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fluffypotatey · 2 years

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Operation Merthurt: Part 2

part 1

Merlin has magic. It makes a whole lot of sense when Malifer looks back on it, but now his plans are close to going up in flames. Malifer slumps on the castle wall thinking back to yesterday. He swore not to tell anyone, but this is a secret too big for Malifer to bear. He sighs and slumps further.

It doesn’t help that magic is still outlawed in Camelot which complicates everything. This is way above his pay grade. It’s here, slumped on a wall, that Sir Leon finds Malifer.

“What’s wrong?” Ever intuitive the great Sir Leon. He slides down to sit next to the deflated Malifer. “Is your nose bothering you?”

Malifer blinks. He totally forgot about his nose. He assumes that it must be a pale purple or blue by now but isn't sure. Mirrors aren’t exactly something Malifer can afford.

“It’s fine. Barely even noticed it until now.” He reaches to touch his nose. There’s still a slight sting, but it’s faint.

“That’s good.” Leon nods in a way that makes Malifer snort. He just looks so silly with his hair bobbing and some of it got in his face. Leon just stares dumbly which makes Malifer laugh even more. To anyone passing by, he's sure the pair of them look a little odd with Malifer laughing while Leon just stares blankly at him.

Malifer sobers up sometime later and leans back on the wall. That felt good.

“I’m glad to see you’ve cheered up.” Malifer looks back at Leon who is smiling again. Malifer doesn’t know how to answer that, so he just chuckles and hopes it doesn’t sound as nervous as he feels just now.

“Well, we all have our sad days.” He goes to ruffle his hair to distract himself from not staring at Leon. “Did you get anything from His Majesty?”

Leon takes the bait for what it is. “No, nothing new. Although, we still had our regularly scheduled Merthur stare.”

Malifer groans. “Did Gwaine get to you, too? I told him that name was idiotic, but somehow he’s gotten everyone else to continue saying it. I think mine is more creative. This is just a combination of their names stuck together.”

Leon chuckles and Malifer flushes. He didn’t mean to vent at him over something as trivial as that. It just...came out.

“I mean, I have nothing against Gwaine, really. He’s a great guy, really sweet and charming—”

“Charming?”

Malifer shuts his mouth. Why is that the word people focus on! He turns to look at Leon who’s frowning. Malifer coughs and brushes some of his hair out of the way.

“Charming as in likable, Sire. Anyway, I have a favor to ask you.” Malifer stands up. He doesn’t feel like sitting anymore.

“Could you—” Malifer frowns. How is he to ask this without it seeming suspicious. He swore to keep this a secret and though it’s a heavy secret, Malifer won’t break that trust.

“What’s your opinion on magic?”

“Magic?” Leon asks, brows furrowed. “Why?”

“Why not? I understand that it’s outlawed here but what’s your opinion?”

Leon crosses his arms, placing one hand under his chin. He stays like that, contemplating, for a while. Malifer now regrets asking. Leon’s a knight, someone whose job is to uphold the law whether it’s just or not. Malifer should know his answer.

And yet, he wanted to know. Leon, even as Malifer watched him from afar, was a knight with honor and a paragon of virtue and nobility. It irritated him, but he knew that Leon at his heart was a good man, but he is also a knight of Camelot, and its laws say magic is punishable by death.

“I’m...not well versed in any knowledge of magic. From my experience, it always wants to attack.” Malifer’s shoulders deflate. “But, sometimes...I feel like there are instances where we win against our enemies with more luck than skill.”

Malifer holds his breath. Though he only found out yesterday, he knows Leon is talking about Merlin. Leon may not know that, but Malifer does, and it makes his chest warm.

“Do you think it’s luck?” Malifer crouches down to Leon’s eye level. The knight turns to face him. His smile is sad, and Malifer’s heart breaks.

“Not for a long time.”

“Alright! New plan folks.”

Groans are sounded in the kitchen. It’s late. Malifer knows this, but he’s got work to do and needs the help of his colleagues.

“I know it has come to our attention that King Arthur is not courting. However, having Merlin know that His Majesty doesn’t plan on courting anyone is not enough!”

Nods follow, some continue to look confused, and others are trying their best to stay awake.

