Marie had led the group to one of the staff lounges that was apparently in the process of being retrofitted by the energetic pipsqueak of a Rider. In the center was a round table (thankfully nowhere near reminiscent of the true Round Table), with a vase of flowers

"I'm planning on turning this into some sort of lounge for we Servants. I just got the necessary permission from both dear Doctor Roman and Da Vinci to truly start the project!" Marie explained excitedly, with excited looks from Astolfo and Jeanne, and a thoughtful look from Mash.

Mordred, however, barely managed to suppress the derisive snort she felt the urge to do. It seemed extravagant and unneeded. Still, she sat down, though not before everyone else had. It was lost on her how the only seats that were left for her all were the ones furthest from the only door in the room. Damn.

She huffed in frustration, crossing her arms pointedly and plopping down onto the chair. She ignored the stares of the three female and one male occupant across from her. Whatever they had imagined, they were going to soon learn that Mordred wasn't one to crack under this kind of pressure!

A minute turned into five. Five minutes became ten. Ten became fifteen, and so on. Still, no one had spoken. Finally, Marie sighed just before the twentieth or so minute had passed. Mordred smirked at the victory. Maybe it was petty of her, but the blonde knight had never claimed to be above pettiness.

"So….how was it?"

"How was what?" Mordred said, her smirk vanishing as she crossed her arms, glaring defiantly at the unrepentant Rider. The knight knew exactly what Marie was asking about, but Mordred wasn't going to play along.

"The kiss, silly!" Marie giggled softly, covering her mouth with a gloved hand. Mordred's glare intensified as Astolfo tittered next to Ritsuka's Rider. "The first kiss of a maiden. It's something that you can only experience once! Come on, tell us all about it!" Mordred instantly bristled, glaring at the former queen.

"I'm not a maiden!" Even as she shouted those words angrily, Mordred began to feel a sinking pit form in her stomach as the Rider's glove moved away to reveal a rather-sinister grin.

"Oh, I see you're feeling shy," Marie said with another titter. Instead of sounding like her normal, irritating, innocent sound, the Knight of Rebellion felt it reminiscent of an alarm. "Maybe I should break the ice on this topic, as they say these days."

"Miss Marie—"Mash tried to say as Mordred felt her jaw drop. Jeanne stared at her friend wide-eyed, while Astolfo placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward with an excited glint in his eyes.

"Let me recount to you, my friends, about how my first kiss with my beloved husband was like!" Someone, kill her again! No, better yet, someone kill Marie! Alas, the knight knew in the back of her mind that there was no escaping this. "We had just finished exchanging our wedding vows when Louis and I kissed. He was so handsome, even then at the age of fifteen. I was one year his junior, but that's besides the point," Marie began, a faraway, misty look in her eyes that was making Mordred begin to feel somewhat nauseous.

"You were fourteen?" Mash interrupted incredulously. Far from being annoyed at the interruption, Marie maintained that deceptively sweet smile of hers, nodding at the Demi-Servant whilst also prolonging the torture.

"Oh, yes. It wasn't all that uncommon back in my day. Now, where was I? Ah, yes! He smelt like a mixture of vanilla and roses. When I pressed my lips against his, I found them to be soft and warm. It felt like a spark had been ignited in my heart. The resulting flames of passion quickly spread through out my body, unleashing a rush of wonderful and exotic sensations in every fiber of my body! Why, I almost even felt aro—"

"MARIE!" Jeanne said in a shocked and scandalized tone, her face bright red, as was Mash's. Judging by how warm her own face felt, however, it was nowhere near as bright a shade as her own. Marie merely giggled once again, smiling unapologetically.

"My dear Jeanne, I'm just simply trying to give Mordred here an idea of how to describe her first kiss. Besides, you interrupted the best part!" There was more? Oh, hell no! Mother's training was a breeze compared to this shit! With a frustrated growl, Mordred slammed her right fist against the surface of the wooden table, silencing the Rider.

"Stop! If it will get you to shut up, I'll talk!" Mordred almost howled. She wanted to summon her armor and Clarent, and fight her way out of it, but she refused to act like the brute she knew many people believed her to be. Plus, she wasn't in the mood to see the disappointed look her Mas-partner would give her afterwards.

