After sensing that Gwen's panic was subsiding, Kay immediately asked, "Can you tell me if Morgana has had a conflict with anyone recently?"
This is the most common first question when investigating a crime. In many cases, the perpetrator hasn't planned the crime for a long time; instead, it's a moment of impulse, often called a "crime of passion."
This refers to a crime committed when a person instantly loses control, becomes psychologically unbalanced, and acts on a sudden whim due to specific time, place, and environmental conditions. Such crimes usually lack premeditation but are often reckless, highly destructive, and followed by intense regret. Over 90% of these suspects have no criminal history—in other words, they are just everyday people.
Of course, Morgana's situation likely wasn't this type of crime, but Kay was asking just in case. What if someone had a conflict with Morgana and got emotionally carried away? If they didn't know about it beforehand, it would be easy to overlook.
Gwen answered without hesitation: "No! Everyone loves the princess, and she's a wonderful person. She would never get into a conflict with anyone."
This was the expected answer, and Kay already knew it. But he asked for the sake of completeness. Kay had experienced Morgana's popularity in Camelot firsthand over the past month. The girl was beloved by everyone; even the produce vendors raved about her. Morgana was polite, courteous to all, never played the status card, and often helped vulnerable people in the city. She was truly an angel on Earth.
"Do you know of anyone who might want to harm Morgana? Anyone at all, even someone who gave her a funny look. Don't rush to answer; think carefully before you speak," Kay said, his voice slow and soft. He was deliberately speaking gently to keep Gwen from getting nervous.
Gwen listened, seriously racking her brain, but after a long pause, she shook her head again. As stated before, Morgana was practically a saint—who would want to hurt her for no reason?
Seeing Gwen's response, Kay immediately looked toward King Uther and the others.
"Your Majesty? Do you know anything? And Arthur, both of you think hard."
King Uther was a little impatient, but for his daughter's sake, he paused to think. Then he said, "Morgana is an angel; no one would try to harm her. Frankly, plenty of people in this city want me dead, but Morgana? No one would harm an angel!"
Arthur also shook his head, unable to think of anyone who would hurt his sister.
Kay nodded and said, "Then the motive is unclear. Morgana came to the palace when she was very young and has limited contact with the outside world, so we can basically rule out a revenge plot. She also has no financial dealings outside the palace, so it's not about money. But the killer's actions were clearly premeditated; their target was Morgana from the start! So, why Morgana?"
Kay ignored the others' reactions and continued his train of thought: "What's the goal of hurting Morgana? If the true aim is to strike at Camelot, hurting Morgana is unnecessary. Her death wouldn't affect the kingdom."
This wasn't meant to minimize Morgana, but it was the truth. The King of the realm was Uther, and the heir was Arthur. Morgana's importance to the kingdom as a whole was very limited; she was merely Uther's ward. Kay's own position in the line of succession was higher than Morgana's. To put it bluntly, her death would, at most, make Uther, Kay, and Arthur sad for a while, and that would be it. The perpetrator wouldn't go to all this trouble just to make them sad for a bit.
"Could it be a romantic issue?" Kay turned his head to Uther and the others.
Kay's question made Uther very uneasy. Kay was too calm—so calm it seemed almost cold-blooded, as if they weren't talking about Morgana, but about some random person. They couldn't understand how Kay could be so composed, without any trace of agitation, even discussing with a straight face why someone might want to harm Morgana.
Fortunately, Kay had been this way for a long time—always incredibly calm—so even though they felt a bit uncomfortable, they followed his line of questioning.
Everyone firmly shook their heads.
"Impossible! Morgana has been waiting for you; she hasn't been overly close to anyone else. It can't be a romantic issue!" Uther said, his face strained. He was beginning to doubt his earlier decision. Would Morgana really be happy with Kay? Kay was just too cool-headed. That's not a great quality in a sweetheart!
Kay knew what they were thinking, but he didn't care. He had to stay calm. Panic and anger never solved problems; only clear reasoning could.
Besides, the situation wasn't bad enough for Kay to lose his composure. Others might not realize it, but Kay saw clearly that a power inside Morgana was resisting the curse's corruption. Kay didn't know what this power was, but he could feel that it was strong and harmless to Morgana!
Moreover, even if the worst came to pass, Kay had a way to handle it. They shouldn't assume Kay had just been sight-seeing for the last ten years!
