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.
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 felt a little disturbed."I can't believe we won," one of the cl
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 him 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 him 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
"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
"What's going on exactly?" Reiner looked even more confused.Normally, if they won a battle, they would be greeted with great fanfare.Not only a number of palace soldiers would welcome them, but also palace officials and members of the royal family would welcome them.However, at that time there were only a few soldiers and soldiers escorting the prince in the field where their plane was about to land.That naturally led to various questions that finally popped into the heads of the soldiers who had just returned from a life-and-death battle. "Didn't they hear the news of our victory?" one of the class one soldiers said in a disappointed tone.A class two soldier responded, "No way. They must have heard. This is the big victory they've been waiting for. They can't possibly not know.""That's right. The palace must have announced this happiest of news," another class one soldier chimed in.Meanwhile, Ben who was still near James seemed to be thinking seriously. He thought it was quite
Before James could respond to the words of Xylan Wellington, the young crown prince, Xylan had spoken again, "General Gardner, I know my request is excessive.""And I know ... the reason you are willing to return to this palace is for the sake of my brother-in-law, but ... I really need your help, General Gardner," Xylan added with a pleading look on his face.James let out a long sigh and then shook his head.That made Xylan weak and also disappointed. However, it was only temporary because it wasn't long before Xylan heard James say, "You don't have to ask me to this extent, Your Royal Highness."Xylan was stunned. Moreover, James went on to say, "As a War General of Ans De Lou Kingdom, my duty is not only to protect this country. But also to protect the chief leader of this kingdom."Xylan's mouth opened slightly in surprise at James' answer that was without a trace of hesitation."Since you are the new leader after King Keannu passed away, then ... the duty of protecting you is al
Since James had not moved from where he was standing and was instead as still as a statue, Rowena immediately glanced at Xylan.Xylan of course understood her sister's meaning so she quickly said, "General Gardner, are ... are you alright?"James snapped out of his reverie and nodded at Xylan. With confusion ruling his mind, he still stepped into the king's room.Once he entered the area for the first time, James could see the body of the king of Ans De Lou Kingdom lying stiffly on the luxurious bed. He could only exhale softly at the sight of the person who had been responsible for the complicated relationship between his father and Riley's father. As a result of the dead king's mistake, his relationship with Riley was strained.However, the king had apologized to him and he had forgiven all his mistakes so there was no anger or resentment in James' heart.Instead, he was saddened by the loss of Keannu Wellington. "Your Majesty, I never thought that our meeting before I left for the
"So, you can give us time to mourn our family members, right? You have not forgotten that Keannu Wellington was not only the king of this country, but he was the head of our family. He is my husband, the father of my two children and a grandfather to my grandson," Monica said in a flat but firm tone.The queen's words apparently succeeded in making the palace officials look at each other and finally fell silent.Some of them seemed to take a few steps back as if they really didn't want to disturb members of the royal family anymore. James Gardner himself smiled to see the palace officials, some of whom were important ministers, not moving in front of the queen. James could not help but be impressed by the queen's ability to make people obey her orders. It was because according to James it was very rare.Before he gave up his post as a deputy general of war, he had met so many queens from various kingdoms around the world. However, not many queens had authority. Monica Wellington was
Foei Maccray turned around and looked sarcastically at the junior.When he saw Lory Blackwell's compliance, Foei Maccray smiled wryly as if satisfied that he had succeeded in making one of his juniors submit to his orders.Of course, that made him feel big-headed. Hence, Foei haughtily said again, "Keep standing here until we are out of your sight. After that ... then you can walk."Lory Blackwell did not reply. But Foei took his silence as obedience so he said, "Good! You should obey your seniors' orders."Lory just swallowed without daring to say a word. However, Foei did not need an answer so he just continued walking along with his good friend, Derrick Weybe who looked bored in Lory's neighborhood. The other soldiers followed the two senior soldiers with mixed feelings. Apparently there were some of them who were starting to feel sympathetic towards Lory. But due to their status and class being much lower than the two senior soldiers who were bullying Lory, they chose to be cowa
Derrick snorted in annoyance, while Foei immediately responded, "Oh, you seem to be very timid!" Foei cast his gaze at Derrick and then flashed a smile with a mocking expression. Derrick shook his head, also smiling mockingly."If you're scared, why would you want to participate in this important mission?" Foei said.Lory quickly shook her head, "I'm not afraid ... I’m just-""Huh? Not afraid? Then, why did you just say that?" Derrick cut Lory off, as if he deliberately didn't want to hear Lory speak."You're obviously a coward! Oh my! You should have stayed in the palace and not joined the search for General Mackenzie," Foei explained with a lopsided smile. "Coward!" Derrick taunted again. "A pathetic soldier like you who dares to tell us we're slow? Who do you think you are, my superior?" Foei said with a cold tone and a dismissive expression.Oh, he was really very satisfied seeing Lory's helpless expression.The two men deliberately wanted to humiliate Lory. Their intentions w
