The wind and snow have stopped for the first time, and it is considered a good weather for the people of Einzbern Castle.
Looking out from the high-rise window of the castle, it is easy to see the warm scene of a father and daughter walking in the forest. The daughter is carried around on her father's neck with her small body, even if she can't hear the sound. You can see the cheers from her waving little hands.
"Every time I watch the interaction between Lingai and Kiritsugu, I deeply feel that my Master is really a contradictory person."
The blond girl in a navy blue European-style court dress leaned against the window, and after watching the father and daughter walking in the forest for a while, she turned her head with a slight sigh.
"He has this kind of temper. On the one hand, he is a dreamer who wants to save the world and hope for world peace, and on the other hand, he is a realist who does everything he can. He has always been so contradictory. Do you still mind? , Saber?" Sitting by the table and chair in the room, Irisviel smiled and said to her while waiting for the maid to bring her black tea.
"No, it's just that the mood is a bit complicated. Although the goal is the same, and I agree with your ideas, it is difficult for me and my master to reach an agreement on character and style, and I have doubts about whether the Holy Grail War can be won." The girl with a majestic temperament replied solemnly. She obviously had a pretty face, but she rarely smiled.
"The tea has been brewed, please use it, Lord Knight King." At another empty seat, the blond maid stepped aside around the tray, "Considering the eating habits of Lord Knight King, this time I will serve you two Here is chamomile tea from Rome, I hope it will suit your taste."
Not to mention Mrs. Alice who had her cheeks in her hands and her eyes sparkling, the blond heroic girl was also slightly taken aback: "Thank you..." She subconsciously thanked her, smelling the familiar tea fragrance from her memory, her face softened, " Chamomile tea? What a nostalgia...”
She stepped forward and sat down gracefully. Whether it was the hand holding the cup or the movement of drinking tea with her head slightly tilted up, there was a sense of competence and nobility. The warm tea slid down her mouth into her stomach, just like in her memory. Heroic Spirit was surprised by the taste and warmth of the drink: "It's delicious. I can't imagine that after such a long time, I can still drink such an authentic British taste."
"As long as you like it." The maid smiled and accepted the compliment, "You can generously forgive me for the last time the eldest lady was offended by her words, and Mei Lu is very grateful."
"Don't mention that soon." Thinking of that scene, the corners of the girl's Heroic Spirit's lips couldn't help twitching. Whether it was Kiritsugu or Illya, the first meeting between her and the father and daughter was really not pleasant, and full of joy. Feeling helpless, "Melu, you don't have to call me Lord Knight King all the time, just call me Saber like Irisviel and the others."
"Is it possible?" Mei Lu looked at Madam first with a questioning look, and then responded with a smile after receiving the latter's nod, "Then, Lord Saber, next..."
Before she finished speaking, the stomach of a certain heroic lady suddenly gurgled, and the girl from the King of Knights blushed first, and then she paused for a while before saying: "Actually, my magic power consumption is a bit high, so I often need to Replenish by eating…”
The lady over there was already secretly laughing, but the maid next to her responded without changing her expression: "I just wanted to tell you that there are macarons, French cloth Lei, Breeze Cheese, Raspberry Cookies..." While reporting the names of many snacks, she has already pushed the dining cart and presented the three-tiered snack stand that had been prepared to the table under the eyes of the two of them.
"I always feel that the refreshments prepared this time are much richer than before." Stuffing a bite-sized cookie into her mouth, Irisviel couldn't help but sighed, and glanced at the King of Knights who had already started. Suddenly thought of something, and raised his eyebrows, "Oh, I see, is it because of a new customer? It seems that Mei Lu likes Saber very much."
"Huh?" The King of Knights, who was eating well, was taken aback for a moment.
"Yes." Before the heroic spirit could be surprised, the maid who had stepped aside already admitted with a smile, "Master Saber has qualities that I like very much, such as kindness, nobility, integrity, bravery, and wisdom... just standing aside and watching, It makes me very admired and happy.”
"This is really overrated, and I didn't..." Suddenly being praised so bluntly, Lord Knight King couldn't help but blush, and was about to say something modest, when the lady over there was already jealous.
"Really! I've never heard Melu praise others like that before. If you were born in ancient Britain, you must have gone to work as a maid for Saber, right?" Irisviel puffed up her mouth and said childishly jealous.
"It's very possible, maybe I'll serve His Majesty even if I'm upside down." The maid didn't mean to comfort Madam at all, she told the truth very bluntly. She added, "But there are no assumptions about the real development of the facts. My master is the eldest lady, and I will stay by her side in the future. This will not change because of who I like later."
These words made the two of them stunned. The maid over there had already packed the dining car and was about to leave, giving them a pleasant space to communicate.
