The three days were almost up and I got... Nothing.

I honestly don't have any idea what to do. I never really was interested in 'ruling' or anything like that, so how would I know what being a king means?

Heck, I practically threw the role of leadership on Baraka with the forest nomads.

"Man, I really should have asked for more than three days," I sighed as I sat in a table.

I was sitting in the room they gave me walking back and forth. That's pretty much all I've been doing other than taking walks to see Camelot. Honestly, I've just been trying to think.

Someone then knocked on the door of the room. I raised an eyebrow and spoke, "You can come in."

The door was opened and on the other side was Kay. He looked over his shoulder at the hallway, looked at both sides, and came in while closing the door behind him.

"Is there something you need?" I asked. Seeing him act in secrecy got me curious.

Kay looked at me for a few moments before he sighed and actually knelt down. "Thank you."

"... Uh, what?" Was the only response I can give.

"Me and Merlin have tried to very hard to warn Artoria of the path she has chosen. Even when she persisted, we assisted her the best we could. But, no matter what, Artoria's smile got weaker and weaker the more responsibility she shouldered, so thank you for stopping her from throwing away her emotions," Kay explained, still kneeling down.

"Okay... seriously, stand up, I'm not a Knight, king, or nobility. Kneeling down to me isn't really... meaningful much," I told him, placing my hands on my waist. "And, in all honesty, I really can't say I did it to help her. I just found her inhuman pretence annoying."

"That's still more than I ever did. As her brother, I should have done something," Kay insisted.

I sighed and shook my head. "Look, considering the fact you ARE her brother, you couldn't really say she's not perfect after she became king, can yo-" I stopped as an idea struck me. I gave Kay a firm glare. "You want to help Artoria?"

"Yes," Kay answered without a second thought.

"Then come with me," taking hold of hid arm, I pulled him up to his feet and walked out of the room. "Where's Merlin usually at?" I asked.

Kay blinked in surprise before pointing at the left hallway. "This leads directly to his tower."

Going in the direction he pointed at, I dragged Kay across the castle towards Merlin's tower. We walked up a flight of stairs, a really long one, and found Merlin at a table reading a tome.

"I know I don't have a door to knock but you can still say- wha- hey!" I cut Merlin off by walking up to him, picking him up, and throwing him over my shoulder.

"Now, Where's Artoria?" I asked Kay.

Kay, uncaring for Merlin over my shoulder though still looked confused, answered. "She's at the throne room listening to Sir Tristan's report. He just returned from-"

"Not important. Let's go," I grabbed his arm and dragged him out.

Walking through the castle, we headed straight for the throne room - while getting stares from guards because of Merlin but Kay waved them off - and opened the doors.

Tristan and five knights were all kneeling there and speaking to Artoria. Obviously, when we walked in, their attention turned to us, and they were all surprised my by carrying Merlin over my shoulder and dragging Kay with his arm.

"Arthur, we need to talk privately," I stated, walking by Tristan and the knights.

"Can this wait?" Artoria asked, looking both confused and uncomfortable.

"No," walking forward, I picked Artoria up and threw her over my other shoulder.

"Wha- hey!" Artoria cried out.

"Just so you know, I have nothing to do with this," I heard Merlin say.

"For once, I'm willing to believe you're innocent," Artoria replied.

"Sorry, everyone, important meeting about Excalibur's legacy and all that," I said to the stunned knights as I just walked out with both Artoria and Merlin over my shoulders and Kay following. "Where's your room? We need this to be private."

"There's a staircase that leads to my room at the end of the left hallway," Artoria answered.

Following her directions, I went towards Artoria's room with Kay behind me and opened a rather fancy looking pair of gates. The room inside, surprisingly, wasn't completely white and had a large blue bed with drapes and a carpet of the same colour.

Dropping Artoria on the bed and Merlin on his feet, I walked back to close and lock the door behind Kay. Pulling Baraka out, I turned its edge to metal and used it to write Runes on the door, insuring the room is sound proof.

"This better be good, Zack," Artoria actually sounded agitated.

"I found a way to help you. Is that important enough?" I asked with a deadpan look.

Does she really think I would do that for no reason?

Artoria's eyes widen and she jumped off the bed. "Y-You did? How!?"

"It depends on these two," I said, motioning to Merlin and Kay. "These two are the key to helping you stop this inhuman pretence and ruling as a great king."

Kay blinked in confusion and even Merlin raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and what do you need us to do then?"

"Just like that?" I asked, a bit surprised they just accepted the rule.

"But of course!" Merlin smiled. "What court Mage would I be if I don't help my king?"

"I would do anything to help Arthur," Kay added, firmly.

Impressed with their devotion, I nodded and motioned to Artoria. "Alright, I need you two... to insult her."

The whole room went silent. It was so quiet that I thought my Runes backfired and muted everyone inside for a moment.

"Eh... what?" Kay asked, finally breaking out of his shock.

"We need to imprint the idea that she's not perfect in her mind. So, you two, the people closest to her, need to remind her of her faults. It could be anything as long as its a flaw," I instructed.

Merlin and Kay looked at each other, completely unsure of my idea, which I honestly don't blame them. I literally told them to insult their king.

"Merlin... Kay...," Artoria spoke up, drawing their attention. Giving them a pleading look, Artoria took a deep breath and nodded. "Please, if this will help me be a better king without losing my compassion to my people, do it. I am not asking you as Arthur... but as Artoria."

Merlin and Kay's eyes widened. They stared at her for a few moments before looking at each other. Merlin was the one to nod towards Kay, assuring him to do it.

"Uhm," Kay began as he scratched the back of his head. "You... uh... never learned to swim?" He still sounded unsure.

"That's... true," to Artoria's credit, she did seem a bit embarrassed about that. "However, I have Vivian's blessing, so I never really needed to."

"Still, what kind of example does that leave for the people?" Merlin asked. I guess he was better at teasing people for their flaws than Kay. "Imagine if the people found out their king doesn't know how to swim. How will they be motivated to learn so themselves?"

"Good, keep it coming," I encouraged them.

"You can be rather rash," Kay said, sounding less hesitant. "I know those days are behind you, but in the past you would always charge without an actual plan. One time, you nearly forgot your sword form how rushed you were."

Artoria flinched, obviously not enjoying that memory. "I... Admit, I wasn't very patient in my youth."

"You've always been a glutton," Merlin said motioning to Artoria's stomach. "I know I gave you the heart of a dragon, but I still don't understand how you ended up with the appetite of one. We had to expand the kitchen's castle twice because we were having trouble feeding the soldiers AND you."

Artoria's cheeks turned to a pink color as she covered her stomach. "Y-You said those expansions were because of the sudden rise of the number of soldiers!"

"Well, we certainly can't say it's because our king eats to much to their face, can we?" Merlin asked, leaning to his side.

"You were always too stubborn," Kay decided to join in again. "Every time we told you you weren't ready for something when we were travelling together, you would always throw a tantrum about how you'll never be ready if you don't take on challenges."

"In my defence, you were always a bit overprotective!" Artoria cried out in her defence, her 'perfect king' persona nowhere to be seen anymore.

"That doesn't mean I'll let you challenge a group of demonic boars just because you pulled out Caliburn, Artoria! You were still in training!" Kay's response caused her to flinch and take a step back.

They must have had a LOT of stuff bottled in because they kept ranting at Artoria and berating her behaviour and habits until after midnight.