Thankfully, it seemed her words had saved her from whatever Marie had wanted to add. The royal Rider leaned back slightly in her chair, with a smile befitting a cat that had gotten the canary and gotten away with it. "So, how was it?"

"It…it felt good," Mordred said, and somehow, she managed to blush more, as she felt ghost sensations of Jacob's lips pressing against hers, and vice versa. "I know it sounds stupid, but that's the best way to describe it."

Astolfo pouted childishly, no doubt having wanted to hear more. Jeanne and Mash had misty-eyed looks in their eyes as they smiled at Mordred (she totally didn't feel creeped out about that, by the way. Not. One. Damn. Bit). The instigator of this whole, mess, however, nodded in understanding. Mordred was hard-pressed to hide the wave of relief swamping her body. If Marie had pressed for any more information, then she would have used her Mana Burst ability to dart back out in the quasi-labyrinth of hallways and escape.

"Then it was a good kiss. I'm glad you and Jacob both finally realized your feelings towards one another. Now, on to the second part of this little get-together!" Marie said, clapping her hands together softly while she turned to Mash. Jeanne had a knowing look in her eyes as she also stared at the pink-haired girl.

Mordred had a feeling that she knew what the supposed 'Flower of Versailles' was talking about. Kinda hard to not notice how often Shieldy stared at Ritsuka. It honestly reminded her a bit of Lancelot and his admirers, in a way. Which she found to be hilariously ironic, considering how she knew the identity of the Servant the girl had contracted with.

"Miss Marie?" Mash asked, a look of mild concern and confusion present. Marie leaned over the table slightly, though not as extravagantly or overt like Rider of Black was.

"So, Mash, tell me, how does Ritsuka make you feel?" Marie asked, the seriousness of her voice at odds with the smile on her lips. Mash's cheeks flushed slightly.

"W-What are you talking about? S-Senpai's—" Mash stammered, trying to deny Marie's insinuation.

"We all know that you seem to have feelings for Ritsuka," Ruler said gently. Mash stilled, her eyes wide with panic. As much as she enjoyed fighting alongside the Demi-Servant, if asked, Mordred wouldn't deny that she was enjoying being an observer this time around.

"I just want to know if it is a crush, or something more," Marie added. Mash didn't answer for a few minutes, swallowing and looking around with a lost and confused expression on her face. Finally though, she broke that silence, looking down at her lap as she spoke.

"I…I think I love him," Mash finally admitted. Marie smiled gently once the pink-haired girl looked up.

"How does he make you feel?"

"He makes me feel good. Special. For all his…immaturity, Doctor Roman also helped me feel happy. But Ritsuka Senpai makes me feel something I've never felt before," Mash said, babbling a little bit in uncertainty. Marie, Jeanne, and Astolfo exchanged glances.

"Reminds you any of a certain gray-haired homunculus?~" Rider of Black asked the saint with a playful lilt to his voice.

"Not the time," Jeanne hissed, looking fluttered, and Mordred snickered softly at that. "I bet it is getting frustrating, at the very least, to see how he's still not picking up on you hints and gestures, huh?" Jeanne asked, pointedly ignoring the snickering of Mordred and Astolfo, the knight finally finding something she shared with the eccentric paladin: teasing Ruler.

"Y-Yes," Mash admitted, stifling what sounded like a growl. Marie smiled brightly, popping out of her chair and almost bouncing over to a now-startled Mash.

"Well then, I guess it's time to fix that, oui? I, Marie Antoinette, will gladly offer my advice and knowledge in these matters! First things first, we got to expand your wardrobe!"

"Huh?" Mash asked as Marie tugged her up onto her feet, her words echoing the confusion Mordred felt.

"Don't worry, Mash! With my help, you'll be turning heads when you're in public! Or perhaps," Marie added with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes disturbingly similar to Merlin's, "the head of a certain Master, non?"

Mash made a damn good impression of a dying fish, her mouth opening and shutting at an impressive rate for the next few minutes. Jeanne shot the demon-in-hiding a reproachful look as she gently swatted the Rider's right arm. "Marie! Don't tease Mash," she said, though Mordred felt that the soft smile the Ruler was trying to hide kinda ruined the effort.