“Just this evening, I was informed, thanks to Sir Lancelot, that King Arthur has no idea that Merlin is into men.”

Gasp echo and murmuring follow after. Good, that could help him get some ideas.

“Is the king serious?”

“Does he not remember when Merlin was checking out all of his knights?”

“Our king is a fool!”

Malifer sighs. He agrees, but he can’t voice that, not yet.

“Alright, calm your tits. Now, I need ideas, people. We need to let His Majesty know that Merlin is not only into men but also available.”

That got them. Many ideas were given. Some very well thought out, and some:

“We could just tell him.”

“Are you out of your mind?!”

“That will make us suspicious!”

“Sounds like something Stephen would suggest.”

“That was one time!”

“Did you forget what subtly means?”

The man who gave the idea just rolled his eyes. “Listen, if he’s oblivious to Merlin checking out his knights, I think these others will just pass him by.” Malifer frowned. The man was right even though his idea wasn’t really one he would do. The King wasn’t ready for some stranger to drop that bomb on him.

“Um, we could use one of the knights?” spoke a soft voice. Malifer scanned the crowd and found the voice. It was one of the laundry maids. Malifer doesn’t remember her name, but knows that she’s usually someone who keeps to herself.

“Explain.” He tells her, and she jumps. The maid goes to fiddle with her apron.

“Uh, I-I was, well...I was thinking, what if we had one of the knights talking to, um, talking to Merlin about men near Ar–I mean, King Arthur.” The maid brings her head down and continues to fiddle with her apron.

Malifer mulls over her idea. He can see the rest of the servants do that, too. It's not bad. Actually, it's great. It’s subtle in that it won’t look like it’s on purpose, but it’s not subtle enough to go over the King’s head.

“It’s brilliant! That’s perfect! And I’m sure we have the right knight in mind.”

The crowd of servants nod. Some whoop and holler, but it’s late enough that no one will come over (also, most of the guards know about the servants’ secret meeting and even have their own money in the betting pool).

Convincing Gwaine was a piece of cake. The minute Malifer’s plan was told to Gwaine he nodded excitedly and even picked up Malifer in excitement. Malifer knew he would be on board since he created a whole new name from Merlin and Arthur’s names (Malifer still thinks it sounds stupid, but it’s too late now).

The plan was simple: while the knights are training, Gwaine will go up to Merlin (who totally wasn’t watching Arthur as he trained the knights) and talk about his preferences in men, loud enough for Arthur to hear.

However, the plan did not involve dragging Malifer along for the ride.

“Gwaine! I don’t even go near the training grounds! How do you expect me to even be there without it looking suspicious?”

Gwaine only laughed as he continued to drag Malifer to the grounds. Malifer huffs, accepting that he’s not getting out of this anytime soon. At the grounds, Gwaine shouts Merlin’s name and the man turns around with an eyebrow raised, watching as Gwaine runs over tugging the poor servant in tow.

Malifer pants. He is never running with Gwaine ever again.

“Hey there, Merls! Did you come to watch the show?” He smiles as his impossibly white teeth shine in the sunlight (what the fu–).

“No, I came to watch you torment a poor servant across the field,” Merlin drawls. He looks over to Malifer huffing and puffing in pity.

“Gwaine causing you any trouble?”

Malifer huffs out a laugh. “When is he not?”

Merlin snorts. Gwaine only puts a hand over his heart. “Oh, how you wound a poor heart like mine!” Laughter ensues.

“If you are quite done, Gwaine, maybe then we can get training started.”

The trio look over and see the king with an unimpressed expression towards Gwaine. Malifer figures Gwaine’s antics must be something the king and the knights are used to since he can see them snickering behind. There, Malifer catches Leon’s eye. He waves at the knight, causing Leon to wave back with that soft smile of his.

“Now I see why Gwaine brought you along.” Malifer jumps, forgetting that Merlin was right next to him. He hastily brushes his trousers then fixes his hair while Merlin just smiles.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Merlin scoffs and rolls his eyes.

“Besides,” Malifer smirks, “it’s not like you’re one to talk. I saw you drooling while the king was running drills earlier.”

Merlin sputters, and Malifer’s smirk grows wider. “I wasn’t–why would I even–He’s the king!”

