At the end of June, six of the seven 'Fate/zero' character side-story novels had already been completed. Kamiyā Yuu had deliberately left Lancelot's side story, 'Knight's Elegy', for last.
"The final character side story is about the Berserker-class Lancelot. His tangled story with the Knight King can be considered dramatic material for the main work. Whether 'Fate/zero' can fulfill the dying wishes of the two most famous knights of that era is also part of it."
"Lancelot… come to think of it, the Gundam piloted by Suzaku in 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' seemed to have the same name. Thinking about it that way, the naming is really meaningful."
"One of the Twelve Knights of the Round Table, bearing the titles [Knight of the Lake] and [Flower of Chivalry]. The title [Knight of the Lake] seems to come from the fact that he was abandoned by a lake as an infant, raised by the Lady of the Lake, and granted the weapon Arondight, [Arondight: The Unfading Light of the Lake]. It's a Noble Phantasm on the same level as Excalibur, [Sword of Promised Victory], and has a restraining attribute. Because of this Noble Phantasm, Lancelot's combat power theoretically surpasses Saber's. I remember that before I looked up the background properly, I often thought Caliburn, the Sword in the Stone, was the Sword of Promised Victory. Turns out the Sword of Promised Victory was also a weapon given to King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake."
"Leaving aside the ending of his story, Lancelot absolutely carries a protagonist template."
"Whether in historical legend or in 'Fate/zero', Lancelot had a platonic love affair with Queen Guinevere. After their relationship was exposed, King Arthur, pressured by the kingdom, had to send Guinevere to be burned at the stake. Lancelot came to rescue her from the execution ground and successfully carried Queen Guinevere away to France, triggering the King's declaration of war against France and giving Mordred the chance to rebel. The entire country collapsed as a result. The flaw in Saber's royal path is also reflected here. She chose her way of kingship based on the ideal king imagined by the people. It was the subjects choosing the king, rather than the king guiding the subjects. Most importantly, when the choice made by her subjects contradicted her own wishes, she still chose to silently accept it."
"Unlike the original legend, Queen Guinevere had already fallen for Lancelot's heroic bearing during a knightly duel before Artoria became King Arthur. As part of a political marriage, she learned Artoria's true identity as a woman, and the two shifted from husband and wife into a close friendship. So her romance with Lancelot could be said to have been acknowledged and blessed by King Arthur deep down."
"The anime didn't mention what happened after King Arthur's death. In the original historical legend, after the Battle of Camlann, King Arthur killed Mordred with a spear while also suffering a fatal blow from Mordred. King Arthur's death caused the once prosperous England to collapse in an extremely short time. The forgiven Queen Guinevere never waited until King Arthur returned to fulfill her promise: [After this war is over, I will make you queen again.] After Guinevere learned of King Arthur's death, she decided to enter a convent and become a nun to atone for her sins. No matter how bitterly Lancelot pleaded afterward, she refused to see him."
"Having lost everything, Lancelot despaired and became a monk, spending the rest of his life in regret. He had accepted too much honor and remorse, carried feelings toward Queen Guinevere that could never be conveyed, and harbored a complicated anger toward the king. All of this caused him to be forever imprisoned by madness. That is why he is compatible with the Berserker class."
Kamiyā Yuu stared pensively at his computer screen. He wanted to type, but still had not moved his hands.
He recalled the material on Lancelot he had found in his mind-space last night.
Aside from historical records and the character background story from the anime itself, the source with the most revelations about the anime characters was probably the bonus animation for the original 'Fate/zero', 'Einzbern Consultation Room'.
In it, Madam Irisviel von Einzbern interviewed every Heroic Spirit who appeared in 'Fate/zero'. Though it contained comedic elements, it also served to complete the characters' personalities. In Episode 6 of 'Einzbern Consultation Room', Lancelot made his confession.
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'Einzbern Consultation Room'.
Lancelot turned his face away, as if too ashamed to look directly at anyone, and began to reveal the true reason he had betrayed King Arthur.
"And yet, my king never punished me even once."
"Even now, my king's words remain in my heart: [Lancelot, you did nothing wrong. You are the most ideal knight I have ever known. Since you fell in love with Guinevere, surely you had your reasons.]"
