" But you have to let me shave this.”
He ran a hand down Merlin’s jaw, and Merlin’s lips parted before he realized what Val meant to do.
“No,” Merlin said. “Absolutely not.”
“It’s so scruffy!” Val said, rubbing the line of prickly hair.
“These are the last remnants of what used to be a glorious beard,” Merlin argued. “People spoke of it for centuries! It was even a curse! Merlin’s beard! "

― A.R. Capetta , Once & Future (Once & Future #1)