Mary Kesley smiled regretfully, "I apologize. I couldn't interfere with the placement of the room at all. If I interfered, I was afraid people would get suspicious."Riley Mackenzie replied, "It's not your fault. I understand about it."Mary let out a long sigh, "But, don't worry. Even though you share a room with him, when it comes to practice and test schedules, it's unlikely that you'll be in the same group.""Unless you're really unlucky," Mary added.Riley only smiled faintly in response.About a week later, or rather in their third week at the Ans De Lou Royal palace, Riley was stunned to see his name listed in a group with James Gardner one row above his name.They had not yet reached the public building where they ate their meals. They were still in the vicinity of the park not far from Rowena Wellington's residence."It turns out I'm really unlucky," Riley muttered quietly.Alen and Diego who also read the announcement immediately looked at each other."Take it easy, you'll be
Looking at Riley who was just silent, James smiled wryly and then he bumped part of his body with Riley's body and then said, "You're just like the others. Only seeing things from one side."After that, James walked away from Riley."Where are you going?"James did not answer him. Riley yelled out to him, "James.""Where are you going?" Riley repeated."None of your business, Wood." James replied without stopping walking or even looking at Riley.Riley didn't give up so easily and started walking at a half run after James. "Stop walking, James Gardner!"James was still ignoring Riley, so Riley said quickly, "Practice starts soon.""I don't care," James still refused to stop walking and continued to stride with wide steps."We're in a group." Riley said hurriedly.It made James stop walking and turn around. "What did you say, we're in a group?"It worked. Riley wanted to cheer inwardly."Yes. How did it go? Do you still want to go?" Riley asked.James was silent."Are you sure you're g
Riley didn't say any more words, but he heard Diego quip, "Isn't it fun cleaning up after the man who killed your father?"James just gripped the side of the table, not wanting to get punished again if he hit Diego. Riley then responded, "Diego, I don't think this is something worth discussing."Diego just shrugged his shoulders, still not really caring and instead smiled annoyingly at James.Alen, who now wanted to be more of a neutral party, who didn't want to side with either James or Diego, simply mediated by saying, "Alright, we better get ready. We'll be entering the training building soon."That interested James so much that he turned to Riley, "Wood, what are we training for?""Unarmed physical training," Riley replied.Hearing Riley's answer, James smiled, "Then you have to be careful with me, Wood."Riley rolled his eyes, but he didn't reply to James.James said, "I'm pretty good at fighting without weapons, just so you know. I even won a few awards in the championship in th
Riley separated himself from James and chose the southern area to train. Meanwhile, James chose the northern area as if the two people were on opposite sides.When practicing, the prospective soldiers wear short-sleeved shirts and lightweight pants that allow them to move freely. However, when the fight began, they would change costumes according to their branch. For unarmed free martial arts, they would wear additional armor.Riley had already started stretching his muscles and started doing less extreme movements to maintain his energy.When he had been practicing for about thirty minutes, someone approached, "Hey, you're Riley Wood, right?"Riley, who was doing a headstand, slowly returned his position and turned to the person asking him, "Yeah. What's up?""I'm Warren Clay," the young man said as he stretched his hand.Riley welcomed his hand and then asked, "Which dorm are you from?""3. Can I come and train here?" Warren asked back.Riley nodded, "Go ahead. Anyone can train here
"If it wasn't for you being ranked number one, I wouldn't say that," Warren retorted.He spat before leaving Riley who could only let out a long sigh. Some people were watching him, but Riley chose not to care about their responses.The young man continued practicing.Meanwhile, Warren Clay, who did not get his wish, walked towards his friends."I heard your scream. Is there a problem?" Simon asked with a furrowed brow.Warren replied in an exasperated tone, "That snob said he didn't need money. Huh, what the hell? I've never even heard of his family name. 'Wood', what businessman with that name? I don't think there's any businessman with that surname.""That's true. But, seeing how he behaves, he's probably an idealistic person who's hard to work with, Warren," Leonard said after he took off his sweat-soaked shirt.Warren sighed in exasperation, then looked at his two friends. "Never mind, I don't want to talk about that jerk."The man looked depressed until Leonard said, "Calm down,
"Blimey, Wood. You're here, of course, to make us both more eager to compete," James retorted with his deadly grin.However, Riley Mackenzie did not seem to be affected. With a lazy expression, the young man said, "I'm not interested at all."James instantly put on a disappointed face, "Why is that? I haven't even mentioned the prize if you win from me Wood. You hurt me.""Don't talk so much! I don't need a prize anyway. Never mind, let's get it over with, James." Riley said as he turned to the match referee.James snorted in annoyance, but he still replied, "Fine. But, you lose. Just so you know."Riley ignored his words and instead nodded at the referee, indicating he was ready."James Gardner, are you ready?" the referee asked.James quickly adjusted his position and turned his head, "Yes, I'm ready."The unnamed referee said, "Okay. The rules remain the same, whoever manages to make their opponent cross the line and can't fight back wins."Riley and James nodded, understanding the
