“Master! Are you okay?!”

  Remember all that talk about not using my powers in public? Yeah, well, I wish I didn’t.

  Saber kept apologizing as I peeled myself off the ground, feeling the sting of reality settle in after crashing into a metal bar at what felt like Mach one. I could regenerate, sure, but a bruise the size of a pineapple right under my ribs was a great reminder of what it felt like to have the wind knocked out of you. It was like being kicked in the balls—painful, breathless, and definitely not something I wanted to repeat. Still, I managed to shake it off well enough to avoid attracting a crowd. Lucky for me, no one had time to call an ambunce. I wasn’t in the mood for awkward conversations with doctors asking how I survived a crash that left the railing in worse shape than me.

  “Just… leave me at the door, okay?” I grunted, not because I wanted to. “I’ll catch up in a second.”

  I saw the hesitation in Saber’s eyes, her discomfort clear as day, but she didn’t push back. She was too ashamed, too upset with herself to argue. Her silence felt heavier than the pain in my ribs.

  As for me—well, there was a reason I hadn’t healed myself yet.

  Even after shamelessly taking a couple mouthfuls of stray blood before saying goodbye to Rias and company, I was far from my usual self. So, after slipping into the bathroom and closing the door, I reached into my jacket and pulled out a small canister—human blood. I’d brought it from home, fully expecting this might happen, though part of me hoped it wouldn’t. I had never felt this hungry before, this... desperate—at least not on a regur basis. But the urge to drink was undeniable, so there was nothing I could do about it. The st thing I needed was for Saber to see me lose control. Not now. Not yet.

  As I uncapped the canister and began to drink, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t alone. My eyes flicked to the corners of the room, where shadows pooled unnaturally, thickening in my periphery, hiding. It felt like there were eyes on me—small, pupil-less eyes lurking just a step beyond my vision, watching my every move. The whispers weren’t loud this time, but they were persistent, faint and agitated, reacting to every breath I took, every interaction we had, as though they were nervously waiting for something to happen.

  The blood slid down my throat, cold and metallic, but with each swallow, the eerie whispers faded. The presence—those eyes, those shadows—retreated, burned away by the satisfaction of feeding. For now, that was enough to drown them out, burn them away, to quiet the noise.

  With my mind finally clearing, my hunger sated, I pressed my hand to the wound. This time, I let my powers work, no longer fearing some unintended consequence. I focused on knitting the tissue back together, pushing everything back into pce. It took a moment to get the thickened blood moving again, but once I did—it gave a deep, satisfying burn, like cracking your back after hours of work. The kind of pain that makes everything feel right again.

  I could breathe.

  “Alright, Saber. Let’s—”

  I stopped mid-sentence. She stood a few feet away, her back to me, her shoulders trembling. Even from this distance, I could hear her stifled sobs.

  “Saber?”

  “I failed!” Her voice cracked with frustration. “I keep being summoned to protect, and I fail!”

  “I… I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  “Master,” she muttered, her voice small now. “Do you… Do you know… Irisviel?”

  I stepped closer, gently throwing my arms around her shoulders, leaning into her warmth. “She was born to die, just like everyone else. Her life was just… shorter. There’s nothing you could have done about that. But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t happy. As far as homunculi go, she might have been the happiest of us all.”

  “That’s still…” A fresh sob escaped her. “If I wasn’t such a failure of a Servant, I could have—”

  “What could you have done?” I interrupted her. “The Grail wasn’t even real, Saber. From the moment you were summoned, you were set up to fail. None of those battles ever meant anything. But at least you spent time with her. I’m sure that made everything easier for Irisviel, even if just by being by her side.”

  She turned around suddenly, pushing me away. Her eyes burned with a mix of anger and sorrow. “How is that supposed to be enough?!” she snapped.

  “It isn’t,” I admitted, taking a step back and letting her words hang in between us. I moved to sit on a nearby bench, the wood creaking softly under my weight as I leaned back tiredly. “But you were never meant to live either. You were summoned to fight, to suffer, and to die. Have you ever thought about how it must have been for her? Summoning someone she knew would only live for one war? She must’ve felt like you do now. Maybe that’s why she spent so much time with you… because she felt sorry for you.”

