The Truth

On that night, the once magnificent and radiant city of Camelot plunged into a deep darkness.

Every household extinguished their candle lights, and people wearing strange and eerie masks roamed the streets to ward off mischievous spirits and ghosts.

Even the majestic castle, which used to be aglow with lights, was now shrouded in darkness to outsiders. Yet, if one crossed its imposing gates, they would find it still radiantly lit.

In the spacious council chamber, Morgan, Artoria, Kay, Bedivere, Lancelot, and the others sat silently around the round table.

"Sorry, I'm late. The aftermath proved to be more troublesome than I anticipated, making you all wait longer."

Arkhan spoke calmly as he walked into the council chamber wearing silver armor and a crown of stars on his head.

Everyone promptly rose and bowed to Arkhan.

""Your Majesty.""

"Okay, we're not in a formal setting right now. Relax, don't be so uptight." Arkhan chuckled and glanced towards the door. "You two, come in."

After a moment, Ferguson and Canterbury entered together.

Morgan's expression darkened instantly.

"Why are they here?"

She couldn't forget Canterbury's blasphemous acts against her father's corpse. For any child, it was an intolerable offense.

As for Ferguson himself, despite being her father's most trusted minister, he had chosen to shield Canterbury at that time, even using Camelot's magic formations to obstruct her.

If Arkhan wasn't present, she would have torn these two apart long ago!

"Don't be so impulsive, Big Sis. I told you, I would provide you with a satisfying answer." Arkhan said, exasperated.

However, as Morgan heard his words, she was taken aback. 

"Y-You called me what just now?" Her delicate face turned a shade of deep red as she stuttered.

"Big Sis." Arkhan innocently blinked. "I already proved my origin during the coronation ceremony. Or do you not want to acknowledge me as your little brother?"

"N-No... it's just... I... Uhh..."

Morgan stuttered, her eyes darting around in confusion. Her porcelain complexion turned a vivid shade of crimson, almost as if steam was rising from her head.

The others exchanged strange glances. It was just words of 'Big Sis' but Morgan's reaction seemed exaggerated.

Realizing her own loss of composure, Morgan quickly used magecraft to steady her emotions, cleared her throat, and tried to shift the topic.

"Are you saying that everything revealed during the coronation ceremony is true?"

"Some of it is true, and some of it is not..." Arkhan sighed. "I know you have many questions. I will now reveal the whole truth to you."

As Ferguson and Canterbury took their seats, Arkhan began narrating the truth of the situation. As everyone present was someone he trusted, he had little to hide, apart from details about his System and Divine Keys.

As he explained, the astonishment in everyone's eyes deepened.

A Black Dragon was created to counter the White Dragon, born only to die, later given a chance to be resurrected in the Land of Shadows, but it took sixteen years for him to return to his birthplace.

No one could have imagined that the king's life had been so filled with hardships, and all of this had been orchestrated by Uther and Merlin.

*BANG!*

As Arkhan's words fell, Morgan slammed both her hands on the table. Her pale golden eyes flickered with uncontrollable anger, and she gritted her teeth as she uttered two words:

"Bastard Merlin!"

Thinking of all the suffering her younger brother had endured due to this bastard mage, Morgan longed to dissect this scoundrel in her laboratory!

The others exchanged glances and nodded. It was no wonder Merlin had not attended the meeting today. If he had, the council chamber might have turned into a battlefield.

Artoria lowered her head, tightly gripping her hands. Her azure eyes showed an array of complex emotions.

For her, both Arkhan and Merlin were her most important people. If these two turned against each other, it would be a great source of distress for her.

"Merlin had no choice but to act that way. The pressure brought by Vortigern was truly overwhelming, even for him." Arkhan cleared his throat. "I've already made Merlin pay for his deeds, so it's okay. I want to emphasize that I'm only interested in revealing the truth of what happened back then. I don't intend for you to cause trouble for Merlin. Understood?"

""Understood.""

Everyone nodded slightly, showing their compliance.

Artoria breathed a sigh of relief, while Morgan crossed her arms and grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"Obviously, these things can be announced earlier. Why wait until now?" Morgan asked Arkhan with a stern tone.

"Haha..." Arkhan chuckled and explained. "If I didn't do it this way, how could I have exposed all those parasites? Remember, Camelot has been without a king for a full fifteen years, and its internal corruption has grown far too deep. If I had to catch them one by one, even with ten years, it might not be enough."

