"My lord, you're here. Did you also come to enjoy the nature?"
Yumeria's voice was soft, almost hesitant, as she spotted Arthur laid out flat on his back in the thick, dewy grass.
His eyes were fixed upward, tracing the endless tapestry of stars scattered across the velvet-black sky above them.
The night air was cool and crisp, carrying the faint, earthy scent of soil and wildflowers.
Arthur didn't move from his relaxed position.
He simply continued staring at the distant, shimmering lights, his voice calm and contemplative when he finally answered.
"I don't know if you can really call this 'enjoying nature,' but I've always liked watching the stars. The other planets up there, the ones that shine so brightly above us despite everything... it's fascinating."
"The magic in this world gives us the ability to see them more clearly, more vividly, even with all the pollution surrounding our planet. Without that, we'd barely see a fraction of what's really up there."
He paused, a small, almost wistful smile crossing his lips.
"The universe," he continued quietly, "has a way of teaching you just how small you really are compared to everything else out there. It humbles you, whether you want it to or not."
Yumeria tilted her head slightly, her expression thoughtful but confused.
"Uhm... I don't really understand, my lord. The elves, my people, we never think that far. We've always believed we are above everything, superior to all other races. The concept of being small... it's not something we were ever taught to consider."
Arthur let out a low, warm chuckle. "Of course they do. That's exactly the kind of arrogance I'd expect from them."
He turned his head slightly to look at her. "So, what brings you here, Yumeria? You didn't come all this way just to talk about stars and elven pride."
Yumeria took a deep breath, steeling herself. Her hands clasped together in front of her, fingers fidgeting nervously. "I wanted to thank you, my lord. Truly, from the bottom of my heart. Thanks to your guidance, your patience, your willingness to help a helpless elf woman like me... Kyle now has a happy childhood. A real one. He laughs and plays without fear. He sleeps without nightmares."
Her voice trembled with genuine emotion. "And you even went so far as to make us stronger, more capable of adapting and surviving in this cruel, unforgiving world. I never imagined such kindness was possible."
She bowed deeply, her forehead nearly touching her knees, her gratitude pouring out in every line of her bowed body.
Arthur listened in silence.
When she finished, he didn't rush to fill the quiet.
He let it breathe.
Let her words settle into the night air like falling leaves.
Much had changed in the years since Yumeria and Kyle had joined them.
Morgan le Fay had taken over Yumeria's magical training personally—mostly because she'd kicked Merlin's ass out of the teaching rotation.
The reason?
Vengeance. Pure, petty, thousand-year-old vengeance.
Every time Merlin tried to interact with anything that smelled female—every attempted flirtation, every lecherous gaze, every "accidental" encounter in the hallway—Morgan was there.
Alarms were sounded.
Warnings were shouted.
Women fled in terror from the "old pervert in wizard robes."
It was a campaign of psychological warfare that had reduced the Grand Caster to a sulking wreck.
That was just how their relationship worked.
Arthur waved a dismissive hand, his tone utterly nonchalant. "No need to feel indebted, Yumeria. You don't owe me a single thing. It's part of the code, the honor of knights, to help children and women who are in genuine need."
"We can't save everyone in this world, no matter how hard we try. But at least, at the very least, we can save the ones we come across. The ones we meet on our path."
And that was the truth of it.
That was how their journey had unfolded over the past three years. Slaying bandit camps. Capturing outlaw leaders. Escorting merchant caravans through dangerous territory. Making the roads safer while quietly building their reputation across the kingdom.
They'd gone further than that, too.
Delved into dungeons that hadn't seen sunlight in centuries.
Crossed into vampire territory and slaughtered a nest of bloodsuckers who'd been preying on human villages.
Bathed in the blood of an evil dragon—a real one, not some lesser drake—after tracking it to its mountain lair and putting it down for kidnapping women.
Everyone in the party had adapted. Grown. Hardened. They weren't just killing small fries anymore. They'd taken down a dragon.
A genuine, fire-breathing, village-terrorizing dragon. The kind of monster that made seasoned adventurers shit their pants.
After that, bandits felt like a joke.
Yumeria stared up at the stars again, her eyes distant and sad.
A long, heavy sigh escaped her lips.
"I... I don't know, my lord. I truly don't. I feel like... this world, this life of constant adventure and danger... it doesn't belong to me."
Her voice cracked slightly. "I want to go home. I want to take care of Kyle and just watch him grow up, watch him become a man. This intense, never-ending journey is so tiresome... I... I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this."
Arthur interrupted her before she could spiral further. His voice was firm but gentle. "I understand, Yumeria. I understand completely."
He sat up slowly, brushing blades of grass from his coat.
"You're afraid that I think you're wasting our time. You've been bottling up all of these emotions inside your heart, afraid to let them out because you didn't want to disappoint anyone. You're also afraid that we might think you're just taking advantage of us, using us for training and protection, making yourself into a famous adventurer and growing stronger, only to turn around and say you just want to go home and retire shortly after."
He met her tearful eyes directly.
"That's understandable. More than understandable. I already told you this before, didn't I? We are here to help. Not to judge. Not to hold you hostage to some unspoken debt. If you want to go home, then go home, Yumeria. Kyle needs you more than he needs any of us. He needs his mother."
Tears spilled freely down Yumeria's cheeks. She bowed so deeply her forehead touched the ground. "Thank you, my lord. Thank you. I... I can't even begin to express my gratitude with mere words... it's not enough. Nothing I could say would ever be enough."
"You don't need to say anything." Arthur rose to his feet, walked over to her, and placed a firm, encouraging hand on her shoulder. His grip was warm and steady.
"Go. Follow your heart, Yumeria. Don't let fear or guilt hold you back from what you truly want."
"Yes, my lord." Yumeria bowed even lower, her tears dripping onto the grass.
She turned to leave, taking several steps away, her heart heavy but also strangely light.
Then, suddenly, she stopped.
Her fists clenched at her sides.
Her face flushed a deep, burning red.
She spun back around to face him, her voice trembling but determined.
"My lord... if you ever come back to Camelot. The beautiful village you described to us, the one you spoke of with such longing in your voice. If you ever return there..."
She swallowed hard, forcing the words out. "I will serve you personally. My heart. My body. My soul. They all belong to you, my lord. Please... please don't hesitate to hire me as your maid, or anything else you might need, if you ever come back. I will wait for you. As long as it takes."
After saying such embarrassingly intimate, revealing things, Yumeria's face was practically glowing red.
She turned on her heel and ran like a frightened rabbit, her footsteps fading quickly into the night.
Arthur watched her go, a slow, amused smile spreading across his face.
He tilted his head back and looked up at the stars once more.
"What a great day, indeed," he murmured to himself, chuckling softly.
The stars twinkled above him, silent witnesses to another promise made, another thread woven into the ever-expanding tapestry of his legend.
...
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