Prince Arthur (Artie) is in love!
Merlin felt like he was dreaming. Artie, the complete jock—a total straight shooter—had fallen head over heels for a woman at first sight! Even more shocking, for this girl, Artie was ditching all his responsibilities. He was skipping his patrols and dodging official dinners just to sneak off and meet her.
This was so unlike Artie.
But Merlin actually thought it was kind of cool.
Everyone needs to fall in love sometime. Merlin felt that Artie's behavior was perfectly normal, maybe even more normal than before.
Of course, what Merlin really needed to worry about right now was how to get through his current predicament.
So, let's talk about Merlin's situation.
We mentioned Artie has been completely forgetting his duties because of his date. So, why hasn't King Uther broken Artie's legs yet?
The answer, as usual, is that Artie has a foolproof shield: Merlin!
For the past three days, Merlin has been using his terrible acting skills to take the blame for all the activities Artie missed... As a result, Merlin had set a new record: being dragged into the town square to be pelted with produce for three days straight...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the castle, Morgana was completely terrified!
She had recognized the woman Artie brought back! The moment she laid eyes on her, she knew—she was the woman who constantly appeared in Morgana's dreams, the one who drowned Artie in the lake!
No words could describe the shock Morgana felt. This woman was standing right there in the flesh!
At first, Morgana was afraid she was losing her mind. But the fear quickly passed. She had always believed her dreams were prophetic, and now that the prophecy was coming true—the woman was here—it meant... her dream was very likely to happen! Artie would be drowned!
Morgana was now consumed with worry for Artie.
Morgana tried everything to warn Artie to stay away from the woman, but Artie completely ignored all her veiled warnings. He didn't even pick up on her deep concern. He just figured his sister was trying to mess with him again.
As Artie often said himself, Morgana frequently treated him like an idiot.
No way am I falling for that again!
In short, Morgana was beside herself. She even ended her cold war with King Uther, going to him personally, hoping he would intervene in Artie's blind infatuation. But King Uther was unconcerned.
Of course, King Uther would never allow his son to marry a woman from a fallen noble family. (The two people Artie rescued claimed to be Northern nobles seeking refuge with relatives in Carleon after their home was raided by barbarians—hence the "fallen nobles" status.)
Artie was the Prince of Camelot, heir to the strongest kingdom in the land. His marriage was not just his own business; it was a major political event. His destiny was to marry into another powerful kingdom.
But a mere romance? That was outside Uther's concern. In Uther's view, a fling for Artie was fine. As long as there was no marriage, Uther wouldn't interfere much. Besides, Artie was already twenty and still a virgin—do you think Uther wasn't worried about that?
This was perfect!
Uther was confident that he could break the pair up in the end. As for what Artie did before that? Uther genuinely didn't care. It wasn't like Artie was going to suffer any harm...
It was a typical, almost crude way of thinking, but that was exactly King Uther's perspective.
Morgana was desperate. She tried to warn the woman directly to drop any inappropriate ideas she had. But it didn't work at all. The woman didn't take Morgana seriously, even mocking her, suggesting she was only trying to break them up out of jealousy.
This left Morgana feeling both humiliated and furious. She was a woman, so she naturally understood what the other woman was thinking. When she warned the woman, whose name was Sophia (adapted from 索菲亚), all Morgana saw in her eyes was contempt and flippancy, with absolutely no genuine affection for Artie!
She is using Artie, Morgana was sure of it. And she will kill Artie, Morgana was just as sure. After all, the dream was right there, a constant threat.
In that moment, Morgana even wanted to publicly reveal her prophetic dreams, hoping to wake up those two pig-headed men, Uther and Artie! But Morgana knew she couldn't. She might not care about what happened to herself, but she couldn't risk Art (the protagonist).
If she got involved with magic, what would happen to Art? She didn't want to force him to choose between her and Uther. She felt utterly helpless and could only confide in Gaius. Gaius was equally at a loss. He had known for years that Morgana was a seer.
Gaius had observed her for many years, and Morgana's dream prophecies were remarkably accurate.
But even so, Gaius couldn't act against the father and daughter just based on Morgana's word. How could he explain it to King Uther or anyone else?
More importantly, how could he explain it to Artie?
Gaius pondered this for a long time, then suddenly an idea struck him. He asked, "How many days has Art been gone?"
Morgana thought for a moment and replied, "It's the twenty-eighth day now."
Then she realized what he meant. "You mean, let Art handle this?"
"Exactly! Art will be back any day now. Once he returns, everything will be much easier," Gaius stated confidently.
Morgana immediately felt a surge of energy! Right, others might not believe her, but Art would!
Thinking quickly, Morgana immediately sent someone to find Art. By her reckoning, he should be on his way back already. All she needed to do was get him back as quickly as possible!
---
Just as Morgana was desperately hoping for Art's speedy return to resolve the crisis, the father and daughter on the other side were also getting impatient.
"Back so soon, Sophia?" The father of the pair introduced himself as Alfric, an elegant older man. Though he appeared to be approaching sixty, his movements were quick and strong, not at all like those of a frail elderly person.
