Marriage

"I've disappointed you! I can't bring myself to say such words. Though I am your nephew, I have no right to claim it. I would only bring you shame. How could an apprentice who has not yet completed his training casually invoke his master's name? How could an unfilial descendant dare use his father's name as his own surname?"

After finishing the cheek-kiss greeting, Gawain spoke dejectedly. He believed his poor performance had disappointed King Arthur.

By the standards of this era, Gawain was thoroughly a spoiled noble brat.

The education kings, princes, and nobles received from childhood consisted of military training in swordsmanship, spear fighting, archery, horsemanship, and the like. At most, they were also told oral tales passed down through their families and taught the relevant religious knowledge. That was all.

A king who lacked martial strength and could not fight as a knight could not hold his throne securely. The same was true of lords.

These days, anyone who could knock someone off horseback with a lance while riding, or defeat an opponent with a sword on the ground, had undoubtedly received a medieval "knightly" higher education.

He did not know whether the former Gawain could fight, but the Gawain who had crossed over certainly could not. Everyone knew Odin's curse had taken away his courage. Although the radiance of his devout faith had won him the Church's support, it was of no use. To become king in Camelot, a kingdom of knights, he first needed the knights' support, not the Church's.

Although Gawain had won nearly every match at the knightly training school held at Sir Ector's castle, it was only because his opponents knew his identity and did not dare defeat him. He had studied for merely a month and a half, which did nothing to improve his knightly skills.

In the East, the heir of the King of Wu once played chess with the crown prince of Emperor Wen of Han. The Prince of Wu actually dared to beat Liu Qi, the future emperor, and was immediately beaten to death with a chessboard by the enraged crown prince, who would later become Emperor Jing of Han.

King Arthur calmly studied the boy's face before realizing that he was still only a child.

Yes, Gawain was still only a child.

Looking at this child of his, so young yet so full of vigor, the aging King Arthur could not help asking himself whether he had been too demanding of him.

Without expectations, there would naturally be no disappointment. From the very beginning, he had expected too much of Gawain in his heart.

Just as Gawain had said, King Arthur was not the Arthur of legends. Arthur was simply Arthur, so he could not judge Gawain by his own standards.

Arthur was Arthur, and Gawain was Gawain.

Though he had already drawn Excalibur from the stone and ascended the throne of England at Gawain's age, it did not matter even if Gawain was now inferior to him—far inferior, even.

He had viewed Gawain by the standards of an heir to the throne, but had forgotten that his nephew was still a child. He could not be so harsh on him. Looking at Gawain's face, he finally let out a long sigh. This little fool truly knew nothing of human affairs. He could not seize an opportunity even when it was handed to him.

At that moment, a handsome young one-armed knight appeared beside King Arthur. The knight gave Arthur a slight bow, nodded to Gawain in greeting, then said calmly, "My king, Mr. Merlin wishes to meet with you alone."

"Merlin wishes to see me? Is it about magic?" King Arthur asked.

"I do not know. I am merely the messenger." The young man shrugged and smiled.

"Thank you for delivering the message, Sir Bedivere. Please take me to Merlin." After speaking, King Arthur looked at Gawain, then turned to the queen and bent toward her. "Please look after Gawain for me."

Gawain watched King Arthur leave under Bedivere's guidance and felt somewhat at a loss.

Seeing her husband leave, Queen Guinevere summoned a maid, took a cup of wine from the silver tray she carried, and asked Gawain, "Little Gawain, have your parents made any arrangements for your marriage? Which kingdom's princess is she?"

"I have no betrothal yet, Your Majesty," Gawain answered.

Generally speaking, in the Middle Ages, children's marriages were often decided by their parents, especially among great nobles. There was no basis for free love. So-called marriage was a political alliance, a means of consolidating one's family's power.

For example, his mother was the daughter of the late King Uther. She had not married a duke of Britain, nor a baron of England. Instead, she had married far away in Denmark and become King Lot's wife.

The reason was that King Lot and King Uther had been friends. Their friendship had made them steadfast political allies, and because King Lot's territory was not in England, there was no possibility of them falling out.

King Uther and the Duke of Cornwall had once been friends as well. However, Uther's Camelot was too close to Cornwall. Political frictions and threats eventually led to war and ended the friendship between the two rulers.

"Are there any princesses or noble ladies in Camelot whom you fancy?" The queen slowly asked after taking a sip of wine. Her face was kind, yet her gaze also held determination.

"I have no plans to marry at present." Gawain gave a bitter smile. He had not expected to be pressured into marriage even after coming to this world.

