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Chapter Seven: You Gained a Favor Over Morgan
"Quinn, my most trusted knight, I need your help. Do you have any way to help me purchase a large amount of food?"
The place where Quinn and Morgan met again was no longer the back garden of Camelot's royal court, but Morgan's own bedroom. The princess's voice was filled with fatigue, and her face also showed obvious signs of exhaustion. Only in the bedroom, an environment that belonged only to her, could Morgan take off her disguise and reveal her vulnerable side.
Her attitude greatly excited Quinn, because it meant that Morgan trusted her implicitly.
Quinn believed that if he fulfilled Morgan's request, he would become the princess's most trusted confidant from then on, so he asked directly, "How much do you need?"
“There are many. Recently, more and more refugees have been pouring into Camelot. If this continues, it may cause a famine.” Seeing that Quinn did not refuse her, Morgan’s expression improved a lot. She sat on the edge of her bed, looking at the handsome knight in front of her. She felt that Quinn seemed to be radiating a soft glow all over his body, looking exactly like a savior who could save her from danger.
How come I never noticed how good-looking Quinn was before?
Morgan couldn't help but have a few thoughts, but she quickly put those feelings aside.
“I can give you a large sum of money to purchase grain from outside Britain, but this must be done very discreetly, and other nobles must not find out.”
"why?"
Quinn pressed further, explaining that he understood Camelot was currently facing a food crisis.
After all, it is wartime and winter. With a large influx of refugees into Camelot, it is normal that the winter rations prepared in advance are insufficient. However, it is quite intriguing that they need to prepare food supplies but do not want other nobles to know about the situation.
Quinn could sense that only after he understood the logic behind Morgan's actions could Morgan completely lower his guard.
Faced with your persistent questioning, Morgan hesitated, unsure whether she should tell you about the issue that had been troubling her for so long.
“Your Highness, do you remember when we first met, you asked me why I came here?” Quinn decided to add fuel to the fire. “Even now, my answer remains the same. If you are unwilling to answer this question, then I will not ask it. I will take care of this for you, and no noble will know what happened today.”
“My knight, I will tell you everything…” Quinn’s attitude moved Morgan. She unconsciously gripped the sheets, bit her lip, and finally decided to be honest with him.
[You ignited Morgan's passion, and she decided to tell you, this foreigner, a secret she has kept hidden all along—she, Morgan le Fay, may not necessarily inherit the throne of Camelot and become Queen of Camelot in the future.]
She foresaw the future through magic, knowing that before King Uther's decisive battle with Vortigern, her own father believed she was unfit to inherit the throne of Camelot and secretly began plotting to groom a new heir. This new heir would one day become the ruler of Camelot, leading the Camelots to defeat Vortigern and establish a legendary legacy.
Morgan was furious about this. She couldn't accept that her father had such high expectations and affection for another illegitimate child whose name and identity she didn't even know, and she couldn't accept that this prophesied heir would replace her as the ruler of Camelot.
[Therefore, after King Uther's death, she has been working hard to govern Camelot, hoping to defeat Vortigern herself before the appearance of the prophesied son, and prove to the Camelots that she is the most suitable ruler. But now, her army is not yet fully built, and food shortages have become her biggest worry.]
As the mysteries of the Age of Gods dissipated from the earth's surface along with the changing rules of the world, even in Britain, this island nation far from the mainland, the loss of magic to the land caused Camelot's food production to dwindle. She tried to use magic to cultivate new crops, but with little success. Morgan was unwilling to let the Camelots discover that she had encountered an insurmountable problem before defeating Vortigern, so she had no choice but to seek help from you, a person from a foreign land.
Morgan explained his concerns in great detail, and Quinn listened quietly to his thoughts without offering any opinion.
Because he already knew these things. As a time traveler who knew about Type-Moon, he naturally knew the story of Britain in Type-Moon history, and he also knew that Morgan could not become the master of the British Isles under normal circumstances. The only one who could become the master of the British Isles was her sister Artoria.
Therefore, he didn't feel that Morgan's concealed secret would have any impact on his planned schemes. After all, he never expected to become the ruler of Britain simply by clinging to a rich woman.
Quinn patiently waited for Morgan to finish speaking. Looking at the somewhat uneasy princess sitting on the edge of the bed, Quinn steeled himself, stepped forward, knelt on one knee before her, took the sheet from Morgan's hand, and slowly began to speak under Morgan's astonished gaze.
