At this moment, the vines that had been wrapped around Tristan had already vanished.
Because of ’Stake of Oath’, Riezel’s magic lost its effect due to his standoff with Morgan, so not only was Tristan freed, but even Beryl, who had been restrained nearby, was released as well.
Regardless, none of that mattered anymore.
"...Mother?"
Tristan held her reddened cheek, staring at Morgan in disbelief.
Right in front of her, Morgan’s hand was still raised in midair, not yet withdrawn, making it perfectly clear who had caused the loud slap and Tristan’s reddened cheek.
"What are you doing?"
Morgan looked coldly at Tristan, her voice devoid of emotion as she questioned her.
"I... I..."
Tristan couldn’t even form a complete sentence.
Her body shrank back, and the cruelty and charm she had shown earlier had completely vanished, replaced by a fragile air no one had ever seen from her before, revealing the deep turmoil in her heart.
"Tell me... What are you doing, Baobhan Sith?" Morgan continued in the same cold tone.
Baobhan Sith.
It was Tristan’s true name.
Before becoming a Fairy Knight and being granted the city of New Darlington, her name had been Baobhan Sith.
In other words, the name Tristan was a name Morgan had bestowed upon Baobhan Sith after she became a Fairy Knight.
In fact, it wasn’t just Tristan—Lancelot and Gawain had also been given new names.
In other words, the two of them each had original names before becoming Fairy Knights, and only after receiving Morgan’s naming ceremony did they become known as Lancelot and Gawain.
Morgan’s naming was far more than simply giving someone a new name because it was a ritual imbued with magecraft and Mystery, which allowed a Fairy Knight to gain power they originally did not possess by channeling it through their new name.
It was through this process that Baobhan Sith came to possess her harp, which was actually not her own power, but the power she gained from the name ’Tristan’—a power borrowed from someone else.
However, if a Fairy Knight’s true name were ever revealed, the power and identity granted through Morgan’s naming could potentially be stripped away, returning them to their original form.
Because of this, a Fairy Knight’s true name became something that could not be revealed lightly—it was a forbidden name that should never be spoken.
Yet now, Morgan had knowingly uttered Tristan’s true name despite those consequences, showing just how truly angry the cold-faced queen was.
"M-Mother..."
Facing Morgan, Tristan was terrified—absolutely petrified.
Tristan, who saw Morgan as everything, saw this situation as the very last thing she ever wanted to see.
It was the first time Morgan had ever lost her temper in front of Tristan, and also the first time Morgan had laid a hand on her, so this alone was enough to shatter Tristan’s composure.
"I-I was wrong! Mother!"
Tristan dropped to her knees in front of Morgan, not even trying to defend herself.
Like a frightened puppy scared of being abandoned, she trembled as tears streamed down her face, apologizing over and over.
"It’s all my fault... all my fault... please don’t be angry!"
Tristan cried and apologized, even bowing her head to the ground as she sobbed.
Compared to the brutal and bloodstained image from earlier, the contrast was almost impossible to comprehend.
Seeing the scene, Riezel frowned, and Beryl lowered his head, hiding his gaze behind the reflection on his glasses.
Morgan, meanwhile, looked down at the kneeling Tristan, and in her usually cold eyes, there was a faint trace of emotion—one no one else could have noticed.
However, that trace of emotion was quickly suppressed as Morgan spoke again, her tone still utterly indifferent.
"I don’t want there to be a next time. Understand?"
Upon hearing this, Tristan responded without hesitation.
"Yes! I promise there won’t be a next time, Mother!"
Tristan looked as if she had just been pardoned from death—pitiful beyond words.
Only then did Morgan let her go and turn to face Riezel.
Riezel raised his eyes as well, meeting Morgan’s gaze once again.
Just like that, the two locked eyes, yet neither spoke a word.
After a long moment of silence, Morgan finally opened her mouth.
"From now on, he’s your father."
As soon as she finished saying this, Morgan activated the magecraft known as the ’Mirror’ and stepped into the mirror-like space that opened up before her, vanishing from the room.