Malifer hums, sits next to Merlin, and crosses his legs. “And what a lovely figure our king has, right?” He looked out in the field, nodding to prove his point, but he wasn’t looking at the king.

Merlin’s face reddens even more, but it seems that he’s got more fuel left in him to speak. “I-I, ugh fine yes. Arthur has a really nice...figure...and arms and thighs and—” He covers his face in his hands. Looks like he ran out. Malifer snorts at Merlin and faces back towards the knights training.

Merlin isn’t wrong. King Arthur looks gorgeous. With his sweaty hair swept back and that really sexy habit of twirling his sword. Malifer understands. It’s a wonder Merlin survived having to look at such a gorgeous face without combusting everyday.

“You are definitely a trooper, Merlin.”

Merlin huffs back in reply.

A couple minutes later, Merlin is back to his regular cheery self while checking out the king at the same time. Malifer would laugh, but he is also occupied with staring at another knight.

While he isn’t kingly gorgeous like Arthur, Sir Leon’s got his own attractive way of making onlookers gawk. For one, his scruffy beard. It’s different from Gwaine’s scruffiness which was more stubble than an actual beard. Also, Leon’s always looked more refined. Probably because he was a noble. His hair gleamed in the sun and he had this determination on his face that looked so knightley that you just had to see more.

Leon was sparring with Lancelot and Malifer couldn’t look away. His movements, meticulous as ever, were swift and precise. Lancelot blocked them all, but Malifer could still see the struggle between the two knights. While Lancelot attacked like his life depended on it, Leon went through like it was art.

“You’re drooling, Mal.” Startled, Malifer quickly wiped his face. When he feels nothing, he glares at Gwaine. Bastard.

“That wasn’t funny, you ass,” Malifer hisses.

Gwaine shrugs. “It was a little. Isn’t that right, Merlin?”

Merlin snorts. Malifer gives a dramatic wail.

“How could you? My own kin! This betrayal runs deep into my soul.”

Merlin rolls his eyes. “Get over yourself, drama queen.”

Malifer huffs while the traitorous duo snicker next to him. He didn’t sign up for this kind of bullying. He signed up to work in the kitchens and have fun with Charlie. Then Operation Merthur (Malifer swears he’ll get Gwaine back for this slander) happened, and now it seems like he’s been roped up in something he couldn’t even imagine being a part of.

“Although, speaking about drooling over men.”

Wonderful transition, Gwaine. Truly, he is one of the greats.

“Whatcha say, Merls? If you were to pick” ---Malifer can tell he’s gotten louder and can see the king subtly incline his head to their direction--- “who would it be, Me or Lancelot?”

Merlin hums and bows his head. “Is this from an objective perspective or like…”

Gwaine shakes his head. “More of...preference, you know? You’re into men, right Merls?”

Wow, way to be subtle, Gwaine. Malifer can see the king stiffen, and if he wasn’t watching His Royal Highness so closely, Malifer would’ve missed it. Gwaine’s grin is the same, but his eyes hide a glint of mischief.

Merlin blushes. “Well, yes, I am.”

Gwaine’s grin widens. Malifer watches as King Arthur fumbles with his sword. He can see the rest of the knights watching the king closely. Leon is the closest to him and glances between the king and where the trio resides. Malifer sees when it clicks for him, and smiles at Malifer who gives a thumbs up in response.

“Excellent! Now, Merlin, Lancelot or me.”

Merlin frowns. His eyes flicker from Gwaine to Lancelot then to Arthur. “I dunno, Gwaine. Both of you are fairly attractive. I can’t choose.” He smiles. “Sorry to disappoint.”

Gwaine shrugs it off. “That’s alright, Merlin. We all know no one can match the beauty of--”

“Alright, Gwaine! Quit dilly-dallying and stop bothering Merlin. Break’s over,” the king says flippantly. Gwaine sighs dramatically then turns to leave the servants alone. Not before doing one more theatrical farewell. He takes Malifer’s hand and kisses it softly. Malifer’s face runs hot.

“Until we see each other again!” He salutes smirk staying firmly on his face and runs toward the field. Malifer stumbles back to the bench while Merlin laughs.

“You should have seen your face! Gwaine’s quite a character isn’t he?” Merlin smiles while Malifer stares dumbly off into the distance.

