UWTD 374: Marraige And Responsibility

"What do you think of becoming my husband, Adam?"

"What?" Adam tilted his head, confused out of his mind.

"I mean, it won't be a real marriage. It's just to shut up the court and give my subjects a piece of mind; no one would object given your contributions. And…. we have to do 'that' later anyway." Artoria had it all figured out, even though she blushed at the end.

"…Won't they press you for heirs even more if you give in like this?" Adam asked, trying to make her see the wrongs in her plan.

"I'll just say that I can't bear any children and then look for a successor." But Artoria's logic was without holes, like she had been thinking it over for a while.

Adam looked at her carefree smile and sighed. Even though she tried to hide it, he could see the eye bags and the lack of rest in her body. Artoria had been running from one place to another since taking up the throne; she had barely rested a day and went sleepless for countless nights to bring her dream true. If she had to worry about a husband on top of all this, the toll would only increase.

"So?" Artoria rushed him for an answer, feeling nervous herself.

"I will agree if you rest 8 hours a day," Adam said.

"I do not have to rest like normal humans. I may look like a helpless young girl, but my bod-"

"I will make you dinner every day." Adam cut in.

"Well…rest is important." Artoria nodded like a sage that had unlocked ancient knowledge. A resilient body needed a full stomach of tasty food, at least that's how she thought.

"It indeed is, even gods need rest," Adam said.

"Are there any other problems outside of this?" He asked.

"No, everything is going fine. The land is at peace for now. We are working on improving the agriculture, the construction of Camelot is also coming along well, and the army is also forming into one unit." Artoria couldn't find anything to note.

"That's good." Adam nodded, about to leave.

"You're already leaving?" She asked, eyes full of hope.

"It's late…" He said, unsure of what she wanted. That was until he saw her face.

The young woman visibly squirmed in her chair, a tint of rose on her fair cheeks. She bit her thumb with pink, trembling lips. Her eyes full of expectation, asking for only one thing. Any man would understand that look.

Adam understood, too. He understood her a bit too well after watching over her.

"Beef bowl or Oyakodon?" He asked, bringing over a birch table.

"Both!" Artoria jumped out of the regal-looking chair and landed on the one placed before the table; the aura of the knight who led thousands of soldiers and fearless warriors into battle had long gone.

Right now, she was just Artoria, a girl who loved eating. Even though she had a duty and promise to carry out as the king of knights, she had moments where she lived in the moment.

'I have always found it hard to do that. But he makes it easier for me to step out of my role. A shoulder to lean on… it isn't so bad after all.' Artoria felt a gradual warmth settling in her weathered heart.

The armour she wore to protect her people had also weighed her down. The mantle she was raised to take only dragged her and the people around her into despair. She needed that armour and mantle to keep her promise and set things right, but now she needed to learn how to take them off and give herself some rest. And that was the hardest part for someone like her.

"I demand more!" She slammed the finished bowl of beef ribs and declared her vigorous hunger.

The table filled with over 10 bowls of meat and vegetables, along with a pile of bread and a pot of seafood soup, all vanished into Artoria's small belly.

"She can really eat." Adam walked towards the window after putting Artoria to bed.

Seemed like the exhaustion had hit her like a truck after she had stuffed her face with food. Sometimes, he worried that she'd break down before getting her wish; she rushed headlong into things and only cared about her goal. Although he could help her recover, he didn't want to see that.

As someone who was once placed in the shoes of a hero, he knew how hard it was to move forward when the fate of countless people rested on you. For as much as he hated the people of that planet and their practices, he had to carry out his duty to save them and also to save himself.

He had moved with that single goal in mind; he never stopped to look at anything. Not for the dying kittens, not to admire the beauty of a lone flower in winter, not to gaze at the warm setting sun, and not for the creatures that died along his path. He walked onwards till he defeated the Demon King, and was then given another goal.

A goal he pursued with even more relentless and ruthless fervour. By the time he realized his mind was breaking from stress to reach the goal and the fear of failure weighing down his soul, it was too late for him.

Even as a God, Adam had broken down. He couldn't see his limits, because he refused to stop even when he saw his limit.

He walked back to Artoria's bed. Even when covered with a blanket on this pleasant, cool night, even after smiling so brightly while chowing down, the woman had a frown on her forehead while asleep.

Adam placed a hand on her forehead and saw the scene she saw. A brutal battlefield, mountains of bodies and rivers of blood. No matter where one looked, death and carnage were the only things found. In that rotting world, Artoria could only look at her feet and cry, cry at her failure, cry at the bitterness in her heart, cry, cry, cry, cry, and nothing else. Unable to make a difference, unable to save the people she cared for, unable to fulfill her duty.

Even if she had to leave her failure behind, it still haunted her. It didn't want to leave her, the cruel reminder that she had failed once always clung to her like a ghost.

"Don't think about what will happen if you fail, think of the world you are trying to create. Only think of that." A warm golden glow left Adam's hand and seeped into Artoria's skull; the frown eased, and the sweat on her pale face vanished.

"What a handful, king I have." Confirming the rosy tint returning to her face, Adam left through the window. He plucked a dandelion from a field in the open and noticed the full moon; the soft moonlight wrapped around him in a cold embrace.

"Guess I'll have a drink." He popped one of his favorite red wines and enjoyed the momentous beauty he had found.

***

See you all tomorrow with a new chapter