"I agree it's unlikely to be romance. So, the question remains: the perpetrator has no beef with Morgana, and perhaps no connection to her at all. What is their real goal? Plus, they've deliberately hidden their tracks, not wanting us to know who they are. Why the secrecy?"
Kay quickly ran all the information through his mind. After ruling out all other possibilities, only two remained. One was that the perpetrator acted randomly! They chose a target haphazardly and committed the crime. These are the criminals investigators hate the most; they might have no motive, simply a desire to commit a crime. Of course, such criminals are very rare—Kay, after seven years as a police officer, had never encountered one.
Human actions are always driven by purpose and motive; that's logic. Illogical maniacs are rare everywhere. So, this possibility was very low. That left only one possibility!
With his mental acuity reaching 40, Kay's speed of thought was astonishing; this entire chain of reasoning took only a split second.
"The only possibility I can think of is this: The perpetrator's real target is not Morgana!"
No one expected Kay to say that. The group looked at Morgana lying in bed, then back at Kay, utterly confused. Gaius, however, seemed to grasp what Kay was hinting at.
Kay ignored their confusion and earnestly asked Gaius, "Gaius, I need you to answer my question honestly! Do you have any way to cure Morgana? I mean any way at all!"
Gaius looked at Kay, now fully understanding Kay's meaning. He replied candidly, "No... The best I can do is make sure Morgana's condition doesn't worsen over the next few days. As for a cure, I'm sorry, I have absolutely no idea..."
Gaius offered a small bow to King Uther, expressing his apology.
Uther, at this point, wasn't about to blame Gaius. This was the result of sorcery, and holding Gaius responsible would be a stretch. So, Uther waved his hand in response. Furthermore, with his kingly intuition, Uther was starting to catch on.
"That's interesting. The perpetrator not only figured out that Gwen could get the flower to Morgana, but they couldn't possibly be unaware of Gaius's presence. Gaius's return yesterday was not subtle; everyone knows the King held a special banquet for him. For the perpetrator to be this bold, knowing a master healer like Gaius is here and still cursing Morgana, they must be very confident they won't leave a trace," Kay mused, rubbing his chin.
Arthur was standing by, totally lost, as if they were speaking in riddles. He interrupted, "A trace? Magic? Didn't we already figure that out?"
Kay gave his clueless little brother a look of mild exasperation. How could he still be so naive and insensitive?
King Uther finally understood Kay's implication: The perpetrator's target was not Morgana, or at least, not only Morgana! Kay had clearly established that the perpetrator used sorcery! A sorcerer has appeared in Camelot, and they are hostile. The killer's motive doesn't need much guessing. Over the years, Uther has made many enemies because of his persecution of magic. Some evil sorcerers want to see Camelot utterly destroyed.
Conversely, would a sorcerer brave enough to attack the royal family only target a princess who is practically irrelevant to the entire kingdom? Impossible! In the sorcerer community, Uther is hated far more than Morgana.
Also, there was a point Kay didn't explicitly make, but Uther understood: If the perpetrator really wanted Morgana dead, they wouldn't wait for the royal court to be at a loss! They would be looking at Morgana's corpse right now! Since they could make Morgana fall into a mysterious coma, would making her drop dead be that hard? In fact, given the current situation, causing instant death might have been easier!
Their target must be Uther and Arthur! Because a crisis involving either of them would shake the entire kingdom. So, the killer's elaborate plot against Morgana has only one purpose: to get close to Uther and Arthur!
Because of this, Morgana's true condition must not be leaked.
The perpetrator must have been confident that Gaius wouldn't figure out the curse and, crucially, that Morgana wouldn't die! Otherwise, Uther would immediately be on high alert, and the killer's plan would be ruined. After all, Uther had survived years of hunting sorcerers and naturally had a few tricks up his sleeve.
"Pay attention to Kay, Arthur!" Uther felt a wave of fatigue seeing his naive son. It was so obvious, yet Arthur was still completely oblivious and insensitive. But since Arthur was his own flesh and blood, Uther was willing to teach him. He shared his theory.
"...If Kay hadn't discovered it was sorcery, and Gaius had been completely stumped by Morgana's condition, what do you think we would have done?" Uther asked after explaining his deductions. This was a test for Arthur.
Arthur finally understood what Kay's cryptic talk had been all about. The perpetrator's targets were Uther or him from the very beginning! Morgana was just collateral damage.