Divide & Conquer (R-18)

"The audacious one is strong indeed, what made you think we wouldn't kill you, Sir Kay?" The robust old man in his fifties stared at Sir Kay menacingly. Their current location was in the huge camp as the old man sat in front of the desk with the Britannia map spread around on the desk. Kay took his seat and sat down with Guinevere, who accompanied him in the camp.

"You would have done so long ago if you wanted to kill me, Lord Bartholomeoi. I have no doubt you have the capability to do so. Moreover, I'm here to negotiate," Kay stated.

Of course, his confidence came from Guinevere. If they killed him and her, they would face the revenge of Guinevere's father. Even if they only killed him and kidnapped her, Merlin would easily rescue her. Then they would still face the wrath of both Artoria and the Kingdom of Wales. No matter how much they wanted to kill them, they couldn't; the consequences are not worth the trouble, and Lord Bartholomeoi knows this.

Moreover, he has no personal vendetta against Sir Kay nor does he have enmity for him to ignore the consequences of killing him.

"Do you want to surrender?" Lord Bartholomeoi asked, then snorted as if he remembered something. "Why should I trust you anyway?

"You have the Princess of Wales under your hand. It means you will never sincerely work for me. You are just another lackey of Uther."

"I think you are misunderstanding something, Lord Bartholomeoi. I am not here to surrender. I am here to negotiate with you to save this city without bloodshed, with both of us happy with the outcome," Kay stated calmly. "You want Camelot? Take it, but I need something from you, something that needs to make Duke Redgrave open the gate for us."

Duke Redgrave is one of the main resistance and loyalists of King Uther who resist the coalition of nobles and refuse to open the gate for them. He creates fierce resistance against them. It was the very reason they couldn't take Camelot until now, because not all nobles rebel. There are some who remain loyal and truly embody noble qualities.

"Oh, care to enlighten me, Sir Kay?" Lord Bartholomeoi stared at him with a hint of interest and sarcasm at the same time.

"In one condition, you will take a blood oath that you and your coalitions will never take the initiative to harm even a single hair of a citizen of Camelot," Kay stated.

"Or you will regret ever breaking your promise. You will face the wrath of the entire Wales Kingdom."

Lord Bartholomeoi frowned displeased at the threat.

However, he understood that Sir Kay is willing to help him not because of benefit or anything, but because he wanted to save people in the city. He has always been a champion of the people and knights in their heart, so he never doubts his honor.

The presence of Princess Guinevere alone is enough to solidify his authority and words, and her weight is greater than all of them in this room combined.

Despite that, he needs to ask whether Guinevere really approved of the fact she would be a representative of the Wales Kingdom or if it's just mere Sir Kay intimidation.

"Is his words representative of yours, Princess?"

"It is," Guinevere nodded in confirmation.

"So, what will you do, Lord Bartholomeoi? Are you agreed to the terms?"

"We will do. Now, tell me how to take the city without bloodshed."

...

When the negotiation has been settled, we rest ourselves in the camp that provided by Lord Bartholomeoi, away from the watchful eyes of others.

With his pants down and erect cock being sucked by Princess Guinevere, Sir Kay stroked her golden hair while she was doing her job. Her skill becomes more and more skillful after their last two weeks of sex. This is the Era of God, after all. Their physique surpassed hentai protagonists and porn actors and actresses from his past life. Despite her petite stature, she was formerly trained a lot. Moreover, she has trained in magic, so she can enchant her endurance was a matter of course and they can be used in sex too.

Her sucking was more intense and intense, and he was almost reached his limits.

"Fuck..." He pressed Princess' head and sped up his speed of thrust as his cock was down her throat and cum inside her.

"Cough... Cough..." She coughed violently at the intense thrust and almost vomited out of his cum, but she gulped it in the end and stared at him with lust. However, at a moment of clarity, she suddenly remembered that she dragged Sir Kay for a private conversation wasn't for this, but for some doubt that she wanted to ask him privately, away from the eyes of others.

"Ahem... Sir Kay, can we continue this after we converse for a moment?"

"Of course, Princess. Ask what you wanted to ask," Kay shrugged as he fixed up his pants and reclined himself in a comfortable position. He was already satisfied by the rough blowjob that Princess Guinevere gave him.

