I am the protagonist

"Artoria, Saber is in your hands now."

The heroic spirits that had been hiding all along have materialized.

"You, how could you!?"

Saber seemed a little bewildered as she looked at the other version of herself that had appeared before her.

"Step aside, my past self."

"You should know best whether our battle will affect Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel."

As she spoke, the invisible holy sword in Artoria's hand had broken its seal, revealing its proof as a king.

Saber's pupils contracted, filled with resentment, but she knew that the clash of the two holy swords might completely incinerate everything around them.

Kiritsugu and Irisviel are just ordinary people; if they get involved, they might lose their lives.

Faced with this situation, Saber had no choice but to avoid battle.

"Kiritsugu, you didn't come to pick me up."

One sentence instantly changed Kiritsugu Emiya's expression completely.

Kiritsugu Emiya himself understood best what those words meant.

The defeat in the Fourth Holy Grail War.

Illya ignored Kiritsugu's drastically changed expression and instead looked at her mother with a smile.

"Mom, I want to drink black tea."

"Ah, I, I'll go prepare right now."

Irisviel snapped out of her daze and instead of staying outside, she hurried toward the castle to prepare the black tea she wanted to drink.

Ilya followed with young Ilya.

Shirou walked over to Kiritsugu Emiya, but with Artoria present, Saber could only watch quietly from the opposite side.

"My sister and I didn't just come here whenever we wanted."

"Perhaps this visit was just an accident, but since you've come, there are some things I need to tell you."

"what?"

"Do not pursue the Holy Grail."

"As for why I say this, it's because we know more than you do."

Emiya Kiritsugu choked on his breath.

This is an indisputable reason.

It's inevitable that people ten years from now will know some of the things that happened ten years ago.

"Your sister doesn't want you to die."

Kiritsugu Emiya clenched his fists tightly.

When Illya said, "Kiritsugu, you didn't come to pick me up," Kiritsugu Emiya already knew he had failed.

If he had succeeded in the Fourth Holy Grail War, the current situation would not exist.

【what is going on?】

His future adopted son told him not to pursue the Holy Grail, which means that he did indeed obtain the Holy Grail in the end.

But if this was supposed to be the final result, why did it turn into the worst possible outcome?

Artoria followed Shirou into the castle.

Emiya Kiritsugu's consciousness paused for a few seconds before he followed into the castle.

He already knows too much, and the outcome of this Holy Grail War is already predictable, so why does this happen after the Holy Grail War?

Once inside the castle, both Ilya and young Ilya sat down, each holding a cup of red tea.

Even Artoria sat next to Shirou, simply enjoying her black tea and cake.

"Irisviel, the tea and cake are the same as before."

"what……"

This left Irisviel at a loss for words.

He looked at Saber across from him, then at Saber beside him.

[Hmm, Saber across from me doesn't look too serious. She eats very naturally, and smiles more often.]

As for Saber sitting next to her, her expression was very serious, even on the verge of exploding.

"Oh!"

"You, you look nothing like the King of Britain!"

Saber is now very disgusted with her future self, who doesn't act like a king at all.

"You have no manners at all, and you're dressed as a lady! Do you still look like the King of Britain?"

"You're not like this at all?"

"you……"

"Do you dare say that you can eat a little bit of food when you see it?"

"Who do you think you are? You are the past me. I know myself very well, unlike you who can't even see yourself clearly."

These words infuriated Saber, but she couldn't refute the soul-searching question.

In fact, if she were in this situation, she would instinctively eat the food first.

"...I never wear women's dresses."

Artoria frowned. In the past, she also didn't wear women's dresses, as those dresses made it difficult to move around. She only wore clothes that allowed for easy movement.

Saber is just an ordinary girl.

Artoria remembered some of the things Shirou had said to her before.

Just thinking about those words made me feel much lighter.

"I am no longer the King of Britain."

Saber's pupils suddenly contracted.

"After the Holy Grail War ended, I did everything I could. The outcome that I could not change was the result I could control."

"Are you just going to abandon your mission as king like this?"

"Britain is destroyed, and no matter how many times it is repeated, this is an unchanging fact."

"you……"

"The Holy Grail is not an omnipotent wish-granting machine; it cannot grant my wish."

Saber stared at her future self in disbelief, unable to believe that her future self would say such a thing.

"I have no regrets whatsoever."

"Britain prospered because of my rule, and it was destroyed because of my misjudgments."

"Destruction and prosperity are just a cycle of cause and effect."

"As King of Britain, I would weep and grieve for the destruction of Britain, but I have no regrets now."

Artoria knew that she was a king without any desires in the past, and all she wanted to do was to keep Britain away from war and make it more prosperous.

But now she is no longer the Queen of Britain, but just an ordinary girl.

A girl who has developed desires.

"The former King of Conquerors also said so."

"Shirou said the same thing to me."

"I'm just an ordinary girl."

Chapter 128 Can't I have my child inherit Britain?

【what's the situation? 】

[I... my future self actually admitted that I'm just an ordinary girl?]

Saber remembers that she had long ago abandoned her identity as a young girl and has never regretted making such a decision.

But now, her future self has admitted that she is just an ordinary girl, not the Queen of Britain.

"You, you actually say you're just an ordinary girl?"

"I am the King of Knights of Britain, and also just an ordinary girl."

"Now I am half-heroic spirit and half-human, no longer the queen of Britain, but just an ordinary girl."

He completely abandoned his long-cherished wish.

Is it a good idea to start the selection process for the king all over again?

Artoria knew that there was nothing wrong with this idea; she hoped that Britain could have a more wise leader, and perhaps Britain would have a better future.

But what cannot be done is simply impossible.

Britain still exists today, perhaps because of her creation, and this result does not need to be changed.

Perhaps, the conqueror was right back then.

[I am merely a young girl with aspirations; I lack the capacity to be a king.]

Maybe I did the right thing, maybe I did the wrong thing.

But all of that is history now.

Artoria is now facing her gender anew, no longer simply denying it as she did in the past.

Regardless of the past, she now has Shirou.

Saber noticed that in the future, her gaze had always been fixed on that boy.

"Are you my future Master?"

"No, I am merely the one who summoned you, Artoria."

“I’m not the only one who came to this era. The one who has made a contract with me now is Caster, while Rin is the one who made a contract with Artoria.”

Saber thought she was wrong, but when she looked at her future self, she still looked the same, which confused her.

"Oh, I see~ So that's how it is."

"Irisviel, do you know what I'm like in the future?"

"Hehe~ Of course~"

Saber felt a chill run down her spine when she saw Irisviel's ambiguous smile.

"Irisviel, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because it's really interesting!"

"I never expected Saber to find someone she likes."

As an artificial life form that has gained emotions, Irisviel is far too sensitive to matters of the heart.

In the eyes of the future Saber, she saw trust, dependence, and love.

As a woman, she knew very well what that look meant. Didn't it mean that the future Saber had found someone she liked?

"What!?"

Saber was stunned for a moment when she heard the answer, and then she jumped up.

"How could you, a king, fall in love with a man?!"

"I want my children to inherit Britain, is that not allowed?"

"you you……"

Saber, her face flushed, stammered "you" for a long time before being unable to continue.

If one's own child is legitimate, then he/she can indeed inherit Britain.