"Yes, that's right. My personal assistant who ... is currently outside the door of my father's residence," Xylan replied, not seeming to find anything strange about his answer.James was still so shocked that he was left speechless, at a loss for what to say in response to Xylan's explanation."Why, General Gardner?" Xylan asked as he looked at James who was not speaking.James moistened his lower lip, still thinking of the right words.However, Xylan couldn't wait for him so he spoke again, "General Gardner, I know what you're thinking."James blinked his eyes, looking stunned.Xylan let out a long breath, "This must be the status of Gary Davis who is my personal assistant, right?"James' eyes widened slightly until he then looked at the crown prince with an astonished look.That's what I mean, why would you even think of making a personal assistant an advisor to the king? Have you ... lost your mind, Your Royal Highness? James thought to himself.Uh, James Gardner actually never judg
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 somethin
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 fast
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 with
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
"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 hav
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 irregularities
"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 owner
Without looking away, Ben thought hard. James didn't just stand by, waiting for Ben's answer. He himself repeatedly touched the handkerchief to scrutinize it. Not only that, the war general of Ans De Lou Kingdom was also sniffing the gray handkerchief as if he was looking for something.Seeing what James was doing, Ben impatiently commented, "You're not a dog. How can you track someone's whereabouts from sniffing that thing?"James instantly gave Ben an exasperated look, "That's not it. I'm just trying to smell this handkerchief. Who knows ... it might turn out to be a clue.""Then ... did you get a clue after sniffing the cloth?" Ben asked with a casual look.With a look of disappointment, James replied, "No. I didn't. I just smelled the earth."Had they not been in a serious situation, Ben's laughter would have exploded. However, they were working on an important mission so Ben knew he had to restrain himself. He certainly didn't want to be seen as trivializing his friend's rescu
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