"I don't care. It's not important to me that you didn't receive King Uther's blessing."
Chapter 7
"In my eyes, you are the most dazzling gem on these islands, and no one else can deserve that title. Perhaps the prophesied child will indeed appear, but so what? I am here, my prince, and you can always trust me."
"You really didn't lie to me?"
“I did not lie, Your Highness.”
Morgan, held in Quinn's arms, gazed at the knight so close to her, her eyes sparkling with azure light. As magic surged within her eyes, she was overjoyed to discover that Quinn had indeed not lied.
[Your words are sincere and reliable. The princess, who possesses the fairy eye to detect lies, recognized your sincerity. She knows that on this island, you are the only person she can trust forever. And you, you saw the emotion flickering in Morgan's eyes. This eldest daughter of King Uther, one of the heirs to Britain, has finally fallen into your trap. Now, all you need to do is deliver the final blow for her.]
it's time.
Quinn realized that his previous preparations had finally come in handy, so he changed from holding Morgan's hand to grasping it, intertwining his five fingers with Morgan's slender fingers.
Morgan immediately realized that the knight in front of her was acting out of line. It was not the behavior a vassal should have shown to his lord. She could clearly feel Quinn's fingers gripping her tightly, as if he was afraid she would run away. The next second, she saw Quinn reach into his robes with his other hand and pull out something that should not have appeared at this time of year.
It was a deep blue rose.
"My Majesty, please allow me to serve you forever, wherever I may be."
Now, Morgan knew why he clung to himself so tightly.
Roses, which shouldn't appear in winter, completely captivated the princess's eyes. A burning desire raged within them. Fearing Morgan would escape, you grabbed her hand, but this was clearly unnecessary, for you were already in the princess's bedroom; if anyone were to leave, it would be you. But tonight, you are destined to be unable to go anywhere else, until the sun's rays dispel the shadows of Camelot Palace. Until then, no one will know what has happened tonight.
Your scheme succeeded; Morgan le Fay became your "lover."
Chapter Eight: The Unofficial Histories Begin to Take Effect
When Quinn opened his eyes again, he felt weak all over, and had a lazy feeling that he wanted to stay in bed and lie there forever. But the sunlight shining into the bed from the bedroom balcony, shining directly on his face, and the rustling sounds around him made him realize that he needed to moisturize himself quickly.
Then he let out a low groan.
The noise around him stopped immediately, and the whole room became quiet, with only the sound of breathing clearly audible beside him.
Only now did Quinn pretend to be just waking up, lifting a corner of the blanket and getting out of bed. He turned to look at Morgan, who was lying quietly beside him. The traces of last night's frenzy remained on Morgan's body. The blanket, which was not properly covering him, only covered half of his body. His exposed skin was as white as breakfast milk, and the faint traces of life between his arms still bore some marks.
Quinn stared at Morgan for a long time until a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. Then he reached out and covered the princess with the blanket, leaving a kiss on her face before quietly getting up, dressing, and leaving the princess's bedroom.
He has already received a gift from his lover, and they have satisfied each other's initial needs. Now it's time to satisfy them for something deeper.
Sigh, is this what CK is like? To make progress, you not only have to sell your body, but also your labor.
Why isn't my system showing a sign-in function?
Lost in thought, Quinn walked through Camelot's palace, encountering many people along the way. These people all looked surprised upon seeing Quinn; no one expected this foreigner to be in the palace so early, unless…
Some of the maids who saw Quinn's figure couldn't help but look in the direction he was facing away from, which was none other than the tower where Morgan lived. Their faces immediately showed excited gossip.
Your "legendary seed" has begun to grow.
According to British historical accounts, a nobleman from the Mediterranean, after holding a celebration and becoming a recognized noble knight among the Camelots, even won the heart of the princess, who allowed him to stay at the palace. According to rumors from some unknown maids, they saw the knight courting the princess and promising to protect her for life.
[You have acquired the legendary tale - The Princess's Lover. Your controllable army legion increases by 1, and the army legion size increases by 3. The current maximum number of troops you can control is 2, and the maximum army size is 6.]
Please continue to complete this report. As the report's reach expands, it will transform into a trait.
