"My king, what is your plan for dealing with Queen Medb's invasion? Do you intend to confront her the same way you handled the Saxons?" Merlin asked, riding beside Uther on his warhorse.
Behind them, Camelot's troops marched in formation, a seemingly endless line of soldiers. Even Baobhan Sith followed close behind, though she made no effort to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"The same tactic won't work on the same person twice," Uther chuckled. "She's far more cunning and scheming than I originally gave her credit for. Compared to her, Scathach is a much bigger threat."
"Not Cu Chulainn?" Merlin asked, raising an eyebrow. In his mind, Scathach was mostly neutral, with little reason to interfere in their war.
She wouldn't pick a side, even if Cu Chulainn himself was involved.
"When someone has a weakness, they're never truly a threat, Merlin," Uther replied calmly.
"Whether it's Cu Chulainn or Queen Medb, they both have weaknesses that can be exploited. But Scathach? What's her weakness? I can't find it."
"I've glimpsed fragments of the future, and they suggest she won't intervene or grieve over her students' deaths. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's not that she doesn't grieve—maybe she just hides it so well it looks like she doesn't care."
"The only thing I know for sure about her is that she's killed gods and longs for her own death."
Merlin stared blankly at Uther, unsure how to respond. Of course, Uther didn't know much about Scathach—no one did.
Even Merlin, with his clairvoyance, couldn't see through her. It was as if she existed beyond the reach of his magic.
"Anyway," Uther continued, his tone firm, "I'll handle the Hound and Queen Medb. As for you, Merlin, your job is to deal with Scathach. Trap her, distract her, I don't care how—just don't let her interfere with our war."
"Understood, my king," Merlin said with a bow, before vanishing into thin air, leaving behind the faint scent of blooming flowers.
Moments later, Baobhan Sith urged her warhorse forward, riding up beside King Uther with a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
"Are you done with your business, pervert?" Sith teased, her voice carrying a playful edge.
"Oh...? Are you getting impatient, Sith?" Uther chuckled, his smirk as smug as ever. "Anyway, let's get down to business. Pleasure can wait. For now, I need you to send an important message to Morgan."
The moment Morgan's name came up, Sith's body noticeably stiffened. Her eyes darted around, guilt written all over her face.
It wasn't surprising. Her relationship with Morgan was complicated—more than complicated. It was the kind of twisted bond that made even the most scandalous court rumors sound tame.
Morgan was like a mother to her, and by that logic, Uther should've been her grandfather. Yet, here she was, tangled in his bed.
The thought of facing queen made her stomach churn.
How the hell was she supposed to look her in the eye, knowing she'd slept with her father?
What was she supposed to say? "Hey, Mom, guess what? I'm screwing your dad."
Yeah, right.
That kind of confession wasn't happening in this lifetime.
Their messed-up web of relationships was so crooked it made perfect sense why the book was titled Incest Pendragon.
Her stiffness turned into visible agitation, her expression hardening as if triggered by something.
"Why don't you tell the queen yourself, pervert? You're her father, aren't you?" she snapped, her tone biting.
"I'm her father, not her errand boy," Uther replied coldly, his voice dripping with authority. "You're her subject. That makes you the most suitable one for the job. Now go. And don't bother me again."
Without waiting for her response, he tossed the letter at her dismissively and turned his attention back to his horse.
With a flick of the reins, he urged the animal to pick up speed, leaving Sith behind.
Her face darkened at the way he brushed her off, his tone as indifferent as ever.
Did she even matter to him?
That question echoed in her mind, but the answer was as elusive as ever. Not even she knew. Maybe Uther didn't know either.
When it came to feelings, the man only cared about power and control. As long as no one dared to challenge those two things, nothing else mattered to him.
Then, as if she remembered something, she frowned.
Yeah, thinking about it, this guy really was a menace when someone crossed the line or stepped over him.
Her tone earlier wasn't great—it had probably rubbed him the wrong way. To him, mentioning the queen and saying he wanted her to meet her might have seemed like a simple statement, nothing more.
But for her, it triggered something deeper, something that shouldn't have been brought up.
That's why she got aggressive. And when she lashed out, he probably thought she was picking a fight for no damn reason. So, his reply had been colder, and his tone wasn't great either.
As someone who had been by his side as his maid, day and night, she knew him well enough to notice what kind of person he was and why he'd gotten upset.
He is pure egoist at heart.
If he thought someone had wronged him, he wouldn't hesitate to retaliate, even if it meant going to bloody extremes.
Just like the massacre he'd unleashed on the Saxons and his former allies who he believed had betrayed him.
Innocent or not, it didn't matter. As long as someone was even loosely connected to those he deemed enemies, they were just as guilty in his eyes. And he showed them no mercy.
It didn't matter who you were or why you had a problem with him. Even if he was the one who wronged you first, he wouldn't care. He'd never apologize or sympathize, no matter what. In his mind, if you crossed him, you were at fault—end of story.
Realizing this, she softened her tone. "Sorry for coming across as aggressive, King Uther. I'll send the message."
Uther didn't push the issue further, maybe noticing something was off with her too.
"No need, Sith. I need you to stay by my side. Let someone else handle the messenger job," he said tentatively, giving her a reason to stay without hurting her pride.
"Humph, I'm not that fragile, pervert," Baobhan Sith snorted softly. "I also want to talk to the queen about something."
Uther didn't stop her as she bid him farewell, turning her warhorse around while the troops of Camelot continued their steady march behind their king.
...
Note: Yeah, Merry Christmas!
This is my gift for you: the chapter!
I hope you like it.
Now, you're probably wondering, "Dude, why is this fic so slow to update?"
Well, I was burned out. The previous script for this fic originally had the MC corrupting Francesca Prelati bit by bit, breaking her, and then using her as a witness and testament to prove to the masses that it was really the vampires who attacked the church—nothing to do with him.
After that, he'd shift his target to Guinevere, repeating the process and turning her into his puppet.
But this very approach made the story feel slow, predictable, and ultimately burned me out.
What I hate most are predictable and slow stories.
So yeah, I skipped that entire process. Instead, I had the MC execute the vampires to boost morale for Camelot in their war against the Irish Coalition.
I tossed out my previous plan because I just couldn't deal with it anymore.
I was patient with Sith earlier because she was the first target, and it felt fresh to write about the MC breaking her.
But with others? I lost my motivation and patience. It didn't feel fresh anymore—it felt repetitive and boring.
Many authors may use this opportunity drag things out to make their chapters longer, but not me. I don't care about how many chapters or word counts I have.
Well, sometimes I care if it serves my purpose, but not in this case.
Anyway, let's talk about the future of this fic. Where were we?
Oh, right—burned out. But now, I've figured out the direction for this story.
So, perhaps, I will be back to update it regularly, but I need to stockpile chapters of this story first before really going back—at least ten or twenty chapters. I regret the fact that I didn't even have a stockpile for this story. Now, when I am burned out, I can't even post a single decent chapter.
I can predict probably between 90-150 chapters before this story is finished. I'm not sure yet; however, I want to grind for a stockpile first before really coming back.