"Yes, Your Majesty. I even had a one-on-one talk with the boy and ... didn't find the boy to have the slightest resemblance to General Mackenzie other than his very admirable abilities," Andrew explained honestly.Keannu sighed in disappointment, "Oh, what a pity! If he were General Mackenzie's son, I can see that his name would shine much brighter when he is officially commissioned as a soldier in the future."Greg shook his head vigorously."What's with the reaction? You don't believe what I'm saying, Greg?" Keannu asked with a visibly offended expression on his face.Greg swallowed before saying very carefully, "Your Majesty, I believe what you say regarding the boy's prowess. It's just that ... I can assure you that the boy really isn't General Mackenzie's son."Andrew immediately glanced at his friend sharply, his thick eyebrows also raised in obvious disagreement with Greg's words. Greg who realized he was being stared at in such a way sighed, "I have a good reason, General Reec
"He's not stupid, Your Majesty," Andrew said. In Greg's eyes, Andrew had clearly been sedated by the prowess of the young man he had seen kissing the king's daughter just a few hours ago.Andrew even added, "He's very intelligent. Not many people teach their opponents and I'm very confident that in the future he can become a great leader."Hearing Andrew's words, Keannu impatiently asked the currently serving war general, "Andrew, do you intend to exercise your right to vote to ... vote for him?"Greg was surprised to hear the question, but he was also very interested. "You mean, the right of the war general to choose the next war general candidate, Your Majesty?""Yes." Keannu replied with a nod.It was known that at the end of the selection, Andrew Reece would soon resign from his position so the Ans De Lou Kingdom needed a new army leader as the war general.Therefore, the palace had issued a regulation that there would be three candidates for war general. One would come from a new
Instead, Keannu laughed crisply and waved his hand as if to dismiss Greg's remark. "How could he possibly do it? He's not General Mackenzie who can train his men in a short period of time and see the results quickly. He's just a snot-nosed kid who's not even 21 years old, for crying out loud!" Keannu said in a dismissive tone.Even though the man who had just spoken was the king, Andrew listening to every word that came from Keannu's lips made him a little irritated.So Andrew finally decided to respond, "Your Majesty, he is indeed not General Mackenzie. But, believe me ... he can even be friends with the son of a traitor. Doesn't that mean he's very special indeed?"For this, Greg had to agree with Andrew, "That's right, Your Majesty. James Gardner refuses to be friends with anyone, except Riley Wood."Keannu chuckled impatiently, "That's because no one wants to be friends with that traitorous kid. They must be reluctant or afraid."Andrew's eyebrows knitted together, but he didn't w
"Why do you look so surprised, Greg?" Keannu asked back.Andrew Reece who saw the two arguing didn't try to interrupt. He just listened carefully, letting the two of them argue.With a look of disbelief in his eyes Greg replied, "You're asking me to cheat James Gardner. How could I not be surprised, Your Majesty?"Keannu sighed and immediately spoke with an impatient expression, "The one you cheated is James Gardner, the son of a traitor. You didn't have to think twice about it."Greg still disagreed, "James Gardner is very much different from Jody Gardner, Your Majesty. So far the boy hasn't caused any trouble. In fact, his skills are good. He only lost to Riley Wood."Keannu bit his teeth in annoyance, "Greg, Jody Gardner used to look good when he was young too. And he even became one of General Mackenzie's men who was fairly obedient. But ... who would have thought that he would end up betraying his general?""In case you've forgotten, I'll remind you once again. Jody Gardner attack
However, James Gardner, who had a flat face, was thinking about something else. His forehead even formed a frown, indicating that he was feeling strange about something.When the king's eldest daughter walked away from their table, without waiting for Riley's reply, James immediately asked, "Why does she want to talk to you? And why do you seem to be ....""Don't try to assume anything, James!" Riley warned him in a stern tone."Why shouldn't I?" James' two thick eyebrows drew together in astonishment.Riley did not answer and instead finished his mineral water. Annoyed at being ignored James said again, "Who wouldn't be surprised that the king's daughter, who is rarely even seen at public events, would come here to see you.""To meet an aspiring soldier. That's too weird!" James added.He was still staring intently at Riley, hoping to get a satisfactory answer.However, Riley casually replied, "What you see in front of your eyes is not necessarily what really happened."Before James