  Her hands clenched into fists. “B-But that wasn’t the pn! If Kiritsugu and I had won, if I hadn’t doubted—”

  “If you’d followed every order to the letter? Won every duel? Defeated every Servant and cimed a pure, untainted Grail which never existed?” I paused, my chest tightening at the truth. “Kiritsugu would have used his st command spell to kill you—to make you kill yourself. He would have done it to make sure the Grail had the power of all seven Heroic Spirits before granting his wish, just to make sure there was no chance of it failing.”

  “Lies!” she raged, her tears flowing freely now, shimmering under the dim moonlight. “Irisviel would never allow such a thing!”

  I ughed. I didn’t want to, but I ughed. “Oh, Saber... Irisviel gave her life to him from the start. You think she wouldn’t do the same with you? She hoped that after hearing Kiritsugu’s dream, you’d become just as loyal as her—maybe even offer your life willingly. When someone truly believes the perfect world is just one war away, what wouldn’t they sacrifice? Wouldn’t you have done the same?”

  For a moment, the night seemed to still. It was as if the weight of those words had drained the st bit of fight from her, leaving only the raw ache of truth behind. But I knew better than to let the silence linger too long. There could be no time for misery.

  “Come on,” I said, standing up and dusting off my jacket. “The night’s not over yet.”

  Dinner had been my original pn after the ice rink, but now it was clear that she needed something more. Something physical to burn off the emotions storming inside her. Preferably, in a way that didn’t involve us tearing apart a building.

  Finding a pce for that kind of release in Tokyo, though? Not easy. So I settled for the next best thing.

  We took to the sky.

  Normally, I’m sure she’d have protested if I suggested anything resembling breaking and entering, but tonight she didn’t question me. She didn’t flinch when I led her down a dark alley, scaling the side of a building, and leaping rooftop to rooftop. So I just ran with it, and it wasn’t long before we found what I’d been looking for.

  I nded with a soft roll inside the fence-covered field, Saber just behind me. The pce was dark, empty, and freezing cold from the constant howling winds that assaulted us from every direction, making the humidity in the air feel like raindrops against my face—but it was perfect. It didn’t take long to get everything up and running, either. Turn on the power, connect the lights and we’re ready to go.

  Funny thing about getting robbed for those ice skates we were probably never going to use again? At least it left me with some loose coins in my pocket—perfect for the pitching machine. Magic could do a lot of things, but it wasn’t great at getting random human technology to do whatever you wanted it to.

  “You go first,” I said, tossing her a bat.

  Her eyes fshed with indignation. “Is this your idea of reconnection?” she fumed. “I confide in you the weight of my heart, and you expect to build a bridge with me through a childish game of sticks and stones?!”

  Without saying a word, I slid the coins into the machine. The familiar mechanical clunk signaled that the game was on. If balls had to get smashed tonight, I’d rather not risk my own.

  Despite her protests, Saber took her stance the second she heard the machine warming up. She gripped the bat with enough force to bend steel, murder burning in her eyes. She stood tall, brimming with the barely restrained fury of a woman ready to destroy anything in her path, no longer concerned about grace or control. She was here for the violence.

  The ball unched into the air.

  Aaaaand she missed.

  “What?!”

  Before Saber could recover from the emotional impact, another ball was thrown—she missed again.

  “How?!”

  And again.

  “This foolishness is—”

  And again.

  “I demand that—”

  And again.

  I watched in awe as her frustration mounted with every wild swing, her attempts sending faint shockwaves through the chilly night air. She hadn’t quite figured out that the pitches weren’t aiming for the same spot—or that they didn’t fly in a perfect line.

  How long was a round of baseball supposed to st, anyway? I had absolutely no clue. Nobody under forty even watches this fucking sport. I just kept feeding the machine more coins, watching her chase after the next pitch, her determination growing with every miss—and you wouldn’t believe how much it grew.

  By the time I became bored of watching her fail, the blonde knight was tired and sweaty, panting like a dog, dense mist spilling from her mouth.

  “You suck, huh.”

  Of all the reckless things I’ve said in my life, that might have been the closest I ever came to true, certain death. At this point, I wasn’t talking to Saber anymore. I was talking to a Berserker.

  "Calm down, calm down," I backpedaled quickly. "Look, I’ve never pyed this game either, and I gave you plenty of time to warm up. How about we make things interesting? A little bet. I hear Devils are into that sort of thing."

  "A bet?" Her eyes narrowed, calcuting.