More importantly, however, it seemed that everyone had stopped paying attention to her!

'Maybe this is my chance to escape,' Mordred thought to herself hopefully, before realizing she had lost track of Astolfo. She instinctively began gritting her teeth when she felt a hand gripping her right shoulder.

"To Isabella's, then?" Rider of Black asked gleefully behind the knight, while Mordred felt her blood run cold at the mention of the insane seamstress mage.

Oh, no….

Ritsuka and I were once again in the sparring ring. While I may have sounded joking this morning about my response to Ritsuka's playful jab, I had fully intended to hold another 'lesson' with my friend. Of course, it wasn't going to be anywhere near as rough as I had made it sound.

After finishing my tea and my conversation with Iroh, and also being given the promise to expect more 'tea meetings', as the Chinese mage had called them, I had returned to the cafeteria, curious to see if Ritsuka, Mash, and Mordred were still there, or if any of them had left yet. After all, it had been a few hours since Artoria requested to 'speak' with me.

I had discovered that only Ritsuka was still there, fidgeting with his phone. It had looked like my fellow Master had been perusing through the photo gallery the device contained, but I didn't ask, especially after noticing the sad, longing expression he had. Something I myself felt every time my gaze fell upon the photograph of my parents and I that rested on my nightstand.

After briefly explaining to him what had happened on my end, Rits told me that Mordred and Mash had been invited (or in Mordred's case, forced) to have a 'girl's time' session with Marie, as well as her fellow French compatriots Jeanne and Astolfo.

A part of me instantly felt that such news was rather grim, and that there was almost no chance that it would end well for Mordred. On the other hand, however, I also saw a golden opportunity. I hadn't failed to notice that, outside of deployments, Mordred seemed to have essentially spent all of her time either eating, with me, or training, or some combination of those three.

As much as I loved spending time with the plucky blonde knight, I would be hard-pressed to deny that it didn't feel too healthy a situation for her. Aside from me, I had no idea if Mordred had bothered making friends with anyone else. Even if she wasn't willing in this instance, perhaps Marie's actions would be the first step towards my Saber making more friends, or at the very least, learn to open up to others in some way.

Still, the news had left me little to do, and with Ritsuka looking down and depressed, I decided that what better time to teach my fellow Master another lesson in self-defense?

"Your stance has gotten better," I observed as I took a half-step backwards, my fellow Master mimicking the movement.

"Chiron helped me out with that during the last few nights in Rome," Ritsuka admitted. He looked a bit embarrassed, perhaps, and I made a soft, thoughtful clicking sound with my tongue, whilst nodding my approval. I had yet gotten a chance to suggest that Ritsuka seek advice from the teacher of many of Greece's famous heroes, or for that matter any of the other Servants. So, it was both impressive and a relief to see my friend taking the initiative on that front.

"I couldn't imagine a finer person to help you out with that," I responded, before darting forwards. I lashed out with my right leg, trying to sweep Ritsuka off of his feet, but to my pleasure the Japanese magus hadn't lowered his guard while we were talking.

Rits leapt backwards, not only avoiding my leg strike but also pushing himself out of my range to deliver a palm strike. Then, to my pleasure, as I moved to readjust my posture, Ritsuka dashed forward, throwing a right hook.

While I had blocked it rather easily, I had only seconds to both note and register why my fellow Master was smirking.

Seconds to late.

SMACK!

I instinctively rubbed my cheek, flashing Ritsuka a pleased grin. While it hadn't broken anything, the blow had shown a rather tactical aspect now in his fighting, as opposed to the amateurish and eye-cringing skill (or rather more accurately, the lack of any skill) he had originally displayed during our first few spars.

"Good, good!" I said with praise, and Ritsuka's cheeks flushed as he looked down at his feet a bit bashfully. "I think this is a great time to call it a night for training. Next time, we're going to start using swords." While he smiled excitedly, his eyes had a pinch of wariness.

"This isn't a trick to get me to lower my guard or something, is it?" He asked pointedly, blue eyes narrowed. I snickered slightly as I remembered the incident he was referencing in his remark.

