"..." Ian confirmed that he had just heard a sentence with an enormous amount of information.
After a moment of hesitation, he spoke again.
"Are you telling the truth?" Ian asked, his brow furrowed in thought.
"Gilles... existed before you even appeared?" he pressed, his gaze intense.
"Yeah," the Black Jeanne looked at the man who asked this question. "Didn't I mention it to you once before?"
"Caster gave that Holy Grail to me as a congratulatory gift... and then became my Servant," she explained casually, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"..." Listening to these words, Ian suddenly realized something—he had misunderstood what the Black Jeanne had said before.
She had indeed mentioned the fact that "Caster had given her the Holy Grail as a congratulatory gift."
However—
The meaning of this sentence wasn't that Gilles de Rais, as a Servant, had found the Holy Grail she currently possessed for the Black Jeanne.
Rather, it meant that he had offered the Holy Grail at the moment of the Black Jeanne's birth!
In other words, the first person to possess the Holy Grail might not have been the Black Jeanne, but the Caster Gilles de Rais himself.
The so-called "summoning" might very well have originated from some idea of his!
Wait——!
If that's the case, then Gilles de Rais wasn't actually a Heroic Spirit Servant from another era, but a genuine human being who existed during the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
Could this be the reason why he felt so out of place when he saw him?
No.
There should be more than just one reason.
The truly jarring reason was that he, despite being a human from this era, possessed magical power comparable to that of Servants from different time periods.
Judging from his familiarity with Orleans, it was even possible that he had restored the city all by himself.
How could this be?
Where did he get this level of magical power?
Could it be due to the family tradition of a magus?
That also didn't seem quite right.
No matter how long the tradition, this kind of magical power reserve was definitely not something a normal human could obtain.
Thinking this way——
He must have obtained some kind of magical power reserve sufficient to support the release of such spells.
What could it be?
Ian fell into deep thought.
"Hey!" The Black Jeanne's voice, filled with a hint of dissatisfaction, rang in Ian's ear.
"Why do you suddenly space out again while we're talking?!" she complained, her red eyes looking at him with a pout.
"...It's nothing," Ian said with a wry smile, snapping out of his thoughts.
"I just thought of some unimportant things."
"..." The Dragon Witch frowned slightly, but didn't delve into it further.
Because at this moment, she had something more important on her mind.
The Black Jeanne reached out and gently lifted the blanket covering the two of them.
Looking at the scene inside, she asked with a curious expression:
"Say... is your Noble Phantasm edible?"
"Huh? You... why would you think that?" Ian asked, completely taken aback by her question.
"Because you see Atalante tasting it all the time, don't you?" The Black Jeanne looked at the man beside her, her eyes filled with a desire for knowledge.
"Isn't it because it tastes good that she keeps tasting it for so long?"
"..." Ian didn't know how to answer the Dragon Witch's question for a moment—this could no longer be described as "lack of knowledge."
She probably didn't even realize what she was asking.
"Um..." Ian stroked Atalante's head, thinking about how to answer the Black Jeanne in a way that she could understand a little better.
Soon, he had an explanation.
"This is actually her understanding of the Noble Phantasm."
"It's just like how you like to use your Noble Phantasm to do that kind of thing... the choices you two make are essentially just different ways of using it."
"I see." The Black Jeanne didn't delve into this matter further—it seemed she didn't mind Atalante developing new uses for the Noble Phantasm.
The Dragon Witch leaned closer to the man, her usual violent demeanor completely gone.
"Speaking of——"
"Even though we're not getting married until tomorrow."
"But I'm already so happy right now... it's strange."
As the Black Jeanne said this, Ian felt Atalante suddenly suck hard.
The cat girl seemed completely indifferent on the surface, but in reality, she cared about this kind of thing more than anyone else.
However, Ian couldn't directly respond to her right now, so he could only let her continue her venting-style sucking.
"Is that so? That's great." Ian replied gently, stroking the Black Jeanne's hair.
"That shows you feel like this is something you should be doing."
"Is that how it is——~" The Black Jeanne looked as if she had suddenly understood something.