"Then, I hope you two enjoy yourself."
With the sound of the door being gently closed, only Irisviel and the Knight King were left in the huge room.
"I always feel that Merlu is a bit unbelievable." Eating the delicious dessert, the King of Knights sighed very much, "I can do everything, she is gentle and patient with everyone, but she has a pure heart. She is very powerful and it is hard for people not to like her."
"Hmm, Merle is amazing!" She put another piece of cake into her mouth, and the lady nodded in agreement, "If it wasn't for Merle being Illya's personal maid, I would still like to take it to the Holy Grail War this time." She brought her to Fuyuki City together. No matter what Melu does, she is very good, if it wasn't for the Holy Grail War, I wouldn't want to leave her."
Unfortunately, this is just a thought and thought. It's not that she didn't practice it, but she was rejected by her husband, Emiya Kiritsugu after she proposed it.
Yes, it's not an objection, it's a refusal, absolutely irrefutable.
Who made this maid suddenly appear a few years before the Holy Grail War? The possibility of an ordinary person without magic power accidentally passing through the forest barrier to the vicinity of the castle is low, but it is not impossible, but after being rescued, she did not leave. Instead, he quickly got the favor of his wife and daughter within a few days and stayed directly, not only squeezed Sera away and became Illya's personal maid, but also spread the mystery of this good popularity to the entire castle... These conditions combined, It is impossible for Emiya Kiritsugu not to be on guard.
Regardless of whether she really came here for the Holy Grail War, anyway, he would not let her go to Fuyuki with him!
So when the day comes when I leave the castle and go to Fuyuki, no matter whether Illya is full of reluctance, or is very uncomfortable because her parents refuse to take her with her because she is too young, anyway, she can only be hugged by Melu Say goodbye to your parents.
"Kiritsugu, Mom, come back early in victory. It's an agreement, you must come back, Illya is here waiting for you."
The mother hugged her daughter, while the father just reached out and rubbed her little head, then looked up at the blond maid. After more than four years, the importance of this maid has long surpassed Sera, Emiya Kiritsugu was not sure if Meru was for the Holy Grail, but he was sure that she would not hurt Illya.
"Take good care of Illya." That's all he could tell.
"Yes, sir." The maid answered meekly as always, "I also wish the three of you a prosperous martial arts and come back victorious."
In Illya's memory, the backs of her parents and the heroic spirit they summoned walked farther and farther away on the white snow, until the scene she could no longer see was the last thing she saw at that time.
She stayed alone in the castle, accompanied by sisters Melu and Sera, slowly waiting for the news from Fuyuki City.
In the beginning, things unfolded very well.
Saber, a powerful heroic spirit summoned by a powerful holy relic, and Emiya Kiritsugu's various means of attack in pursuit of efficiency, magicians and heroic spirits who participated in the battle were constantly killed by him, or others joined the battle Those who attack and consume each other.
But in the later stage of the Holy Grail War, the situation became more difficult, and Kiritsugu's side also began to reduce staff.
The helper Kiritsugu specially arranged died, and his wife Irisviel was also killed, but at that time, the members of the seven teams participating in the battle were almost exhausted, and he and the heroic spirit Saber also survived to the end.
When everyone in the castle thought that the Holy Grail was about to be obtained, the last news caused an uproar in Einzbern.
At the end of the war, the Holy Grail had already appeared, but the lunatic Emiya Kiritsugu didn't kill the last remaining Archer Hero King to grab the Holy Grail, but spent the last two Command Seals to force Saber to destroy the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail of Destruction directly burned Fuyuki City because of the outflow of energy, which caused a very bad impact on society.
After consuming so many resources, even marrying the artificial Irisviel who is part of the Holy Grail, and giving him so much information support, this is the result. The patriarch Ahad who made the decision to let the Magician Killer join Einzbern naturally couldn't be unresponsive.
Soon, Ilya, who had been waiting for her father's return, received another piece of news.
"Melu, they said that Kiritsugu betrayed Einzbern, adopted a child from Fuyuki, and will never come back. Is it true?" On a snowy day, the eight-year-old The girl squatted on the bed and curled up into a ball, her voice was lonely and broken, "Is... really?"
She raised her head and looked at the maid at the side and asked again, her eyes were opened wide, but tears still flowed out disobediently.
The maid silently stepped forward and hugged her into her arms: "Don't be afraid, Miss, you will get better soon."
Gentle pats on the back and words did not ease Illya's pain, she hugged Meru tightly and burst into tears.
Mother died in the Holy Grail War, and father also betrayed the family and directly abandoned her and adopted someone else. For the only eight-year-old child, this memory is more like a nightmare. After all, she was so happy not long ago.
But in fact, the nightmare has only just begun.