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Chapter 10 – Meeting The Sins
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"Bellatrix~", Arthuria gracefully sauntered to her sister and pinched her sister's cheeks "what I told you before to not sneak into our father's den, huh?".
"ow! Ow! I give up! I give up, sister! I can't help it if I'm curious, right?!", Mordred smacked Arthuria's hands. She rubbed her stinging cheeks "besides, how could you possibly know about it? Do you read my mind?".
Arthuria lifted her thumb pointing Bedivere "no, Oliver accidentally saw the blonde-head on father's den and we recognized it as Leon, which means you have dragged him. Am I right?".
When Mordred glared to him, Bedivere smiled innocently "only telling the truth to the Lady about what I saw and heard. I believe you guys should be worried more with whether Lady Gwen will tell Lady Merlin or Sir Meliodas".
When she heard her name was mentioned, Lady Gwen smiled, swaying her sleeping daughter on her arms "ah, don't worry, I won't tell your father or Lady Merlin".
"thank you, Lady Gwen!", Mordred kissed her cheek "I started to like you, hehehe".
"oh, glad to hear that. More or less, I do realize that you and your sister dislike me".
Mordred flinched and waved her hands "no, we aren't?! We just... er...".
"we're just not ready if we will have new Mother when we just lost our mother less than a half year ago, Lady", Arthuria flatly said before bowing her body "we apologize if our insecurity caused you feeling discomfort as well when you have helped us a lot".
"oh, my! That's what you're worried about? Don't worry about it, dear. No offense, but the type of a man like Sir Meliodas is too far for me to reach. I think only someone like your mother or Lady Merlin who deserve to be with him. People said it will be good if I can be together with Sir Hendrickson but I think Sir Hendrickson is too kind and it's too good to be true if our relationship shifts from coworkers into lovers", Lady Gwen gasped and comically waved her hands before she rolling her eyes to Lancelot "besides, I prefer someone like... Marlo, a gentleman here. Now, just if he's older...".
Lancelot turned bright red "EH!?".
"just kidding", Gwen laughed heartily "you should have seen your face! I can't believe what Leon said is true!".
"Lady Gwen!", Lancelot squawked before he yelled to his twin "and don't laugh, you little Troll?!".
Gawain tried to halt his laughter but failed "no, I'm not laughing... pfft! Just trying to hold it back... Bahahahaha!?".
After handing Tristan on his hands to Bedivere, Lancelot started sending kicks and punches to his twin "and what did you say to Lady Gwen, huh? You're such a jerk!".
Gawain started to run for his dear life "just telling the truth that my dearest brother is having a crush on her due to her beauty~".
"then? What do you want to see badly, until you're so determined to sneak into father's den?", Arthuria tilted her head and before Morgan and Gawain answered her, she lifted her head "oh, I see. I get it".
Morgan squealed and threw her fists, chasing after her twin "don't read my mind as you please?!".
Arthuria could dodge her fists easily, but she was just lazy so she chose to crawl up to Bedivere's legs before Bedivere carried her with his free hand while his other hand carried Tristan "it's not like I did it deliberately, but your mind is too readable sometimes, especially when you don't have the need to keep it as a secret".
Bedivere blinked and inquired, purely in curiosity "is there something we need to know?".
Gawain explained "not too important, I guess. Sir Meliodas and Lady Merlin sort-of created a team that will be the guardian of Liones Kingdom called Seven Deadly Sins. Lady Merlin and Sir Meliodas are part of the team. Five others will join and live with us".
"Each of them will earn the title as the members of Seven Deadly Sins and guess what? I remember all their names and titles", Mordred proudly announced which she outright brightened because her sister praised her being smart and having a good memory. When Arthuria and the others curiously asked what were their titles and who were these people, Mordred started to recite the names and the titles based on her memory "though, I wonder... why does Daddy earn the title as the Dragon Sin Of Wrath and Lady Merlin earn the title as the Boar Sin Of Gluttony?".
Gawain joined her and tilted his head "indeed. I wonder why Sir Meliodas earned the title as Dragon Sin Of Wrath. I don't see which part of Lady Merlin that can be considered as 'glutton', too".
