Her own brother had children outside of their family?!
How could things have turned out like this?!
Jeanne felt her breathing become rapid with Gareth's words.
But speaking of which—
The Saint looked at Gareth and Mordred before her, unwilling to miss any detail.
Their faces did indeed have a slight resemblance to her brother.
Were these the so-called biological daughters?
Jeanne didn't realize that while thinking this, her body had involuntarily leaned closer to the British knight sisters.
It was a movement that sought to see through them completely.
"Miss Jeanne!" Mordred shouted, finally snapping Jeanne out of her strange behavior.
"What's wrong with you?" Mordred asked, concern etched on her face.
Realizing that she seemed to have lost her composure, Jeanne offered a polite smile and quickly steered the topic elsewhere.
"It's nothing."
"I... just wanted to confirm once more if what you just said was all true?" Jeanne asked, her blue eyes looking at them intently.
"..." Although Mordred wasn't particularly perceptive, she still somewhat noticed Jeanne's very obvious emotional change.
She subconsciously became cautious.
"Miss Jeanne... I suddenly feel like you care a lot about my father," Mordred said, tilting her head in confusion.
"It was the same back then under the castle—you seemed to say something like 'give him back to me', right?"
"Did you two know each other before?" Mordred asked, her green eyes looking at Jeanne with suspicion.
"Eh?!" Mordred's words made Jeanne realize that she did indeed get particularly emotional when it came to matters concerning her brother.
In order to follow the secret code understood only between siblings, she quickly explained,
"Isn't that only natural?" Jeanne asked, her voice gentle but firm.
"He... left with the other 'me' for our sake."
"Then——"
"Isn't it normal for me to worry about him because of that?" Jeanne added, looking at Mordred with sincerity.
"..." Although something about this explanation felt off, Mordred couldn't quite refute it for the time being.
After all, the Jeanne before her had indeed embarked on this journey because she wanted to help them rescue her father.
Logically and emotionally, she shouldn't be too critical of her words and actions.
Mordred felt this way.
Not to mention Gareth, who was very similar to her in personality.
She nodded at Jeanne with a bright smile.
"That's right."
"Master's worry is very reasonable!" Gareth agreed, her green eyes sparkling with understanding.
Seeing the two sisters agree with her statement, Jeanne finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However—
The Saint no longer felt any fatigue at this moment.
Every cell in her body was echoing the words that Gareth and Mordred had just spoken.
She only wanted to figure out what exactly was going on.
"Speaking of which..." Jeanne's gaze swept over Mordred and Gareth before her.
"Since you both acknowledge him as your father."
"Then——"
"Who is your mother?" Jeanne asked, her blue eyes looking at them with a mix of curiosity and concern.
This question, at first glance, seemed like a casual bit of gossip born from Jeanne's personal interest.
But it was actually a way for her to resolve the doubts in her heart at this moment.
Gareth didn't realize the "trap" hidden within and directly replied,
"Our mother... is the new King of Britain."
"Her name is Morgan, and she's the woman Father loves the most." Gareth said with a bright smile, her green eyes filled with affection.
"..." Hearing these words, Jeanne's heart skipped a beat.
She had only wanted to clarify who her brother had children with, but she hadn't expected to hear such high praise at this moment.
Although there might be a bias due to their familial relationship.
But for his daughter to say such a thing...
This meant that he must have treated that woman named Morgan very well usually!
Jeanne suddenly panicked.
She had never imagined that the brother who was so caring towards her would have a woman he loved so deeply outside.
They even had children!
How could this be?!
What exactly had happened?!
Mordred didn't notice Jeanne's somewhat strange expression at this moment.
Because her attention was completely drawn to what Gareth had just said.
"The woman Father loves the most?"
"Then——"
"How much does he love her?" Mordred asked, her green eyes filled with curiosity.
Mordred felt a little confused by Gareth's words "loves the most."
Her understanding of her father came entirely from her own mother Morgan's descriptions.
