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IBHJ Chapter 202
🕑 Added 2023-04-10 21:35:51 +0000 UTCKing Leodegrance was taken aback by her request. "What are you talking about? Vortigern is still attacking Camelot. Who else would attack us? Besides, you are my daughter. How could I even consider handing you over to anyone?" he retorted before storming off.
Guinevere retreated to her chamber and retrieved a small dagger with a sheath from her cabinet. Clutching the blade tightly, she crouched in the corner, trembling and muttering, "Oh God... please have mercy on me... I'm just a coward... please don't let it be what I fear it is..."
Although she possessed a gift that allowed her to see things that others couldn't, she didn't consider it a blessing. Instead, it filled her with fear and trepidation.
Since no one else seemed to have noticed what she had, Guinevere felt like an anomaly. And the fate of anomalies...
The thought made her tremble with fear. Unfortunately, her prayers went unanswered, and she was left to face her worries alone.
After the rumors had circulated for some time, Shirou decided to invite the other kings to send troops to Cameliard and question King Leodegrance together.
However, the kings were hesitant to act. They felt that their priority should be fighting Vortigern together and that it wasn't appropriate to pursue this matter at the moment.
At this point, the 'hot-headed' King Arthur took on the role of a reckless youth and insisted that they could not tolerate traitors in their midst. He declared that Camelot had fallen into dire straits and that action needed to be taken.
The other kings neither supported nor opposed his stance, and he decided to dispatch Gawain and Lancelot to march on Cameliard.
A force of 1,000 soldiers charged toward Cameliard in successive waves.
Upon hearing the news, King Leodegrance sneered, thinking that with his 3,000 well-trained soldiers, he had nothing to fear.
However, his forces were easily defeated in the initial skirmish.
It was no surprise, as Shirou's troops were comprised of elite soldiers. Each one of them wielded a Gae Bolg, donned bright silver armor, and had been meticulously trained in swordsmanship and spearmanship by none other than Merlin and Scathach themselves.
What's more, each of his troops had been imbued with the skills of "Mana Burst," "Battle Continuation," and "Instinct."
It was fair to say that each of them possessed heroic qualities, making them capable of taking on ten enemies at once without breaking a sweat.
With a thousand of these heroic soldiers, bolstered by discipline and tactical prowess, it would have been strange for them to be defeated!
Even King Leodegrance was no match for Lancelot, and he was quickly thrown from his horse and forced to flee into the city in a state of panic, seeking refuge behind its walls.
Although Gawain and his troops could have launched a full-scale attack, they instead followed his orders and opted to lay siege to the city. They cordially requested that King Leodegrance hand over the wise man who had exposed King Arthur's economic warfare and sign a treaty that was formulated by Arthur in the spirit of friendship and cooperation.
King Leodegrance, confident in the strength of his city's walls, chose to ignore their demands.
Undeterred, Gawain and his forces continued to harass them daily, launching attacks every three days. This persistent pressure left King Leodegrance feeling increasingly desperate.
Summoning her courage, Guinevere approached her father and took a deep breath before speaking. "Father, let me go," she pleaded.
Surprised, King Leodegrance replied, "What are you afraid of, Guinevere? They can't breach our city walls."
"It's not that they can't break through, Father," Guinevere responded. "It's that King Arthur has instructed his forces not to do so. And please remember, our city's walls are not as fortified as we'd like them to be. Please let me go, otherwise they may soon launch a full-scale attack."
Initially, King Leodegrance was skeptical of her warning, but a few days later, Gawain and his troops launched a more intense series of attacks that proved difficult to fend off.
With their situation growing increasingly dire, King Leodegrance was forced to reconsider his stance. It was then that his sons approached him and urged him to hand over Guinevere.
They argued that the entire situation had arisen due to Guinevere's reckless words. If it weren't for her, King Leodegrance would never have fallen under suspicion from the other kings, nor would he have provoked King Arthur's attack.
Furthermore, his sons emphasized that without King Arthur's support, they would be unable to obtain enough food to survive the upcoming winter.