Riezel silently watched Morgan leave, but his attention was soon drawn to Tristan.
"...Father."
Tristan, still looking terrified, lowered her head and called out to Riezel in a trembling, tearful voice.
Now, the way she looked at Riezel was no longer filled with murderous intent like before, but as if she was staring at something terrifying.
"...I’m not your father."
Riezel frowned again, but—
"No! Mother said you are my father!"
Tristan didn’t seem to hear Riezel’s words and just lowered her head even more, her small body still trembling.
Clearly, the way she acted didn’t seem like she was asking Riezel to accept the role, but rather that she was afraid Morgan would hate her if she didn’t follow her orders, so she forced herself to acknowledge this ’father.’
Riezel’s frown couldn’t help but deepen.
He glanced briefly at the trembling Tristan before turning away and shifting his gaze toward Beryl.
"Take her out of here."
With this calm statement, Riezel walked out of the room without even looking back, as if he had completely lost interest in everything that had just happened.
"..."
Beryl didn’t say anything, but his eyes, hidden behind the glare of his glasses, flickered with thoughts unknown.
"I’m sorry... Mother... It’s all my fault... It’s all my fault..."
Tristan remained where she was, trembling and murmuring her regrets, looking utterly pitiful.
Beryl stared at her, his gaze showing a mix of pity and ridicule, but above all else, a cold indifference that no one else could detect.
’Looks like I’ll have to rethink everything now...’
===
On the other side, Riezel, after leaving his room, didn’t wander around like before but walked straight in one direction.
It was none other than the direction leading to the throne room.
Today, Riezel finally stopped ignoring the existence of the throne room—or rather, stopped ignoring Morgan’s existence, and headed straight toward it.
Morgan, as if expecting this, had already given orders to the guards.
By the time Riezel arrived at the entrance to the throne room, two fairies with horse heads and human bodies stepped forward.
"Her Majesty has ordered that if Your Highness arrives, there’s no need to report it. You may proceed directly into the throne room."
"Please enter the throne room, Your Highness."
As the two fairy soldiers respectfully delivered the message, the doors of the throne room slowly opened.
Riezel didn’t respond to the two fairy guards, as once the doors opened, he simply stepped forward and walked in.
Radiating magical energy, the throne came into Riezel’s view once again after several days, along with the Queen seated upon it.
However, the Queen didn’t turn around and was just gazing outside through the hollowed-out wall, her eyes fixed on the massive pit beyond, her thoughts unclear.
Riezel, not minding it, ignored the cold aura and pressure radiating from Morgan and walked straight up to the throne before sitting down.
Such a move, if witnessed by someone else—even Gawain, who had been getting along well with Riezel these past few days—would probably have scolded him for such great disrespect.
Of course, if it had been someone else, they likely would’ve been blasted to pieces by Morgan before even reaching the throne.
However, since it was Riezel, Morgan chose to overlook it.
In the next moment, Morgan slowly withdrew her gaze and turned to look at Riezel.
"She’s not a bad child."
Of all things, this was the first thing Morgan said.
"She just really wants my attention, that’s all."
Even though Morgan’s words were vague, based on everything that had happened, it was pretty clear who she was referring to.
Who else could it be but Tristan, whose true name was Baobhan Sith?
"You don’t need to tell me that." Riezel said flatly. "I mean, whether she’s good or bad doesn’t have much to do with me, does it?"
"It didn’t used to..."
Morgan replied, her crimson lips parting slightly—though her voice remained cold, something in her tone had shifted as she added in the next moment.
"But that might not be the case from now on."
Hearing this, Riezel immediately looked at her.
"You seriously want her to see me as her father?" Riezel said with a mocking tone. "Forget it. Even if she does, it’s only because of a direct order from her dearest mother—there’s no way she’d ever accept it deep down."
"It’s fine."
Morgan spoke calmly, her demeanor back to normal, just like Riezel’s.
