It might seem absurd to demand an explanation from the king of an enemy nation, but within the unique environment of the Celtic kingdoms, it was perfectly normal.
If you look closely, the royal families and nobility of these nations are all relatives! It's similar to the situation between Great Britain and Germany before World War I; although the two nations had been at odds for a long time, their royal houses were closely related. The German Kaiser and the British King were cousins, and the British royal family itself even had a German surname. The Celtic kingdoms are even more intertwined.
This deep kinship means that certain unwritten rules, or "gentleman's agreements," carry immense weight. Since everyone is essentially family, things would spiral out of control without firm rules. Therefore, if King Odin committed an act that aristocratic rules couldn't tolerate, Sir Kay was absolutely within his rights to bring his knights and demand an explanation.
And King Odin had to come out and clarify the situation!
It sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth. This is why Kay only called upon knights; the common soldiers wouldn't be allowed to interfere in this kind of aristocratic affair!
---
Kay's demand was quickly delivered to King Odin. However, when King Odin read the confession from Merric, his mood soured instantly. I thought he was the King of Assassins? Why is he so incompetent? And where's his professional ethics? Getting caught and then not protecting client confidentiality—bad review!
But complaining about Merric was useless now. Kay had already shared the news with most of the nobility in the Kingdom of Cendread. Unless King Odin wanted to lose all noble support, he had no choice but to confront Kay.
Furthermore, this incident involved an assassination attempt on Prince Arthur! That charge is even more serious than attempting to kill Kay. While Kay is also a prince, he is King Uther's adopted son, and according to aristocratic rules, his status is inherently lower than Arthur's.
If King Odin had legitimately broken through Camelot's defenses, found Arthur, and killed him in plain sight, no one would have said anything.
But he resorted to assassination! In a society where chivalry is highly valued, this practice is deeply despised. Moreover, since it concerns the succession of a royal family, it could very well provoke intervention from other kingdoms.
Previously, King Odin's quest for revenge for his son, Prince Aelred, gave him the moral high ground in noble opinion. Who could stop a father from seeking vengeance for his son? So, even though Cendread's nobility didn't want a war, they had little to say in the face of this righteous cause.
But now, King Odin had made a terrible move, and the public opinion had flipped. He went from being in the right to being in the wrong. Many of his supporters among the nobility were furious.
You can't play like this! Are you trying to sabotage us? We've lost so many people, just for you to trash our cause?
As a result, King Odin's support dwindled significantly. In these times, the royal family was merely the first among equals of the nobility, and it wasn't uncommon for the nobles to disregard a monarch who proved ineffective.
Now, Odin was completely cornered.
---
Kay soon met with Odin. He didn't say a word; he simply tossed the crippled Merric in front of King Odin and stared at him.
The silence was excruciating.
King Odin wanted to argue, but they had the goods—caught red-handed. Merric had clearly detailed who found him, where the transaction took place, and what was said. There was no way to deny it.
Looking at the half-dead Merric, King Odin knew he had to offer some kind of answer.
"What do you want?"
"King Uther and I are deeply saddened by what happened to Aelred, and we approached you with the utmost sincerity to ask for peace. But you refused. We have nothing more to say about that. Therefore, while war is not what we wanted, we are ready to fight. However," Kay pointed a cold finger at the bald assassin on the ground, "this sort of behavior violates the understanding between our royal families and brings shame to all nobles."
King Odin was so angry his teeth were grinding. He saw this as Kay humiliating him!
"However, in light of what you have suffered, we choose not to pursue the matter!" No one expected Kay to say this, and everyone was stunned.
Before anyone could react, Kay drew the longsword from his waist and instantly decapitated Merric.
"We consider this a misunderstanding. We are willing to preserve your honor and dignity."
Killing the key witness essentially eliminated half the evidence. This brought a wave of relief to the Cendread nobles present. The monarchy, no matter what, was their leader; if the leader's reputation was ruined, it would reflect poorly on the nobles beneath him. By letting the assassination attempt slide, Kay wasn't just doing King Odin a favor, he was granting a favor to the entire Cendread nobility.
Watching Kay so decisively drop the pursuit of the assassination charge, King Odin was momentarily stunned. Then, it was as if all the spirit had been drained from him. He sank weakly onto his throne and spoke in a dry, hoarse voice: "Then what do you want?"
"Peace!" Kay had no intention of utterly humiliating King Odin, as that would be of no benefit to Camelot. If he pushed Odin too far, it could lead to a disastrous outcome where Odin disregarded all unwritten rules and decided to fight Camelot to the bitter end, which would be terrible for Camelot as well.
"What about my Aelred? What about the justice he deserves?" King Odin naturally couldn't let it go just yet; even though this was the best possible outcome, he couldn't get past his own grief.
"Aelred died in a duel! He lost no honor!" Kay refuted the claim. True, King Odin's loss was tragic, but Aelred had fallen in a duel against Arthur, and Aelred had initiated the challenge, so there was nothing more to be said about it.
Before the assassination attempt, this reasoning might have been weak. Like Arthur, Prince Aelred had been officially sanctioned, meaning he was no longer just a knight but a royal heir whose status couldn't be defined purely by chivalry.
But things were different now. King Odin had already lost face, and this reasoning was now perfectly valid!
Of course, Kay was still willing to give King Odin an out.
"The casualties from this war are already high enough. If you are still unwilling to let this go, then I propose we end this war in the most honorable way: a chivalric duel! If my side loses, we will pay your kingdom one hundred thousand gold coins and cede a border territory in exchange for peace. If our side wins, your side only needs to pay our kingdom fifty thousand gold coins, and then both sides retreat to the pre-war border and cease hostilities!"
This offer was incredibly generous. Factoring in the current military situation, Kay was making huge concessions. Everyone could see that Camelot held the advantage; if not for concerns about domestic production, Kay could have mobilized even more troops to advance into Cendread. Given this advantage, Kay's choice to end the war with a chivalric duel was a massive concession to the Kingdom of Cendread.
After all, a knightly duel would put both sides on an equal footing.
All the Cendread nobles looked at King Odin. They also approved of the proposal. Kay's earlier willingness to drop the charge of assassination against King Odin was a strong show of goodwill toward Cendread, and now he was offering a clearly favorable proposal to end the war. They could not think of a single reason to refuse.