Chapter 1018 Forget
"Leo!"
A beauty jumped into Leonel's arms under the astonished gazes of his teammates. She was gorgeous to an extreme and had a mature charm that women their age hadn't quite refined yet. On top of that, she had a sort of Queenly air most women would never birth.
And yet, the moment she saw Leonel, she sprung into his arms as though she had always meant to be there.
"What the fuck? And to think I actually felt bad for this bastard. Cap's been holding out on us." Gil felt like he had been betrayed.
Leonel laughed and hugged Mordred back. It had been a long time since he had seen her and it seemed that she was living life well. At least, her relationship with her father and mother seemed far better now than it had been in the past.
After Mordred practically squeezed Leonel to death, she pulled back and pinched his cheeks with both hands.
"You brat, you just left us for years and disappeared. Where's Little Aina? I need to see if you've bullied her while she didn't have me to protect her."
Seeing the shift from love affair to brother-sister doting Leonel's brothers practically got whiplash. However, Gil's perverted mind worked very differently.
"So Cap has this kind of submissive little brother fetish, huh? What a scandal."
Leonel touched his nose when he heard Mordred's question before coughing lightly.
"About that… She isn't here right now."
Mordred raised an eyebrow and looked toward Leonel deeply. She had a unique perspective on the relationship between Aina and Leonel because she had been there at its infancy. If she had to be honest, she felt that this sort of crossroads between them was inevitable because their foundation was far too shaky.
Leonel had never been able to address all of Aina's insecurities not because he wasn't good enough, but because there were some forms of confidence that one could only give themselves.
On the other hand, Leonel himself was too good at detaching himself. Though he was good at reading people, he had blinders on when it came to himself and those close to him.
In some ways, Mordred felt that Leonel put these blinders up as a self protective mechanism. He subconsciously knew that it wasn't right to treat his friends and woman like they were numbers on a screen to be dissected. As such, he purposely ignored a lot of things…
In much the same way someone who could read minds wouldn't want those around them aware of such a thing for fear of making them uncomfortable, in a lot of ways Leonel was like this. It was yet another layer to the façade that was him…
However, Mordred wasn't quite certain of who the real Leonel was… Or if it was even a good idea for this version of Leonel to be the one who presented himself to the world… That hidden Leonel… Felt more dangerous than she had ever been and Mordred felt that Aina was the balance to him.
It was such a fragile and immature balance that could collapse at any time.
At least for now, it seemed that Leonel still felt that the relationship was mendable as he hadn't had a fierce reaction to Mordred's words. However, she could also feel that this tipping point wasn't very far away… If something went wrong…
"Alright, in that case, I can let you off the hook a bit. But, only a bit." Mordred replied.
Leonel suddenly grinned. "Really? But I come bearing gifts."
Leonel took out the Beast Crystal he got from the black swan. The moment it appeared, it radiated a powerful aura of darkness that attracted Mordred instantly.
Mordred's eyes twinkled, grasping the Beast Crystal with both hands.
"Not bad, not bad. I guess Big Sis can forgive you." Mordred giggled beside herself.
"Where's my gift?"
The sudden voice came from deep within the Throne room. Leonel had come to Avalon for the sake of taking hold of the vanguard. Since King Arthur was still only a Secretary Marquis, he wasn't able to take command of an army on his own as only Governor Dukes could do so.
Originally, Leonel had thought it would just be him and his brothers, but now it seemed he would have King Arthur at his back.
This would work excellently for them both. Mordred and Arthur both were very competent Generals and wouldn't need Leonel's constant support. This would allow Leonel and his brothers freedom while being able to rely on a backbone. It would definitely be a lethal combination.
At this moment, the group stood within a hallway of Camelot's castle, though it couldn't really be considered a castle any longer and was much more like a modern estate. The whole of Avalon had been modernized and the remnants of royalty had been expunged.
The so-called 'Throne Room' was just no longer this and was just a meeting place they should have been headed to. But, Leonel had gotten distracted reuniting with Mordred and forgotten this.
Unsurprisingly, the voice was from Arthur who accompanied by Guinevere and Lancelot both. In fact, there were other Knights of the Round Table present, but many of them weren't the original members that Leonel had become used to. Obviously, new talents had risen up in the time Leonel had been away.
With the new system of the Ascension Empire, the talents that Camelot had mostly neglected in the past due to their poor backgrounds were rising up one after another. And, as citizens of Earth, they were all extremely talented as well.
Leonel laughed. "I didn't manage to find anything you. But, if you still need help with your streaking problem, I might be able to do something to help."
Arthur, who had come with kind intentions, suddenly faltered.
He had gone through great pains to ignore the fact his bare ass had been bared for all his citizens to see during the war just four years ago, all for Leonel to pick at this scab the moment he appeared.
"… Forget I asked for anything…" Arthur grumbled.
An eruption of laughter followed his words.