Other than King Uther himself, Kay was the person in Camelot who knew the most about the old secrets. Whether it was the mystery of Arthur's birth or the truth about Morgana, Kay knew all the details. And honestly, no matter how close his relationship was with King Uther, there were some things he simply couldn't excuse him for.
For example, when it came to the matter of Morgana's mother, Kay truly had no defense for Uther.
Even Gaius didn't know the full story of that incident.
But Kay did. Uther had confided in him personally, specifically so Kay could keep an eye on Morgana. Though Kay was just a kid at the time and didn't fully understand why Uther would share such a massive secret with him, he had honored Uther's request all these years, always looking out for Morgana.
Thinking about it now, Uther was probably trying to make amends with Morgana...
That's why Kay was acutely aware of just how serious the whole situation was.
"I know what you're worried about, but you have to have faith in Arthur. Like Gaius said, Arthur isn't a child anymore; he should be able to understand you. As for Morgana... I think... we should just leave things as they are. After all, you and I are the only ones who know what truly happened back then. As long as we keep the secret, no one will ever know the full story."
But after all these years of knowing her, there was no way Kay would let some old incident drive a wedge between Morgana and Uther, even if Uther was in the wrong.
King Uther shook his head, a bitter expression on his face. "If only it were that simple. Arthur... I don't know how he'd react, but the consequences won't be good, though I could probably live with that. But Morgana... yes, only the two of us know the truth of her parentage, but that's meaningless because we aren't the only ones who know that Viviane died by my hand... If that part of the story gets out, it's more than enough for Morgana to absolutely hate me..."
The fact that Morgana and Uther were biological father and daughter was indeed a secret only Kay and Uther shared. However, quite a few people knew that Uther had killed Viviane, Morgana's mother. During the old wars to hunt down witches and magic-users, the story of Viviane was no small affair!
Viviane had a very unique identity. First, she was a High Priestess of the Old Religion, a descendant of the Triple Goddess's lineage, possessing extraordinary magical abilities and a revered status in the world of magic—a noble line in the eyes of all who worshipped the Old Faith.
Second, her public identity was also very prominent: she was the wife of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall!
The cause of the incident back then was actually quite simple. Viviane couldn't stand the wholesale slaughter of the Old Faith and magical peoples by King Uther. So, she used her position as the wife of Duke Gorlois to continuously relay intelligence to the outside, sabotaging Uther's war strategies, which caused heavy losses to Uther's army at one point.
However, she never imagined that her actions would ultimately lead to the death of her own husband, Duke Gorlois. (Duke Gorlois was killed in battle because Viviane's leaks prevented him from receiving timely support from Uther.)
It was because of this that Uther was able to trace the leak back and discover the truth: Viviane was a sorceress. Uther then felt he had no choice but to kill her.
This event couldn't be hidden from everyone. At least, most of the high-ranking nobles who participated in the war back then knew bits and pieces. This is why Uther believed that once Arthur's parentage was exposed, the story of Morgana's mother would inevitably resurface.
Kay understood the danger, but he felt that the Arthur situation didn't have to be made public. A private, heart-to-heart talk with Arthur might be enough to avoid the ensuing mess. Sometimes, the worst thing you can do is avoid a problem; it might be best to lay all the cards on the table.
Unfortunately, King Uther stubbornly rejected that advice. He was determined to take the secret to his grave.
"But the problem is, we aren't the only ones who know about this anymore! Don't forget, Nimueh knows! If she knows, how can you be sure that Camelot's other enemies don't? A secret known by others is no longer a secret!"
Kay tried to persuade Uther from a different angle, but Uther's stubbornness was beyond Kay's imagination. Uther's thinking was simple: they were Camelot's enemies, so their accusations didn't matter! He could just claim they were lying! It had been so many years; no one could produce any evidence. Why should he be afraid?
With the conversation at this point, Kay felt powerless.
---
The Black Knight incident had made Camelot the talk of the town for the past few days. As the story spread, more and more people learned about it and began praising Kay's strength and Camelot's greatness, using words like "legendary" and "magnificent."
This indirectly boosted the prestige of the Kingdom of Camelot. It also led many people to travel to Camelot, hoping to get a look at the dueling grounds where the Black Knight was slain.
Back in those days, there wasn't much entertainment. Any small thing could keep bored people talking for ages, let alone a classic story about a heroic knight defeating an evil demon! So, even days later, the excitement hadn't faded; if anything, it was getting hotter.
There were even plays hitting the Camelot marketplace now, starring Kay and the Black Knight, and they were quite popular.
Merlin himself loved these plays. Although he knew the real story, that didn't stop him from enjoying the drama—after all, a dramatized version was often more fun than the truth.
Today, Merlin, as usual, slipped out while Sir Kay was working Arthur to death with a training session. He was planning to catch another performance of the "Knight vs. the Evil Black Knight" show.
But as he was walking, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure scanning the crowd, seemingly looking for someone.
"Mom?!"
The woman looking around in the crowd immediately turned her head, meeting Merlin's gaze.
"Merlin!"
It had been nearly half a year since Hunith had seen her son. The moment she saw the boy she had been longing for, she couldn't hold back her excitement. She rushed over and hugged her son tightly.
Merlin was just as thrilled. Since leaving his home village of Ealdor, he'd wanted to go back and visit his mother, but too much had happened lately. He couldn't get the time off, and besides, he was just a servant—he didn't have the authority to simply take a vacation. So, he had buried his longing for home and his mother deep in his heart.
Now, his mother had actually come to Camelot herself.
He wanted to take a good look at her, to see how she was doing.
But when he did, he noticed something was very wrong. He saw cuts on his mother's face, and her eyes were puffy and swollen—someone had clearly hit her!
This discovery made Merlin furious. He immediately asked, panicking, "What happened? Who did this?"
Hunith's initial surprise and joy at seeing her son instantly turned into a look of sorrow and profound distress.