"Mm."
Artoria was rendered speechless.
She had not realized that the reason she was so agitated was because she had seen her own reflection in Shirou.
If "girls shouldn't fight," then by the same logic, "children shouldn't fight" either.
Artoria had given up the happiness of being a girl and devoted her life to her homeland—
Naturally, she empathized with Shirou, who had abandoned the happiness of his childhood and thrown himself into battle.
Even if she believed that her own choice had not been wrong, she could not bear to watch someone else repeat her mistake.
"...In any case, I still can't accept it."
Saber dropped those words and prepared to leave the room, but Shirou caught her by the wrist.
"Thank you for worrying about me, Saber. Just as Eiri said, this was my own choice."
"Shirou..."
Saber's pupils trembled faintly. She saw the black holy sword from the previous night appear in Shirou's hand.
"This sword has nothing to do with my Servant. It belongs to me.
—you should understand if I put it that way, right?
I'd be very troubled if you treated me like an ordinary child, King of Knights."
A powerful torrent of magical energy erupted from Shirou and swept from the depths of Einzbern Castle all the way to the courtyard.
Artoria's mouth fell open. Shirou, just what are you...?
Shirou pulled her back onto the sofa, and she sat down again.
"I'm sorry. I lost my composure just now."
"Hehe, I think it's quite refreshing to see a side of Saber that nobody else knows."
Irisviel smiled. "Saber just likes Shirou too much, so she got that excited. I can understand how you feel, at least to some extent."
"..."
Saber kept a stern expression and said nothing.
*This is when you