James Gardner was silent long enough for Riley Mackenzie to become increasingly uncomfortable.James, come on, don't make me feel worse, Riley thought.After a long silence while staring blankly, the young man who was shorter in height than Riley finally said, “It's ... quite a complicated matter. So complicated that I don't know how to tell you.”He then smiled sadly and added, “But … no problem, now I can visit him.”Riley swallowed hard, not knowing how to respond to James' words. His guilt hit his chest again and this time it all kept him silent.Oh, why did James have to have the last name “Gardner”? Riley wondered again.If only James' father was just a soldier who was killed and not Jody Gardner, he would have been able to immediately comfort the grieving James.Unfortunately, his father was Jody Gardner whose death was related to his father's so he had a hard time coming up with words of comfort. In fact, just to express his sorrow he could not do it. Alen, who was still sta
Alen suddenly looked down deeply. He suddenly became sad again. The young man took a deep breath before exhaling slowly and turned to Riley again.With a sad look he said, “They're really worried about you, Riley. They even argued about who should save you.”Riley bit his lower lip and looked down for an instant.“They didn't want you to get hurt, so they decided that one of them should go find you. At that time they told me that you were ... the son of General Mackenzie and they also told me that ....”Alen stopped speaking as his tears fell again. He did not know why the loss was so painful.But, for sure he was having a hard time holding back his sadness. He steeled himself and said, “They asked me to help you hide your true identity.”Riley was stunned.The young man shook his head, finding it hard to take it all in. Alen touched his shoulder, “It's not your fault. They ... are just trying to protect you and I ... will do as they ask.”“You don't have to worry, Riley! Your secret
James, who was stared at with a gawking expression, immediately shifted his direction of view and lowered his head, avoiding Alen's gaze.The young man said softly, “Damn it! You have to pretend you didn't see me like this, Smith!”Alen snorted softly and walked over to the sobbing young man. He patted James' shoulder gently and said, “I didn't see you cry, so don't worry!”James wiped away his tears and looked back at his father's grave with eyes that were still a little bit wet.Alen glanced at the young man in a different way.Usually James always displayed a flat, cold and haughty expression. The young man seemed to have thorns around him that made others reluctant to approach.However, what he saw this time was not a young man like that. He saw an ordinary young man who could be sad when facing something painful. Hearing his conversation with Riley earlier, he thought there might be a prohibition coming from James' mother's side to visit his father's funeral. But, again, it was
The bewildered Alen heard James say again, “Oh, no. No, you don't. You really don't have to worry about me, Dad. They're very good to me, they won't betray me, I'm sure.”Alen was even more dumbfounded. The young man blinked his eyes repeatedly to try to get rid of his discomfort. But, still he didn't feel good at all.While he was still extremely confused, James looked over to him with a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes. “What's wrong?” Alen asked quickly.James let out a long breath, “I called you earlier. Didn't you hear that?”Alen gaped, “Huh? When?”James rolled his eyes lazily and immediately got up from where he was kneeling. He then pulled Alen's arm and told him to come closer. “Huh, w-what do you want to do?” Alen asked stammeringly as he turned his head towards the back where James was standing at attention.“Geez, Smith. I just asked you to talk to my dad for a minute. You're ....” James shook his head, looking rather annoyed that Alen was actually not listening to him
James Gardner replied without turning to Alen, “Why should we take another way? It would be a waste of time.”Alen swallowed harshly, “But, James. There's ....”“I know, so what, what did I do wrong to avoid him?” James said, who still did not turn to his friend.However, Alen did not want to give up. Nervously he said again, “You don't have anything wrong, but you-”“Never mind, Alen. I'm not afraid of him and shouldn't he be the one feeling uncomfortable?”Alen was silent, at a loss for an answer.James finally turned his head and looked at Alen straight, “He's the one who made a child born and grow up without a father. Shouldn't he feel guilty for that?”Hearing James' words that were full of pent-up emotions finally made Alen completely give up. He couldn't hold James back and he didn't want James to go even crazier if he denied him.“Come on, we have to get to the dorm quickly, Riley must be waiting for us,” James said.Alen had just realized one thing, and that was the way James
After James finished speaking in a cold tone but with a gaze that held such wounds, William immediately fell silent. He would have rather heard the young man yelling at him and cursing at him than that look that made him feel guilty.“James,” Alen called in a low tone.Andrew said, “James, watch what you say!”James shifted his gaze from William to Andrew, “Why, General Reece? What I'm saying is the truth. It was indeed General Mackenzie who killed my father.”Andrew bit his teeth, “But ... you can't talk in that tone to-”“Why not? I am not demanding retribution for my father's death from General Mackenzie. What I am asking is why General Mackenzie can be so very calm as if he doesn't have the slightest guilt towards me. He-”“General Mackenzie only did what he was supposed to do, James. You should know what we were dealing with back then.” Andrew explained in the hope that James would immediately shut up.Unfortunately, James was not one to give in easily when talking to someone, A