Their arguments left King Leodegrance deeply pondering the situation and carefully weighing the potential benefits and drawbacks of their proposal.
Ultimately, King Leodegrance was swayed by his sons' arguments, as their kingdom was indeed running dangerously low on food supplies for the upcoming winter. Moreover, with the exception of King Arthur's kingdom, there were no other kingdoms on the island with surplus food.
With a heavy heart, Leodegrance reluctantly accepted King Arthur's peace treaty, knowing that it was the best course of action for his kingdom's survival.
Despite the initial belief that the peace treaty would be an unfair arrangement, King Leodegrance was pleasantly surprised to find that King Arthur's terms were actually quite reasonable.
The treaty involved fair trade and reduced tariffs, and to Leodegrance's surprise, it appeared that his kingdom had actually gained something from it.
However, when Guinevere took hold of the treaty and began to read it, her hands shook.
As she scrutinized the treaty, Guinevere carefully examined the two clauses on fair trade and reduced tariffs, but it was the one inconspicuously hidden in the middle that made her uneasy. It stated that if Camelot were to adopt a new currency system, Leodegrance's kingdom would be required to support it.
While Leodegrance couldn't see anything wrong with the treaty, Guinevere could only see two foreboding words hidden beneath the surface - "potential invasion."
However, Gawain and the others were watching intently from outside like hawks, and if Leodegrance didn't sign the treaty, things could quickly become complicated.
"This King Arthur... is also an abnormal one!" Guinevere made up her mind.
She concealed a dagger in her sleeve and was escorted out of the city by King Leodegrance. But before departing, Guinevere made one final request - that King Leodegrance give the large round table, which had been bestowed upon him by the fairies, to King Arthur. She believed that this gesture would be the key to fully resolving the conflict between their two kingdoms.
King Leodegrance was initially reluctant to part with the round table, as it was a treasured gift from the fairies. However, for the sake of his kingdom, he ultimately agreed to send the table to King Arthur.
Accompanied by servants carrying the round table, Guinevere approached Gawain and the others and said, "I'm the one King Arthur is searching for."
Gawain and Lancelot were immediately prepared to arrest her, but as soon as they caught sight of her face, they were left stunned, pointing at her in disbelief. "You... Your Majesty...?"
Guinevere simply shook her head and corrected them, "I'm not your king. I'm Leodegrance's daughter, Guinevere."
At the sound of her name, Gawain hesitated briefly before raising his finger to point at her, his tone laced with uncertainty. "You... you're really Leodegrance's daughter, Guinevere?"
Feeling the weight of the two men's stares upon her, she couldn't help but tremble slightly, but she managed to nod her head in confirmation.
Gawain and Lancelot exchanged a perplexed glance, uncertain of how to proceed. Their original plan had been to arrest Guinevere and be done with it, but upon seeing her face up close, they no longer dared to act recklessly.
For there, before them, was the spitting image of their king - a woman with a regal countenance that was difficult to ignore. It was as though they were looking at a female version of King Arthur himself. How could they act rashly in the face of such an uncanny resemblance?
Gawain and Lancelot exchanged a cautious glance, each uncertain of how to proceed. As a knight of King Arthur, Gawain knew that he needed to exercise restraint, whereas Lancelot, as the prince of Benoic and not a member of King Arthur's court, still had some freedom to act as he saw fit.
After discussing their options, Lancelot dismounted from his horse and approached Guinevere. "Please, Princess Guinevere, climb onto the horse. We will escort you to see the king."
"Thank you, noble knights," Guinevere said with a forced smile as she nervously complied with Lancelot's request.
Gawain's gaze was drawn to the large round table that the servants were carrying, and he couldn't help but ask Guinevere, "What is that?"
"It's a gift from my father to King Arthur," Guinevere explained. "It's meant to serve as a gesture of goodwill, in the hopes of resolving the misunderstanding between our two kingdoms."
Gawain nodded in understanding, and the group set off towards their destination.