"She is more naive than you think. Give it time, and she’ll end up relying on you without even realizing it."
"Baobhan Sith’s true nature is like that—she can’t live without relying on someone."
At this, Riezel had only one thing to say.
"Like how she’s obsessed with Beryl Gut right now?"
Morgan fell silent after hearing this.
"Don’t say I didn’t warn you—that guy’s dangerous." Riezel said lazily, like it didn’t concern him. "If you really care about your adopted daughter, it’d be best not to let her hang around him anymore."
"...I understand." Morgan finally said after a moment of silence. "Even if he’s my accomplice, I’ll keep your warning in mind."
In the next moment, she suddenly changed the subject.
"By now, you should’ve pretty much figured out the nature of the ’Stake’, right?"
Her attempt at changing the topic was clumsy—clearly an intentional effort to avoid talking about Beryl.
Realizing this, Riezel gave Morgan a long look but didn’t call her out on it.
As if the matter was settled, Riezel followed Morgan’s lead.
"More or less."
Riezel glanced over his shoulder, recalling the skill called the Stake of Oath.
...
Stake of Oath
- Fairy’s divine protection.
- Power exceeds the normal limit when fighting alongside a specific individual.
- Power becomes ineffective when fighting against that specific individual as an enemy.
- Able to exchange powers and conditions with that specific individual.
- Inheritance occurs immediately upon meeting the condition of ’death’.
...
After recalling the effects of the Stake of Oath, Riezel lifted his gaze.
"Even though I still don’t know what the divine protection you gave me actually does, if I’m not wrong, once you planted this so-called Stake in me, it’s like we entered some kind of special contract that can activate under certain conditions."
"For example, when we fight together against an enemy, both of our powers get a major boost."
"And another example is when we become enemies, my power stops working—and so does yours. Once we’re on opposing sides, we both lose our power."
Needless to say, these were the two most obvious effects, so even without analyzing them too deeply, Riezel could already tell their functions just by reading the skill’s description.
However, the remaining two effects were a bit harder to grasp.
—Able to exchange powers and conditions with that specific individual.
—Inheritance occurs immediately upon meeting the condition of ’death’.
Riezel hadn’t fully figured the effects of these two out, nor did he really understand them, but considering what Morgan said earlier and what was happening now, he had a rough guess about the first one.
"Under the effect of the Stake, the two of us can trade our powers under certain conditions, right?"
Riezel pointed this out calmly, which made the corners of Morgan’s lips lift ever so slightly as she looked at him.
"Like what?" Morgan asked calmly.
"Like you could set a ’condition’ or a ’requirement’ for me, and as long as I fulfill that ’condition’ or ’requirement’, I’d be able to receive some kind of power from you."
Riezel met Morgan’s eyes as he spoke his guess.
"You told me earlier not to leave Camelot, and that was the first ’condition’ you gave me, right? In other words, that ’condition’ is basically the requirement needed to trigger the power exchange, isn’t it?"
Riezel’s guess was confirmed by Morgan’s response.
"It’s a bit one-sided, but yes, that’s pretty much how it works."
Morgan didn’t sound sure whether she felt happy or conflicted about it as she quietly explained to Riezel.
"What I can add is, when someone proposes a ’condition’, they also get to decide what power they’re offering in return."
"And if the power being traded away is way more valuable than the ’condition’ itself, then that ’condition’ will carry a certain degree of compulsion depending on the situation."
"In other words, when I set the ’condition’ and choose the power I want to trade to you, if that power is too rare and strong while the ’condition’ is way too easy, then the ’condition’ will become heavily binding."
"And right now, you’re exactly in that state where you’re forced to fulfill the ’condition’."
Indeed, the only ’condition’ Morgan gave was that Riezel couldn’t leave Camelot until the wedding was over, which was obviously too simple. Yet the ’condition’ ended up binding him, making it impossible for him to leave Camelot before the wedding concluded.
Needless to say, this meant one thing—the power Morgan intended to give Riezel in exchange was something incredibly rare and powerful.