In the past life, this level of intense sex was only limited to his delusion and hentai comics he read. Now, he experienced it himself enough to make him very satisfied. At least Princess Guinevere is a better sex partner than Morgan, who basically has so much useless pride and so many restrictions. Now, he was in sage mode and isn't easily seduced by Morgan again after having the submissive Princess by his side, who is basically willing to fulfill any of his wild fantasies about sex.

Unknown to what the crooked thought in Sir Kay's mind was, Princess Guinevere said.

"Sir Kay, why don't we just strike the nobles? As long as you wanted to, my father will bring us the reinforcement and willing to help Camelot to relieve the siege by nobles."

"How long will he arrive?" Kay didn't answer her question; instead, he threw her with the question.

"The least will be two weeks and the most will be a month," Princess Guinevere estimated.

"You know how people perceive the hero, Princess Guinevere? The hero is never late; they always solve all problems perfectly. They should be perfect without blemish. That's the hero. When a hero is no longer perfect, they are no longer a hero. I don't need you to understand; however, I need you to know that when your father's troops arrive, everything will be late. Many casualties would happen and many farmers will lose their home. They can't blame the noble, because they feared noble, but they can blame the hero. Because why? Because he is a hero, he will never fight back in front of accusations of others. He still smiles and saves the day like he usually did. It was the very reason why people blamed the hero. Every problem of human have, they always need someone to blame, someone that they need to vent their release after being oppressed by nobles. And it was the hero who is late to save the day is the answer." Kay sighed.

"That's why your suggestion wasn't the best solution. Sure, it could solve the problem, but you will not earn the gratitude of others, but resentment instead."

"Is it really that bad, Sir Kay?" Princess Guinevere felt that Sir Kay was too paranoid and distrustful of the goodness of others.

"You will find out yourself." Kay just hummed at that.

"Moreover, I know what Bartholomeoi wanted. He never intended to declare himself as a king; he just wants to puppeteer the new king with his superior force. Let's see how the wise sage, Merlin, will handle this. I believe Wise Sage Merlin will have the solution for all of us," he answered in a positive tone. However, internally he was chuckling and musing darkly.

In the end, he didn't resort to violence and killing because he wanted to see both Merlin and the coalition of nobles fighting each other internally with the prize of the king as their puppet. In the canon, Merlin was so smooth in puppeteering Artoria and made her basically do his bidding, but now?

With the coalition of nobles that were supposed to be wiped out by Artoria in canon intact, they will have greater control over Camelot. Merlin will never have the chance to dominate the court. It was never in his interest to watch Merlin swallow all the influence in Camelot. When it does, his fate would be the same as in the canon, reduced to nothing more than a knight under Artoria.

The best outcome was his position that he got as the head of the Round Table or granted a noble title and territory, and his effort wooing Princess Guinevere would turn into nothing if Merlin won. That's the best outcome that happened to him if everything is developed as canon. That's why someone needs to be Merlin's rival and contain him. When they fight each other, he will gather power silently. His marriage with Guinevere will be smooth; the nobles will try their best to befriend someone who is engaged with the crown princess and helped him as best as they could to smoothen his marriage with the Wales Princess. After all, their purpose is puppeteering the king. If the king is too powerful and influential and getting the marriage hand of Princess Wales, it would never be in their best interest. But what about him?

He was the White Knight, the Hero, and someone uncorruptible. The nobles trusted him because he never fought for power. Easily enough the Wales Kingdom will fall into his hand with their support. If Merlin, who ruled the court, will be a different outcome, he will never allow Guinevere to fall into his hand or allow him to be more powerful than Artoria.

Unfortunately for Merlin, he was better at playing the game than him. With the Wales Kingdom as his backing, nobles flocked to him and supported him after saving Camelot. No one is hurt and lost except Merlin.

On the surface, he saved Camelot; he made nobles grateful for helping them, and people loved him for saving the day. But in reality?

Everything was just for his own end.

Of course, this plan is not enough. They will not be grateful to him if he simply relieves the siege. The nobles' rebellion undoubtedly breeds resentment among civilians. They need revenge; they need someone to suffer. Someone needs to take the blame, and the answer to it has already been chosen by both him and Bartholomeoi.

The die has been cast; there is no turning back.

...

Note: My plan for the next fic will be delayed until I write the conclusion after the Siege of Camelot. Until this arc is finished, I will start a new story. For now, I want to focus on this fic first.