Conflict

"Arthur, Arthur, why? Why did you have to interfere?!"

In London's great tower, accompanied by that desperate roar, the woman who had covered her eyes with bandages spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the floor.

"Mother, Mother, what's wrong?!"

Mordred stepped forward to support his fallen mother, while the maids on either side looked on with concern.

It had been a devastating blow from Excalibur, empowered by the strength of more than a hundred Knights of the Round Table. Though it had struck at the Green Knight's head, the magical force had still reached her all the way in London.

"I never meant to hurt anyone. I only wanted to frighten Guinevere. I only wanted to test Gawain's courage... Arthur, Arthur, you clearly saw my eyes, so why were you so heartless to me? You knew it was me, yet you still drew your sword!"

The woman tore off the bandages over her eyes and looked at the square bronze plaque engraved with statues of a king and queen. Tears flowed from her eyes. She gently caressed the king on the plaque as though she were touching her lover, her touch so tender.

She wept to the king on the plaque, accusing him of being heartless and cruel, aggrieved like a wife abandoned by her husband. Under Mordred and the maids' watchful eyes, she realized something was wrong. Her face reddened, and she hastily wiped away her tears. Then she looked at Queen Guinevere on the plaque, and her gaze instantly turned as sharp as an eagle's.

Guinevere, sitting beside Arthur as his queen—it was such an eyesore, so utterly displeasing.

With a crack, the sturdy bronze plaque was snapped in two. The woman threw the half bearing the queen directly into the fire without the slightest hesitation. She had used so much force that her previously snow-white hand was cut when she broke it apart.

Seeing his mother's grief, Mordred wanted to step forward to comfort her and examine her hand, but she shoved him away. "I don't need comfort. I'm strong. I won't give up. I'll keep fighting!"

Of King Uther's three princesses, though she was a woman, her will was the firmest and most tenacious. She was more of a man than any male member of the Pendragon family, and that included Arthur.

Aeneas's grandson Brutus defeated the giants of Britannia and became its first king.

However, that title of king did not amount to much, because aside from the giants, there were no other humans on Britannia. Even if Brutus had come to Britannia alone, he would still have been its king.

Brutus's descendants followed tradition and multiplied across England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The Pendragon family was among those who migrated to Wales.

From 43 to 410 AD, the Roman Empire conquered and ruled Great Britain, establishing the province of Britannia.

Yet during Roman rule, they met fierce resistance from Brutus's descendants, the Celts, who had already become Britannia's native inhabitants.

To avoid needless losses, the Romans built Hadrian's Wall, dividing Britannia into north and south. They believed it was enough to rule the more fertile southern region, which included most of England, part of Wales, and a small portion of Scotland.

The Pendragon family, originally living in Wales, was a prominent and powerful Welsh clan. They were forcibly invited to settle in England and became Roman citizens.

Later, when the Roman Empire declined due to invasions by Germanic tribes and the Roman legions stationed in Britannia withdrew, a vacuum was left in the lands once occupied by Rome. Kingdom after kingdom, large and small, rose in this power vacuum, and all of Britannia fell into chaos.

King Uther was one of the rulers of England, yet he was vaguely regarded as the king of all England, the true king destined to unite the land.

But in the end, he still died.

Every mortal would die. No one was exempt. Even Arthur, her younger brother, was nearing the end of his fate. Now, at the banquet hall and before everyone's eyes, he was already struggling just to draw his holy sword. That was something that would never have happened before.

After Father died, there was no heir to the throne because he had no son. The kingdom's throne stood vacant, plunging into the great interregnum of history.

In order to become the king's successor, the nobles fought among themselves, often coming to blows.

Since the king had no heir, the strongest noble would inherit the throne. This had been the accepted rule since ancient times. After Alexander the Great died, his empire was likewise carved up by his generals, the strongest among them.

As King Uther's daughter, unlike her two sisters who had contentedly married and become queens, she possessed a fierce ambition for the throne.

She clearly bore the royal blood of the Pendragon family. She was clearly the closest blood relative of King Uther. Yet the nobles were unwilling to accept a queen.

The Celts living on the island had never submitted to this mighty empire. Time and again, they fought Rome head-on and even captured Roman cities, forcing Rome to build the wall.

The nations south of the wall believed in Rome's new faith. They were Romans civilized by Rome and bathed in the light of civilization, while the lands north of the wall were home to uncivilized Celtic barbarians who believed in Druidism.

These southern nations guarded against their Celtic kin in the north as though guarding against thieves. The knights of the southern kingdoms watched over the wall day and night.

The south was not only wealthier, but its faith had long since diverged from that of the north.

By northern Celtic tradition, a queen was permitted to ascend the throne, but the many kingdoms of England were not nations of the northern Celts.

Once, ambition for the throne had flared within her, until someone drew the sword from the stone and sought to inherit her father's throne.

She had fiercely opposed it, insisting that he was a fraud and that it was merely Merlin's scheme.

She wanted to assert her rightful claim to the throne, even at the cost of starting a war and drowning all Britannia in blood, until she met Arthur, who had already become king.

If she could not inherit the throne, she would rather see all Britannia awash in blood. Looking through the history of their forebears, there had never been a peaceful, uncontested transfer of power in Britannia's succession.

Romulus, the ancestor who founded Rome, killed his own brother Remus in a struggle for supremacy. After Brutus conquered Britannia, he divided his realm among his three sons, while the brother who had accompanied him in founding Britannia received nothing. Perhaps he had been murdered by his own brother in history.

Even though she was a woman, if the throne's heir had not been Arthur, she would have become the queen of Britannia long ago.

Her feelings toward this younger brother were complicated.

The throne should have belonged to her, yet she had handed it to Arthur.

However, after Arthur, the heir to the throne should undoubtedly be her son, Mordred.

"My child, you will become king. No matter what, I will make you king, because the throne should have been yours from the beginning."

The woman spoke to her child in an unmistakably resolute tone. She had seen Arthur's performance at the New Year banquet clearly, and his favoritism toward Gawain filled her with anguish.

"Even if every Knight of the Round Table swears loyalty to Gawain, I will never swear loyalty to him. I will not acknowledge him wielding Excalibur when he cannot even lift the sword himself."

Mordred spoke in a low voice. Though they were cousins, he held no goodwill toward Gawain because of the succession. Especially since that man was a knight in name only, a false knight, Mordred naturally could not acknowledge him.

Arthur could wield the sword alone, while Gawain needed the strength of the Knights of the Round Table to wield Excalibur. It was obvious at a glance who was greater.

He too could wield Excalibur. He too carried his uncle's blood. He could even lift Excalibur without the aid of the Knights of the Round Table. He was superior to Gawain.

Yet his uncle favored Gawain.

I won't accept this. I won't accept this—not just for myself, but for my mother too.

His mother and Gawain's mother were both Arthur's own sisters, so why?

Uncle, why?

Gawain's trifling achievements made you so happy when you saw them, but why did you act as though you could not see any of my accomplishments?

Uncle, I want your acknowledgment.