Following this, a series of tense and complicated events unfolded involving Morgan, Gwen, Merlin, Prince Arthur, and King Uther, all centered around a young boy.
Morgan's desire to save the child led to another furious argument with King Uther, further straining their already fragile father-daughter relationship. With Merlin's help, Morgan planned to secretly usher the child out of the city through a secret passage, but their effort was thwarted when they were discovered.
King Uther was furious, seeing Morgan's actions as a betrayal. Morgan, in turn, stubbornly believed King Uther was too cruel. The two parted ways angrily, and Morgan was confined to her chambers. The relationship, which had been gradually warming due to Kay's mediation, once again hit rock bottom.
Next was Merlin. He was initially very proactive in planning to save the child, but he became conflicted after learning from the Great Dragon that this boy was his fated enemy, the killer of King Arthur, and the demon who would destroy the kingdom. (The Great Dragon and Merlin had met just days after Merlin arrived in Camelot, and they had interacted many times before Kay returned, though Kay was unaware.)
He wanted to follow the Dragon's advice and watch the child be executed by King Uther, but his innate goodness wouldn't let him stand by. In the end, Merlin decided to follow his heart and helped the child.
Finally, there was Arthur. He was naturally very hesitant about hunting down a child, but his duty prevented him from defying King Uther's orders. This put him in a terrible bind. Then, seeing the fight between his sister and King Uther only made him feel worse—why would he ever want to kill an innocent child?
Morgan quickly noticed his conflict, and through a mix of gentle persuasion and pressure, Arthur became an accomplice. Since King Uther was watching Morgan closely, Arthur willingly took on the mission of saving the young boy.
Eventually, with Merlin's help, Arthur returned the Druid boy to the Druid people deep in the forest. As they parted, Arthur learned the child's name:
Mordred!
When King Uther discovered the Druid boy had been rescued, he was enraged. He couldn't believe such a serious crime as a prison break had occurred in the heavily guarded city of Camelot, especially for a death row inmate scheduled for execution the next day!
King Uther suspected Morgan, but she was with him at the time. He knew Morgan had to be involved, but he couldn't do anything to her. Aside from their strained public relationship, she was King Uther's own daughter, and even more importantly, she was Kay's fiancée!
All King Uther could do was express his anger and issue a warning.
The incident passed, but it left a significant impact on everyone involved.
For the past couple of weeks, Merlin had been distracted and absent-minded. He often fell into deep thought, wondering if what he did was right, since he had let go of Arthur's destined enemy—the child who the Dragon prophesied would kill Arthur!
Although Merlin had told Gaius that he had no regrets, the situation wasn't that simple; no one could be completely unaffected by such a thing. No matter how many times Merlin tried to reassure himself that he had only saved a child, the Dragon's prophecy kept picking at his nerves.
Only Arthur seemed completely unbothered. Even though King Uther had chewed him out and sent him all over the countryside to search for the boy, Arthur forgot about it instantly. King Uther ordered him to find the boy, so he just dragged his feet, knowing no one would dare report him. For example, King Uther sent him into the forest outside the city today to look for signs of the boy, but Arthur, as soon as he entered the woods, forgot all about Uther's orders and happily started hunting.
"Merlin! What's your deal? Come on, hurry up and pick up this rabbit! Morgan's been in a bad mood lately, and I decided to get her some rabbit meat." Arthur complained about his manservant's work efficiency while putting away his crossbow.
Merlin frowned, reluctantly tying the arrow-struck rabbit onto a rope.
"Arthur, I think you should give Morgan the rabbit alive. No girl likes bloody things; live rabbits are what they like. The girls back in Ealdor (Merlin's hometown) are all like that." Sometimes, Merlin didn't know how to describe Arthur's cluelessness. What was the point of giving a girl a dead rabbit when she was upset?
"Alive? That's too much hassle. Besides, rabbit meat is delicious. When I'm in a bad mood, I like to eat something good. Morgan must be the same way!"
Faced with Arthur's completely dense answer, Merlin was speechless. Merlin swore that with the way Arthur was, no girl would ever like him. No wonder Arthur was almost twenty and still hadn't kissed a girl. The guy simply didn't understand women.
Merlin decided he wasn't going to discuss girls' preferences with this blockhead.
Actually, Merlin kind of envied Arthur. The guy seemed completely free of worry. He could effortlessly forget things, as if they never happened. Take the Druid boy incident, for example. Everyone involved was stressed, even Morgan, but Arthur could act as if nothing happened, eating and sleeping normally, totally unfazed.
Being so carefree is a talent in itself!
"Merlin! What's wrong with you? We're hunting! You need to be fast, stealthy, and quick-witted! Why are you always so clumsy?"
It turned out that while Merlin was spaced out, he accidentally bumped into Arthur, causing Arthur's prey to escape.
"What?" Merlin was still a little confused about what just happened.
"...Forget it!" Arthur didn't want to talk anymore with his dim-witted manservant, who would only ask more "whys" and never focus on the main point.
Just as the two were starting their usual bickering, a woman's scream suddenly echoed from ahead.
Arthur and Merlin didn't hesitate. They immediately dropped what they were holding, drew their swords, and charged toward the source of the sound.
When they arrived, they found a group of bandits attacking a father and daughter. Seeing this, neither the chivalrous Arthur nor the kind-hearted Merlin could stand by, so they rushed into the fray.
The fight was straightforward. Four thugs might be a threat to ordinary people, but to Arthur?
The battle ended quickly. Merlin was mostly just a bystander; he only swung his sword a few times before Arthur struck down all the bandits.
When Arthur pulled his longsword out of the chest of the last thug, he saw Merlin still standing in the distance, brandishing his sword.
Arthur threw his hands up, looking at Merlin with a face full of confusion.
"Merlin? What are you doing?"
"What?"
"Go help that old man, he's still on the ground!" Arthur pointed to the old man, who had been kicked down by the thugs, and said with a look of utter desperation.
"Oh! Right!" Merlin snapped out of his daze.
Arthur watched Merlin clumsily help the old man up, shook his head, and turned to help the young woman who had fallen near a tree.
The instant he saw the woman, Arthur felt a sensation he had never experienced before.
Arthur immediately recognized what that feeling was: love at first sight!
He realized he was in love!