Happiness

"Big Brother!"

Shouting anxiously, Mordred swung her sword, cutting through debris and ruined walls, and ran over to the room, disregarding the danger.

Mordred: "..."

X: "..."

'Ahh, I knew it. This isn't the right time for this kind of thing.' Artorius lamented in his mind.

Watching Artorius pinning X down as her legs wrapped around his waist, Mordred, holding a sword, was momentarily unsure which one to strike first.

At the same time, Artorius was also unsure which one he should handle first.

The moment he returned with X, only an instant had passed since the moment they had traveled through the future timeline.

That is the moment when X's Dun Stallion II crashed into his palace and made a loud *Thud!* as she smashed against his nose the next second.

What would happen next, isn't it easy to guess? A great emperor like him getting 'hit by the enemy' surely wouldn't garner applause; people would come to his rescue and come as soon as possible.

The first one to rush over and save him would likely be Mordred, who possessed both strength and a high level of favorability to him.

So, this situation should have been within his expectations long ago.

'Damn, I let my guard down.'

Artorius cursed inwardly.

'I just got a bit carried away. With X leaning in like that... with that 'Artoria Face', I couldn't just not play along... alright, it's not the time for those thoughts now. So, what to do next? Whatever, I'll just do whatever needs to be done. What's there to fear?'

{T/N: Saber Face, Artoria Face/Species, and the Artorias all refer to the same thing it seems.}

With this in mind, His Majesty the Emperor regained his composure.

===

Rewind time a few minutes back, before Artorius pinned X down.

Mordred and Artoria, who were diligently practicing in the training grounds, watched speechlessly as something large and unidentifiable fell from the sky, causing the palace to collapse with a thunderous roar.

The 'Artoria' referred to here is the Artoria of this timeline—the one who wielded the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad, frequently changed her chest armor, and also the true 'Mother' figure of Artorius.

As the two of them were the first to react, they rushed forward to Artorius's room at the fastest speed. Mordred led the way, followed by Artoria.

It wasn't that Artoria didn't want to be at the forefront, but her large lance wasn't suited for rescue work and was inconvenient to maneuver inside the palace. So, she had to let Mordred go ahead and be the first to experience the shock of the scene.

Mordred saw the figures of Artorius and someone who appeared to be her 'father'. She was instantly stunned in place.

Then came Artoria.

"Mordred, why are you just standing there? Is His Majesty alright?!"

As she spoke, Artoria pushed Mordred who was on her way to the side.

Due to the enhancing effect of the holy lance, Artoria's weight had increased by about 5 pounds, slowly rising. So, Mordred was easily pushed aside by her sudden nudge.

Thus, another person joined the ranks of those gaping in shock.

"Artorius..."

"Well..."

"That..."

"Uh..."

Artoria mumbled to herself, unsure of how to best describe this situation.

X and Mordred remained stunned.

The latter was affected by the shock to her soul; she couldn't recover temporarily. The former was caught in a strange tangle of confusion and turmoil.

If it were a normal day, seeing two 'Artoria Species', X would definitely not hesitate to charge at them.

But not now.

X felt oddly anxious; she found it difficult to face Mordred and Artoria.

The reason for this was that her level of 'Hooligan' wasn't high enough.

Her level of 'Yandere' wasn't high enough.

Her level of 'Villain' wasn't high enough.

If she were a hooligan like someone similar to Miyamoto Musashi, she would certainly hug Artorius and boldly shout at Mordred and Artoria—"Hey, you old hags! Trying to steal my boy?!" and then charge at them.

If she were a yandere like someone similar to Minamoto no Raikou, she would definitely press Artorius between her bosoms and angrily yell—"Are you trying to seduce my son?!" and then charge at them.

If she were a villain like someone similar to Sesshouin Kiara, she would definitely 'eat' Artorius already, then smile mischievously and say—"He's already mine, so let me share equal pleasure with you~" and then charge at them.

Those three bizarre women mentioned above were all Japanese. It appeared that Japan had a knack for producing abnormal women who stood out from the rest.

Considering all of that, X was actually a good girl.

She just lacked a few screws in her head, had some eccentricities, a slightly low IQ, and simply wanted to kill all the other versions of herself to become the only Saber and Artoria Species.

Think about it carefully, if there were dozens of versions of yourself in the world, you would also want some of them to disappear, which is easy to understand, right? You don't want someone with your face to steal your identity and steal your important people from you as 'you'.

X wasn't a hooligan, nor a yandere, and certainly not a villain. She was definitely suited to be a knight.

'Truly worthy of being an Artoria.'

In just a few nanoseconds, Artorius had figured out a way to save his face. The time he spent returning to his normal behavior was even shorter than the time he spent thought of it.

Artorius quickly got up from X's delicate body. He walked directly towards Mordred as he wore a perfect and charming smile specially designed for her.

"Don't worry, Little Mo, I'm fine."

"Ohh..."

Mordred responded absentmindedly, unsure of how to reply.

'Big Brother, you look so cool~'

This thought, mixed with the scene she had just witnessed, left Mordred confused.

"Rushing to protect me the moment you saw me in trouble, you're really the best sister."

After saying that, Artorius hugged Mordred.

"Ahh~"

Being held and cuddled by her brother, Mordred felt a wave of pleasure wash over her, almost like Pavlov's experiment—a reflexive response.

It was as if she had consumed a large amount of sweets, triggering a dopamine rush that made her nearly forget about the strange thing she had just seen.

"..."

Artoria on the side was quite displeased. After all, she had also come along with Mordred, equally anxious and concerned about Artorius. Her willingness to help and her worries weren't any less than Mordred's. So why was he only focusing on his sister?

Fortunately, Artorius wasn't just paying attention to Mordred.

Before Artoria could let her resentment and dissatisfaction show, Artorius reached out and pulled her into an embrace as well, one woman on each side, maintaining a perfect balance.

And now, only X was left.

After a few moments of hesitation, X finally decided to come from behind and snugly wrap her arms around Artorius's waist. Everyone was now comfortably huddled together around him, and the situation was pleasantly resolved.

Artorius felt a bit proud.

X often claimed to have a special attack against Artoria Species. But if one wanted to talk about who had the best special attack against them? It was obvious.

"Artorius..."

"Big Brother~"

"Son~"

The Artoria Species, specializing in attacks against Artorius, and Artorius, specializing in attacks against the Artoria Species, both felt immense happiness at this moment.