Chapter Fifteen: Punishment (Please Bookmark and Recommend)

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“So our little Arthur has a mischievous side after all. I must say, as his elder brother, I regret never having seen this lively side of him. Don’t you agree, little Arthur?”

Though Kay claimed to regret missing Arthur’s liveliness, anyone with half a brain could tell that he was displeased by Arthur bullying the others. Arthur had a sinking feeling that he was about to suffer terribly. At that moment, he desperately wanted to throw off all the ridiculous things weighing him down, rush over, pin Merlin to the ground, and beat him senseless!

What a disaster!

“Merlin.” Kay smiled at Arthur as he spoke. “Go and fetch a few iron weights and put them in the bucket. I’m sure our energetic Prince Arthur will have no trouble with that.”

Merlin had never imagined that simply recounting a few amusing stories about how he and Arthur had met would earn Arthur punishment from Sir Kay. Merlin did not understand why Kay, who was merely King Uther’s foster son, could punish Arthur—the true prince—so freely. Yet everyone here seemed to regard it as perfectly normal. Merlin therefore did not dare refuse. He could associate with Arthur as casually as he pleased, but he would never have had the courage to defy Kay.

Merlin cast an apologetic look at Arthur. Arthur stared back in despair, silently pleading with him while shaking his head ever so slightly, clearly urging Merlin not to go. Merlin struggled inwardly for about three seconds. Then, when Kay’s gaze shifted from Arthur to him, Merlin made his decision at once.

“Yes, my lord.”

He immediately turned away from Arthur. He felt a little guilty, but what else could he do? He was only a servant, after all.

However, before Merlin had taken two steps, a fairy came to the rescue of Arthur, who was already teetering on the brink of despair.

“Merlin! Come here quickly and help Gwen carry the wine. This is Sir Kay’s favorite wine. If it gets spilled, Sir Kay will be displeased!”

It was Morgana. No one knew when she had arrived at the training ground, but Gwen was following behind her with food and wine. Gwen was a strong, healthy girl and usually excelled at her work, but even she looked somewhat disheveled while carrying such a large load.

The moment Merlin saw Morgana and Gwen, he felt a faint pang of disappointment.

Hmph! It certainly wasn’t because he was disappointed at missing the chance to watch Arthur suffer!

“Of course, Your Highness.”

With that, Merlin promptly took the wine jug and several other things from Gwen. He also gave her a discreet wink. Clearly, he had seen through Princess Morgana’s little ruse.

Gwen flashed him an helpless grin, signaling that there was nothing she could do.

“Kay, Arthur, it’s lunchtime now. The boys’ game should come to an end.”

Morgana tried her best to sound natural. She rarely lied, especially to Kay. When Morgana had first come to the palace, she had been only a child. Her father had died in battle, leaving her utterly alone. In coming to the palace, she had been little more than a dependent under someone else’s roof.

Kay had rescued Morgana from that terrible loneliness. Like a father, and like an elder brother, he had comforted and accompanied her until she once again became cheerful.

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That was why Morgana still felt somewhat uncomfortable lying to Kay. But as Arthur’s elder sister, she could not bear to watch him continue being punished. Arthur had already been squatting there foolishly for nearly two hours.

At Morgana’s invitation to lunch, Arthur looked as though he had seen his salvation. He first gave Morgana a grateful glance, then looked pleadingly at Kay. He knew that Kay would relax his punishment under only one circumstance: mealtime.

Kay had once said that, under heaven, nothing was more important than eating.

Kay tugged at the corner of his mouth and glanced at the sun. It was not yet eleven o’clock, and it was still rather early for lunch. But when he saw Arthur’s pitiful expression and Morgana’s earnest hope, what could he say?

And so Arthur escaped disaster—for the moment.

Only for the moment. From then on, Arthur’s days became a living hell.

…

With Kay’s return, the prince who had once spent his days wandering around Camelot now rarely appeared in public. His daily life had become like an existence in hell. Every morning at six, before dawn had even broken, Kay would drag him out of bed. If Arthur dared resist, Kay would throw a basin of ice water over him, followed by a thorough beating.

Once he was up, Arthur had to run ten laps around the city walls while the entire city still slept. That served as his warm-up. Afterward came horse stance training. Around eight o’clock, he was given breakfast. He had an hour to rest afterward, but even then he was not allowed to relax in the slightest. Although there was no strenuous physical activity, he had to study all manner of subjects under the grand scholar.

At nine, he was finally permitted fifteen minutes of rest. Then he would head to the training ground for martial practice with Sir Kay—which was called training, though in reality it consisted of being brutally beaten.

According to Kay, anyone who wished to learn how to attack had to learn how to take a beating first. Arthur had not failed to resist, but it was useless. No matter how he fought back, he still received the beating he was due.

After two hours of martial training, he was granted half an hour to rest, followed by lunch. Lunchtime lasted from half past eleven until half past one, and those two hours were entirely his own. He could eat slowly, or finish quickly and sleep for a while.

After half past one, he would begin with another warm-up, followed by special training—more horse stance exercises. At four, he began actual combat training. His opponents were now knights from the order. He could choose either fighting on foot or mounted combat.

Unlike before, however, any knight defeated by Arthur would be punished. Conversely, those who defeated Arthur more quickly would receive a reward. It was not a particularly generous reward, but five gold coins were nothing to sneeze at.

Naturally, the knights gave Arthur everything they had…

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Only when the sun had completely set at six o’clock was Arthur’s day officially over. After that, he was free to do as he pleased. He could, of course, celebrate all night long—but he still had to rise promptly at six the following morning…

Besides, after being worked half to death, Arthur usually collapsed into bed immediately after dinner. He had no energy left to think about anything else.

He lived like that for an entire month. Arthur even began entertaining thoughts of running away from home. But those were merely private fantasies indulged in whenever he felt particularly resentful. If it ever came to actually doing it, he would not have dared.

Besides, Arthur was not ungrateful. He knew perfectly well that Kay was doing this for his own good. And although a month was not a long time, Arthur himself could clearly see that he had improved considerably—not to mention how obvious it was to everyone else.

King Uther was delighted. He had always believed that he had been strict enough with Arthur, but after seeing Kay’s methods, he realized that perhaps he had spoiled Arthur far too much. He therefore trusted Kay completely and allowed him to do as he saw fit. The facts had already proven that Kay’s approach to teaching was more effective.

Morgana, on the other hand, felt sorry for Arthur. She went out of her way to create opportunities for him to relax. For instance, she would find every excuse to bring Kay his meals while bringing along Arthur’s portion as well. She prepared plenty of food and wine, extending the lunch hour whenever she could.

Kay and King Uther were both somewhat helpless in the face of this. They could hardly stop Morgana from caring for her younger brother, could they? Moreover, for reasons that could not be spoken of, King Uther was more than happy to see Morgana and Arthur share such a close bond as brother and sister. He was even less inclined to say anything.

Even so, Morgana remained unsatisfied. She often complained to King Uther and Kay that their treatment of Arthur was inhumane. Although neither Kay nor Uther took her objections particularly seriously, they still had to consider Morgana’s feelings.

And so, today, Kay granted Arthur an entire half-day off—a rare occurrence indeed.

Arthur was practically moved to tears of joy. These past days, he had spent every waking hour training, being beaten, and beating others. Even he felt that his mind was about to break. He desperately needed a chance to relax.

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