“Yeah...you know, no one’s ever done that to me before. I can see why the ladies like him.”

Merlin snorts. “Best not to fall for him, though. Gwaine’s a bit of a player.”

Malifer gives a weak scoff.

“Don’t worry, Merlin. I’m not into players.”

Merlin nods. “You are most definitely right, Malifer. It’s not players like Gwaine.” Suddenly, Malifer didn’t like where this was going. “You like knights who are by the book...like say...Sir Leon?”

Malifer is going to strangle him.

A couple of days later finds Malifer with Sir Leon going through information they know and what the knight had discovered that day. They end it with a polite goodbye and a plan to meet up again tomorrow.

Fortunately, it seems that the plan with Gwaine worked extremely well. So well, that the king is seen to be more forward with his manservant. Giving him decent clothes, ordering extra food so he and Merlin can eat together, and some more that have run around the rumor mill. Frankly, Malifer feels pretty smug. It seems that almost everything is falling into place. Of course there’s one thing still left to do.

Merlin’s magic.

It’s not really the problem that he has magic. More of...he has never told a whole lot of people. The few being Gaius, Lancelot (honestly, Malifer can’t even be surprised, the two are pretty close), Gwen and himself. There’s also the problem of magic being illegal in Camelot, too.

Malifer does admit that this new information frustrates him. If Merlin didn’t have any magic, then he’s sure this operation would have been completed years prior. But, Merlin does, in fact, have magic, and it’s a part of him that Malifer cannot ignore if he wants these two idiots to get together.

Although, this does explain why it has been taking the two so long to even progress. Merlin had been keeping a lot of secrets from the king, and even if he did confess his feelings, the relationship may not even last that long. What with Merlin still hiding his magic and Arthur probably feeling like Merlin still doesn’t trust him. The relationship would fall apart, and Malifer can’t have that. He has worked too hard for all of this to blow up in his face.

So, first things first. Malifer has to find a way to get rid of that law. To do that, Malifer needs to find out the king’s real opinions about magic. Of course Malifer can’t ask him, but he thinks he knows a knight who can.

“Think you can do it?”

Lancelot furrows his brows, his chin perched on top of his hands. Some moments later, he lifts his head and nods. Relief courses through Malifer. He knew Lancelot would say yes, but waiting as he considers it can make anyone second guess their assumptions.

“Are you positive this will work?” Malifer frowns. He wasn’t expecting that question.

“Yes, I could be wrong, but this is the only one that I see making sense. You ask the king, and if he seems uncertain, exploit it and convince him that magic is merely a tool for the user or even…even that it is closer to how we view nature. Once the law is down, Merlin doesn’t have to live in fear or hide who he really is.”

Lancelot looks the servant down even though he’s sitting. Finally, he sighs and gets out of his chair. He looks Malifer dead in the eye and gives over his hand.

“Then you have a deal.”

They shake on it.

Everyday, Malifer and Charlie eat their lunch on a forgotten step in the courtyard. Most servants eat in the kitchen or in their quarters, but Malifer and Charlie already work in the kitchens. Eating in the courtyard always felt better than the stuffy kitchens anyway. The fresh air, the sound of people coming in and out. It was nice.

“Do you ever think that you’re in over your head?” Malifer looks over at Charlie. His friend is looking towards the sky, his food forgotten.

“What do you mean?”

Charlie looks over at Malifer. He motions to the courtyard around them, busy as always. Malifer can faintly hear birds singing above.

“This whole operation, involving the knights, Merlin’s surrogate father. Doesn’t it feel like we're closing in on where things get a little overwhelming? I mean, it started off from a joke and now it’s become...this!”

Malifer listens quietly and ponders. Yeah, Charlie was just joking, but who would’ve thought he was right?

“I feel like we're losing the reins to this operation a little bit, you know?” Charlie continues, “It feels like there are so many things to keep track of, and you’ve got that weird deal with Lancelot—I’m not even gonna bother to ask.” He sighs.

“Don’t you think we’ve gone too far?”

Malifer stares at his best friend. He smiles. “Actually, we haven’t gone far enough. Those four years of us speculating, that was nothing compared to this. We have only begun, and I don’t plan on stopping until it’s finished.”