Seeing James' confident smile, Ben instantly realized that his best friend was unpredictable. But, when he recalled the relationship between James and Riley in the past, he felt that everything James said was true. Riley had always been completely open to James. The young man only hid one thing, which was the fact that he was William Mackenzie's son. Other than that, Riley had no other secrets from James. Meanwhile, Riley was also the only person who could understand James very well. Only Riley is able to understand every action taken by James and James only wants to talk about things with Riley.So, seeing all these facts, Ben finally nodded, "Okay, then. What should I do?"James snorted and immediately put on a sullen face, "Come on, Ben! I told you earlier."Ben rolled his eyes, "I still don't understand. Please explain in more detail!"With an annoyed expression James replied, "If I had the authority to downgrade soldiers, I would definitely downgrade you to class two."Ben's n
Although they seemed confused by the war general's order, they still unanimously replied, "Yes, General."It wasn't long before all the soldiers formed a line where they would prepare to search for Riley Mackenzie as ordered by James Gardner.Most of the first class soldiers did not hesitate to do the task, but there were some of the class two soldiers who seemed to be unsure of what they were going to do.Two of them were Foei Mccray and Derrick Weybe."I don't understand why General Gardner is searching the forest. How could General Mackenzie be here? This doesn't make sense," Derrick said, who had just lined up facing the front of the forest.The twenty-six year old young man was in the front row with his best friend so they could still talk in a fairly low tone of voice.Foei nodded in agreement, seemingly thinking the same as Derrick, "He's probably too frustrated to pick a spot."Derrick exhaled harshly then glanced towards the front where several class one soldiers seemed to be
Gary Davis shook his head with a super confused expression. He couldn't guess what might have happened. He himself did not know James Gardner very well. He entered the palace when James Gardner had just resigned from the post of deputy general of war. So basically he had only met James a few times. It was different with Riley Mackenzie. He had met Riley countless times. In fact, it could be said that he already knew how Riley behaved. However, he could not think of anything about James Gardner. He was just like a blind man when it came to James. "Even young General Mackenzie is not suspicious of you. He's been in the palace longer than that general. I don't understand," Elena said, who also hadn't found the answer to the question that was bothering her.She also still didn't understand. However, a thought occurred to Gary. "Maybe I was in too much of a hurry, Gran," Gary said suddenly.Elena frowned, "What do you mean, Gary? What kind of hurry?"Gary sighed softly, "Approaching
Elena Goldwin bit her lip, feeling she had done something wrong. The old woman said, "I'm sorry, Prince ... oh, I mean ... Gary."Seeing Elena's soulful face, Gary became uncomfortable. He looked at the old woman who had taken care of him since he was a child. That woman had done so much for her family. Not only did she devote herself as a household assistant, she also became a substitute mother figure for his brother. Indeed, her age was more appropriate to be called a "grandmother", but her role was more suitable as a mother to herself and Rowen.Oh my! What have I done? She sacrificed so much, but what have I done? The old woman who has helped me with all her time and energy, I almost made her cry, Gary thought in exasperation.The young man touched Elena's hand, startling the woman. She then heard Gary say, "You don't have to apologize, Gran. And I ... I'm the one who should be apologizing to you. Please, forgive me for getting angry just because you called me that."Elena ga
Gary Davis sighed softly. Guilt immediately rushed into his heart.He immediately positioned his seat towards his little brother and looked at him with a guilt-filled gaze.The boy's gaze was so innocent that it made Gary's feelings even more chaotic.Rowen, his little brother, was still very young, but he had to bear problems that he shouldn't have thought about at such a young age. In a very gentle tone Gary said, "Rowen, I'm sorry. I ... know you must feel very lonely. But ... believe me I'm doing all this for us. I-""You risked your life, Brother. I ... I ...."Gary shook his head, "Don't think about me! You just have to grow up healthy and safe. So that when we get what is rightfully ours, we can stand tall."Suddenly, Gary's words made Rowen look down sadly. "Gary, can't you just leave it all behind?"Rowen made Gary frown but he smiled a little before saying again, "What do you mean? Didn't you say you wanted to live in the palace with me? Why are you saying that now?"The 10
Actually it was not only Doris Tan who found it hard to believe what Xylan had decided. However, his three fellow bodyguards also felt the same way.In fact, the images of the three's expressions were very clear from just one look. Especially Jim Chesnut who looked so shocked at Xylan's words. His mouth even opened wide and he forgot to close it again. "Y-Your Majesty, I'm very confused. I ... I-""Doris Tan," Xylan cut Doris off with a stern tone.Doris fell silent, as if knowing that Xylan would soon explain the viceroy's reasoning. Sure enough, it wasn't long before Xylan said, "Hm, you ... did do the right thing by admitting your mistake."He paused for a few seconds, deliberately to give Doris time to calm down before he continued what he wanted to say.When Doris seemed much calmer, Xylan continued, "However, you did it in the wrong way."Ludos Flee frowned, looking confused. Meanwhile, Jim Chesnut looked thoughtful as he squinted slightly.What's wrong? Jim wondered to himsel
In fact, Xylan Wellington never cared about what the people in his palace said. He tended to ignore the gossip about him.In fact, there was once a time when there was a visit from another kingdom, at which time Xylan was asked by his father to greet one of the princes. However, he who was not very good at socializing actually made the king's son from the other kingdom uncomfortable. As a result, there was a bit of a commotion at that time. Xylan was accused of being rude to the prince so that the prince did not feel at home in Ans De Lou Kingdom and ended up leaving the palace sooner than he should have.The situation in the palace was a bit chaotic. Many people considered Xylan to be totally at fault for causing an important cooperation to fail. However, the young man did not care at all and never explained anything.His father, King Keannu at that time also never asked his son and instead seemed to tolerate Xylan's behavior. But, King Keannu had a good reason: he knew his son's ch