The new King of Britain always emphasized to her youngest daughter that her husband was a hero.
But she had never mentioned anything like "he loves me very much" like Gareth had just said.
No.
To be precise, she hadn't even touched upon the topic of love.
Deep down, Morgan seemed to have a different emotional reaction to this.
Mordred had seen her show extremely regretful eyes more than once after lecturing her, as if she had committed an unforgivable sin.
"This..." Gareth looked at the sister who had asked this question and suddenly realized something.
"Oh, right... Father had already..." Gareth trailed off, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"Hmm... how should I put it?"
"Father really loved Mother very much," Gareth said, her voice soft with nostalgia.
"Back then, stories about the two of them circulated throughout Camelot... even children would make them into songs to sing."
"Eh?" Mordred frowned slightly. "Then why don't I know anything about it?"
"I've never heard any stories at all... not to mention songs!"
"That's normal." Gareth sighed.
"Because before you returned... Mother had already issued a ban on this matter in advance."
"So——"
"It's also normal that you don't know."
"..." Mordred fell silent.
Although her sister Gareth's explanation was completely consistent with her own memories, and she couldn't find any contradictions.
But in this way, she also confirmed one thing.
That was, her mother Morgan was definitely intentionally avoiding something.
She seemed to not accept the ending of her father's departure at all, to the point where her behavior had begun to become somewhat deranged.
If she continued to think in this direction—
Could that sudden disappearance also be related to this?
For the first time, Mordred felt that she didn't understand her mother Morgan at all.
"Um..." Jeanne's cautious voice sounded once more.
"Your mother is Morgan, right?"
"Yes," Gareth nodded.
Hearing the affirmative answer from her Servant, Jeanne continued to ask.
"And you are the Knights of the Round Table from ancient Britain, that's also right, isn't it?"
"Yes," Gareth nodded again.
"Then what exactly was that thing your father did that you just mentioned? Could you tell me in more detail?" Jeanne looked at Gareth, her eyes now filled with sincerity and pleading.
"I really want to know what happened in the past..."
"Please, please tell me!" Jeanne begged, her blue eyes filled with earnestness.
"..." Although Gareth felt that Jeanne's request was a bit sudden.
But this was still her Master's command, and the Servant Gareth naturally didn't intend to refuse.
She nodded and then said,
"I understand."
"However——"
"Master... if you're asking about this." Gareth pursed her lips and began to think seriously.
As a Servant summoned by Jeanne, she had "Knowledge of the Weakness of the Enemy," and naturally understood that just saying it directly might confuse the other party.
"Let's put it this way... you can understand it as our father participating in a very large-scale battle!"
"And then he sacrificed himself in it."
"What?!" Jeanne's eyes widened considerably in an instant.
She didn't think that Gareth before her would lie to her.
But—
What exactly was this so-called sacrifice?
Before Jeanne could ask, Mordred on the side became excited first.
This was something she didn't know at all!
In this troublemaker's memory, both her foster mother Artoria and her biological mother Morgan had always called her father a hero.
But——!
The two of them seemed to have agreed beforehand and never went into detail about why they called him that.
Now Mordred was finally able to get a rough idea of the truth from Gareth.
She naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity!
After all, this doubt had accompanied her for many years!
"..." Seeing that her younger sister Mordred seemed to care a lot about the words just now, and that Master Jeanne didn't have any objections.
After a moment of silence, Gareth continued,
"Father... was actually the one who truly killed Vortigern."
"Oh, no."
"I shouldn't say killed, it should be said that they perished together."
"..." This time it was Mordred's turn to be surprised.
"Perished together?" Mordred repeated, her green eyes wide with shock.
"Yes." Gareth looked at her sister, her eyes filled with the memory of that experience.
"Father perished together with Vortigern."
"I... was there at the time."
"Then why does everyone say that the person who killed Vortigern was Second Mother?" Mordred asked, pressing for more information.