The next day, Malifer met Leon at their usual spot. It started off as it always did. Leon would ask about Malifer’s day. The servant would ask the same thing back then they would delve into the actual reason on why they met up.

“Arthur’s been asking me about magic.” Leon mentions an hour in. Malifer pauses and looks over at the knight. He wants to be subtle and ask more, but worried if that might reveal that Malifer knew more than he led on.

“Why does he ask?”

Leon shrugs and scratches his beard. “He asks me if the law is going too far.”

Malifer feels faint. Is it really that close to being undone? He takes a deep breath.

“What did you say?” Malifer gently goes to grab Leon’s hand. His excuse is to comfort Leon who looks exhausted, but he doesn’t mind if it also covers his trembling hand. Leon sucks in a breath and looks down at Malifer.

“I said, ‘there should never be a law that allows the innocents to die’” Malifer tightens his grip. “I said that as a knight it is my duty to uphold the law no matter what, and that it is the king’s duty to see to it that all of his people are taken care of.”

“That was pretty bold of you to say to your king.” Malifer brings Leon’s hand closer to his and fiddles with it, just to distract him. Leon hums and allows Malifer to interlock their fingers.

“Yes, but Arthur wasn’t asking as a king. He was asking as a friend.”

“Do you think you helped?”

“Only if Arthur listens to me.”

Lancelot comes to him later. Malifer has a feeling of what will be enclosed to him, but it’s always good to see all of the cards another even though he might know most. Lancelot isn’t tense so that’s good news. He’s not relatively happy, so bad news could be coming. The knight could just be fooling him. Lancelot was always good at hiding his emotions for stuff like this.

For a while he doesn’t say anything. He just fidgets in his seat. Malifer taps his foot and crosses his arms, waiting.

“Well?”

Lancelot clears his throat. “So, I asked Arthur about his opinion on magic and he seemed kind of standoffish at first, but my guess is that he was trying to avoid the topic. Anyway, he lets it slip that he doesn’t think all magic is inherently evil. He just hasn’t had a lot of examples.” Lancelot pauses and fidgets in his seat. “I thought that would be a good time to mention magic to be seen as a tool. I noticed it did get him thinking. Unfortunately, that was all I could get from him, but he doesn’t seem abhorrent to it.”

Malifer nods along. It does seem that Lancelot got the king to think and after that encounter with Leon, Malifer thinks this might work. He then tells Lancelot about what Leon told him. The knight also agrees that this could lead to the king lifting the ban on magic. Malifer leaves sometime after feeling a little lighter in his steps.

It’s here that Malifer runs into Leon again. Thankfully, without actually crashing into him. Malifer learned his lesson the first time.

“Leon! Hey, what are you doing here?” Leon really is tall. Malifer knows he’s not short, but when compared to the knight, Malifer only reached Leon’s chin. Usually, this bothered Malifer, but today he was in high spirits. He even felt a little braver.

“Just doing my rounds. Well, I actually finished them—”

“Great! Do you want to walk with me?” The minute he asked, all of Malifer’s bravery vanished. Oh gods, what has he done. He was so caught up on the hope of the magic ban being lifted that he forgot that this is Leon! The knight who is always by the book. Loyal to the crown, and definitely not into servants who play matchmaker for their own amusement.

It was fine when he got teased because he knew it was harmless even if his heart flipped or fluttered whenever the knight's name was mentioned. He knew it was all a fantasy. Just a silly crush because knights like Leon aren’t into servants like—

“Okay.”

Malifer blinked. “Okay?”

Leon shrugged. “I’ll walk with you.”

Malifer stays frozen as Leon turns around to face the hallway ahead of them and outstretches his hand. The servant looks down at it, his mouth open and gaping like a fish. Malifer then looks up to Leon as he smiles expectantly.

“Coming?”

Malifer grabs his hand, their fingers intertwined as they set off to wander around the castle.

A week later, the magic ban was lifted. Malifer missed the announcement since he was stuck in the kitchens, but Charlie made sure to tell him everything. What are best friends for?

Charlie flaps his arms around Malifer while telling him the news. “The law is gone! Like completely gone! He mentioned that he is done with continuing to reign while hurting innocent subjects who shouldn’t have to hide who they are. Can you imagine...Magic back in Camelot!”