"you will understand when we meet them".
All of them turned to Arthuria who sat on Bedivere's lap, reading her book.
Mordred blinked in confusion "huh? What do you mean, sister?".
"well, exactly what I said", not looking up from the book on her hands, Arthuria mumbled "perhaps, we only can understand when we meet them".
Lady Gwen asked in concern "but are you not afraid? It was said, they are the vilest Knights".
Arthuria simply said coherently "just like people say, don't judge the book from its cover, right?".
Mordred looked up with sparkle on her eyes "sister is so cool as usual".
The first member was Gowther, the Goat Sin of Lust.
When they saw the huge man in armor, Mordred said how cool he looked with that armor and climbed up to his armor, hanging on his bicep like a monkey. Being a timid and calm child, Arthuria stared to Gowther and wondered how did he look like within the armor, especially considering he gained the title as 'the Goat Sin of Lust'. Gawain showed more or less a similar reaction as Mordred but Lancelot was kinda wary of him.
Bedivere nodded his head "yeah, it kinda remembered me with someone who fell into insanity and attacked someone he should have protected in rage. The type of someone whose heart is undetectable like Sir Gowther is indeed dangerous sometimes".
Earning Lancelot's flinch, Mordred eyed Bedivere with what looked like boredom "Ollie, who are you speaking about?".
Bedivere smiled innocently "only an old friend of mine. Forget it".
Arthuria narrowed her eyes "I see, and you are the type of someone who can stab someone with your innocence".
Lancelot buried his head on Gawain's shoulder "bury me if you find a hole".
Gawain patted his back "get yourself together, my friend".
The second member was Ban, the Fox Sin of Greed.
When their father came back home with Ban, the kids welcomed him, although they (mostly Arthuria and Mordred) were shocked to see how disheveled Meliodas looked like. As usual, Bedivere, Gawain, and Lancelot visited their house to play with the twin girls and Tristan.
"Welcome home, Sir Meliodas", Bedivere just finished arranging the dinner, helped by Gowther. He quickly came to his side, offering to patch his wounds "if you want to take a bath first, Leon still uses it to take a bath with Triss and Bella. I think you should change your clothes and before they see your state".
Realizing the state of his clothes and his body, the bruises, and scratches on his face and hands, Meliodas could predict his daughters' reactions "oh, you're right. By the way, where is Lady Gwen and Merlin?".
Gowther explained that Lady Gwen went home early because her daughter, Mash, was having a high fever. Obviously, Lancelot went to accompany her to see the doctor "and Merlin was busy with Alexa on her laboratory".
Just when Bedivere wanted to patch bruises and scratches on Meliodas' wounds, Gawain came with the twin (Arthuria and Mordred).
Gawain, carrying Tristan on his hands, gawked "Sir Meliodas, what happened to you?".
Ban realized the resemblance between Meliodas and the twin sisters who ogled to Meliodas in shock "his siblings, perhaps?".
"DAD! What happened? These injuries...", Mordred was the first to approach him, frantically asking "who did this to you?".
1... 2... 3...
Ban's jaw literally dropped due to shock "DADDY, YOU SAID?!".
"I know it must be a shock for you, but Alexandria and Bellatrix here are undoubtedly the daughters of our Captain, Meliodas", Merlin came down floating with a lopsided smirk, amused "I am Merlin, the Boar Sin Of Gluttony and that huge man in armor is Gowther, the Goat Sin Of Lust".
When Meliodas explained to calm his daughters down, Merlin introduced the others to Ban. Meliodas had wrapped his arms around Mordred to restrain her from strangling Ban, while Arthuria calmly stared to Ban. She didn't react like how an ordinary kid usually had, and it unsettled Ban's heart.
"he... to think these girls are your daughters... I don't expect a little midget like you to have daughters already", Ban ruffled Arthuria's head "she's kinda cute".
Arthuria stared blankly to him "...so, he is the counterpart of Lancelot's father in this world? I wonder if Lancelot has gotten his insanity from his father. No offense, Lancelot, I can't help it but to think it...".
