It had been over a year since Arthur, the King of Knights, unified northern Britain.
Without question, Liens and Llywelyn were the defeated parties.
Their stubborn resistance, which had lasted two full years, had also left Artoria with quite a grudge.
To make herself feel better, she had originally wanted to shave off their beards in retaliation, but Sovell said he had a better idea.
Afterward, Sovell used their blood to concoct a bottle of potent hair-growth tonic that would work even on descendants of the gods.
During one idle visit to the two men, Artoria personally tossed it into their hands, mocking Liens's boast that he would cut off that tuft of hair sticking up from her head.
Because of this incident, Artoria also decreed that from that day onward, this tuft of hair carried the same weight as her life, and no one was permitted to defile it.
Any such act would be treated as a suicidal affront to the dignity of the king, the royal family, and the nation.
After all, the incident with Liens had practically served as a reminder to Artoria's future enemies:
The King of Knights facing them was not flawless in appearance. She, too, had a weakness they could exploit.
For example...
They could cut off that "tuft," tie it in a knot, stick flowers in it, or tie a ribbon around it.
That was merely the outward reason. The second, real reason was more important.
Curses.
To a mage...
Hair.
An appendage of the skin.
Easy to obtain, plentiful, strong under tension, and highly pliable-also known as ductility or toughness.
It could also store magic power.
All these advantages made hair an extremely useful bodily material in the field of magecraft.
But by the same token, a woman's hair was also a