James gave a small nod. However, when he saw the surprised expression on Riley's face he hastily added, “Oh, I should have known something like this could happen, Riley.”James scratched the back of his head which was still wet and continued, “After all this palace is not as big as the ocean, of course the possibility of me meeting him is quite big too.”He shrugged his shoulders and smiled a little, while Riley was still speechless as if a lot of things had suddenly popped into his head.James let out a long sigh, “I'm a bit overreacting I guess. You ... don't have to think about it, Riley. I'm fine. It's just that I'm ....”“It's just what, James?” Riley quickly asked, wanted to know more.While Alen could only hold his breath, not daring to interrupt for fear that he would misspeak.Riley swallowed and looked into James' eyes. The young man finally ventured to say, “Are you sure you're okay?”James snorted, “You don't believe me, Riley?”“How can you be okay when you met someone wh
“I'm very sure, Your Majesty,” Andrew said in a confident tone.Keannu looked skeptical so Andrew had to reassure the king by saying, “This way will make the people of Ans De Lou happy.”Keannu's eyes widened, “Really? Explain to me how!”Andrew Reece, the war general of the Ans De Lou Kingdom nodded enthusiastically. He explained in detail about the way in just a few sentences, but it made Keannu smile widely.The king with two children nodded and now looked much more excited, “That's a good method. When will you summon them, General?”“After the day of mourning is over, Your Majesty,” Andrew replied.Keannu nodded his head once, “Alright, I'll give the official order for that right away. And you ... can summon them according to the list of soldiers who you think do meet our criteria.”“Yes, Your Majesty,” Andrew said as he was finally able to release one burden on his shoulders, namely the problem related to the number of royal soldiers whose numbers were reduced a lot due to the w
"Oh my, Xylan! Why do you doubt him?" Rowena replied in a low tone, as if afraid of waking up her little son who was asleep in her arms from her perhaps too loud voice.Xylan shook his head, "I didn't mean to doubt him at all. It's just that I know his main purpose for returning to this palace, Rowena. He's ....""Stop thinking like that! He will be very disappointed if he finds out that you doubt his loyalty," Rowena said sharply.Apparently the tone of her voice was a bit louder this time so the son, Kharel Mackenzie was disturbed from his sleep until the little boy stirred his body.Rowena again tried to make the little prince fall asleep again by holding him lovingly and tenderly.Xylan was silent, as if he knew his sister still hadn't finished talking.It turned out that Xylan was right. After his favorite nephew fell asleep quietly again, Rowena said again, "Xylan, why do you think Riley is so close to James Gardner? And why has he felt so guilty over the years?"Xylan looked at
In all the time Ben had known James, it was the first time he had seen James look so frustrated.Usually James always seemed flat, cold and often even emotionless. However, the very stiff James had changed.The anxiety and restlessness were clearly displayed. It certainly made Ben quite confused in response.But, he then heard Reiner say, "Calm down, James! It's not that you can't bring Riley home forever. However, you just can't bring her home right now."Reiner patted the slightly trembling James' back. Oh, Reiner was so surprised. Apparently James really thought deeply about the feelings of their best friend's son. "Remember, James. We'll go back there to look for her again, so you don't have to feel guilty," Reiner added.Instead of calming down, James became even more agitated. The young man turned to Reiner and replied, "How can I not feel guilty, Rei? I ... promised him I would bring his father home. But ... I failed to keep my promise." Ben swallowed, looking so sad to see
As if coming to his senses, James nodded slowly, "You're right, Rei. We ... should go back to the palace and strategize again to find Riley."Reiner could finally breathe with relief."Come on, we should leave this place first," Reiner said.James looked around the area one last time. After he felt that all his efforts were enough for the time being, he quickly boarded the airship that would take him back to the Ans De Lou Kingdom.During the trip, James was mostly silent.While Reiner and Ben who were also on the same plane with James repeatedly still invited James to talk. However, the young man still chose to be silent.In fact, Reiner wanted to entertain him by distracting James from the problem of Riley who had not yet been found. Unfortunately, he still failed to do so. James still didn't seem to want to join the conversation between the two.Some more James also heard the chatter of the soldiers, but sometimes he fe
