stonecrandall Chapter 83 Fuyuki's Falling Cherry Blossoms
Chapter 83 Fuyuki's Falling Cherry Blossoms
In Camelot's afternoon, sunlight pierced through the thin mist, but could not dispel the almost tangible tension within the bedchamber.
"You are not allowed to go."
Sajō Aika clung tightly to Arthur's clothes, her glassy eyes flashing with an unprecedented stubbornness and grievance.
She had just crossed that boundary, just begun to leave her mark on the prince's soul.
How can we allow him to jump into those unknown worlds again?
"Aigo, listen to me." Arthur turned around and gently cupped Aigo's face in his hands.
"The call was very faint, but it was also very desperate. I had to go."
"Then I want to go too." Aika stared intently into Arthur's eyes, her gaze resolute.
Arthur looked at the girl's pale face, which was pale from exhaustion, and felt a pang of reluctance.
But he knew all too well that if he brought Ai Ge along, given her personality and her almost "omnipotent" authority...
One mistake, and the world could be changed in an instant into a form he doesn't want to see.
"Aiko, if I take you with me, I'm worried that your high status will directly cause the collapse of that fragile world coordinate system."
Arthur patiently comforted her, his eyes revealing an irresistible sincerity.
"Oh dear, Miss Aika, the prince is only doing this for your own good."
Mary stood to the side, lazily waving her wand. She had regained some of her energy by now, a mocking smile playing on her lips.
"If you force your way in and cause the coordinates to shatter, Your Highness might get lost in the gaps of the imaginary numbers."
You wouldn't want to search for fragments of the prince in such an eternal world, would you?
Aige bit her lower lip, sensing Arthur's heartbeat, confirming that he didn't hate her, but rather acted out of some consideration called "responsibility" and "protection".
"...Then, it's a date."
Aige released her grip, tilted her head back, and a chilling blend of fervor and tenderness flashed in her eyes.
"I will stay in Britain and keep an eye on those troublemakers for you, and I will also 'live peacefully' with them."
But when you come back… I want a reward, a reward far more profound than what was given to Meryl or to me back then.”
"I promise you," Arthur whispered, kissing Aige's forehead.
……
In Arthur's bedchamber, the fluctuations of the star trails had already caused visible ripples in the space.
Morgan crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes filled with coldness.
Guinevere stood beside her, clutching a bag prepared for Arthur tightly in her hand, her eyes gentle.
Ayaka Sajou stood timidly behind Aika, her eyes filled with confusion and unease about the future.
"Don't die out there." Morgan spoke first, his tone harsh but unable to conceal his anxiety.
"Britain is already in enough chaos because of these two women you brought back. If you don't come back, I will turn this land into the ruins of the Age of Gods."
"I will come back." Arthur looked at everyone, his gaze finally settling on Guinevere.
Guinevere simply stepped forward in silence, straightened his collar one last time, and whispered, "May the stars guide your way home, Arthur."
Deep within the Dragon Power River, the fragments of that world line grew brighter and brighter.
Arthur reached out and touched the light with his fingertips.
Just as his figure was about to be swallowed by the light, Morgan's voice, filled with jealousy and anger, pierced his ears:
"You damn little brother... if you dare bring another woman with you next time you come back, I'll chop your round table into pieces and use it as firewood!"
Arthur gave an awkward laugh, and the light immediately dimmed, taking him away from the home where love and tension coexisted.
……
As winter approaches, candlelight flickers inside the Tohsaka residence, and the air is filled with the bitter smell of damp, old wood.
Sakura Tohsaka knelt on the corridor outside her father's study, the coldness of the floor seeping into her bones from her knees.
She listened to the sounds coming from behind the closed door.
The mother's choked sobs, the father's deep and unquestionable tone, and the occasional respectful replies from a stranger.
"...Sakura has high attributes and talent, but the family inheritance can only be passed on to one person. Staying in the Tohsaka family will only cause her talent to wither."
The Matou family has no heir, which presents Sakura with another opportunity to access the Roots.
"Sakura... will be sent away."
Sakura didn't need to press her ear to the crack in the door; those words were clear enough to pierce the wooden door, the air in the corridor, and her young chest.
Sakura didn't cry; she just lowered her head and looked at her fingertips, which were soaked with cold.
She thought of her sister Rin's always confident smile, and her father's strict demands for elegance... but all of that seemed irrelevant to her now.
She felt something quietly cracking inside her.
It's like the sound of a frozen river being struck by the first stone... a fine, spreading cracking sound.
My father doesn't want me anymore.
The thought just surfaced so calmly, yet it was a thousand times heavier than any heart-wrenching cry.
She didn't understand why.
She didn't know what she had done wrong.
All she knew was that the door would never open for her again, and that surname would be severed from her forever.
The darkness called "Matou" is somewhere opening its rotting embrace, waiting to devour her whole.
Can anyone hear me?
Sakura didn't even try to think with words; it was just a primal cry from the depths of her soul, like the last hand a drowning person stretches out of the water...
That call transcended the barriers of the world.
Sakura Tohsaka saw the light.
The light burst forth from the gap in the air without any warning.
At first, it was as thin as a hair, but in an instant, it illuminated the entire corridor as if it were daytime.
It was a color Sakura had never seen before—warm and holy, yet possessing a sharpness capable of cleaving through the darkness.
She instinctively covered her eyes, and after the light dimmed slightly, she trembled as she peered through her fingers.
Then she saw him.
Tall and imposing—that was her first impression of him.
Moreover, they are unlike people of this era.
He was a man clad in silver chainmail, or rather, a young man who could not yet be called a man.
He looked much younger than her father, and his dark blue cloak fluttered in the wind.
Her golden hair was casually loose, and her emerald green eyes held a tranquility like the starry sea.
It's a calmness honed by time and war, not an innate indifference.
He looked at her.
They weren't looking at her with the slightly condescending gaze that adults usually have when looking at children; they were genuinely looking at her.
Looking at her tear-streaked eyelashes, at her tightly bitten lower lip, at her curled-up figure in the corridor with her knees drawn up to her chest.
The young man crouched down to be at her eye level.
The soft clatter of the armor fitting together was exceptionally clear in the quiet corridor, and there was a genuine tenderness in his eyes, devoid of any pretense.
"Was that you calling me?"
He spoke, his voice deep and steady, in fluent modern Japanese, yet carrying a certain indescribable, ancient charm.
I heard your voice from a very, very far place.
Sakura Tohsaka was stunned.
She didn't cry, she didn't shout, she didn't back down.
He simply stared at the young man with an overly mature, wary yet bewildered gaze, like a small animal trapped in a corner, unsure whether the newcomer was benevolent or malevolent.
"...Who are you?" Her voice was soft, dry, and hoarse. "Where did you come from?"
The young man smiled slightly, a smile that revealed the weariness of having just experienced a "battlefield," but even more so, the determination of a guardian.
He reached out his hand, but did not force his way in; instead, he waited quietly for the girl to trust him.
"My name is Arthur Pendragon," he said.
"The King of Britain"