Riley moistened his lips for a few seconds before replying, "Your Highness, my identity is indeed impossible to hide forever. But ... there is something that makes me unable to stay away from him.""What? He also has the same great abilities as you, though you are superior. He could be your enemy in the future. Why would you be friends with someone who might be your rival in the future?" Rowena scolded while biting her teeth in annoyance.She was really astonished at Riley's actions which she thought were very careless.The green-eyed youth let out a long sigh, "There are reasons that I can't say and don't need to say. However, it is certain that I will bear all the things I have decided."Rowena was more upset than ever. She had almost said something about his father's arrival that worried his son but she couldn't do it.She had made a promise to William Mackenzie so breaking it would be like disrespecting the strongest god of war."Your Highness, you-""Yes, I know. You must be wonde
Riley immediately bowed down and could only say, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I am ...."He paused for a moment, as if trying to find the right words to explain the situation. However, Keannu suddenly said again, "Hold on! Not right now. Meet me after the selection stage is over."Riley raised his face slowly and showed a calm expression even though he was really confused. "I hope you have a good answer, young man ... otherwise, I'm willing to discard you even if I have to lose one of the best prospective soldiers," Keannu continued with a cold gaze.If it were an ordinary person, that person would definitely not dare to breathe when stared at in such a manner by his king. However, Riley was raised by his father and mother to be a brave and fearless man, so that did not apply to him.Riley wasn't scared, but just confused. Meanwhile, Keannu looked astonished at the attitude of the youngster who still looked so calm even when confronted with him who was angry.Why is this kid so r
"Damn it! Who would give up their life? Do you think I'm stupid?" Riley retorted with teeth chattering due to his growing irritation.James laughed crisply, "My good fellow, you are very, very stupid indeed. Come on, you could have fooled around with any girl. But, why did you choose a king's daughter instead?""I did not do it on purpose ... I mean I never expected this to happen," Riley said defensively.Oh, this was getting complicated for him. Riley just realized that completely. Unfortunately, he couldn't avoid the punishment he would probably receive from the king.James shook his head, helpless at his friend's stupidity, "You don't know how King Keannu is so overprotective of his daughter? You forget that ... hm, I'm sure you must be aware of the rumors."Riley rubbed his face and once again said, "Stop it! I know I made the wrong move. Instead of you continuing to mock me, don't you want to help me out a little?""A way out for what?" James asked in a surprised tone.Inevitably
Lory Blackwell paused, trying to compose himself.According to what he knew, the forest located in the border area close to the Mecco Kingdom was an uninhabited forest. The dense forest was a wild forest inhabited only by animals. Although soldiers from the two kingdoms, Ans De Lou Kingdom and Mecco Kingdom, did check regularly, it was still very rare.So, it was no surprise that Lory thought he had misheard. "Probably just a hallucination." The young man said quietly and nodded, reassuring himself.However, after a few seconds he heard the same voice again, "Hey, I'm over here."Lory's eyes widened. He became very alert.On such a dark night, of course he couldn't see very clearly so he could only squint and hold his gun tightly. But, from the voice of the person, Lory guessed that the voice was coming from his right so he turned his head to his right. As he climbed up the large tree that he used as cover, he did notice that there were several other large trees in the vicinity.
Ben quickly racked his brain, thinking of the right way to put James at ease. But before he could come up with a good line, he heard James say again, "Or ... is he angry that I took his current position? But, ...."James shook his head weakly, "There's no way he's angry because of that right? Moreover ... he knows very well that I never wanted her position. He must be-""Stop thinking like that, James! Are you stupid?" Ben said in an annoyed tone.James was about to respond, but Ben raised his right hand as if asking James to be quiet for a few moments.James seemed to understand the meaning of Ben's gesture and he let out a long sigh.Ben swallowed before explaining, "James, you know Riley doesn't care about the title 'War General' either. Basically, both of you are not crazy about positions."James faltered. Ben was right. How could Riley be disappointed and angry with me over this damn title? That doesn't sound like 'Riley Mackenzie', James thought.The young man exhaled harshly.
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