(at this time, Lancelot sneezed)
Ban stared down to her "what is it, kiddo? I know your twin sister kinda wondered if I'm insane or sort of that thing, but I can't read what's on your mind, you know? Seems like you've inherited such poker face from your father".
Meliodas chuckled "nishishi~ you can say it, although I can guarantee 98% that she's so much like her mother compared to me".
Arthuria blinked before narrowing her eyes "Undead Ban, the Fox Sin Of Greed. You have been sentenced to death for your crimes... yet what I saw, the fact is not like what people thought of you".
Ban froze as Meliodas blinked his eyes "what do you mean?".
"Why did you not tell them all that you're innocent, the one who guilty of the crime that is not you but the monster? Or is it... You just want to find your death?".
Ban touched her chin and lifted up her face, playfully drawled "...you know, if you were not a child, I would strangle you now".
Mordred, Bedivere, and Gawain were already tense, prepared to attack with their magic but Meliodas moved first. Pointing the broken blade of his dragon-hilted sword to his neck, Meliodas carried Arthuria on his hand and growled, "dare to lay your finger on my daughter, I'm gonna kill you".
Mordred cracked her knuckles "I will gladly assist you, Dad".
"calm down, you two hot-blooded block-head", Arthuria smacked Mordred's head and patted Meliodas' cheek before bowing to Ban "it seems I've crossed the boundary, Sir Fox Sin Undead Ban. As long as you behave, I can close my mouth. I apologize for peeking on your inner heart, though it accidentally happened due to my inability to control my power, yet".
Ban's eyes dilated "wait up, you... you can read my mind?!".
Arthuria raised her fingers in peace sign "I just can't control it yet, it's not like I want to".
Surprisingly, Ban became a good friend for twin sisters, mostly because Ban wouldn't mind training with Mordred (much to Meliodas' dismay) and Ban was a great cook who could teach Arthuria to cook. When Ban asked her about why did she want to learn cooking when she already had Bedivere as their great cook, Arthuria simply said "glory, malnutrition, and hunger are the great enemies. How can you possibly fight when you're hungry?".
Mordred nodded her head "she has a point".
Ban stared at Meliodas "...how did you raise them, actually? They don't look like ordinary children should be".
Meliodas whistled innocently "I have no idea of what you're talking about, Ban~".
The third member was King, the Grizzly Sin of Sloth.
When a fat man floated to the living room with Meliodas, the clearly fairy noted the twin sisters who played with their little brother and their friends. As usual, Arthuria sat on Bedivere's lap when the latter read the book for her. Gawain and Mordred looked like trying to help Tristan to stand and walk when Lancelot helped Gwen to take care of Mash as usual. When they recognized King and Meliodas' arrival, Mordred ran to him in delightful. Just like Ban was, King thought Mordred and Arthuria were Meliodas' siblings so when it happened like this...
Mordred lunged to hug his legs "welcome home, Daddy!".
Meliodas dropped one knee in front of her and caught her "gotcha. I'm home, honey".
King spluttered "SHE'S YOUR DAUGHTER!?".
"me too", Arthuria calmly lifted her hand, looking up to Bedivere "I wonder why everyone so shocked when they knew Daddy is our Dad and thought of him as our siblings instead, Ollie?".
"kah-kah, no wonder he's shocked. I got that, too", Ban walked in with two trays of shaved ice and fruit punch "who want to eat the dessert?".
Arthuria, Mordred, and Gawain exclaimed in unison as they raised hand "ME?!".
Bedivere chuckled and offered King to eat with them "trust us, Sir Ban's foods are the most delicious food in the world".
Lancelot lifted the spoon of chicken soup to the toddler girl beside Tristan "Mash, come on, open up".
Arthuria just remembered something "ah, we have to show something to Daddy, Bella".
Meliodas tilted his head "what is it?".
Mordred and Arthuria shared a thrilled grin before they showed how Tristan was able to stand, walk, and talked his first word. After Tristan walked with his wobbly legs to Meliodas and called him 'Daddy' for the first time, Meliodas swoop him in his hands and exclaimed in delightful "that's my boy!".
Ban, Gowther, Merlin, King, and the kids clapped their hands.