Lancelot said:
"My king's words gradually allowed guilt to erode my heart."
"I respected the king so deeply."
"If possible, I wished to remain by her side forever."
"To tell the truth, the one I loved was not Guinevere, but my..."
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Irisviel's gaze turned serious.
"His thoughts are the same as Rider's. He is lamenting Saber, who suppressed her own feelings to govern the country and become the ideal king in people's hearts."
"He felt that such a life was not something a human, nor a young girl, should have to live."
Suppressing his anger, Lancelot said:
"I did feel anger. My king loved her people, even her country, more than herself."
"She sealed away her own feelings and life for that."
"And yet, my king's feelings never reached her knights or her people."
"Before one knight left the castle, he left behind a single remark: [My king does not understand the human heart.]"
"Perhaps I went mad when I heard those words."
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"What a messy circle. The Twelve Knights of the Round Table are all king-obsessed fans. Lancelot and Mordred are probably the two most twisted ones."
After recalling all the character relationships, this thought emerged in Kamiyā Yuu's mind, leaving him unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Then how should he write 'Knight's Elegy', the Arthurian legend from Lancelot's perspective?
This character side-story novel directly concerns whether King Arthur's royal path was recognized by others. It was probably also the character side story with the deepest impact on the main work.
As a modified version of the Arthurian legend, what Kamiyā Yuu needed to consider most was how to handle the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere.
The background materials did indeed say that he loved Queen Guinevere, but that statement contradicted what Lancelot said in 'Einzbern Consultation Room'.
"By speculation, in the historical legend, Queen Guinevere entered a platonic romance with Lancelot because she saw King Arthur and his elder sister, Morgan, involved in an unspeakable incident. After the revision, the trigger for Guinevere's platonic romance still exists. Namely, she and King Arthur were already close friends, and she had always admired Lancelot, the greatest knight. In that case, the platonic romance can be understood as Guinevere's one-sided love."
"Hmm. Lancelot had always admired King Arthur, but didn't know King Arthur's true gender. Because of this, he felt confused and went to Queen Guinevere for counsel. In a sense, this was also a match made in heaven. After listening to him, Queen Guinevere understood Lancelot's true feelings and decided to secretly meet with him to tell him King Arthur's real gender. But this secret meeting was discovered by other Knights of the Round Table, leading to tragedy. Gawain, one of the Twelve Knights of the Round Table and King Arthur's nephew, was accidentally killed by Lancelot amid the chaos."
"Through his secret meeting with Queen Guinevere, Lancelot learned King Arthur's true gender and feelings. However, his relationship with Queen Guinevere had already been completely misunderstood. He did not want Queen Guinevere to be executed because of it, and even less did he want to see King Arthur regret it later. So he hurriedly went to rescue the queen from the stake. Combined with the explanation in 'Einzbern Consultation Room', his actions were always about saving King Arthur and defending Queen Guinevere's honor."
"In that case, it almost looks as though the royal path Knight King Artoria had always upheld was what caused this tragedy."
"With this story as the premise, at least the opposition to Saber's royal path in the main storyline of 'Fate/zero' won't seem so shallow."
Kamiyā Yuu frowned and thought for a long time, sorting through the storyline of the Arthurian legend once again.
He felt that this idea was indeed feasible.
'Knight's Twilight' and 'Knight's Elegy' both viewed the same story from different angles, while also complementing each other.
'Knight's Twilight' told of King Arthur's obsession with her country and her royal path.
'Knight's Elegy' would complete this tragic story that had appeared in poetry, novels, and films since ancient times, showing readers from the side where the royal path King Arthur upheld had gone wrong.
Sitting in front of his computer desk, Kamiyā Yuu stretched, closed the writing file on his desktop, and sighed.
"I won't start writing today. Tonight, I'll go back to the mind-space and sort out my thoughts. Whether 'Knight's Elegy' is written well won't just improve the story of 'Knight's Twilight'. It will also explain the choice of kingship that forms the core of Saber's characterization in the main story of 'Fate/Zero'. Looks like the content of 'Knight's Elegy' will have to be expanded quite a bit. For today, I'll draw the illustrations first."
Kamiyā Yuu designed Guinevere's character to resemble Irisviel von Einzbern, especially that quality of being elegant and mature while still carrying a childlike air.