"This is..."
Artoria looked at Kay, holding a sleeping baby in his arms, and her expression became somewhat strange.
"Brother Kay, when did you have a child?"
Kay's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. "Who told you this is my child?! I haven't even held a girl's hand until now!"
Artoria furrowed her brow, displeased. "I know you're worried about our father's punishment, but you can't deny your own child. Our teacher taught us that as knights, we should bear responsibility for our actions. You're just running away from it."
"Lily's right, Kay. How could you do such a thing~? The child will be hurt if he grows up and finds out you know~" Merlin chimed in.
"Get lost! What are you doing here, you only make it worse!"
Kay roared at Merlin, but unexpectedly, it woke the baby in his arms, and the baby started crying loudly.
"O-Oh! I'm sorry, I woke you up. It's my fault. Please don't cry..."
Kay hurriedly tried to comfort the baby, but the baby showed no sign of stopping.
"My~ my~ you're really clumsy, Kay. It looks like this great Merlin has to step in~" Merlin said, offering a magically conjured small flower to the baby with a smiling face. "Be good, don't cry, little one. Big brother will show you a pretty flower."
The baby hesitated for a moment and then cried even louder.
"What!? Why is this happening? I used to calm little Lily like this..." Merlin said, looking injured.
"Let me try." Artoria volunteered.
Kay, as if seeing a savior, quickly handed the baby over to Artoria.
"If you keep crying, I'll punish you by not letting you eat for a day." Artoria said sternly to the baby.
Merlin: "..."
Kay: "..."
Arkhan: "..."
Yulina: "..."
Baby: "...Waaahhhh—!!!"
"Is this not working either?" Artoria looked somewhat disheartened. "This used to work when I was a child."
'That's because it only worked on you!' Kay roared in his heart.
"Hahh... let me try." Arkhan sighed and took the baby from Artoria's arms.
Interestingly, as soon as the baby was in Arkhan's embrace, the crying immediately stopped. The baby's big, bright eyes stared at him without blinking.
"Hmm? Why did Brother Kay's child stop crying when in Teacher's arms?" Artoria wondered, tilting her head in confusion.
Kay had a vein popping on his forehead.
"For god's sake, Lily! I've told you, this baby is not my child. This baby belongs to the woman you rescued before. She fell asleep because she was tired, so I'm just holding the baby temporarily."
"But I remember that lady didn't look pregnant for long..." Artoria said in confusion, clearly recalling that the peasant woman's belly showed only slight swelling, far from a full-term pregnancy.
"That's because your teacher accelerated the birth of this child~" Merlin grinned. "At that time, this child was in grave danger. After taking a severe blow, even I thought there was no chance of survival. But he refused to give up and managed to save this child. It was quite a surprise to me too."
"He can do even this kind of thing?" Kay exclaimed in shock.
Yulina looked at Arkhan with growing awe in her eyes. Saving a nearly dying baby was almost touching the realm of the god!
Artoria bit her lip, her gaze darkening as regret and self-blame once again filled her heart.
Arkhan gently touched the baby's soft cheek with his finger. The baby reached out and grabbed his finger, smiling happily.
A faint smile crossed Arkhan's face.
Yulina stepped forward, staring at the baby with curiosity for a moment, then wrinkled her nose, looking slightly puzzled.
"Why do I feel like this baby has a scent very similar to Master?"
Arkhan didn't respond, but he knew exactly what Yulina meant by the 'similar scent.'
Abyss Flower.
The baby was born using the Abyss Flower, so naturally, he carried the same aura as Arkhan.
The Abyss Flower contains the purest essence of life energy. In the Age of Gods, its life energy could rival godly treasures like the Golden Apple and the Fountain of Youth.
The baby was created with nearly half of his being infused with the power of the Abyss Flower. By god's standards, he was akin to a demigod.
One could see it in the baby's appearance. Although just been born, the skin wasn't wrinkled like a typical infant's. It was as smooth and tender as the finest jade. The eyes were wide open, filled with vitality.
What's even more astonishing was that Arkhan could clearly sense an immense vitality, like the vastness of the ocean, contained within this small body.
It was foreseeable that as long as the baby grew up normally, he would undoubtedly become a hero to rival Achilles.
Moreover, the baby possessed no divinity. This meant that even if the Age of Gods ended, it wouldn't affect the baby in the slightest.
Not even Arkhan himself had anticipated creating such a being.
A true hero among mortals.
Sensing someone approaching, Arkhan instantly raised his head and found himself facing a rather smug grin.
"What do you want?" Arkhan furrowed his brows slightly.
Merlin, with a mischievous glint in his eye, gestured towards the baby in Arkhan's arms. "You must have noticed, right? This child has the potential to become a hero."
"So? What's your point?" Arkhan's eyes displayed a hint of caution. He shifted his body slightly, blocking Merlin's view of the baby.
"Well, if this child's destined to be a hero, he'll need a wise sage to guide him. It's a staple of legendary tales, just like the great hero Heracles and the centaur Chiron."
Merlin said proudly and confidently without any shame.
"Coincidentally, Britain's greatest mage in history, entrusted by the former king to nurture the future king, beloved by the people, wise in knowledge, and virtuous as well as amiable in character is right here. Aside from this great Merlin, is there anyone else who can bear the responsibility of guiding a hero~?"
"Causing trouble for one isn't enough; you plan to bring in another one for free?" Arkhan replied casually.
Merlin's face immediately fell, and he began to argue.
"Can you really call guiding a hero 'causing trouble'? Besides, Lily's case was because of my 'first time without experience' and 'I'm not a human, so blame the nature of my race and not me'! You know, complicated stuff..."
"Anyway, it doesn't matter what you say. I'm not giving this baby to you." Arkhan decisively delivered a blow to Merlin's hopes.
Merlin sighed dejectedly. "Then what's your plan? You don't intend to raise this child yourself, do you?"
"On my end, I do have a suitable candidate. But because of some reason, I'm not brave enough to approach that person."
Arkhan spoke and cleared his throat.
"But it doesn't matter. I've already decided who should raise this child."