Forth member was Diane, the Serpent Sin of Envy. It wasn't going well, at first. Especially when the twin sisters knew the fact that Diane had a crush on their father. It started with the usual, how Meliodas came back home and introduced Diane as the new member of the Seven Deadly Sins. Then, when she knew that Meliodas was 'taken' and already had two daughters and one (adopted, though) son, Diane was crying mess and rambling how she had broken-hearted.
When Diane asked them who and where was their mother, Arthuria said with her bangs masking her expression "passed away already".
Diane flinched and she felt sorry now "ah, I apologize!".
Ban and King rolled their eyes to Meliodas who showed no reaction. When it came to the twin sisters' mother, his late wife, he fell deadly silent and no words would come out of his mouth. The same went with Mordred. Only Arthuria as the oldest daughter who could calmly tell about it out loud, although she also never told them about how and why her mother passed away.
"let me make it clear now, then", Mordred huffed before lifting her accusing finger to Meliodas "I don't need a new mother!".
For their shock, however, Arthuria calmly reacted, so mature "I don't mind if father wants to marry again with someone. He's still young, after all".
Bedivere, Gawain, and Lancelot had snapped their head at that "WHAT?!".
On the contrary with her twin sister, Arthuria closed her book and flopped down from her chair, sauntering to her father and hugging her book to her chest "as long as you love her and you won't make her suffering, that is".
Mordred snapped her head "sister! Which side you are on?".
"come on, Bella. You can't be selfish", Arthuria crossed her arms, scolding her sister in not child-like manners "don't you want to see father be happy?".
Mordred flinched. Yep, Arthuria was right but Mordred scowled, fidgeting with her fingers "uh... but still...".
"Bellatrix, Alexandria, listen to me", fully earning his daughters' attention, Meliodas crouched in front of them and smiled, patting their head "no one can replace your mother in my heart, just like no one can replace you two, my daughters, to me. Understood?".
Arthuria and Mordred lowered their head with disheartened looks in different ways and causes "...yes, father/Daddy".
Arthuria looked like she still had something in her mind as she fidgeted with her fingers. Lifting her head up, Arthuria asked "...but father, this is just 'what if'... What if mother reincarnates and we meet her again, but she doesn't have the memory of her past-life, neither does she remember us. What will you do? Will you still love her?".
Without a doubt, Meliodas smiled with love fulfilled his eyes "silly question. Of course, I do love her. Even if she reincarnated and she didn't remember me, I would always love her, because it's her. She's your mother, the one and only woman I've loved. With or without her memory, she will always be her".
When Arthuria burst out into tears, even Meliodas was shocked "wait up, I just told you I only loved your mother, then why did you cry?".
Mordred frantically checked on her "sister, why are you crying? Where does it hurt?".
"no, it's just—?!", Arthuria wiped her tears vigorously in vain because her tears kept streaming down her face "...I'm glad to know that father only loved mother, but somehow, it makes me sad and glad at the same time. I don't know how and why, and... I miss mother...".
"Nah, I get it. I miss her too", Meliodas sighed, rolling his eyes to the other one "and why are you crying harder than your sister, Bella?".
"what do you expect, Dad? I miss Mom too?!", Mordred cried harder indeed, hiccupped "beside... It's rare for my older sister to admit it out loud and cried her heart so openly like this... I'll cry too with her then, so she is not the only one who will feel shy...".
"don't cry, Bella...".
"you're still crying, sister...".
"and you're crying harder than me...".
Looking at how his daughters cried as they hugged each other, Meliodas only could smile before he pulled them into his embrace "you two are really adorable".
After Meliodas carried his daughters to their room, followed by Merlin who carried Tristan in tow, King had come to Diane to comfort her. With that adorable smile on her face, Diane thanked him and King resolved to himself that he would never let her smile fade away from her face this time.
The next day, Gawain dragged Mordred and Lancelot after they put Tristan and Mash to bed. With Lady Gwen watched over the two toddlers, they knew they wouldn't need to worry about them. When they found Arthuria, as usual, she was with Bedivere in the training session.
Bedivere asked as he swinging his sword "what Sir Meliodas said to you... it reminded you of someone you love?".