The day before we had been Rayshifted to Rome, I had feigned being defeated by Rits, and the moment he had lowered his guard, I had knocked him off of his feet and pinned him to the mat, reminding him to never let his guard down around an opponent, even if they appeared to have been defeated.

"No tricks, I swear," I said with a lopsided smile, holding my palms up in the air as a further gesture of sincerity. "Come on, it's starting to get late. Let's grab some grub," I added, taking note of the time. It was almost seven in the evening, and while I couldn't speak for Ritsuka, I knew I was certainly hungry!

"That sounds like a grand idea. Maybe a shower too, before bed," Rits replied, raising an eyebrow and smelling the underarm of his t-shirt. His nose wrinkled up as he quickly leaned his head away.

"Won't hear arguments from me. Now, come on, let's eat!"

After we had finished our dinner, Ritsuka and I had called it an early day, and went to our respective rooms. Upon returning, I took a quick shower, wishing to rid myself of the pungent smell of sweat. The warm water also had the added benefit of relaxing the sore muscles.

Rits was quickly becoming a worthwhile sparring partner, at least, in regards to hand-to-hand. Tomorrow, though, I would get to see how much work he'll need in order to become skilled with a blade. Actually, scratch that. First thing, I'll need to see if the training swords will be suitable for him in the first place. After all, no matter how much training Rits might receive, if all of it is learnt with a sword that doesn't suit him, no sincere progress could be made.

But, again, that was a matter for another day.

I also made a mental note tomorrow to check on Mordred first thing in the morning. Mordred and Mash hadn't joined us for dinner. Either they had eaten earlier while Ritsuka and I had been training, or they were still busy and so therefore hadn't eaten yet.

I blinked at the sudden knocking on my door. "Yes?" I asked loudly, hurriedly finishing putting on my shirt. Rather than getting a verbal response to my query, the unlocked door whooshed open, and an extremely haggard-looking Mordred tromped in. The knight had an almost haunted look in her eyes.

"Long day?" I asked. It seemed to be the (relatively speaking, of course) safest question to ask my partner considering that she was glowering at me even before I had asked.

"That's one way to describe it," she groused, closing the door behind her. "There's something really wrong with both Marie and Isabella. They make Merlin look sane!"

"Well, at least it's over, right?" I said, wanting to try to shift her focus onto the silver lining of her conversation. A part of me felt somewhat excited, though. Sure, Mordred would vehemently disagree over enjoying it, but she hadn't stormed off.

Though, that could be perhaps a little less than willing on her end. Still, at least she had some form of interaction with some of the other Servants in Chaldea, and considering what had happened yesterday, the bar was rather low in terms of improvements.

Instead if responding with words, my partner released a long, low growl of frustration as she shrugged off her red leather jacket before tossing it at me without warning. My eyes widening, I spluttered in mild surprise as the article of clothing briefly obscured my vision.

When I finally managed to remove the jacket, I saw that the Saber had thrown herself face first onto the left side of the bed. The same side she had been using when we had fallen asleep last night. The same place I had woken up to find myself embraced by the one I had confessed my feelings to.

I couldn't help but blush at both the sight as well as the from the memories of both last night and waking up this morning. Still, I wasn't sure if I was properly reading the moment.

"Mordred, what are you doing?" I asked in confusion. Even if I am arguably the one she was closest to, even I would find myself unable to decipher her actions and the logic she had behind them from time to time.

"Idiot," Mordred said, though the muffled word doesn't sound like an actual insult, "I'm getting ready for bed!"

….Say what now?

"Um, don't you think that this is maybe, you know, moving a bit too fast?" I asked with what I felt was a reasonable amount of caution in my voice. While I personally didn't mind the idea of sharing a bed with my partner once again (last night had been a wonderful, sleepless night, after all), I couldn't help but feel that maybe, just maybe, the Knight of Rebellion was rushing into things a bit too quickly.

"Don't care," Mordred grumbled, her occasional childish nature presenting itself at that moment. Even though I knew she wouldn't be able to see it, I shrugged my shoulders. One of the things I have come to discover about the knight: when she sets her mind on something, it is damn difficult to change it.