Malifer chuckles at Charlie. He’s finished his job by now and is just drying himself off. “That will definitely be something to look forward to. And it was that easy?”

Charlie scoffs. “Even I could tell that some nobles still didn’t agree, but of course at this point it’s too late to argue with the king. The minute he announced it there was an uproar, and I have never seen one so bad as the time when Molly and Annie fought over who was the better type for Merlin.” Malifer winces at the memory. Both maids had reasoned that either Lancelot or Gwaine were possible options for Merlin and it lead to a schism between the castle servant on who would best fit. Their late night meetings got so bad that if it wasn’t for Cook, Malifer thinks fists would have been flying and there would have been a brawl. Charlie nods to Malifer’s reaction.

“Yeah, it was bad. That is until Sir Leon spoke up about the magic users being as much a subject of Camelot as anyone else. It was something. No wonder you like him so much.”

Malifer snaps his neck to Charlie looking smug (the fucker) while leaning on the sink. He’s fighting to keep his face a healthy color but he knows that he’s losing.

“I don’t–It’s not–ugh!” Charlie snickers. “You’re an ass!”

“But a lovable one, right?” Charlie asks innocently, his face leans close to Malifer’s. An inch closer, and he’ll be tempted to punch him.

“I’m not interrupting anything am I?” Malifer yelps and turns to see the mentioned knight at the kitchen’s entrance.

“Leon! Gods, no, Charlie was just being an ass as usual.” Malifer fixes his clothes then his hair. Why did Leon come here now? He’s all sweaty and gross with his clothes still wet from washing dishes and cooking utensils. Malifer coughs. “What are you doing here?”

Leon clears his throat. “I just thought I would share some news that happened moments ago.” The knight shuffles his feet and looks anywhere but the two servants.

“Oh, well you don’t need to worry. Charlie told me about the ban on magic being lifted.”

Leon blinked (he does that a lot doesn’t he?). “Oh, he did? Good then.” The silence that followed was deafening. Malifer was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

“Right, um, is that all?” Malifer winces after saying that. It sounds so...final. Like he wants Leon to leave.

Leon’s shoulders sag as he sighs, shaking his head. “I guess so.” He turns to leave. “I’ll see you later?”

Malifer can’t breathe. Leon looks so...sad. But why? There’s this hopeful glimmer in the knight’s eyes that Malifer wishes he could keep with him forever. It takes a moment for him to realize he’s just been staring at the knight. He needs to answer him. Leon wants to see him again, right? That’s why he asked.

Malifer smiles softly at Leon. “Yeah, see you later.”

Once Leon disappears from view, Malifer slumps onto the table and sighs. Charlie stares wide eyed at what he just witnessed. His glance from the entrance to Malifer and then back to the entrance. Charlie blows out a hard sigh and looks back at his friend.

“You are so fucked, dude.”

“Shut. Up!”

News of lifting the magic ban spreads fast. By lunch, everyone knows and won’t stop talking about it. Malifer finds Merlin while on his way back to the kitchens and notices the manservant skipping his way around the castle.

“Merlin!” Malifer runs to catch up to him. Merlin greets Malifer with a blinding smile (the sun had no competition). “I’m guessing you heard.”

Merlin nods. His head bobbing frantically and his smile never wavering. It makes Alifer’s own heart soften. Merlin always was a favorite for the rest of the servants. Especially when he told off the king that first time when he was still a prince. It’s one of the reasons why it was so easy for everyone to band together and get those two idiots to confess.

Seeing Merlin smile like this makes Malifer want to scrunch up his cheeks like some of the old maids do everytime Malifer greets one of them. (“Oh what a polite little gentleman!” “Look at him! So young and yet so kind!” “Please, my cheeks- I can't feel them anymore!” “Oh what a charmer!”).

“Magic is legal,” Merlin whispers. The man giggles and claps his hands. Malifer thinks this is the only time he’s ever seen Merlin so happy. The thought hurts to know, but he squashes it because this is the time to celebrate.

“You don’t have to hide it from the king anymore,” Malifer whispers back. Merlin can be free from hiding himself. Merlin can confess to the king without the paranoia of accidentally letting it slip that he possesses magic. Merlin can finally be happy.