Arthuria didn't lose her focus, instead, she successfully disarmed Bedivere before pointing the tip of her wooden sword to his throat. Panting, she swept her sweats before lowering her wooden sword. She flopped down on the ground before looking up with those sad smile "...yes, it is".
Mordred, Lancelot, and Gawain exchanged glances. Could it be...
The last member was Escanor, the Lion Sin of Pride. It was late and the twin sisters had long gone to the bed when the adults just started having fun because they just gathered all members of the Sins.
"oh, we have a guest? It's so late", rubbing her eyes, Arthuria sleepily went to the kitchen "please wait, I will prepare the tea".
Ban used his Snatch to catch Arthuria in his hand "please don't, otherwise you'll burn the whole kitchen~".
Merlin chuckled and carried Arthuria after she snatched her from his hand "just go back to sleep, honey".
Meliodas asked Mordred who came not too long after Arthuria "aren't you supposed to sleep?".
Mordred yawned and opened her mouth, holding Tristan's hand as the latter closed his eyes with his head lulled to right and left (either he was asleep or not, or just sleepwaking, who know?) "Triss wanted to take a piss...".
Arthuria still had the tendency to scold her about her unladylike behavior even at the time like this before she leaned her head on Merlin's chest "sister, it's so unladylike to yawn without covering your mouth...zzz...pillow...".
"oh, good girls", Meliodas carried Mordred and Tristan on his hands "now, you may go to your bedroom and sleep".
Escanor stuttered, thinking that who the twin sisters and Tristan's parents "um, these kids are...".
Meliodas answered clearly "my children".
Merlin explained further to avoid the misunderstanding "their mother was my friend, so I helped him to raise them as their old friend, that's all".
In the morning, the twin sisters and Tristan were shocked by the loud sound from the front door and they went straight to the front door.
"father? What was that loud sound?", panting, Arthuria looked around before she gasped "Father! Uncle Ban! What happened?".
Mordred gasped and approached them "Dad!?".
Lancelot and Gawain who accidentally passed by when they had their morning exercise with running on the city's streets, were shocked to find what happened. Gawain rushed to calm down the crying Tristan and distraught Mordred, ordering to Lancelot "pick Oliver, quick!".
Lancelot nodded his head before he ran in a mad dash (since he was the quickest) "oi, Oliver!?".
It was ridiculous, though. It felt like their worry wasted, really. Ban was immortal, he clearly would be okay and medical attention was the last thing he would ever need. Meliodas was not different. Even if he was not immortal, but he had ridiculously high-level durability.
Surprisingly, it was not Mordred, but Arthuria who scolded two adults in front of her "don't scare us like that again next time!".
Mordred carried Tristan on her hands, her jaw dropped in awe "...I never saw her that angry".
"I was more than surprised to see my friend barge into my house in the morning when we have breakfast, telling me that you're injured badly", Bedivere remembered how he was dragged from home without even having the chance to finish his breakfast. Closing the first aide box, Bedivere rolled his eyes to Lancelot "next time, don't pull that stunt. I felt like getting the heart-attack".
"Sorry, my friend", Lancelot waved his hand and smiled sheepishly before turning to Ban and Meliodas "and? Who is this man, the one who could possibly send you away with one blow?".
After Merlin explained about Escanor's power, they all turned to Gawain but it was Lancelot who told them "it's just like my brother's ability".
"each people in Britannia usually earns an innate magic power with various power levels. Those who born with strong magic power can become the Holy Knights", Merlin eyed the youngsters in front of her with thrilling smirk "now, I want the five of you to come into my laboratory every day for a check-up so I can help you with your training, like how to raise your strength and control your magic power, etc".
While Arthuria and Mordred would gladly take the offer, they felt like they just become Merlin's guinea pig. Lancelot, Bedivere, and Gawain were thinking the same. After all, this was the 'Merlin' they were speaking about.
Arthuria cautiously lifted her hand and asked nervously "um, I think the first thing we should do right now, is to find Sir Escanor?".
"oh, worry not", Merlin lifted her crystal orb "I have found him".
"good", Mordred asked Meliodas to let him come "I'm not gonna feel satisfied if I can't give a good smack on his head".