To put it plainly, Gawain had been single in his previous life. As a shut-in, he suffered from both social anxiety and a fear of women. Any mature, beautiful woman put immense pressure on him. Only women like his own mother allowed him to speak without feeling tense.

Fortunately, this world's Queen Guinevere was a woman about the same age as his mother. Her so-called beautiful looks had long faded under the power of time. Although the queen before him still carried the bearing of a noblewoman, she gave off the same feeling as his mother, which put him at ease.

"Gawain, as a king, you cannot be without a queen. Arthur chose me after becoming king and asked my father for my hand. You will be the same. Once you marry, you will be regarded as an adult. Likewise, your marriage can forge a military alliance for you and Camelot, and it can also bring you additional income. I heard that you and your mother have had a difficult life, but once you marry, you can at least receive an income equal to that of a baron. You will have a castle of your own, provided that you marry a princess of noble status who is deeply loved by her father."

Queen Guinevere gestured for her maid to bring Gawain a cup of wine. She clinked glasses with him, her expression serious.

The marriages of Morgause and Morgan le Fay had brought King Uther's Camelot military alliances with their families, overseas trade routes for foreign commerce, and political allies.

After King Arthur drew Excalibur from the stone, his being supported as king had not gone smoothly either. Though he was the late King Uther's son, when he formally appeared before everyone, he was no more than a wild child from the countryside. Even with the support of Sir Ector, his foster father, and other former officials of King Uther, inheriting the throne had not been easy.

King Arthur had drawn Excalibur from the stone at Christmas, but the nobles and knights clearly did not recognize him. They delayed from Epiphany to Candlemas, then postponed it again until Easter. Arthur drew Excalibur from the stone before everyone time and again, yet there were still lords who refused to accept him. It was not until Pentecost, when the people had already shown intense dissatisfaction and the nobles could no longer turn the tide, that they reluctantly supported Arthur as king.

This had involved the Church's faith, as well as the power of King Uther's former officials led by Ector. But even more indispensable were the military alliances brought by Arthur's three sisters through their marriages. Under all those pressures, Arthur was finally able to become king.

For medieval kings and great nobles, marrying off their daughters was actually a losing business.

Though thrones in the Middle Ages were generally inherited by men, that did not completely deny women the right of inheritance.

When it came to inheriting property, children held equal status.

A dowry was the property given by a woman's family when she married, and it was also the property a daughter inherited from her father's household.

The size of a dowry affected a woman's future standing in her family. When families of equal status, or even royal houses, formed marriage alliances, the bride's family had to bleed heavily.

King Arthur's political marriage had not only brought him a beautiful queen, but also steadfast military and political allies, along with substantial wealth.

For example, the enormous Round Table in Camelot's royal palace had been the queen's dowry. After his father-in-law died, King Arthur directly inherited his territory as well. By the customs of this era, a wife's dowry was managed by her husband.

If Gawain chose a wealthy princess like Guinevere as his fiancée, he could save himself ten years of struggle.

"Would you prefer a princess, or the daughter of a baron as your wife?" Guinevere asked. Her maid began taking out calling cards bearing the names of unmarried noble ladies of marriageable age.

Marrying a princess could bring Gawain a powerful father-in-law and a military alliance. Marrying the latter could bring him a wealthy father-in-law and a great noble family that even King Arthur had to treat seriously.

If he wished to compete for the throne, the latter was undoubtedly the better choice.

"I want neither a princess nor a baron's daughter, Your Majesty. I only want a beautiful girl as my fiancée."

Seeing the queen preparing to matchmake indiscriminately for him, Gawain hurriedly spoke. Looking at the portraits of girls on the cards the queen had handed him, he shuddered at the princesses' "beautiful appearances."

His words showed such firm resolve that Queen Guinevere looked at Gawain as though he were a monster. "Even if she is a commoner?"

"Even if she is a commoner!" Gawain said solemnly. When it came to something affecting his lifelong happiness, he would never compromise.

"You are still young. You do not yet understand that a woman's charm lies in the power and status of her father and brothers, in her husband, and in the wealth and wisdom she possesses. Beauty is not important."

Guinevere spoke with a bitter smile. This nephew of hers was simply too stubborn. "When a princess possesses wealth, power, and status, demanding beauty as well is greedy."

"Beauty is of course important!" Gawain objected. "Knights fight for beautiful princesses."

What kind of princesses were these?

Look at this noble lady from Cambridgeshire. She weighed three hundred jin. Was she really a princess and not a dragon?

Looking over the list of unmarried girls handed to him by the queen's maid, Gawain felt a chill run down his spine.