"Second Mother?" Jeanne couldn't help but interject again.
"Who is Second Mother?" She had been listening in a daze, and now that a new term had been introduced, she naturally felt even more confused.
Since things had already been said to this point, Mordred no longer concealed anything.
She looked at Jeanne's face, which had a slight resemblance to her foster mother in her memory, and confessed everything.
"Second Mother is Artoria that I mentioned to you before..."
"Eh?!" Jeanne's face flushed red in an instant.
She finally understood why Mordred had been apologizing so profusely back then.
Mistaking a stranger for her Second Mother was indeed a "heinous crime"!
But speaking of which—
Since Artoria could be called Second Mother...
It meant that her brother and Artoria also had a relationship similar to the one with Morgan!
Was this a Third wife?!
Jeanne didn't dare to ask any further.
They had only chatted for a while, and her brother already had two more wives.
If this continued, maybe a fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh wife would appear later!
Seeing that her Master Jeanne had stopped talking, Gareth hesitated for a moment and continued to answer Mordred's previous question.
"Mo-chan, I had the same doubts as you at first."
"But Brother Gawain told me that this was the best way to handle it."
"After all... even if Father got such an honor, it wouldn't have any practical meaning."
"But if the old King could get this merit, then Camelot at that time could have long-term stability."
"..." Mordred didn't respond to her sister Gareth's words.
Clearly.
She didn't like this explanation very much.
Because it was equivalent to denying everything her father had done.
However—
She could also understand that this might have been the best choice.
After all, Camelot had indeed enjoyed a period of considerable prosperity after that.
If there was a real connection between the two, then this approach wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
The bonfire suddenly fell into a deathly silence.
After a long while, the Saint spoke again:
"Then... did your father sacrifice himself for Camelot at that time?" Jeanne asked softly, her blue eyes filled with a mix of sadness and admiration.
"Yes." Gareth nodded, a look of infinite longing in her eyes.
"Perhaps... we should have just followed what Mother said back then and kept Father in the castle, not letting him go on the expedition with the old King."
"..." Jeanne's thoughts were in turmoil for a moment.
Although she hadn't truly been to that era.
But listening to Gareth and Mordred's descriptions, she could also feel how important her brother's actions had been during that time.
This was a person whom two kings of the same country were reminiscing about.
It must have been an unimaginably heroic act.
Although she didn't know how her brother had achieved crossing eras.
But that wasn't something that needed to be cared about.
That word was truly well-said—"hero."
That's right.
He was a genuine hero.
Always.
Then——
It wasn't difficult to understand that someone would fall in love with a hero.
However—
Although she could convince herself of this in her heart.
Looking at Gareth and Mordred before her, Jeanne still felt a little gloomy.
After all, in her imagination, she had planned to have several children with him and live together.
Now it seemed... she had been completely outmaneuvered!
And she had suddenly become the aunt of two girls of similar age!
Seriously!
What was going on?!
And if she really had to say it—
She didn't want to just be at this level!
At least she had to be their stepmother!
Gareth and Mordred didn't know what Jeanne was thinking at this moment.
They only felt that the Saint seemed to have suddenly become unhappy.
"Master... what's wrong?" Gareth asked, tilting her head in concern.
"Nothing!" Jeanne said, standing up abruptly.
"Let's end our chat for today."
With Jeanne's words, the unexpectedly born night talk came to an end.
But the truly unexpected thing was yet to come.
Several days later, the group, who had been cautious on the road, finally arrived at the Demon King's Castle, Orléans.
However—
What awaited them there wasn't the great battle they had imagined.
Ian, covered in blood from head to toe, stood at the city gate.
Sunlight shone down, and the man radiated a scarlet glow.
And at this moment, something seemed to be dissipating from his hand.
It was a person.
Or rather... a cat?
Amidst the surprised gazes of everyone, he squeezed out a smile and said,
"Everyone... long time no see."