She leaned on his arm and acted spoiled like a little girlfriend.
"I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."
"...Yeah." The indulgent culinary party finally came to an end.
Ian, with his two cream puff girls on either side, fell into a deep sleep with a hint of unease.
Sunrise.
Atalante had already left discreetly beforehand, being very considerate.
And the Black Jeanne was still fast asleep—her face full of smiles, as if she had a wonderful, indescribable dream.
Feeling a little depressed, Ian quietly got out of bed and walked towards the top floor of the castle.
He planned to be alone for a while.
However, what the man didn't expect was——
That he would actually see Lancelot, who had also come here at this time.
Ian always felt that meeting him wasn't a good thing, so he prepared to leave silently.
But Lancelot spoke at this moment:
"Isn't it a bit rude to leave as soon as you see me?"
"At least... keep me company for a few words, won't you?"
"..." There was no other way.
Since Lancelot had already put it this way, Ian knew he definitely couldn't pretend he hadn't heard anything.
He came to the side of the Knight of the Round Table.
"Good morning, Lancelot." Ian greeted him with a polite nod.
"Did you come here to see the sunrise?"
"Yes," Lancelot said, looking at the sun that had just risen above the horizon.
"After all, this is still French territory, right?"
"But I never expected the sun to be so dazzling even after so long."
"Everything seems to have changed, yet everything seems to remain the same."
"..." Frankly speaking, in Ian's memory, his contact with Lancelot seemed to be limited to that one battle as the "Shadow of the Knight King."
But even so, the attitude of accepting his fate that came from the knight from the Lake had left a rather deep impression on him.
This was a very proper knight, and also one with considerable strength.
"Indeed." Ian's gaze also turned towards the place where the sun was.
"But even so, it's still there, isn't it?" he said softly.
"..." "You're right." Lancelot looked at Ian beside him.
"Speaking of——"
"Are you really going to marry that Master?" Lancelot asked, his gaze serious.
"...Yes," Ian nodded. "It's her order."
"Then what about Artoria?" Lancelot's sudden change of topic made Ian freeze for a moment.
He looked at the knight before him, understanding that the other party must have noticed something.
"Lancelot, what do you mean by that?" Ian asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"It's nothing." Lancelot smiled slightly.
"I just think you look very similar to someone I remember... so I just asked," he explained, his gaze gentle.
"Looking at your reaction now, it seems that's really the case."
"So are you planning to tell Master?" Ian asked, his eyes looking at Lancelot.
"No," Lancelot shook his head. "I have absolutely no such intention."
"And even if I did... considering how much that Dragon Witch likes you, she probably wouldn't care about my words at all."
"However——" The Knight of the Lake looked at Ian, his eyes filled with a hint of regret born from having witnessed certain things.
"Do you know... that King Arthur is a girl?" Lancelot asked, his gaze somewhat melancholic.
"I know... I've always known," Ian replied.
"Is that so?" Lancelot's tightly knit brows slowly relaxed.
"That's great then," he said, a hint of relief in his voice.
"Let's end it here for today... don't forget about the upcoming wedding."
"I will sincerely bless you."
"...Yeah." Everything returned to silence.
Ian realized that Lancelot had probably noticed the feelings that had crossed the line between him and Artoria a long time ago.
However—
He had never mentioned it.
The sun climbed higher and higher, until it reached the center of the sky.
According to Gilles de Rais's arrangements, Ian began to wait for the Black Jeanne in the room.
His mood was somewhat complicated at this moment.
On the one hand, it was because he had realized that the Black Jeanne's birth was not as simple as he had imagined.
There were probably many unclear things entangled within it.
But on the other hand, the man also genuinely felt the Dragon Witch's anticipation for this wedding.
She was serious, and not just acting recklessly because of his own half-baked understanding.
Ian found that his heart was developing some cracks along with the Black Jeanne's sincerity.
This feeling was quite ominous for him.
Knock knock knock——
A knock on the door came.
Ian hadn't expected anyone to come looking for him at this time.
