The next morning, after waking up, I thought of going to a nearby river to wash my face before getting ready for our little trip to Uther's castle, which is located on the other side of the country where London would be in modern times.

However, I didn't expect to wake up with a beautiful woman sitting next to me, on the edge of the bed, looking at me with a smile. Moreover, it was somebody I recognized as soon as I laid my eyes upon her, seeing her appearance, since I wasted more than thirty summon tickets and two hundred seventy saint quartz to get her, but never could much to my frustration.

So, it looks like I'm in the Prototype timeline...

"Oh, you woke up. You could have slept for a little longer, you were having quite an interesting dream." The woman said, giving me a smile while I could only frown at her words.

Dream... Oh yeah, she's supposed to be a succubus, being able to visit dreams and all. At least, I know that the male version could do it so she should be able to do the same.

"Should I start screaming because someone I don't know is right here in my room, or because there is a peeping tom spying on my dream." I said which made the woman blink for a moment before she let out a giggle, seemingly amused.

"This isn't the reaction I expected, but still funny." She said, looking at me with amused eyes.

"So, what can I do for you, miss voyeur?"

"Let's see..." So, you're not going to deny you're a voyeur? "First of all, I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Merlin, I am Uther Pendragon's court mage and one of your father's old companions. I'm the one who will take both you and your father to Uther's place, and also, the one who asked Ector to allow you to come with him on his little journey." I blinked in surprise at the last part.

So she's the reason why he suddenly changed his mind yesterday. Did she contact him with telepathy or something?

"May I ask why?"

"Well, there are two reasons. For one, I thought it would make things more interesting. As for the second one..." She started to say, and then, I couldn't help but shiver when I noticed the way she stared at me straight into my eyes and how her relaxed smile grew into a wide one. She looked like a child who found her favorite toy, which made me feel uneasy. "It's because I wanted to meet you in person, Kay."

"I would say it's an honor to be able to gain the attention of a beautiful lady like you, but I don't remember doing anything worthy of it."

"You may not know it, but I've been watching over both you and your father for quite a time now. And I have to say, I haven't seen someone as interesting as you for a long time, be it both your dreams and power. It was quite hard to peep on you, but it was totally worth it."

The more she talked, the more I could feel my body sweat and my heart beat harder.

She was watching over us, but why... Don't tell me it's because she wanted to see if we would be eligible to become Arthuria's foster family? Now, that's just unlucky…

And even though I bought [Trace Defense, which should protect me from remote viewing attempts and dream visitation, she managed to do them both. I guess I could say as expected of a Grand Caster candidate.

But still, I was too naive to think that just some protection would make me perfectly safe. I don't remember what kind of dreams I could have seen from me while I was asleep, but I suppose she must have seen more than I thought... I should really buy that defense perk a second time for complete immunity as soon as possible.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, lady Merlin." I said, which only made Merlin laugh before she poked my chest with her finger.

"I see, so you're playing the innocent, huh. Well, it's fine. It just means that I'll have to look at you more closely." She said as she slowly leaned over me, approaching her face close to mine to the point our nose was almost touching.

I always thought that I would be happy to have a woman come onto me like this, but now that I'm experiencing it, I can't say that I'm absolutely uncomfortable in this situation.

"I'm sorry, but you're too close for comfort."

"Sorry, it's just that I'm so happy to find something as interesting as you. And here I thought that I would be only entertained by that child's fate, so imagine my surprise when I would find another one right here. I'm quite lucky, aren't I?"

I can't believe she's having fun observing people like they were objects... Again, she's not human so I can't expect any human mindset from her.

"Ugh... I need an adult."

"Ufufu. But I am an adult. In any case, I will be looking forward to solving the puzzle that you are, Kay." As she said that with a smile, I could only groan, feeling a headache.

Great, I just woke up and I got a stalker after my butt. I swear, I really hope that this is the only outrageous thing that's going to happen today.

"Kay!" I widened my eyes when I heard Ector's voice calling out for me, but before I could answer back, the door to my room opened with the old man standing behind it. "It's time to wake u... Oh. It looks like you are busy, sorry for bothering you."

"Eh, wait! Aren't you supposed to help your son?!"