[Your departure from the princess's bedroom has been discovered. It's clear that Camelot's court will not be peaceful in the near future, but you don't care. You know that even if Morgan's past relationship with you were exposed to the world, she wouldn't be angry but would try to cover it up. She has that ability because she is one of the most powerful magicians in Britain, capable of twisting the thoughts and consciousness of others.]
Therefore, more than others' speculations about your relationship with Morgan, you are worried about how to meet Morgan's further demands. If you were truly a Mediterranean nobleman, as the Camelots believe, you could simply use your family background to return to the Mediterranean to purchase food. But you are not. However, you could be. After all, when you're out in the world, your identity is what you give yourself. You plan to use the same trick again.
[After returning to your camp, you began assembling your armored paladins and packing your belongings in preparation for leaving Camelot. Just as you were finishing up, Morgan sent you the money she had promised to give you the night before for purchasing grain. It was a large sum of money, a full 1200 gold coins, enough to buy dozens of cartloads of grain to fill Camelot's granaries. Looking at the box in front of you, you couldn't help but feel distressed.]
You never expected Morgan to trust you so much. Because this matter needs to be kept secret, and to prevent anyone from tracing the expenditure of funds, the source of this money is unlikely to be the national treasury, but rather Morgan's own private treasury. In this era, to be able to come up with so much money, you suspect that Morgan may have taken out his dowry. But what you are more worried about is how you can get food that is commensurate with the value of this money.
You ultimately decided to leave Camelot and head to the European continent to scout out the situation. So, you traveled south along the Channel and arrived at Paris, the future capital of France.
[On your way to Paris, you will learn that the once vast Roman Empire, which ruled over the entire Mediterranean, as well as Western Europe and parts of Central Europe, is now in decline. Protracted civil wars and attacks from barbarian tribes in Central and Eastern Europe have caused this ancient and vast empire to split.]
A once-mighty empire was split in two, ceasing its own wars to focus on dealing with barbarian attacks. The Western Roman emperor redeployed legions previously stationed throughout Western Europe to consolidate his rule, but this firefighting effort yielded little result. Many territories once occupied by Rome had fallen and returned to their former masters. But have you heard that the new emperor of the Western Roman Empire is plotting a scheme?
You know that emperor, and you know his plan to reconquer the Romans and make them great again, which will make him your future enemy, but you don't care about this emperor because he's just a stepping stone left for King Arthur in the Arthurian legend, posing no threat to your plans.
You focused your main efforts on buying grain from the French. To solidify your rumors and identity, you expanded your armored paladin cavalry to its maximum size, spending a whopping 1040 gold coins. You now only have 430 usable gold coins left, but instead...
Chapter 8
[And then there were the 300 heavy cavalrymen who accompanied you to Paris.]
The King of France warmly received you. He had long heard of your reputation and knew that a foreign nobleman was defending Britain against the Saxon invasion. He did not doubt your noble status; after all, even he himself would have had a hard time gathering 300 fully armed heavy cavalrymen in this era. When you explained your purpose—to purchase grain at a low price—the King of France did not refuse outright but instead asked a question that he was particularly concerned about.
He was very curious: which Mediterranean country you came from, and which family you belonged to, to have such a fortune?
Faced with the French king's curiosity, you quickly added a new persona to your identity.
"I come from Greece. You may call me Quinn Europa, but I think it doesn't matter which country I come from or which family I'm from. What matters is that I come representing Princess Morgan to form an alliance with France. We can establish a friendly alliance so that we can fight against our future enemies."
Chapter Nine: Never mind whether it's true or not, just tell me if it's wild or not.
Quinn stood in the palace of the Dharma King, and seeing the look of excitement on the face of the man sitting on the throne, he knew that the Dharma King had already taken his words to heart.
Indeed, this is the correct way to appreciate the quality of "beauty that could topple kingdoms".
This trait is a powerful diplomatic tool; after all, not everyone in the world is like Morgan, born with the magical eye to discern the truthfulness of words at a glance.
With the power of "Alluring Beauty" to increase people's favorability by 30 upon first meeting, few people would doubt Quinn's words and identity. Because of the exceptionally good first impression, no one would question Quinn's words. Even the King of Dharma, who was the king of a country, did not doubt the truthfulness of Quinn's words when he heard that Quinn was representing Morgan to forge an alliance.
The Dharma King only wanted to know one thing.
