That seems like a good idea.
He's a writer, and he seeks to write historical fiction. But he realizes that there is no history. So, on a tip from some wise old person (classic un-important character that is the only one who could move the story line along) he heads to the king, and the king sees him, and finds out what he's doing and seeks to kill him!
The king is evil, see, if no one knows the history before he was king, no one can claim that he is not rightfully king. {He's like... 200 years old or something, and I have yet to figure out how he has extended his life...I think he did it by magic using the energy of all the people older than him, thus killing them all off.}