  "Yeah." I swung the metal bat for the first time, feeling its weight. "If I win, you have to tell the truth for the whole night. No dodging. No half-answers."

  Saber leaned forward. "And if I win?"

  “I’ll ban Kira from ever setting foot in the kitchen again.”

  Her eyes fshed with a challenge. There was no need for words—the game was on.

  And just as I started getting a little too comfortable, leaning into my own confidence, Saber finally connected. Her bat swung with an explosive force that disintegrated the ball in mid-air. Whatever was left of that poor baseball had left the pnet at Mach 72. Yeah, I was definitely sweating now.

  But when the next pitch came at me… I swung, and it went flying.

  “Hey, that’s… pretty easy,” I remarked, surprised by how smoothly it came to me.

  “Indeed it is, Master!” Saber gritted her teeth, her jaw so tight she looked like she could bite through a steel beam. But she hit again, destroying another pitch. “Barely an inconvenience!”

  “Well, I’m gd you’re having fun!”

  “Agh! Why wouldn’t I be?!” She swung again, sending another ball into oblivion.

  We kept at it, round after round, neither of us missing a shot. The machine kept firing, and we both kept hitting, waiting for the other to slip up. But that just didn’t happen.

  Eventually, the machine ran out of pitches. Saber grunted and tossed her bat into the net with a frustrated sigh. “Now what?”

  I shrugged, spinning the bat in my hand. “I guess we either both win or both lose. If you promise not to lie to me tonight, I’ll do my best to keep the monster away from the oven.”

  “Fine,” she muttered, turning away with a huff.

  “So… what should we do now?”

  Once again, there was no need for words between us. The answer came with a loud, undeniable growl from her stomach.

  And there was something I needed to see before the night was over.

  It was time to go looking for a meal worthy of a king.

  “Let me get a double cheeseburger—no garlic, hold the onions. Large fries and an Oreo shake.” Saber was still hiding behind her menu. “And for her... Make it a Beacon King with extra meat—swap the ketchup for barbecue, throw in some onion rings on the side, and a rge Coke.”

  The server smiled with something that fell in between surprise and worry before quickly heading away.

  “Master, this pce...” Saber wrinkled her nose, taking in the scent that wafted through the air. She looked at me with the faintest scowl. “I wasn’t expecting something so... heavy.”

  “You try being trapped in hell for a decade and not missing this greasy stuff.”

  Our food arrived in just five minutes, looking far better than it had any right to. The burgers were stacked tall and perfect, fries crisped to golden. It honestly didn’t even look like fast food—it was just a nice, well cooked meal as good as you could get at any restaurant.

  God bless the 2010s. A sudden bolt of pain shot through my skull. Agh... That’s still annoying. Not like he can hear me anymore, anyway. He’s dead.

  Knowing exactly how this would py out, I didn’t bother waiting for Saber before digging into my meal. Truth was, I was getting almost nothing from it. Human food had long since stopped being a real source of energy for me, and junk food? Well, that was the equivalent of chewing on old, stale bread—filling but ultimately empty. But sometimes you had to put that kind of thinking aside.

  Because this wasn’t really about eating.

  Smoking, drugs, and even most alcohol had always repulsed me. It wasn’t like I hated the vice or anything, I just couldn’t get into it—it didn’t feel good to me. But food... Food was different. It was the one indulgence I could still savor, the one guilty pleasure I didn’t have to feel bad about. If nothing else, it was a small escape from the hunger that haunted the edges of my mind. And maybe, just maybe, it would help keep the other cravings at bay.

  And if not... well, at least I’d enjoy the taste.

  I bit into the burger, which was nearly half the size of my own head, and instantly, everything felt... lighter. Life didn’t seem so bad when you had a warm, greasy meal in your hands. Sure, things hadn’t gone exactly as I’d pnned today, but there was no point in brooding over it. I had my food, and I had my Queen. At the end of the day, what else could a man ask for?

  Saber, however, wasn’t quite so sure about it.

  She poked at her fries, reluctant, as if weighing whether she could simply avoid the encounter altogether. But the burger loomed rge in front of her, the confrontation inevitable. Finally, after a resigned breath, she grabbed it with both hands, a soldier preparing for battle, and took a tentative bite.

  The change in her expression was immediate. Relief washed over her face, eyes fluttering shut as she savored the taste, each slow chew betraying her enjoyment

  “So? What do you think?” I teased, leaning in with a smirk. “And remember, no lies tonight.”

