Chapter 287: Your Origin

"Back?"

Yu Lin lifted his head, watching Arthur return riding a qilin.

The boy's body was stained with still‑wet mottled blood; he pressed his lips together, and the emerald eyes that were usually clear now held a weight and complexity, and without a word he leapt down from the qilin's back.

Yu Lin did not comfort him; he simply spoke calmly, as if asking about an ordinary matter:

"How do you feel?"

Arthur walked to the fire, but did not sit. He bowed his head, looking at his blood‑stained hands and collar; his voice was low, tinged with a barely perceptible bewilderment: "It feels... not good."

He paused, as if struggling to find words, "It's not because I killed someone... but..."

His words stopped there; he did not continue.

That feeling was too complex—grief and anger at seeing his kin slaughtered, the lingering cold of a blade after killing an enemy, the helplessness before harsh reality, and an impulse to change something—all tangled, making it hard for him to sort them out.

Or rather, with his current experience, he could not articulate it.

Yu Lin did not press further; he simply shifted aside, giving him space.

Arthur sat down in silence, his gaze fixed on the flickering flames, as if seeking an answer in the wavering light.

Time drifted in the hush, broken only by the occasional crackle of burning wood.

After a long while, Arthur finally lifted his head slowly, looking at the teacher who had remained silent beside him; the fire‑lit eyes that once held bewilderment now gradually gave way to a determined searching.

"Teacher."

"What must I do... to save my fellow people?"

"At least... make them strong enough so they are no longer arbitrarily bullied and slaughtered."

Yu Lin met his gaze, offering no direct answer, but asked in return:

"You have to ask yourself, Arthur—what do you want to become in the future?"

"A law‑abiding farmer? A wanderer of the woods, a hunter? A warrior who only knows to charge into battle? A tribe hero revered by all? Or perhaps..."

Yu Lin's gaze deepened, and he spoke word by word,

"A... one who can unite hearts, set rules, and guard this land and all who dwell upon it— a king?"

He paused, giving Arthur time to digest the words, then said:

"Think carefully; the answer lies in your heart."

Finishing, Yu Lin rose, casually brushed his trousers as if dust and grass were there, did not look back at the shocked Arthur, turned and walked slowly toward the village, leaving a quiet space for the boy to contemplate.

Arthur sat rigidly in place, Yu Lin's words echoing in his mind like thunder.

Farmer? Hunter? Warrior? Hero? Or... king?

For the eleven‑year‑old, the word "king" felt too distant and heavy; its responsibilities and meaning far exceeded what a child could grasp.

He felt unprecedented bewilderment, as if standing at a crossroads of fate yet unable to see the end of any path.

He sat there quietly, brow furrowed, immersed in an inner storm, not even noticing the sky growing dim.

After an indeterminate time, a familiar, slightly faltering footstep drew near.

Merlin stepped beside him; the old man's gaze first fell on the darkening bloodstains on his body, a fleeting, unhidden pang of sorrow and complexity flashing through his eyes, but he quickly restrained his emotions and, as usual, spoke gently:

"Arthur, your growth... is faster than I imagined."

"It seems he truly is a good teacher."

He sat beside Arthur, his wrinkled hand resting lightly on his own knee, his tone becoming unusually solemn,

"Arthur, I must... tell you about your true origins."

Hearing this, Arthur jerked his head up, the bewilderment in his eyes replaced by great doubt: "Merlin Grandpa, what do you mean by... my true origins?"

He felt a hint of unease, "I... am I not your grandson?"

"Father and Brother Kai aren't also your children?"

He referred to the father and Brother Kai.

It was Knight Ekete and his son Kai; at first they looked after Arthur, but they have been away during this period.

When Kai reached adulthood, Ekete took him to another nation to seek a dwarf craftsman to forge a weapon as a coming‑of‑age gift.

They estimated another half‑year before returning.

Merlin slowly shook his head, his aged face bearing unprecedented seriousness, and said in a deep voice:

"No, child, we are not your blood relatives, and they are not my children either."

"We are merely entrusted by your true parents to raise you temporarily and keep you safe."

"We shouldn't have told you so early, but you have grown too quickly................"

He inhaled deeply, his gaze seeming to pierce time, seeing the distant past.

Then, slowly, he revealed the secret that could change Arthur's entire life:

"Your father... is the king of the KaMeiLuo Kingdom, his name is Yuse..."

The night was as black as ink, shrouding Britain's power center—the KaMeiLuo Kingdom.

Yu Lin's figure appeared silently outside the Royal City; he did not enter, but stood on a high ground, gazing at the towering castle silhouetted in the night, faintly exuding a sense of waning twilight.

According to the *History of Britain's Kings*, when the late king Orilius Ambros passed away, an omen appeared in the heavens.

A massive, bright star rose in the night sky, shooting out an incredibly dazzling beam.

The beam's tip turned into a fireball, then expanded, forming a colossal dragon of light! Even more astonishing, from the dragon's mouth burst two thicker rays: one that seemed to cross the ocean toward Ga Lu; the other aimed at the Irish Sea, splitting midway into seven finer light strands.

The star and light‑dragon phenomenon appeared three times in succession; all who witnessed it were terrified and regarded it as a divine revelation.

At that time, Merlin interpreted the prophecy.

He claimed the star and dragon represented Yuse himself, soon to ascend the throne, and the two main rays foretold that Yuse would have a son and a daughter.

The meaning of the seven branching light strands was even more obscure.

Although he harbored doubts, Yuse still etched Merlin's prophecy deeply into his memory.

After he endured hardships and finally ascended the throne as Britain's king, to fulfill the dragon Prophecy and to display royal authority, he ordered skilled artisans to be gathered and used gold to forge two lifelike, exquisitely crafted Golden Dragon statues.

One was presented to the great Church of Winchester for enshrinement, the other he kept personally and, when later riding the battlefield and pacifying the lands, carried the Golden Dragon with him as his banner and symbol.

From then on, the Head of the Great Dragon became his title, and the world reverently called him—Yuse Pandragong, Great Dragon Head Yuse.

He was once the mighty ruler who struck fear into the Saxon invaders and made the tribes of Britain submit; wherever his dragon banner pointed, there was victory and order.

Yet, time is relentless.

The valiant and decisive King Yuse of old, who once bore the dragon banner to expand his realm, has now reached the twilight of his life.

Yu Lin's gaze seemed to pierce the massive walls, seeing deep within the grand palace the elder whose posture was no longer upright, whose beard and hair were all white, and whose face bore the marks of age and suffering.