Morgan And Arthur

“Rice… that dish was so good… I want to eat it again…”

“Yes, it was. We even got plenty as souvenirs, but you’ve already eaten so much today, so no sneaky midnight snacks, Lord Arthur.”

“Ugh…”

Arthur groaned as Kei warned him, stopping him from secretly grabbing a late-night bite. He had completely lost the ability to defy her.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it… Still, why were they all so happy, I wonder…”

Arthur and Kei were on their way back after finishing the banquet to which Kansas had invited them. Arthur had simply eaten some rare dishes, but for some reason Kansas and Erin had praised him with a “as expected of you,” and Sloda, seeing how much Arthur liked it, had wrapped some for him to have for breakfast tomorrow.

He thought there might be some ulterior motive, but in the end, they had just given him delicious food…

Morgan had warned him to be wary since Kansas was a merchant, so Arthur had been on guard thinking something was up, but the evening had really ended with just a meal.

He even had time to speak with Kansas, but was told, “We’ll discuss the food supply issue later with Erin, so please just enjoy the food for today.”

‘He really was just a generous old man… If I get invited again, I’ll go.’

Arthur had completely let his guard down. He seemed like the type who might easily fall for a scam.

“Well then, Kei. I’ll go report today’s events to Morgan.”

“Yes, I’ll prepare your bath and bed. It’s nice that you get along well with Lady Morgan, but don’t stay up too late, alright?”

“Eh, I’d be happier if you came along though…”

“Hehe, I’m not so tactless as to interrupt a fiancée’s tryst. Don’t worry, I’ll have your bed properly made.”

Kei teased Arthur as he headed to see his fiancée, and he replied gloomily, but she only smiled warmly for some reason. It was true that his relationship with Morgan had improved compared to his previous life. As she once told him, he was learning politics and various other things, and Morgan was clearly increasing her opportunities to talk with him.

Still, Arthur, who couldn’t understand people’s hearts, failed to notice Morgan’s true but understated feelings and continued to feel awkward around her.

‘Being alone with her… what a heavy feeling… Kei misunderstood something and left me to go alone…’

He sighed resentfully in his heart. As his fiancée, and with both being fifteen—an age treated as fully grown—it wasn’t even a misunderstanding for Kei to tactfully leave, but Arthur still sighed as if lamenting his fate.

Looking up at her room in Avalon, he saw the light still on and headed over.

“Morgan, is now a good time?”

“Yes, it’s fine. Good work with the banquet. How was it?”

Knocking and opening the door, he saw Morgan look up from the documents she was intently poring over. It was quite late at night; she had apparently worked until this hour.

‘She’s always working so hard this late, huh…’

Strangely, that thought made Arthur feel a slight sense of respect toward Morgan.

“Ah, there weren’t any problems. I just enjoyed a delicious meal.”

“I see… I’m sure you understand, but the other party is a merchant. If you make careless promises, they’ll take advantage of you. You didn’t do anything foolish, right?”

She gave him a slightly reproachful stare, and Arthur felt a cold sweat trickle down—perhaps a trauma from his previous life. The respect that had just sprouted was wiped away, replaced by fear. There had been times when her gaze inspired respect, but once he explained everything as coincidence, her reactions seemed to return to normal.

Even so, at this banquet, he’d only eaten unusual food and made some small talk. Maybe his hearty eating had earned him excessive praise, but he hadn’t done anything odd.

“Yeah, nothing happened. By the way, aren’t you hungry? I got this as a souvenir. Let’s eat it.”

“A souvenir… I’ve never seen this kind of food. I am feeling a bit peckish, so I’ll have some.”

It wasn’t out of kindness like, “She’s tired from work, so I’ll offer her a midnight snack.” Arthur simply wanted to eat it himself.

Kei had warned him, but with the pretext of “It’s for Morgan,” he figured it would be allowed. Truly petty.

“This is… quite an unusual staple…”

“Yeah, it’s the main food of a foreign land. They call it rice. Like this—you line it up with side dishes and eat them together. It’s apparently even better if warmed up though…”

Arthur arranged the rice and dishes on the table like Sloda had done. He wasn’t good at studying, but he picked up things like this quickly.

He often teased Kei for being a glutton, but he really wasn’t one to talk.

“Then… let’s do this. Fire, wind, dance before me.”

“Uwooo!?”

Morgan cast a spell at the food. Arthur flinched back in a panic as a wave of heated wind enveloped the dishes.

‘Scared the hell out of me… Don’t just suddenly use magic like that.’

He mentally quipped and checked if the food was safe. He noticed steam rising from the dishes.

“Oh, amazing. The food’s piping hot!! Magic really is convenient!!”

“This much is only natural if you’ve properly studied.”

Morgan spoke as if it were easy, but of course, it wasn’t. Controlling fire and wind magic with such precise power and range was an expert feat.

It took considerable focus, but the reason she exerted herself despite being tired from work was…

“But it’s rare for you to use magic for something like this.”

“Well, you brought this for me, didn’t you? Then I thought it’d be wrong not to eat it deliciously.”

She was happy Arthur had gone out of his way to bring her a midnight snack. If she could have said, “Thank you” or “I’m happy,” it would have been fine, but Morgan wasn’t used to expressing gratitude directly, so she could only convey it indirectly.

“Ah, I see…”

‘It wasn’t for you; I just wanted to eat…’ but Arthur, who had grown a little more aware of the mood, didn’t say it.

She must have been really hungry too…

Arthur, with his “Morgan Language Certification, Grade 5” level understanding, failed to grasp her endearing feelings at all and instead thought that as he dug into the warm rice and side dishes.

No one at that moment could have imagined that this meal would one day help save Britannia from crisis. Arthur, of course, wasn’t even thinking about it.