The soldier was suddenly afraid. Moreover, the look in James Gardner's eyes suddenly turned sharp as if he was stabbing him. Oh, he really only meant to express what he was thinking. He didn't mean to offend the war general. He certainly didn't dare go against James Gardner. His nerves dropped even further when he heard James speak again, "Come on, tell me, do you mean to tell me that Riley doesn't want to see me?" The soldier named Joseph Zow immediately shook his head vigorously. "No, General Gardner. That's not what I meant. I just-" "Then, what, how can you think Riley doesn't want to come out of his hiding place?" James' tone now sounded more frustrated. Not wanting the situation to get out of hand, Reiner immediately approached his best friend and said, "James, stop it!" James still did not move and stared at the soldier as if waiting for an answer. However, Joseph did not open his mouth. The young man glanced at the Ground War Commander as if asking for help. Luckily
Reiner winked at his friend's words. The man shook his head firmly, "Military matters in the palace? Are you crazy? What kind of trouble?""There is no power struggle in the palace, James. Prince Xylan and Princess Rowena have a very good relationship," Reiner explained with his eyebrows raised in astonishment.Before James could answer Reiner's explanation, Ben had already hurriedly joined in, "Reiner is right. The two of them have never had any problems. It's impossible for them to fight.""Of course. In fact, Princess Rowena has always supported Prince Xylan. It's impossible to fight over a throne. Besides, Princess Rowena must still be very sad that Riley hasn't been found yet. How could she possibly think of-""ENOUGH!" James suddenly cut off Reiner's lengthy speech.Reiner was about to continue, but apparently James was a bit annoyed so he ignored Reiner's intention and continued to say, "Oh my! Come on, was I talking about a possible war between Prince Xylan and Princess Rowena
"That’s impossible," Ben said in a firm tone.Reiner also responded, "They couldn't have killed Riley."Ben added, "If they killed Riley, I'm sure they'd have announced it. Or ... at least they would have done something like confuse us with Riley's whereabouts."Seeing James looking frustrated, Reiner said again, "He must be alive. It's just that we haven't found him yet.""That’s right. He was probably transferred to their secret place," Ben said.James' face relaxed more than before when he heard the two friends' soothing words. He was a little more relieved.James then nodded his head, "Then we should find out more.""Yes, we will. Don't worry!" Reiner said.Ben said with a confident tone, "We will definitely find Riley, James."James chose to believe and returned to search more thoroughly. Unfortunately, although the soldiers of Ans De Lou Kingdom had interrogated the prisoners of Mecco Kingdom, they still could not find a single clue regarding Riley's whereabouts.In addition, K
Reiner frowned, "That's impossible. Is he lying?"James shook his head firmly, "No way.""How can you believe her so easily?" Reiner asked while still inspecting the area.James sighed softly, "I have never met an Ans De Lou soldier who dared to lie to me."Reiner instantly turned his head and looked at his friend without blinking.Two seconds later he nodded in agreement, "Oh, you're right. How could anyone dare to deal with you?"James waved his hand.He looked up and widened his eyes once he got something. He quickly asked Reiner to come closer to him."What's up there?" Reiner asked as James looked up.However, James did not answer Reiner's question and instead stood on tiptoe and picked up a small object attached to the wall."What is it?" Reiner asked with a curious expression.James examined the object and immediately cursed, "BASTARD!"Reiner was wide-eyed in shock. James' swearing really sounded full of emotion and his tone of voice was almost like someone who was shouting.
James sighed softly, it was clear that the soldier knew nothing about the latest situation outside."Yes, I'm back. I wasn't captured by them," James explained as he helped the soldier to lean against the wall.James glanced at his friend who looked very weak, but didn't dare to touch him as his wounds looked much worse.James examined the soldier's wound whose shirt had been torn off briefly and knew immediately that the soldier must have been severely tortured.He gritted his teeth, trying to contain his anger."Then ... did we win, Deputy War General?" the class two soldier asked with a hopeful look in his eyes.James nodded, "Yes, we won.""R-really, Vice General of War? We won? I'm not dreaming, am I?" the soldier asked with tears on the verge of falling.James looked at the soldier with a sad gaze.The torture he received must have frustrated the soldier for his emotions to become so unstable."You're
Xylan immediately realized that his father wouldn't just let him go.He knew that Keannu Wellington wasn't in the best of shape, but his father was still thinking things through carefully.Therefore, Xylan who had never lied and would never want to lie, especially to his father replied, "Yes, Father. He is not a palace staff who has been in the palace for a long time. In fact, he doesn't even have any relationships with other palace officials."Keannu instantly fell silent.Xylan quickly composed words and continued, "But ... I can guarantee that he will do his duty well. You will see that my choice will not be wrong."Keannu let out a long breath.Xylan was beginning to worry.And after a long silence, Keannu finally looked back at his son and said, "Alright."Keannu's one-word statement confused Xylan so he asked again, "Alroght? What do you mean, Father?"Keannu smiled gently, "You can choose him."