James did not reply to Riley's words and instead grinned widely. The next second, the young man who had hair slightly covering his eyes turned the tables by slamming Riley with unexpected speed.Riley was wide-eyed in shock but when James intended to use his right elbow to hold Riley, Riley managed to roll over and get up quickly.James stared with a surprised expression. "You're ...."James' words could not be finished because he saw Riley jump slightly and then lunged at him, knocking him down. Riley was breathing heavily looking at the young man who had confused him earlier.Blood dripped from James' nose as he looked at Riley, still with an expression that was hard to explain.There was shock, astonishment, awe and confusion all mixed together in James' eyes.But, he was even more surprised when Riley didn't attack him anymore. However, he chuckled, understanding why Riley had stopped attacking him."You beat me," James said in a strange tone while observing the floor where he had
Riley could feel that the bitter tone was also suffused with a deep sense of loneliness. Riley couldn't imagine not having a friend to chat with. He would definitely be very bored."Oh, don't show that pity face! I hate to see it," James said irritably when he saw Riley's expression.Riley shook his head, "But, it's also good that no one wants to be friends with you.""What do you mean?" James replied with a raised right eyebrow."That way of speaking of yours sometimes makes people's ears hurt, so it would be much better if you didn't have any friends around you, right?" Riley said casually.James snorted, but he smiled. He knew Riley was just trying to cheer him up. Uh, how was this? Because of Riley Wood's presence, he felt like having a friend. However, he didn't want to act rashly by asking Riley as his friend openly. He did not want to be seen as needing him too much.After about five minutes of walking, they had reached the palace medical centre. Riley nodded at a few prospec
Gary Davis replied with a serious expression, "Your Honor, I apologize if you find my words presumptuous, but ....""Just say it! Say everything you want to say!" Xylan commanded.From the tone of his voice, Xylan clearly sounded impatient. "I'm ready to listen! And ... I won't get mad at you, don't worry!" Xylan added after he saw the hesitant look on Gary's face.Xylan thought maybe Gary was afraid that he would be punished if he said what was in his head so the future king's salon had to reassure Gary for the young man to be braver.Gary nodded, looking relieved. At least he had an assurance that he would not be punished. "Your Highness, you ... will be made the new king of Ans De Lou Kingdom. You are still very young and you yourself must have guessed that ... that ... I am ...."Xylan clucked his tongue impatiently, "Just say it! I have no problem. Just take it easy!"Gary nodded again and continued, "There are some who don't like you. Although ... for now things aren't looking
Hearing Gary Davis' answer, Xylan Wellington frowned.Is this really the same young man who always gives me good solutions? Xylan wondered.The future king looked deeper and deeper at Gary and finally raised his right eyebrow when he realized he had thought something stupid.More and more Xylan realized that Gary Davis might indeed be smart and dexterous and quite knowledgeable. But, such an intelligent person could also have an innocent nature like the young man had just shown himself."Your Highness, why don't you answer my question? Am I-""Forget it!" Xylan cut in quickly.Gary scratched behind his ear in confusion.Xylan sighed and said, "Gary, are you anxiously awaiting the announcement of the changes in staff and palace officials later?"Gary frowned, quite surprised by Xylan's question.The young man opened his mouth and stammered, "Your Royal Highness, I ... I'm just ...."Just by looking at Gary's expression, Xylan instantly knew that his guess was correct. The young man di
"Of course it is. Otherwise, how could his café business be successful?" Diego said, who seemed to be satisfied with the results achieved by James, his best friend.Reiner became more interested, "How? I mean ... you know he's ... well, he can't be polite and he tends to annoy people. So, what did he change?"Diego looked like he was about to answer, but Shin suddenly said in an incredulous tone, "Oh, wait a minute. He manages the cafe business together with his mother, right? Uh, I'm sure the customers come to his place because of his nice mom."Ben nodded in agreement, "I've never met James' mother, but ... considering James is like that, I'll take Shin's word for it."Diego immediately put on a sour expression, looking rather annoyed. This was because his own friends apparently didn't know James very well.However, he was the one who was witness to how James had changed so much that he felt the need to set the record straight."Hey, I'm telling you seriously. James, who is the owne