"Hahh..." Ferguson sighed deeply. "I failed the late king's expectations. I was entrusted with the vital duty of governing the kingdom, yet I failed to notice the corruption in the treasury and was almost misled."

"That's why, to ensure I could catch all these culprits, I intentionally concealed my true origin and, after the king selection ceremony in Tintagel was complete, I found Archbishop Canterbury and asked for his assistance in orchestrating today's performance." Arkhan said with a calm smile while crossing his arms.

Everyone was taken aback. Did this mean that the archbishop's actions today were all orchestrated by the king?

"What exactly did you discuss with him?" Morgan asked, puzzled.

"At that time, I gave His Excellency a strand of my hair and told him that if anyone came looking for something that belonged to King Uther, he should hand over this strand of hair."

Arkhan explained with an amused tone as he gazed at Morgan.

"I know it made no difference whether using King Uther's hair or mine, but no matter what, he's still my father, the one who brought me into this world. Like you, I also don't want his corpse to be disturbed by those parasites, so that was the least I could do for him."

Morgan's eyes widened as she heard Arkhan's explanation.

"So, that strand of hair from earlier..."

"Yes, that was the strand of hair His Majesty gave me three months ago..." Canterbury said with a wry smile. "Back then, I didn't understand the purpose behind it. It wasn't until today's events that I finally learned."

The group was shocked. Did this mean that the king had foreseen what would happen today from three months ago?

They exchanged glances, clearly displaying their astonishment. What an incredible level of foresight and wisdom it took to set up such an astonishing plan!

Ferguson was filled with awe, even with his experience; he had never seen someone understand human nature to such an extent. The fact that he and the others had considered overthrowing the king without realizing that the king had already anticipated their thoughts was astonishing.

Didn't this mean, the nobles who opposed the king were dancing in the palm of his hand right from the beginning?

Despite being so young, the king had mastered the art of understanding human nature to a terrifying degree. Was this the so-called 'Wisdom of the Chosen King'?

Morgan, noticing everyone's expressions, couldn't help but feel proud of her younger brother.

'See, this is the pride of Pendragon!'

However, she couldn't help but feel a bit of resentment as she looked at Arkhan.

"Why didn't you consult with me earlier on something so important? I could have offered you some help."

"To deceive others, you must first deceive your own. Besides Lord Ferguson, I didn't inform anyone in advance." Arkhan explained in a relaxed tone.

"I can vouch for that." Canterbury nodded to Morgan. "I indeed didn't know that His Majesty is actually the late king's son until the coronation ceremony. When the King of Deheubarth suggested verifying the authenticity with the strand of hair I held, I was genuinely surprised."

Morgan was getting frustrated.

"Then why did Ferguson know in advance? Why did this old man get to know something that even I, your sister, didn't know? Why?"

"That's because Lord Ferguson is in control of Camelot's magic formations. If I hadn't revealed my identity to him, who knows what he might have done during the coronation ceremony." Arkhan explained with a helpless shrug.

"Indeed... if Your Majesty had not come to me that time, I might have taken some drastic actions." Ferguson sighed.

He still vividly remembered the events of that time when Hubert came to him to discuss plans against the new king.

After Hubert left his residence, he suddenly heard someone's voice from behind. Turning around, he almost had a heart attack when he saw the new king sitting relaxed on the sofa without a care!

At first, Ferguson had thought that the new king had come to confront him, but then, with a single sentence, he left Ferguson dumbfounded.

—I am King Uther's son.

It was that sentence that made Ferguson not cooperate with Hubert's actions during the coronation ceremony.

After listening to Arkhan's explanation, Morgan grunted in frustration, feeling slightly relieved.

"Hahh..." Morgan sighed. "Fine, you've said what you needed to. Then, let's rest for now. Starting tomorrow, we have a lot of matters to address." 

Arkhan smiled and stood up, preparing to leave.

"Very well, let's get some rest."

"Wait, Your Majesty." Ferguson suddenly said.

Puzzled, Arkhan turned and saw Ferguson taking a small, intricately patterned box from his robes and placing it in front of him.

"Hmm? What's this?"

"This is the power and responsibility of Camelot. The late king entrusted it to me, and now it's time for it to return to its rightful owner."

Ferguson said earnestly while looking at Arkhan.

"I hope Your Majesty will use this power wisely and bear this responsibility. Do not disappoint the late king's expectations."

"..."

Arkhan remained silent for a moment, then took the box with a solemn nod.

"I promise."