Things have been getting heated up in Camelot.

Artoria did confirm to me she's planning a siege against Vortigern to settle things once and for all. She even asked if I'll take part in it.

I told her that, while I will be there, this is her problem, and at best I'll just offer advice. She understood that and even agreed to it, especially because Vortigern was her uncle.

Though, I think what was really interesting was one night when I was about to leave my puppet body.

"Man, this is the last time I challenge a tactician to a game of chess," I mumbled as I suffered more than a few loses to Agravain.

Suddenly, the door to my room was kicked open. I nearly pulled out Baraka but relaxed when saw it was Artoria. I only felt confusion at seeing her state, however.

She was in her sleep wear, which looked like it was put on in a hurry, and her face was completely flushed. She was panting and her eyes looked around in panick before settling on me.

"D-Did you see my sister?" Artoria asked between breaths.

I blinked at her before answering. "Uh... no, pretty sure I won't forget running to someone so unpleasant."

Artoria groaned before running out of room. Seeing the state she was in, I decided to push back returning to my real body and see what was going on, so I got out of bed and followed her.

I found Artoria barking orders at Gawain and Bedivere. "No one leaves the castle! Have guards everywhere! I want my sister found!"

The two knights, despite looking shocked, still nodded and ran to follow through her orders. I can hear them yelling orders to the other knights around the castle.

"So, wanna tell me what's going on?" I asked.

Artoria, who was just getting her breath under control, jumped lightly before turning to face me. Whatever is bothering her, it was enough to make her not notice me being here.

Running her hand through her hair, Artoria groaned. "My sister broke into the castle again, and this time she-..." she stopped halfway through the explanation as her face turned red. "... Stole something. We need to find her as soon as possible."

"What did she take?" I asked.

Artoria froze and her eyes looked anywhere but me and, surprisingly, she was blushing. "It's... personal. I'd rather not go to the details."

"You do realise that, if we find her, we'll know what she stole either way, right?" I questioned.

"I'll deal with that when it happens," Artoria just replied before shaking her head and walking away. "Now let's go, we need to find her!"

We spent the next few hours searching but found nothing. Morgan was good at cleaning her tracks. Could I have found her if I put actual efforts into it? Maybe, but until Artoria tells me what Morgan stole, I'm just going to leave most of the effort to Artoria and her knights.

Several hours later, Artoria had to call back the search as Merlin confirmed Morgan was no longer in Camelot. He also got quite the stern talking to about letting her slip in, but Merlin stated that whatever Morgan used to sneak in must have been well thought out, and that she was most likely planning this for a while.

When Artoria returned to her room, I followed her and stopped her from closing the door by placing my foot in front of it. "We need to talk."

Artoria glared at me. "Zack, I'm not in the mood to-"

"I wasn't asking," I just pushed the door open and stepped in before closing it behind me. "Now, mind telling me why you're so panicked over what Morgan stole? Was it Excalibur or Rhongomyniad?"

Artoria looked at me in shock. "How do you- No, of course you know about the spear," she kept Rhongomyniad a secret from even Bedivere, so she's rightfully shocked I know about it. "As for what Morgan took? It wasn't either of those. It was... not something I can actually discuss."

"Artoria, if what she took has you this panicked, I have the right to know if its dangerous," I explained. Also, I was honestly curious.

Artoria blushed and looked away like before. "It's not something I can just say."

"I am not human. Whatever you think is embarrassing or shameful is nothing to me," I insisted, crossing my arms.

Artoria got even more uncomfortable before sighing in defeat and shaking her head. "Fine. As you know, I am married, but I lack... certain equipment required to conceive an heir with Guinevere," she awkwardly cleared her throat. "So, I requested Merlin to give me such equipment, and I have been planning to... engage in it with Guinevere, but then I found myself falling unconscious and when I woke up, my sister was leaving with a vial of my... essence."

"Okay... wow," I mumbled as I scratched my chin.

On one hand, the explains why Artoria was panicking and looked borderline angry. She was technically 'raped' by Morgan. I could go and get Artoria's 'essence' back and stop her from creating Mordred.

But... Mordred committed no sin yet. I'm not going to stop the birth of a literal child over their parent being annoying. If that was the case then...

Then I wouldn't have taken in Yang.

"This is a rather tricky situation," I mumbled as I scratched my head. "On one hand, we can try hunting her down to stop whatever she's planning, but you have the whole thing with Vortigern to deal with, and frankly, he's more dangerous at the moment."

"But she-!" Artoria was ready to argue over this, but stopped herself and took a few deep breaths. "No, you are... right. One thing at a time. I will see Merlin about increasing security, even if he doesn't sleep because of it. But, we have to prepare for whatever she's planning."

"Don't worry. If it gets out of hand, I can step in," I said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Artoria looked surprised. "But didn't you say you're not here to help?"

I chuckled as I started backing to the door. "You're right. I'm not here to help King Arthur," turning around, I opened the door before looking over my shoulder. "But I never said I wouldn't help a friend, Artoria."

Artoria's face turned to one of shock, but before I closed the door, I saw her lips turn to a smile.