Malifer knows he started this plan as a selfish way to get them together, but if this is what it gives to Merlin, Malifer doesn’t care if his plan fails. Failure or not, Merlin won’t have to hide himself anymore.

Merlin blinks at Malifer. He sees the slow realization fall onto the manservant. A quiet “oh” is mumbled as Merlin looks at the floor with heavy consideration. Merlin nods and looks down to Malifer (they're close to the same height, Malifer would have argued).

“I can tell Arthur...I can...HOLY SHIT!”

There’s a feast made to celebrate the ban being lifted. Both Malifer and Charlie are able to join since none of them are stuck in the kitchens tonight. The feast is lively with minstrels playing festive tunes and bards singing about some adventure the King and his knight went on. People dance and clap, and Malifer is having the time of his life.

He bumps into Merlin from time to time and spies him and the king doing their usual thing. Always lost in their own world. Malifer also catches Leon’s eyes but they’re brief and sudden. No matter, it still makes Malifer’s chest flutter.

Sometime near midnight (Malifer doesn’t actually know that’s just his guess), he spies Merlin whispering something in the king’s ear. He sees the king frown and nod at Merlin. Then the king stands up, says something about retiring, but to please indulge themselves as the night is still young. He leaves with Merlin in tow looking rather nervous.

Malifer may have had too much to drink, but he’s not stupid. He knows what this is. This. Is his moment of truth, and Malifer is not missing it for the world. He stumbles to where the king and manservant went, but trips on something. His body is caught before it lands on the stone, cold floor. Malifer looks to the strong arm holding him. It’s metal.

“Careful there, Malifer,” Leon says to him. Malifer feels his insides melt. He must’ve drunk a lot if just hearing Leon speak is enough to make him melt into a puddle.

“Ah, my knight in shining armor,” he giggles, “you’ve come at last!”

Malifer lets Leon straighten him up. His arm stays on Malifer’s waist. He doesn’t mind, though. Malifer feels suddenly giddy, like he could take on the world. He moves closer to the knight and wraps his arms around Leon’s shoulders feeling content. Leon coughs.

“So, where were you going?”

Excellent question. Where was Malifer going? Frankly, Malifer doesn’t feel like going anywhere right now, but he was going somewhere. Think Malifer! He was enjoying the party, Merlin said something to the king, the king left with Merlin—

“Merlin! Leon, we must go!”

“Go?”

“Yes, we must! Or we will miss it!”

“Miss what?”

Malifer tugs Leon’s arm. The knight, though confused, let the servant drag him out of the party to wherever Malifer last saw the couple.

“Come on, Leon! We’ll miss it! I need to see, I need to,” Malifer hisses.

“Malifer, I have no idea what—”

“Come on, Merlin. I know you didn’t lead me here for nothing.” Leon hushes up and helps Malifer look around the corner. On the other side is Merlin and the king. Malifer praises the gods on their side. He didn’t miss it!

Merlin shuffles his feet and bites his lip. Malifer holds his breath. This is it. Please don’t blow up in his face. “Merlin,” The king says softly (Malifer has never heard this tone of voice from the king before. It surprised him.), “what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, Sire! It’s just...well there’s something I need to tell you. Something, something I’ve been wanting to tell you for years. And after today, well, I feel more confident in telling you.

The king is silent, hanging on every word. Malifer can’t blame him because he’s doing the same. Merlin takes a deep breath and looks at him. His eyes are determined even if Malifer knows how terrified Merlin feels.

“Arthur...I have magic.” Malifer feels a gust of wind blow past him but he ignores it. Merlin told the king.

“I’ve...always had it. I was born with it. It’s a part of who I am and...I’m so sorry for not telling you. I care about you a lot. I never wanted to put you in the position to choose either me or your kingdom because I know how much you love Camelot and” --Merlin’s voice cracks-- “and I could never, never make you choose. I...I love you too much for that.”

Malifer’s breath catches. Did he just...sweet holy fucking shit Merlin confessed. He sniffs, it startles Malifer who realizes that he’s crying. Malifer wipes his eyes and looks back to the scene. Merlin is crying too. Hiccups and sniffles. The King is stunned. It looks as though his shocked expression will stay like that, but he finally softens.