"Our common enemy? Who is it? I don't think Vortigern will attack France."
The King did not question your story because he did not believe that someone of your status would come to France specifically to deceive him. However, he also did not want to get involved in the internal conflicts of Britain. What he did not expect was that the enemy you spoke of was not Vortigern, and that you did not come here to persuade the French army to go to Britain. You came to Paris to deceive people.
"It's Rome." You spoke your mind, simply because you knew the Western Roman emperor would one day wage a war to reclaim lost territories, and for the Romans, both Britain and France were former lost lands, while the Celts living on those lands were merely Galloese slaves of the Romans.
The King of France fell silent at your reply. He couldn't believe that the Roman Empire, now in such a state of decline, still had the strength to wage wars. But when he thought of your Greek origins, he began to believe that your words must have some truth to them, and he started to worry about the future. Even though Rome was in decline now, it was still Rome. As long as it wasn't completely dead, it could rise again at any time and lash out at all of Europe.
"If it's against the Romans, then we do need to cooperate."
[In this era before the French and British had developed a love-hate relationship, the King of France, after a moment's thought, accepted your statement and began to inquire in detail about the specifics of the alliance.]
[You dared not hastily propose a treaty; you merely put forward a defensive alliance, stipulating that each side would participate in the fight against the Romans. This treaty suited the French king's wishes perfectly. The two kingdoms would not be too entangled by this treaty, yet they would gain an ally to jointly defend against a major enemy. This pleased the French king greatly, and he decided to agree to the proposal and intends to sign the treaty as soon as possible.]
At this moment, you took a step back, humbly stating that you were merely a vassal of Morgan, and that the formal contract still needed to be concluded by the two kings. You also mentioned that Morgan would soon defeat Vortigern, and that you wished to purchase some grain to aid the refugees displaced by Vortigern.
Your humility perfectly struck a chord with the French. In their traditional culture, the most beloved figures are humble knights who are loyal to their lords, and you perfectly embodied the ideal knight in their minds. Not to be outdone, the King of France displayed his own magnanimity and offered to sell you grain at a low price.
[It must be said that France is indeed a major grain-producing country in Europe. You used your remaining gold coins to buy a considerable amount of grain, but it's still far from what you could buy with the money Morgan paid you. However, you can easily overcome this gap by using your connections.]
[Just tell Morgan that you did your best, and she probably won't pursue the matter any further. After all, as a professional con artist who lies all the time, you have no moral pressure to bear.]
Who are you scolding?!
Quinn looked at the system's advice and felt slandered again. It was true that he had embezzled Morgan's money, but was he the kind of person who would betray others like this?
Where did you lie? According to lunar history, didn't King Arthur fight the Romans again? Isn't Arthur the Old Sword Arthur Arthur?! Didn't the Romans have to pass through France to reach Britain? And since they had to pass through France, wouldn't they have taken the opportunity to beat up the French as well?
He was clearly helping the French find a way out in advance. In the old history of the moon, the only one who could defeat the Roman emperor Lucius was the Star Sword in King Arthur's hand!
Both official and unofficial histories are history. I'm just creating unofficial histories. Don't worry about whether the history is true or not, just tell me if it's unofficial or not!
Besides, I would never covet food, it's a lifesaver.
The fictional historian Quinn cursed his system in his mind for being so ungrateful. As a transmigrator, Quinn may have been a gigolo, a conman, and a Paradox Interactive user, but he also had his own moral bottom line. Since he had promised to help Morgan get enough food, he would not fabricate anything in this regard.
Since we can't buy enough grain from France, we have to find another way to get it.
You entrusted the King of France to send the grain to Camelot ahead of time, while you set off again to gather more supplies. This time, due to a lack of funds, you abandoned normal purchasing channels, but you had a full 300 armored paladins. As the saying goes, "If my neighbor hoards grain, I hoard guns; my neighbor is my granary." Your gaze turned to Central Europe, where the Anglo-Saxons were located.
Although the war between Vortigern and Camelot appears to be a civil war within Britain, you are actually well aware that Vortigern's army is composed of Anglo-Saxons. Therefore, you employ modern warfare strategies and the essence of Buddhist thought, rushing to the Saxon tribes after leaving France and launching a massive alms-gathering and scorched-earth policy against these enemies who supported Vortigern's civil war.