  Her eyes shot open, surprised, as she quickly swallowed, some sauce smearing across her chin. “It’s... I suppose this is quite pleasant,” she muttered, clearly reluctant to admit it.

  Her voice was calm, but her pride remained intact, as if enjoying something so simple was somehow beneath her.

  She refused to look at me, but I noticed how quickly she went for another bite.

  And I did the same, sinking into my own burger again, feeling the satisfying crunch of pickles and the warmth of the tomatoes as the bread slowly started to grow soggy in my hands. The juices spilled out messily, meat threatening to escape from both ends of the burger.

  But I didn’t mind.

  It was exactly what I needed.

  Meanwhile, Saber was making an absolute mess of herself.

  “Come here,” I said, struggling not to ugh.

  Pcing my hands in between her mouth and her meal was risky, but I still managed to grab a few paper towels and carefully wipe the sauce from her face. She paused just long enough for me to clean her up a little, though the look she shot me said I was pushing my luck—so I pushed further, slowly tracing her lips with my thumb a few times, looking straight into her emerald eyes, daring her to say something before finally letting go.

  “Now, we just need…” I reached over to the counter, grabbed a golden paper crown, and pced it atop her head. I made sure it sat crooked, barely hanging on, then stepped back to admire my handiwork. Her focus was still glued to the food in front of her, so she barely noticed when I snapped a quick picture.

  It was impossible not to grin. She looked completely unbothered, as long as her mouth was full.

  “Do you enjoy torturing my soul, Master?” she muttered after taking a breath.

  “It's your fault for being so cute. Besides, I can tell you’re not really angry anymore.”

  “C-Cute?” A soft pink blush crept onto her cheeks. “From all the Masters I’ve had, you’re without a doubt the strangest.”

  “You’ve only had two,” I said, a bit confused.

  “Three, if we count Irisviel. And you’re still the strangest of them all.”

  By the time we returned to the streets, there was an unmistakable lightness in Saber’s steps. She didn’t say anything, but I could feel the shift in her demeanor, like the warm meal had peeled away some invisible weight. We both knew, though, that we were stretching the night far beyond what was reasonable—maybe even beyond what was possible. The city, once so alive, had quieted. The restless energy of Tokyo had faded, leaving behind a mute stillness. The cold winds bit into our skin, sharpening the awareness of just how empty everything around us had become.

  I stepped closer to her, letting my hand brush against hers, caressing her fingers before csping our palms together. “Is this…?”

  “No,” she shook her head gently, pressing herself against my side. “Hold me. I want to feel… normal. Even if just for tonight. I want to pretend I’m alive again.”

  I wrapped my arm around her waist with confidence, pulling her closer. My hand settled on the curve of her hip, and for a moment, it felt awkward—our bodies bumping against each other as we tried to find the right rhythm to walk so closely. But we simply kept walking, letting the silence stretch, an unspoken understanding forming with each step until we could move together, resting on each other.

  Somehow, the night carried us to a quiet garden in Shinjuku. It was serene—kes reflecting the faint glimmers of light from the stary tapestry above, green isnds connected by small wooden bridges, insects casting soft ripples over the water. We stopped beneath a towering oak tree, the shadows draping us in darkness. The silence here felt different. It wasn’t the cold emptiness of the streets but a peaceful solitude, where for the first time, it was just the two of us—alone in every sense of the word. Not a single human soul or sound to be found, or to find us.

  “What’s on your mind?” I asked, my voice low, almost hesitant. “And… you know what I mean. I want to understand, I need to try.”

  Saber drew in a long, steady breath, her chest rising and falling. “This doesn’t feel real to me. It’s as if I’m dreaming… like at any moment I’ll wake up and find myself right back where I started, summoned at that church.”

  I stayed quiet, giving her the space to continue.

  “I enjoyed tonight,” she admitted softly, “more than I’m willing to admit. But…” Her voice faltered, and in the darkness, I saw it—the weight she still carried, the shadows that lingered in her gaze. “A part of me… abhors this happiness. It feels undeserved. I am not ready to move on, and I don’t believe I should find peace this easily.”

  “Saber… moving forward isn’t the same as running from your mistakes.”

  “You’re right,” she sighed. “But it doesn’t redeem me either. The oaths I swore… they were for life.”