"Someone is getting in our way," Sophia said, the sweet innocence she showed Artie completely gone, replaced by a cold, haughty air.
"What happened?"
"I almost died. For a moment, I felt like I was going to perish, just like any mortal." It turned out that during their date today, they had run into a few soldiers hunting Druids. One soldier, failing to see clearly, mistook the star-crossed lovers for Druids and shot an arrow, which narrowly missed Sophia.
"He saved me." This was referring to Artie, who had pushed Sophia aside, preventing her from being hit. Unfortunately, Sophia showed no gratitude. "That weak, spineless mortal saved me! I can't stand this situation any longer."
Alfric gently consoled her, "You won't have to endure it much longer. Once you have his heart, the gates of Avalon will open to us once more, and we will regain our true forms."
"I just need a little more time," Sophia nodded.
"Very well. I will go speak with the elders today. It would be best to sacrifice the mortal Prince tomorrow night."
---
That evening, Artie sneaked out as usual to meet Sophia, and Merlin, as always, covered for him. But when Merlin returned to Gaius's chambers and learned part of the truth, he felt sick to his stomach. He had just walked Artie right into a trap!
To fix his mistake, Merlin followed Alfric under Gaius's instruction.
The result was an even more terrifying discovery: Alfric and Sophia weren't human at all. They were Elves (or more accurately, beings) from Avalon—the timeless land of youth, the ideal utopia far from the mortal world, the Elysium of the Otherworld. They had been banished from Avalon for a great sin and were condemned to live as mortals until death.
To return to Avalon, they needed the soul of a mortal Prince as a sacrifice. And Artie was their target!
Now the problem was dire!
They had to stop this sacrifice from happening.
Unfortunately, events unfolded much faster than they anticipated.
The very next morning, Artie brought Alfric and Sophia to petition King Uther.
"Father, I have come to discuss a matter of great importance at the request of the people," Artie faced King Uther with an extremely serious demeanor first thing in the morning.
King Uther was a little confused.
Artie continued, "I believe you have noticed that Miss Sophia Tiemer and I have been spending a great deal of time together these last couple of days."
Of course, Uther had noticed. Did Artie really think Merlin could fool Uther in a matter like this?
"I hope you aren't spending too much time together," Uther teased. He didn't mind Artie sleeping with Sophia, but he absolutely forbade Artie from making a bigger deal of it, like announcing their relationship in the Great Hall.
Artie hesitated for a moment but then stated firmly, "We are in love."
"I sincerely request your permission for us to be married!"
King Uther froze, then suddenly burst out laughing.
"Ha ha ha ha ha." Uther still wanted to dismiss the matter as a joke. "That's the funniest thing I've heard all morning. So, how am I supposed to respond to this little game, my son?"
"No, this is no game. I sincerely wish to take her as my wife." Unfortunately, the joke wasn't funny.
---
At this point, King Uther was totally blindsided. He thought Artie was just playing around, but he was serious? Morgana, standing nearby, was completely shocked, too. Being in love was one thing, but marriage? They'd only known each other for three days! When did this idiot Artie get so romantic?
King Uther naturally refused, but Artie was now completely under Sophia's influence. The two quickly got into a heated argument.
Artie declared that Uther's agreement was irrelevant.
Ignoring Uther, who was fuming, Artie grabbed Sophia and prepared to leave.
Uther immediately ordered his guards to arrest Alfric and Sophia, and Artie stood his ground against his father.
"You won't stop me! I will marry her, whether you like it or not!"
But just then, a commanding voice suddenly echoed from the doorway.
"Oh? Is that so?"
It was Art (the protagonist)!
Art walked in through the main entrance, looking travel-worn.
"Our Artie is all grown up, isn't he? Defying the King's orders in the King's own Great Hall."
Art first bowed to King Uther. Then, under Morgana's anxious gaze, he smiled and took off his cloak. A maid started to step forward to take it, but Morgana got there first.
"Don't worry. I've got this," Art said with a reassuring smile, pulling Morgana into a brief hug.
Then, he turned back to Artie, whose face was shifting between anger and confusion. Art spoke without emotion: "Kneel!"
Artie's expression showed internal struggle, but when Art's eyes took on a dangerous edge, Artie immediately dropped to one knee. Past experience had taught him that it was best to obey in this situation. Otherwise, the consequences would be severe. This conditioned reflex was too strong for even Sophia's enchantment to completely suppress.
Seeing Artie kneel, Art's expression softened slightly.
"Good. That tells me you haven't completely lost your mind." Then he turned to King Uther. "Have the guards hold him down. I'm afraid he might get a little excited in a minute."
While King Uther trusted Art absolutely, he was momentarily bewildered. He had never seen Art treat Artie with such open authority and humiliation. Artie was destined to be King, and Art had always been careful about these things, never punishing Artie so publicly. But now...
However, based on his years of unwavering trust, King Uther followed the order.
It was only then that Art turned his attention to Alfric and Sophia.
"Kneel!"