Chapter 437: [437] The Robed Figure Smiles Before the Stage

As dawn approached, early-rising villagers had already begun their daily labor. Carrying the unconscious Jeanne d’Arc on his back, Sakatsuki and the homunculus arrived at a farmhouse in the village, requesting shelter from its owner.

"Did she collapse on the road?"

The elderly man, having just finished his morning chores and preparing to rest, looked at Jeanne in Sakatsuki’s arms with concern.

Perhaps recalling old man Mackenzie from Fuyuki and those naive, stumbling days of his youth, a gentle smile appeared on the young man’s face as he reassured the old man. The homunculus had expected her ’Master’ to use suggestion magecraft, but to her surprise, everything went smoothly.

"Please, come in. I only hope the three of you won’t mind the simplicity of my home."

"Not at all. We’re already grateful for your hospitality—how could we possibly complain?"

The old man introduced himself as Selcouth, a lifelong resident of the village who had raised his child and sent them away, continuing to till the fields alone—a life he described as utterly ordinary.

The homunculus watched with envy as Sakatsuki conversed with the old man before approaching her and leading her to the resting quarters.

"Even with your body enhanced by the Third Magic, staying up all night will still tire you out. Go ahead and rest—I’ll wake you before noon."

"Understood, Master."

Master... Sakatsuki raised an eyebrow but said nothing, simply gesturing for her to rest before leaving the room with Jeanne.

He didn’t particularly mind the title, though he couldn’t help but reflect on how many names he had accumulated in this Holy Grail War...

"Master."

"Lord Sakatsuki."

"Ah, it’s Mommy Sakatsuki!"

"I’ve told you, ’Mommy’ is for women—at least call me ’Papa’ or ’Big Brother’..."

The young man’s usually composed expression only ever cracked into helplessness when little Jack was being mischievous.

After a brief rest, the old man left again to tend to his work, allowing Sakatsuki to take over the space and openly activate a communication spell to contact Reika Rikudou and the others on the Black faction’s side.

Through the clever application of transference and projection magecraft, the images of Reika, Artoria, and little Jack appeared before Sakatsuki. Perhaps because she was preparing for bed, Reika’s hair was loosely tied back, and she wore a pale green spaghetti-strap nightgown that accentuated her ample curves, her delicate shoulders partially exposed—a slender branch bearing rich fruit.

The silver-haired little girl giggled, tumbling playfully on the bed, while the hoodless Saber stood quietly by the bedside, her flawless face breaking into a faint smile as she nodded at Sakatsuki.

"Reika, it’s been days—you still haven’t corrected her habit?" Sakatsuki averted his gaze from Reika, rubbing his temples wearily as little Jack cheered, "One Mommy, two Mommy, three Mommies!"

"You know how stubborn Jack can be about this," Reika replied with an indulgent smile, clearly amused by the situation. "I’ve tried explaining, but children forget things in an instant."

Reika could be naive, but Sakatsuki and Artoria would never miss the subtleties in conversation. Master and Servant exchanged a glance, their expressions grave.

Little Jack’s true nature as an aggregate of vengeful spirits determined her dangerous, inhuman qualities—qualities that manifested not only in her ability to kill without psychological burden but also in her deeply concerning mentality.

Was correcting a child’s form of address difficult? No, it should have been a simple matter.

Yet Little Jack couldn’t manage it because the concept of "father" simply didn’t exist in her cognition.

Reika hadn’t yet realized their relationship was distorted. Little Jack was fated never to "grow up," meaning that even if Sakatsuki promised they could live together after the Holy Grail War, Reika and Jack could never interact like a normal mother and daughter.

...They had to find a way to resolve this.

Pushing the thought aside, Sakatsuki concisely explained their current situation. When he mentioned Jeanne d’Arc coming to him, he distinctly saw Artoria’s face betray a guilty expression.

Of course it was the ahoge. Back then, she’d let Diarmuid go for the sake of chivalry—it was no surprise she’d let Jeanne come find him now.

Remembering the events of Fate/Zero, Sakatsuki smiled knowingly, completely unaware he was comparing himself to Kiritsugu. He shot a reproachful glance at the ahoge before continuing:

"Anyway, that’s the situation here. Now, let’s return to our earlier topic—my king, have you told Reika about it?"

What Sakatsuki referred to was the matter of recruiting Mordred.

"Yes." Artoria pressed her lips together, still reluctant. "But... I still don’t think I can do it..."

"Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Besides, my king, you don’t want your relationship with Sir Mordred to remain like this forever, do you?" Sakatsuki chuckled. "I’ll notify the Red Faction. As for your side—"

"Should I inform Darnic?" Reika asked.

"No." Sakatsuki shook his head. "That would make Darnic suspect the Osarei clan’s intelligence network has infiltrated Romania, compromising your disguise later."

Romania was the territory of the Yggdmillennia. If Reika learned of the Red Faction’s movements before they did, the paranoid Darnic would never let her off the hook.

"I do have an idea, though it might require some... inconvenience for my king."

At this, Artoria’s ahoge perked up into a question mark.

"What do you mean?"

Facing the ahoge’s inquiry, Sakatsuki smiled wordlessly and simply stepped aside, allowing those on the other end of the communication to see the girl lying on the bed behind him.

"Wow, another Artoria Mommy."

"Is that... Miss Jeanne?"

"Sakatsuki, what’s going on?!"

Reika and Artoria’s beautiful eyes widened in shock—especially Artoria, who looked utterly incredulous.

Hadn’t Jeanne said she was going to find Sakatsuki? How had searching for him led to her ending up in his bed?!

A terrible premonition of being cuckolded rose in Artoria’s heart. She whirled toward Sakatsuki, only to hear him say:

"Jeanne had already exhausted most of her stamina last night. By the time she found me, she barely had any strength left, so I knocked her out and brought her along."

"I understand the reasoning... but why did you have to knock her out?!"

"What are you talking about, Miss Artoria? This is the Ruler, our enemy on the Blue Faction’s side, isn’t it?"

Reika Rikudou spoke up, being the first to counter Artoria’s words.

"As Reika said, though she may resemble you in appearance, their stances are vastly different, my King."

At this point, Sakatsuki gave Artoria a meaningful glance that made her ahoge stand on end from the chill.

"Now, back to the main topic. My plan is this..."

After Artoria’s exclamations of surprise, refusal, resentment, and eventual agreement, Sakatsuki ended the communication and turned to gaze at the saintess lying unconscious on the bed, her brows slightly furrowed. After a long pause, he let out a cold laugh.

"Tough luck."

With practiced ease, he picked up Jeanne d’Arc and carried her to the dining room, binding her with magecraft restraints. Then, Sakatsuki walked to the kitchen stove and began busying himself.

The faint morning light streamed through the clean windowpanes, illuminating the young man’s focused profile and the enigmatic curve at the corner of his lips.

In black robes before the altar he smiles, Washing hands to prepare the morning meal.

***

[The original line reads: "Three days after marriage, she enters the kitchen / Washing hands to prepare the morning broth" - slightly modified here.]