  “And that life is over.” I spoke with more conviction than I felt. “I know it’s not easy to accept, but we can’t keep dragging the past into the present. You’re not the same person you were then, and we can… we can build something new here, if you want to.”

  For a long moment, she remained silent, distant, as if the weight of my words sank deep into some unreachable part of her. I could almost feel the tug of her mind pulling back to that distant past, to the battlefield, to the throne, to all the things she lost. It was always there, hovering over her, a constant reminder of everything she held herself accountable for—cracks on her own mirror.

  Then, she shifted. Saber lifted herself off the cold bench and gently slid onto my p, her small frame fitting into me as though it belonged there. Her back pressed against my chest, and the warmth of her body seeped into mine, driving away the remnants of cold. I was always amazed at how delicate and fragile she seemed to be—for all the battles she fought, for all the burdens she carried, the knight weighed no more than a delicate flower, her presence filling the air with the soft scent of vanil and fresh grass.

  “Maybe…” she whispered. “It’s not that I want to refuse… it’s just…”

  I wrapped my arms around her, slowly, almost instinctively. She didn’t resist. In fact, she melted into the embrace, her body yielding against mine as if she had been holding herself together for too long. Her head tilted back, her chin resting on my shoulder, and when our eyes met, there was something different in her gaze—something raw, naked, and vulnerable. It wasn’t the look of the king, the warrior, or even the knight. It was just her—tired, broken, and aching in a way that could not be expined with words.

  Her soul, though, still fought against all peace, still refused to let go, like a beaten horse brought to water but too stubborn to drink. I could see it behind her eyes, the battle between what she wanted and what she thought she deserved.

  “And what if I were to order you to stay here with me?” I whispered, brushing my lips gently against the back of her neck. A shiver ran down her spine, subtly arching her back. “What if I demanded, as your King, that you try to be happy? What if I don’t care about the oaths you once swore and cim you all for myself?” I stopped for a moment, and chuckled. “Could a vilin enchant the mighty King of Knights, and force her to main by his side, until her heart forgets how to escape?”

  Saber’s small fingers pressed themselves beneath my chin. Her eyes were full of hesitation and warmth, and a small, trembling smile tugged at her lips.

  "To forget how to escape…" she echoed, her voice carrying a note of amusement, though there was a weight beneath it. "Is that truly what you desire? To hold me here… knowing that a part of me still remains elsewhere?"

  “Maybe. Or maybe I want to be the one pce you don’t need to escape from.”

  “I suppose…” her voice cracked slightly, a tremor of emotion slipping through, “I suppose I cannot refuse the one who summoned me… If such a vile master were to steal me of my freedom and force my heart to enjoy it…”

  She leaned in, her lips brushing against mine in a soft, tentative kiss. I followed her lead, deepening the connection, as if afraid she might slip away if I didn’t hold her close enough. Our kisses were slow, tender, mellow, the quiet night filled with nothing but the rustle of our clothes and the soft sound of our breaths mingling into each other as we pulled away, time and time again.

  I opened my eyes, breaking the kiss just long enough to catch the sight of her golden hair cascading over my face. The silvery glow of the moon framed her like a perfect portrait, her features softened by its ethereal light. Her arms were wrapped around me, encompassing my world until everything but her faded into the background. It was just us, suspended in a frozen moment of fantasy as snowdrops started to fall like a zy curtain to this final act of selfishness.

  “I never thought…” she muttered against my lips. “Is it really okay for me to act like this? Can a king simply… enjoy this warmth? Is it okay for me to be… as a woman?”

  I took one of her hands in mine and pressed it to my lips, feeling the delicate weight of her fingers. “You’ll have to,” I murmured, kissing her knuckles softly, “because I want both the king and the woman.”

  She let out the smallest ugh, a quiet sound that held both relief and uncertainty. “Does the greed in your vilinous heart know no bounds?”

  I cupped her face with both my hands, drawing her close once more, and took one st bite of the precious knight’s lips, savoring the sensation as if addicted to the very taste of her. I knew it was supposed to be the st kiss, a final dramatic pause, but I couldn’t stop there—not when her touch anchored me, not when the warmth of her skin was something I wished to memorize. So my words had to wait, lingering in the space between us until her touch gave me permission to speak again.

  “Artoria…” I breathed her name like a quiet spell. “No, Lady Pendragon.” My fingers brushed her cheek, as if trying to wake her up. “Would you do me the honor of conquering this world with me?”