Kai didn't expose the kid, at least not in broad daylight. This is Camelot, magic is taboo and anyone associated with it will die. Even Kai was careful to hide the fact that he knew magic. So there's no need to get this kid into trouble.
There is no malice in this child. He is Arthur's friend. Kai can see that when he gets along with Arthur, he is closer to the kind of friend in Kai's impression, rather than being submissive and respectful to Arthur like others. Arthur needs such friends. What's more, his name is Merlin.
So Kai quickly changed the subject.
"Merlin, son of Hunith? The name is a woman. Where is your father?" In this era, when introducing oneself to others, especially in more formal situations, one would always use his father's name. For example, when Arthur introduces himself to others, he will say, Arthur, son of Uther. This is not meant to show off, but to be frank and solemn. He means that the introducer will not do anything impolite, because it will insult his father's dignity.
Of course, if the family has a long history or the family has produced great figures, the introduction will be lengthened, such as adding your great-great-great-grandfather or something. But this is a bit of a show off.
But few people will give their mother's name. There is no such thing as equality between men and women in this era.
Kai also asked casually, just as a matter of routine. Unexpectedly, Merlin suddenly became depressed.
"I...I don't have a father. I don't know who my father is at all. My mother never said that I was raised by my mother..."
Kai didn't expect that his words would actually hurt someone else's wound. So he apologized quickly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do this. I hope you can forgive me."
Kai comes from a modern society, so he doesn't care much about class differences, but Merlin is different. Although his talent makes him proud, he lives in this society and is bound by social rules. It is a fact that his status is very different from Kai's and cannot be changed. He is a commoner, while Kai is a noble and the adopted son of King Uther. He never thought that a big shot like Kai would apologize to him for just one sentence.
Merlin was a little at a loss for such treatment.
"Sir Sir, I, no, no, no, you don't need to apologize, it's nothing, really, really..." Merlin's face turned red, and he felt that he was almost dying of embarrassment. He actually behaved so poorly in front of such a noble man.
Kai looked at the anxious Merlin and smiled. He did not continue this topic. After all, if he continued, it would not be an apology, but would embarrass the child.
"Your mother must be a great woman. She taught you well, Merlin. When you introduce yourself to others in the future, you can proudly bring your mother's name. There is no shame in that. On the contrary, you should be proud You have such a mother.”
Kai wasn't being polite. Even in modern society, it is not easy for a single mother to raise a child independently, let alone in BC. The people here are uneducated, extremely backward and ignorant. As a widow who gave birth to a child with a man of unknown origin, you can only imagine what life will be like. There is a lot of trouble at the widow's door. This is not just a Chinese saying. This kind of thing can be found in every era and in every region.
But even so, this Ms. Hunis still raised Merlin, and it seemed that she did a good job. This is even more valuable. For such a lady, Kai respects her from the bottom of his heart.
Merlin, who was at a loss just now, immediately smiled like a child when he heard Kai praise his mother sincerely, a little shy but also proud. He was indeed proud of his mother. She worked hard to raise herself up by herself, and at the same time taught herself how to be a good person. Why shouldn't Merlin be proud of her?
"Thank you, Sir Kay. Hunith would be delighted to know that a noble lord like you has spoken so highly of her."
Kai smiled noncommittally. Although he has never met this lady, Ke Kai knows very well that the happiest thing about this lady is definitely not that she praises her, but that her child is recognized and praised by others. This is what a mother hopes most and is most proud of. thing.
This can be seen from the fact that Hunis would send a commoner Merlin to Gaius as an apprentice. She was not a short-sighted woman.
After a few more conversations with Merlin about his mother, Kai asked Merlin how he and Arthur met and became friends.
"Oh! You're talking about this..." Then Merlin vividly recounted their encounter.
A few months ago, Merlin took his mother's letter and came to be an apprentice to Gaius, the royal pharmacist. It went well at first. Gaius liked Merlin very much because of Hunis. Merlin himself is smart and kind, and he is easily recognized by others, until he meets Arthur who is doing trouble in the city on his way to deliver medicine again.
Arthur is not an obedient child. Like all energetic children, he likes to make mischief to vent his energy that has nowhere to go. Therefore, Arthur often bullies people. Of course, Arthur is not the kind of second-generation ancestor who does all kinds of evil. He just likes to have fun, but he has a good track record. He just took it as fun, so the people in the city didn't have much ill feelings toward Arthur.
It's just kidding, who would take it seriously?
But Merlin didn't know, so when Arthur bullied someone, Merlin stood up. He was not afraid of Arthur, and even choked Arthur with harsh words, although he himself was immediately suppressed by Arthur and locked in the square and had people throw rotten vegetable leaves at him.
This can be regarded as a rift with Arthur.
After that, the two met twice more, and each time Merlin had the upper hand with his rhetoric, and was then suppressed by Arthur with force. Until the last time, Arthur directly asked Merlin to take up arms, and the two sides wanted to settle their grudges.
In fact, it was Merlin's sharp words that made Arthur so unhappy that he planned to beat him upright.
The process of the competition was very tortuous. In Merlin's narration, Merlin relied on his own wisdom to fool Arthur around. But Arthur complained on the side that it was just his bad luck. Every time he planned to attack Merlin, his weapon would either get stuck in some strange place or trip on something on his foot.
However, the result was still the same as before, Merlin was defeated again. But this time Arthur did not punish him, but felt that Merlin had extraordinary courage, so the two of them had a good impression of each other for the first time.
Later, in order to avenge her son who was beheaded by King Uther, a witch tried to sneak into the palace and kill Arthur, so that King Uther could taste the pain of losing his son. In the end, Merlin's accidental collision destroyed the witch's conspiracy and saved Arthur's life.
In order to reward Merlin, King Uther made Merlin become Arthur's attendant. This also started the friendship between the two.
"Oh?" Kai made a long voice, squinting his eyes and looking at Arthur who was already sweating profusely. This is not tiring, but scary!
Sometimes, Kaidu had to sigh, it turned out to be the teleporting King Arthur, whose talent was enviable. After being tortured like this by Kai, he still managed to survive. You must know that Kai’s method came from a movie by Cheng Long that he watched in his previous life. In the movie, Cheng Long relied on this training method that is impossible to achieve in reality. Learn peerless martial arts and kill the villain's boss.
But this kind of nonsense training method couldn't defeat Arthur. Although Arthur was really hard at the beginning, he actually managed to resist it later on. Now, he has actually gotten used to it.
But now that Kai was looking at him like this, Arthur felt that his whole life was so tiring.