"Fair enough, I suppose," I added as I started to neatly fold up her pricey leather jacket that she had so carelessly tossed to the side. When I had finished doing so, I placed it down on the center of my desk before another thought popped into my head. Romantically involved or not, if this was going to become a daily reoccurrence (and it was looking pretty damn likely), it might be a good idea to bring up the idea of getting Mordred a set of nightwear.

"You know, if this is going to become a regular occurrence for us, you're going to have to order some pajamas, right?" I ask with an arched eyebrow as Mordred finally lifted her head from the pillow that she had been burying her face into, and looked up at me.

"If you're going to make a such a fuss over fixing my 'lack' of sleepwear, you can deal with that nutjob," Mordred said, simultaneously pouting and glaring in the same expression. "And if you get me something girly, partner or not, you're going to be my target dummy for the next week!" I nodded and raised my hands, palms out, in a placating gesture.

"Fair enough. Any other requests for it?"

"Something simple."

"Sounds easy enough," I said breezily, turning off the overhead light and gingerly easing myself under the covers of my bed. I had barely finished covering myself with the bedsheets when I found myself being wrapped up in a vice-like grip by two slender yet muscular arms. The warm body pressing up against my right side felt good, almost natural.

Still, who knew that Mordred, the Knight of Rebellion, was a cuddler?

"Good night, Mordred," I said affectionately, risking a kiss to the top of her head that had her squirming against me. I heard a muttered, embarrassed-sounding 'good night, and then closed my eyes, enjoying the comfort of her embrace.

"Good night, Idiot."

Amidst a gloomy-looking, mist-shrouded forest stood a tall tower made of some unnatural black stone. Barely a sound could be heard. No cheerful chirping of birds. No buzzing of insects flying. No chittering of squirrels searching for food.

That wasn't to say that the location was noiseless. If someone were present outside the tower, they would have heard the faint sounds of two voices. One male, one feminine. They sounded distorted, almost as if the speakers were underwater.

"Good night, Mordred."

"Good night, idiot."

Then, a shrill, angry scream filled the forest as the sole occupant of the tower made known their anger.

Original Endnotes: And done! Who do you think the person in the tower is? Did anyone see Mordred being into cuddling? Also, how badly did I mess up writing the talk scene? In other words: What did you guys think?

It is a really big relief to be done with the talk scene. In hindsight, I probably overthought how to write it, but still, I hope it was okay, even if some of the characters (possibly) acted a bit OOC, but hey, this is a fanfic after all!

Now, some important updates. Next chapter, we are starting the Third Singularity. I have story ideas for the downtime scenes, but a vast majority of them might end up distracting me from the main plot. The original chapter 51 was such an example. I was originally going to make it a collection of short-one shots set over the time between the end of chapter 50 and the allotted time length before the next deployment, but I started to feel like they would be a distraction. I won't be dismissing them, however, and in addition to resuming my SummerFes story, I already started my first of a series of one-shots, titled 'Lament of the King'. I am also thinking of making a short story series focused on writing the reaction of Jacob, Ritsuka, Mash, Mordred, and others for the summoning of each Servant that will happen off-screen. If I do, would any of you be interested in that?

For anyone interested in a Mordred character-centric story, I highly recommend giving DraketheDragon's 'Sometimes the Fire Burns too Hot Inside' a try. Also, if you would like to join a Fate/Stay Night and related fandoms oriented discord forum, let me know

Now, for the questions of the day! First question: For non f2p FGO players, what did you get for your guaranteed Servant? I got Ishtar.

Second question: Which of the Pseudo-singularities do you think is the best one? Finally, what do you think Artoria and Mordred's relationship is going to be like in this story? :)

As always, thanks for reading! All the support, love, and feedback and all during 2020 for this story was fantastic, and I look forward to another year keeping y'all entertained and seeing what happens! As always, please feel free to leave thoughts, comments, critiques, ectara! I hope you enjoyed yet another chapter, and I can't wait to see what y'all have to say! Have a wonderful night, stay safe, and see you in the next chapter!

Updated endnotes 9/17/21: As always fully updated story can be found on Archive of our Own for those who want to get caught up sooner. Hope you enjoyed