And just like that, Gawain was unceremoniously escorted out of the palace. Even after leaving the royal grounds, Gawain still couldn't figure out why he had been let off so easily. Before coming to Camelot, he'd heard all about King Uther's reputation—a true man of iron will who demanded absolute obedience to his decrees.
So, Gawain hadn't initially planned to cause trouble. He was here to see the world, not to crash the party, and definitely not to mess with a tough guy like King Uther. But when the moment came, he just couldn't help himself. He figured the worst-case scenario was being disqualified from the tournament, which was no big deal. As for his future or career? He frankly didn't care much about that stuff anyway.
Back at his inn, Gawain took some time to collect his thoughts and finally sorted out the whole mess. This was the first time he'd realized that not all nobles were bad people. At least the ones he'd met—Sir Kay and Princess Morgana—seemed like good folks. Oh, and Prince Arthur, too, although Gawain was a little confused about why the prince, who had spoken up for him, looked at him with such unfriendly eyes.
While Gawain was lost in thought in his room, there was a knock on the door.
He opened it to find Gwen standing there with a delicate-looking young man.
"Gwen!" Gawain's impression of the girl was certainly strong. Actually, Gawain had seen Gwen once before he even helped her, just the day before. He had nothing to do, so he decided to walk around the streets of Camelot to see if he could find some entertainment.
While he was scouting the streets, checking out the ladies, he ran into Gwen. Even then, Gawain felt she was special. Without boasting, Gawain had always been confident in his looks. So, he went over to flirt, but Gwen totally ignored him.
That got his attention. He laid on the cringe-worthy, ancient pick-up lines, used his charm to score a flower from a little girl selling them, and presented it to Gwen. Although Gwen seemed highly flattered, she still resisted Gawain's advances.
So cute! So authentic! (Yeah, it's the classic "Boss falls for the girl" trope... Seriously, that's exactly the dynamic in the show, and Gwen follows that pattern with Arthur and Lancelot too. I wouldn't be surprised if she secretly funded the show just to fulfill her fantasy of charming handsome guys.)
So, Gawain became smitten with Gwen. Then came the 'hero saves the damsel,' followed by the 'damsel saves the hero.' After all that back and forth, Gawain's mindset shifted from just playing around to genuinely being interested in her.
Gwen's cheeks were flushed. That's because Gawain was much more passionate than that dope Arthur. He never tried to hide his feelings from the start, and his gaze was always so intense, leaving a beginner like Gwen, who was still at the "passing notes in class" stage of flirting, completely flustered.
Watching the undeniable chemistry between the two, Merlin felt truly miserable. Part of it was having to witness this "PDA," but the bigger issue was his anxiety.
It wasn't that Merlin had any designs on Gwen himself, although they did have a mutual attraction when they first met. (This was shown in the first season; honestly, Gwen flirts with every handsome guy in the show.)
But as time went on, they lost that romantic feeling, mainly because Merlin had developed a crush on Morgana. (Merlin's interest in Morgana was also shown in Season 1. It's weird how the show's main love story initially revolved around Merlin for the first few episodes, then abruptly shifted entirely to Gwen... Go figure.)
In any case, while Merlin and Gwen didn't become a couple, they became good friends through various circumstances. Since Arthur and Merlin were also best friends, Merlin knew all about the little spark between the Prince and Gwen. So, he was worried on Arthur's behalf.
Now what? It looks like Gwen is getting ready to switch her affections!
Merlin immediately reminded himself that while Arthur and Gwen's relationship was heating up, they were still "more than friends, less than lovers." So, it wasn't exactly switching affections yet. Merlin then compared Gawain and Arthur: Arthur was definitely losing this round. Gawain was so proactive; the moment he saw Gwen, he was fiery and passionate, dropping one smooth line after another—even Merlin felt embarrassed listening to the guy.
But Arthur? He felt things, but he never said them out loud. Compared to that, Gawain had a huge advantage.
Thinking about all this, Merlin couldn't help but worry for his best friend.
However, Merlin completely missed the huge social gap between Arthur and Gwen.
Merlin was best friends with Arthur and didn't know Gawain well (they just met today), so naturally, he sided with Arthur. He felt it was his duty as a friend to give Arthur a good talking-to, or his sweetheart was really going to run off with another man.
"You're here for...?" After a flurry of compliments and charming talk, Gawain finally remembered to ask Gwen why she came.
"Here, this is for you..." Gwen was still caught up in the emotional rush and barely remembered what she wanted to say. She just handed the bag to Gawain and ran off.
Gawain looked at the bag, then at Gwen running into the distance, and then at the gloomy, daydreaming Merlin standing beside him. He was confused for a moment. Did my flirting fail again? No way.
After a long moment, Gawain composed himself, looked up, and saw Merlin still standing in the doorway, spaced out.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
Merlin snapped out of it. He was about to explain that he had been sent by Arthur to help Gawain.
Even though Arthur was annoyed by Gawain's intense flirting with Gwen, he was still impressed by Gawain's character. Plus, Gawain had saved Gwen, so when Arthur noticed that Gawain didn't even have a servant, he thought of sending Merlin over to help him as a way of saying thanks.
Also, Merlin had been seriously bored these past few days, living the good life, which was incredibly irritating to Arthur, who was working like a dog every day. Guided by the revolutionary spirit of I'm miserable, so you can't be happy either, Arthur had essentially banished Merlin to help Gawain.
"I..." Merlin was about to explain.
But before he could say a word, Gawain simply pointed dramatically out the door and said two words: "Get out!"
Merlin was only a servant, but he had a special status and was naturally headstrong, so he couldn't stand Gawain's rough treatment. He simply turned and walked away.
I didn't want to serve him anyway!
As a furious Merlin stomped out of Gawain's room, he suddenly collided with someone around the corner of the inn hallway.
"Oops!"
With two startled yelps, the weak Merlin was knocked to the ground, but the person he hit seemed perfectly fine.
Merlin scrambled to his feet and immediately apologized: "I'm so sorry, so sorry! Please excuse me, Miss..."
When Merlin had crashed into the person, his hands had brushed against something soft, and the person had a lovely scent, so Merlin instinctively thought he had bumped into a woman. But when he looked up, he couldn't finish the sentence. The person in front of him was incredibly handsome, but by their clothes and features, they were clearly a man.
The person who had been hit didn't give Merlin a hard time; they just quickly said it was okay and hurried off.
Merlin watched the rapidly departing figure, then looked at his hands, wondering if the soft sensation he felt was just his imagination.