Alen did not immediately answer the question of his senior and good friend. He seemed to think for a moment before finally giving an answer, "It's like you don't know James.""What do you mean?" Shin replied while blinking.Alen snorted impatiently, "Shin, James is unpredictable. You must also know that sometimes he can do things that no one would ever think of. So, how can I guess what he might do?"Shin was stunned. The young man smiled wryly, "Damn, you're right about that. He is indeed unpredictable."In the end, the two people did not ask James any questions about what they discussed. When the funeral was over, they all returned to their respective places. However, not James Gardner. The young man who was the war general of Ans De Lou Kingdom at that time was seen walking towards Xylan Wellington's residence.Of course, this led to various speculations among most of the palace residents. It was not only the officials and staff of the palace who began to notice the irregularitie
"It will, Diego," James replied."He can wait," James repeated with emphasis.Diego didn't seem convinced by James' answer.James was usually reluctant to go into too much detail about what he was thinking. However, Diego was one of his best friends so he didn't want to confuse his best friend.So, James said, "He's not an easy guy to beat, Diego. And ... there's one thing you need to know.""What's that?" Diego asked with one eyebrow raised."His own father, I mean General Mackenzie told me that his son ... will not die easily," James explained.Diego was so dumbfounded that he didn't dare reply.James was sure his job of explaining was done, but he still added, "If the greatest and most powerful general the Ans De Lou Kingdom has ever seen said that, then there's a very good chance that Riley is still alive out there."Diego was silent for a few moments.But then he said, "If General Mackenzie believes that, we have no right to doubt him.""You're right, Diego. Therefore, we just ha
William's lips lifted upwards once again, forming a warm smile."James, without me explaining it, you ... must know it yourself, right?" William said softly.After that, the old man who was once the strongest soldier in the kingdom patted James on the back and then left James pensive.The young man swallowed hard. Suddenly he remembered all the things about Riley, more precisely their friendship that they had established since the beginning.All those memories came back. One of the memories that bothered him was when they were still not officially inducted into the army. At that time he was upset and made the stupid and desperate decision to attack the enemy as proof that he was different from his father. Then, the only person who really cared about him was Riley. He was the one who sacrificed himself to save him. At that time, he and Riley were both aspiring soldiers. Neither of them had the slightest experience on the battlefield. But, Riley was still looking for him.Uh, when he
James Gardner nodded, "Yes, Your Royal Highness. May I do so?"Xylan Wellington quickly nodded, "Go, General Gardner. You can talk to him."James was grateful that Xylan did not hold him back."Thank you, Your Highness," James said as he quickly left the crown prince along with three first-class soldiers to guard him.Indeed, the three soldiers were certainly no match for him. However, he chose to trust the three of them.Luckily, it turned out that William Mackenzie who looked much older by a few years was also looking for him so their meeting did not encounter any obstacles."General Mackenzie," James greeted the father of his best friend respectfully.William Mackenzie smiled faintly and replied, "General Gardner."James nodded, "You … are you alright, General?"William returned a smile and said in a low tone, "How can I be fine when I have some problems, General Gardner?"James frowned, looking rather confused.Not wanting to riddle and confuse James, William quickly explained wit
James suddenly gave Gardner a lopsided smile. He knew it was not easy being Xylan Wellington's shield. But, he really did not expect that the crown prince who he thought was so smart was also so innocent.His intelligence seemed to be inversely proportional to his knowledge in terms of understanding the world around him.However, he had already decided to replace Riley in order to make up for the few years of time he had wasted so he should try to be patient.Thus, he calmly replied, "You should start thinking about the matter of all of their opinions, Your Highness.""Why should I?" Xylan retorted, who did not seem to accept James' words.James bit his lower lip, feeling the need to suppress his irritation even more. Come on, James. Don't give up so easily! James thought to himself."Because you are the future king and will soon inherit the throne of this country. So, you should start thinking about what they think of you," James replied.Xylan was about to reply, but James was fas
The indecision on Xylan Wellington's face was evident. James Gardner, who felt that he had succeeded in making the crown prince realize the big mistake Xylan was about to make, called out, "Your Highness."Xylan flinched slightly when he heard his name being called by James.The young man turned to James, but still did not open his mouth.At that moment, James Gardner was certain that Xylan would change the decision they had just discussed.However, he suddenly saw Xylan smiling at him. That of course made James blink his eyes in confusion.But, within seconds, his confusion was answered. He heard Xylan say, "General Gardner, what you said is true. Everything is right. I ... might get some opposition for choosing Gary Davis as the king's advisor."He nodded. James immediately got a bad feeling that he didn't want to imagine."But, General Gardner. I have found no other good candidate than Gary Davis for that position. And ...."He paused for a moment, seemingly thinking about somethi