A pile of ashes remained in the room.
Merlin was dead.
Before he died, Ye Qiyan had used [Bewitchment] to wring every last piece of information out of him.
Although little of it was useful, it had taught Ye Qiyan a great deal about this world.
For instance, the reason the previous, elderly King had suddenly fallen gravely ill and neared death was that he had wanted to support the eldest princess in freeing this Kingdom from the Tower's control and refusing any further "baptisms."
And the reason that eldest princess had been unable to inherit the throne was that nightmares named [Merlin], like this one, had obstructed her in secret and backed many Nobles in assembling rebel armies.
Yes.
There were many "Merlins."
And to these Merlins, there was more than one [King] they had chosen who could draw the Sword in the Stone.
Although the other [King Candidates] had not been personally brought into being by that Tower, they had still been granted power by it, giving them the right to draw the sword.
Like Mebis, the other candidates were being fostered in other people's homes in various places across the countryside.
Once they had fully grown, they would kill the eldest princess, who would be portrayed as a witch of calamity, and finally compete in the Royal Capital to become the [King] who drew the Sword in the Stone.
Mebis was the most promising candidate, and the [Merlin] who had died at Ye Qiyan's hands had also been the most powerful Merlin.
Becoming King sounded pretty good, didn't it?
But all of this came at a price.
The [King] who drew the Sword in the Stone would gradually lose their own emotions, until they became the perfect monarch designed by the [Tower].
The King's own identity did