Artoria.
Su Shu just stood there, admiring her.
His genes were exulting, his dragon's blood was roaring.
Corrupt her! Desecrate her! Violate her!—
This vile impulse from his bloodline grew stronger and stronger, echoing repeatedly in his mind.
But all these sordid thoughts were neatly tucked away in the depths of his heart, hidden behind a mask of gentleness and humility.
"Thank you."
Su Shu said with a smile, his eyes fixed on the girl before him.
Slightly embarrassed by the silver-haired boy's peculiar gaze, the golden-haired girl, disguised as a boy, unconsciously took a step back.
For some reason, she felt a powerful, vortex-like pull in Su Shu's iron-gray eyes, causing her to stare, entranced.
Deep as an abyss. Vast as the sea.
It was an aura that seemed even more mysterious than that of the magus from her dreams.
She had never in her life met a man with such charisma. Even as a child of the Red Dragon, born to be king, she couldn't help but be momentarily lost in the transcendent charm of this Ultimate Life Form.
And...
Her right hand was still being held tightly by him.
Where their skin touched, she could feel a scorching heat coming from his side.
As soon as she realized this,
"Ah—"
A cloud of hot steam seemed to rise from the top of her head.
The girl looked shyly at their clasped hands, a faint, almost imperceptible blush rising on her delicate face under the sunlight.
"S-Sir Alvin, you, can you let go now...?"
"My apologies, that was rude of me..."
Su Shu smiled and nonchalantly released his fingers.
"I was just thinking, your hands are very soft, Altoris."
Delicate, warm, with a few faint, elegant blue veins.
They were indeed a pair of exquisite, flawless hands, like works of art.
Perhaps it was a side effect of his talents?
It was a bit embarrassing to admit.
But the moment he saw the girl's hands, Su Shu was already... struggling to hold back.
"Despite your swordsmanship and form being so impeccable, your skin is so well-maintained. It's an enviable charm, I must say."
"Ch... charm..."
No one dislikes a compliment.
Moreover, she had never been praised like this by a member of the opposite sex.
Especially being lauded by someone she admired, even the girl with the blood of the Red Dragon couldn't help but feel a sincere joy welling up in her heart.
However... as if suddenly remembering something, she glanced down at her clothes.
—The girl was wearing a man's farming outfit made of coarse linen. To say the material was rough would be an understatement; at best, it was tailored to fit.
Her soft golden hair had been deliberately cut short for her androgynous disguise and tied back.
Because of her beauty, she was actually quite popular among the girls in town.
However, the girl was ultimately just an orphan adopted by a down-on-his-luck old knight, not from any notable noble family. So, she had never been truly seen as a peer by others her age.
Although she was taught the virtues of a king, which made her uninterested in pursuing such vanities and fame, faced with the senior she admired, a trace of shyness welled up in the girl's hesitant heart.
Coarse farm clothes, an unadorned face, and she had never even learned the etiquette of a woman...
Someone like her.
Could she really... have charm?
In front of the silver-haired boy, she had almost forgotten—she had been presenting herself as a man all this time.
"My apologies, I inadvertently caught a glimpse of you practicing.
"In my view, the truly beautiful thing is this meticulous persistence.
"Such diligent practice... rather, it's I who should admire your perseverance."
By observing the micro-expressions on her face, Su Shu completely understood the girl's thoughts.
Saying this, he ran his fingertips over the deep sword marks on the wooden post.
The slashes showed no trace of disorder. To cut a wooden post to this extent with a training sword must have required day after day of tedious practice. It required a combination of talent, skill, and an unbreakable will.
Su Shu was speaking from the heart; he truly admired it.
He pursued novel knowledge and thus often found tediousness hard to bear.
"Altoris, may I call you that directly?"
"O... of course, Sir Alvin."
"No need for honorifics,"
Su Shu shook his head, smiling gently.
"We're the same age. You can just call me by my name.
"A normal address is fine. Just like that, try saying it..."
"—'Alvin'."
The words fell.
The echo lingered.
The golden-haired girl stood there in a daze, her light green pupils reflecting the image of the silver-haired boy.
A faint smile played on his lips, his deep gray eyes seemingly imbued with the brightness of the sun.
His neat silver hair was casually tousled, his impossibly tall frame like a sharp sword.
He wore only simple, functional clothes, too plain, but it didn't matter—anything he wore was imbued with a soul by the sheer stunning presence of the person himself.
Don't look at the face, girl. Look at the heart.
Merlin's half-incubus heart was undoubtedly twisted. Beauty without virtue could never present such a captivating charm.
Those iron-gray eyes, brimming with melancholy, a gaze like that of a god, held a complex mix of affection and pity, locking onto a defiant soul—like a warm winter, like the sun, like the boundless ocean.
The silver-haired boy before her was like a slowly churning, strange vortex, making it almost impossible for Artoria to look away, as if she were bewitched, falling into his spell...
"A... Alvin."
She forced the word out, like a startled little animal.
"—Like, like this?"
"Yes, that's good."
The bonus from being a beautiful young man works wonders.
Noticing the change in her eyes, Su Shu smiled and affirmed her attempt.
"Since you admire the 'Pale Silver Star' who is celebrated as a knight, does that mean you are a knight too, Altoris?"
"I am... but, only in training."
As she answered, she couldn't help but think of Su Shu's comments about knights.
Myself, chasing the name of a knight...
The girl began to wonder, was such a thought correct?
"To become a proper knight and gain everyone's acknowledgment," she said humbly, a little embarrassed, "I still have a long way to go..."
"Becoming a knight doesn't require anyone's acknowledgment, Altoris."
Su Shu picked up a wooden sword from the ground.
The wear on the hilt showed it all.
Even in tedious, repetitive training, the girl poured her meticulous heart into it.
"If you grip that sword in admiration of another's virtue, you should first ask your own heart: what is it you wish to protect by becoming a knight?"
"Ask my own heart...?"
She looked down at the sword in her palm, a dazed look on her face.
In that moment of self-reflection, the tip of another rough blade was already at her chest.
"Let's fight. If you still can't find your answer, then find it with your sword."
The sword is not just held in the hand, but also in the heart.
Su Shu's plan was simple.
Through this clash of wills, he would strike her, infiltrate her, and finally, corrupt her—
Artoria didn't know it.
At that moment, as she admired the figure before her, she had already taken... the first step into the abyss.
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