“You love me?” And he asks it so gently that if Leon wasn’t holding him steady, Malifer would have collapsed.

Merlin huffs and gives a wet chuckle. “Are you really focusing on that, you prat? I literally just admitted to having magic, and you’re more concerned that I said I love you?”

“Well, do you?”

Merlin’s breath hitches. “What?”

“Do you love me?” The king smiles at Merlin, and Malifer is overwhelmed with the amount of emotion reflected off of them. Merlin giggles and shakes his head.

“You’re such a clotpole you know that?” Merlin sighs and looks at the king with such adoring eyes. It’s enough to make Malifer feel like he’s intruding, but he must watch it. “Yes, I love you Arthur Pendragon.”

King Arthur smiles, takes Merlin’s hand, kisses it, and says: “And I love you.”

“Alright, so that’s fifty gold for Mary, seventeen for Stephen, and...a hundred and fifty for Gaius.” Malifer closes the betting pool book as chaos ensues.

“Are you fucking kidding me!”

“That’s not fair! He knew Merlin had magic!”

“Yeah, how were we supposed to know that Merlin had magic?”

“Beggars can’t be choosers.”

“SHUT UP, STEPHEN!”

Malifer sighs. Four years of his life, dedicated to getting Merthur together finished. He feels satisfied, but also a little empty. What does he do now? Sure, he’ll still work in the kitchens with Charlie, but that’s work. This operation had taken up so much of his time that now he feels a little lost.

Although, thanks to the operation, the servants have a better system on how to spread rumors and gossip. Before, it was just word of mouth to whoever listened. Now, they had people in the castle designated as the informer from each worker. Malifer finds it a little funny, but it was super helpful when it came to discussing how to get the couple together.

Said couple are now in a happy relationship. They still give each other those long stares, but it’s no longer an unsaid thing (thank the fucking stars). Malifer is quite proud of himself, knowing that their new relationship status is no thanks to him.

As Malifer exits the kitchens, he runs into Leon. Literally.

“Leon!”

“Hello, Malifer,” he says, then looks over to the kitchen.

“What were you up to?”

Malifer grins and shows Leon the coins. “Oh just collecting my winnings. I bet eighty on Merlin and King Arthur getting together after the magic ban.”

Leon laughs at that. “Isn’t that cheating, though? That was your plan.”

“It’s not like the other servants didn’t cheat either! I know for a fact that George got that substitute job just to make Merlin more jealous. I had to give him ten of my gold for that.” Malifer sniffs indignantly. “There was also Gwen who-”

“Do you want to walk around?” Malifer pauses. Leon, now looking sheepish, averts his gaze and coughs. “You can continue on about other servants meddling while we walk.”

Malifer grins. “Of course. Now, as I was saying, don’t ever be fooled by Gwen's niceties. She can be very cunning in her own way. It’s actually kind of terrifying.”

Leon chuckles. “Really?”

Malifer rolls his eyes. “We may just be servants, but we do have a mean streak.”

“So I’ve seen.” He says with that smile of his. Malifer can feel his cheeks heating up. Honestly, he needs to get it together!

They eventually end up at the servants’ quarters and Malifer yawns. It really is late, and he’s probably keeping Leon from his duties.

“I should probably turn in for the night. It was nice walking with you.”

“The feeling’s mutual.” Malifer’s brain short-circuits for a brief second. Leon meant the walk. Solely the walk. Yep. Only that. Malifer laughs and hopes the knight can’t see him panicking.

“Well, see you soon.”

“Until tomorrow.” Leon takes Malifer’s hand in his and brings it to his lips. “Goodnight, Malifer.”

“G-goodnight!” Malifer hurries inside the quarters and shuts the door. It is taking all of his willpower not to scream. Leon kissed his hand. His hand! Malifer brings his hand up to his chest and smiles. He knows he looks dopey, but he can’t help it.

“Until tomorrow.”

#reposting my old stuff #merthur #the servants control the romantic happenings in this castle #and mayhaps....fall in love?#sir leon x oc #rated teen for language #fic one out of......many to repost is complete #fluff #only fluff #no angst today #merlin magic reveal #bbc merlin

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