalcum is rare. I just thought His Highness Arthur would be pleased to see it. If I was mistaken, I apologize… In that case, I’ll take full responsibility and personally ask His Highness to perform the healing. That settles it, doesn’t it, Lord Edward?”

“I… Yes… There’s no problem.”

Edward was about to protest, saying that wasn’t what he’d heard, but Lord Glutton silenced him with a sharp glance. After hesitating, Edward decided it was safer to follow the more familiar Lord Glutton than someone like Morgan, with whom he had no prior relationship.

Lord Glutton smiled as if he’d won—but Morgan’s expression didn’t change as she spoke again.

“I see… Quite clever of you. I assume you’ve been on edge ever since the incident with Greed. If only you’d used that same passion for self-preservation to actually help this country… your life might have turned out differently.”

“You…! What’s with that tone?! Don’t get cocky, you little girl who just inherited Avalon from your parents!!”

Morgan’s tone had clearly shifted, and Lord Glutton exploded in rage. It wasn’t unreasonable—he was a powerful noble in his own right, with enough influence to be connected to a royal like Arthur, and technically of equal rank to Morgan.

However, Morgan had far more years of political experience. By rights, he should be the one speaking politely to her. Yet she didn’t bow or apologize. Instead, she stared at him with a smirk that verged on mockery.

“I’m praising you, Lord Glutton. Without Prince Arthur’s orders, I doubt I could have beaten you.”

“Prince Arthur’s orders…?”

“Yes. He was suspicious of your frequent trips to Dorf and told me to investigate.”

“W-what?!”

The voices of Lord Glutton—and, of course, Arthur—rose in shock. After all, Arthur had only written a furious letter saying, ‘Lord Glutton is using my name to steal rare minerals. I’ll punish him, so be my witness,’ filled with colorful insults.

He never gave any such order.

“He was unusually angry about you. And that tipped me off. There are others who use Prince Arthur’s name for personal gain… but you were the only one who made him angry. That made me curious, so I looked into how you were treating the commoners in your domain.”

“Hmph. I treat them properly, don’t I?”

“Yes… I did find it odd that you replaced all your commoner servants after Greed was arrested. But they didn’t seem dissatisfied, and there were no issues with their treatment.”

“Then—”

“So I checked your business partners. Turns out you had arrangements with several merchants to fund you in exchange for Prince Arthur’s healing services.”

“What’s wrong with that?! Of course I intended to pay Prince Arthur and the crown their share! Acting as an intermediary for those who can’t speak directly with royalty is no crime!!”

And he was right. Only high-ranking nobles could request Arthur’s healing. So while it wasn’t admirable to take bribes from rich merchants in return, it wasn’t technically illegal.

“True. But didn’t you overcharge them a little? That’s why I’ve decided to act as the new intermediary. Also, I’ll personally handle the matter of Lord Edward’s daughter and request His Highness Arthur’s healing. Since it seems our faction’s Lord Glutton has caused some trouble this time.”

“Wha…? Wait, what are you saying?! Are you saying you stole my client?! But those merchants wouldn’t be foolish enough to cross me. And you… you’re unaffiliated!”

“Eeek!!”

Morgan gave a wicked smile at the panicking Lord Glutton. It was her classic prelude to snark.

Arthur, recalling their previous life, let out a little scream again.

“What are you saying? Isn’t it natural to support the man who’ll become your husband in the future? Besides, those merchants don’t care about rank—they care about profit. They probably figured it was more profitable to cozy up to the prince’s wife than to his noble entourage.”

“““Huh?”””

This time, three voices overlapped—Lord Glutton, Marianne, and Arthur.

“It’s certainly difficult to punish you right now… But how do you think Prince Arthur would feel if he found out you used his name to collect money without his knowledge? And… how do you intend to explain how you bought all these Dwarf crafts without those merchant donations?”

“Guh…”

“And once your influence fades, how long do you think people will keep covering up all your previous misdeeds?”

Morgan sneered coldly as she held the invoice Gazeff had brought.

But Arthur wasn’t even listening anymore.

Wait, what is she saying about being my wife? Sure, in our previous life we were engaged… but that was supposed to happen much later…

“Let me introduce myself once more. My name is Morgan le Fay. I serve as the head of Avalon. And… I am Prince Arthur’s fiancée and future wife.”

She looked at Arthur with a rare blush on her face, her gaze warm and intense as she spoke those words.