Could it be... had the Black Jeanne prepared things in advance?
Harboring all sorts of thoughts, the man opened the door.
But what he saw was Atalante.
And as soon as she saw Ian, the cat girl's face instantly turned red.
Before he could even speak, she had already started speaking softly, as if it had become an instinct.
"M-Master." Atalante greeted him shyly, her golden eyes looking down.
"..." Ian looked at Atalante, who had come here on her own initiative, and smiled.
He bent down and carried Atalante onto his shoulder.
"Master, what are you going to do?" the cat girl asked, a little flustered.
"What do you think?" Ian returned to the room, slammed the door shut, and then placed her on the bed.
"Who else can I do right now?"
"..." Atalante, completely understanding Ian's meaning, became even more embarrassed.
"But Master... you're going to marry Master in a little while, right?" Atalante asked, her golden eyes looking at him with concern.
"Doing this now... doesn't seem very appropriate, does it?"
"What you're saying doesn't sound very convincing," Ian said, stroking the cat girl's soft head.
"You came here on your own initiative... doesn't that mean you actually don't think it's inappropriate?"
"Or is it——"
"Have you suddenly had a pang of conscience and want to go back?"
"That's not true!" Atalante quickly denied this statement.
"Then don't waste any time."
"..." The cat girl said no more.
She knew that as his pet, she had the duty to serve her Master.
The exhilarating sounds that made one's body and mind surge with excitement echoed in the room once again.
And this time, the Noble Phantasm wouldn't just stay in one place.
After some time.
Looking at Atalante lying on top of him, Ian stroked her head with a smile.
"Does it feel good?"
Remembering the scene just now where her hands were tied up and her garden was continuously irrigated, followed by being forcibly made to clean it with her throat, Atalante's face turned red.
Having been completely developed, she had gradually become addicted to this strange and peculiar training.
The little cat girl swallowed something, then nodded extremely shyly and said, "It feels good."
"Alright then——"
"If you're done feeling good... then it's time to start working."
"Work?" The cat girl raised her head.
"Yeah." Ian patted Atalante's cheek—this was a way to encourage his pet cat.
"Help me investigate Caster... I want to know more information about him."
"..." Although she felt that Ian seemed to be plotting something, Atalante, who had completely fallen, didn't voice her suspicions.
"Then what do you want me to investigate?" Atalante asked, her golden eyes looking at him expectantly.
"Anything you think is strange is fine to investigate."
"I understand." Atalante replied. Suddenly, she thought of something and spoke again.
"Then Master, if I..."
"Then of course there will be a reward," the man gently stroked the cat girl's back. "And it will be a super-sized reward."
"..." The cat girl didn't make a sound, but her tail wagged.
After giving Atalante the task during their training, the wedding with the Black Jeanne began.
Although the Servants were all very confused when this was mentioned yesterday.
They had all arrived early for the wedding today.
Presided over by Gilles de Rais, the Black Jeanne, wearing a wedding dress, and Ian completed a series of rituals under everyone's gaze.
"Am I pretty?" The Dragon Witch tilted her head slightly and asked this.
And what she didn't know was that looking at herself in the wedding dress before him, Ian was thinking of someone else.
That was his younger sister, Jeanne.
If—
There had been a chance back then.
She would probably have become this beautiful too, right?
However—
Such words could not be spoken.
Ian smiled slightly and nodded.
"Very beautiful." The applause of the Servants echoed in the hall, accompanied by Gilles de Rais's crying, forming a strange symphony.
This was a strange wedding in a Singularity.
Everyone knew it was as fragile as a bubble, but no one exposed this fact.
The direction of things also took a small turn at this moment.
Two nights later.
Atalante brought news of her investigation.
"Master, I found something out," Atalante said softly, her golden eyes looking at Ian with a hint of unease.
"Caster has a grimoire."
"This... is there anything strange about that? Isn't it perfectly normal for a magus to have a grimoire?" Ian asked, a little confused.
"..." Atalante hesitated for a moment, then whispered:
"But it's a grimoire bound in human skin..."