Chapter 17  : The Impartial Andrew!

In the following days, the palace was back on the right track. The disaster relief in the Eastern region of the river had already formed a set of fixed procedures.

Kyle finally became more free from the piles of official affairs and government affairs. However, he seemed to not be in a good mood.

This was because he had been reprimanded by Andrew.

During that day he had just separated from Allen in front of the palace gate. When he entered the palace through the side door, he bumped into Andrew, who had been waiting for a long time.

Andrew originally had planned on wanting to report some official government affairs to Kyle. In the end, His Majesty the King reeked of alcohol. He had drunk until his face was red and he could not even stand straight.

Witnessing this, Andrew could not bear it. He has always been famous for his tough and straightforward answers. It was especially so when it came to giving advice to the king.

In addition, Andrew’s nature was upright and uptight with a strong-willed character.

If he thought that someone did something wrong, he would definitely speak up, regardless of whether the person who made the mistake was the king, the prince, or any minister.

In short, Andrew felt that he should give Kyle some advice since he reeked of alcohol. Therefore, he immediately stopped Kyle in his path.

Of course, Kyle knew the personality of his direct subject. He even tried to avoid making eye contact with Andrew when he walked past. However, it was to no avail, he was stopped.

What followed was a series of ranting that could not be stopped.

“The king, as the ruler of a country, should have the dignity of a king. How can he be so untidy?

“The king is the ruler of the Lolan Empire. It should be a good thing for him to travel in disguise in the afternoon and observe the people’s feelings… However! He should not reek of alcohol. How inappropriate is it!? This is not the proper behavior of a royal family.”

“This behavior is tarnishing your status as king and the etiquette of the royal family.”

With that, Andrew talked about the importance of having principles, integrity, and even mentioned how His Majesty should behave next time.

His badgering made Kyle lose all thoughts as he stood there, dumbfounded. It was true as to what Andrew had said, so he could not be angry. After all, he had to maintain the posture of a wise king at all times.

Otherwise, he would be shunned by his officials and people. Therefore, in front of Andrew, Kyle apologized and mentioned that he would not create such an indecent scene ever again. After tons of persuasion, he finally managed to convince Andrew to stop ranting.

After that event, Kyle thought that the matter was over, and as long as he paid attention to how he behaved, nothing could go wrong. However, what happened in the next few days made Kyle find it hard to bear.

Andrew talked back to him twice.

One was about the small temporary palace that he had planned to build in the northeast corner of Chang City having a sudden increase in its use of materials. Which he greatly complained about as it showed that it was in the works to become a big temporary palace. Such extravagance led to a waste of materials, and Andrew could not stand for that no matter what reason.

Other than that, there was also him mentioning that his etiquette was not in line with the royal family’s standard system. In short, Andrew was all up in Kyles’s business with facts that could not be rebutted and he had to begrudgingly accept them.

This caused Kyle to be fed up with everything he said. He even felt a little angry knowing that he could not do anything about it. He knew that Andrew was doing this for his own good. What he said was true and within reason. However, Kyle could not help but still feel unhappy.

He even slightly regretted recruiting Andrew — who had originally worked for the First Prince — under his command.

However, things had already come to this, and Kyle could only accept things as it is. After all, he was the one who provided Andrew’s official position. He also knew Andrew’s character.

At the end of the day, he should listen to his royal subjects well. Were he not to do that, he would just be mocked behind his back as the King of Lolan. The frustrated Kyle could neither advance nor retreat.

“Forget it. I’ll go out of the palace again today. I’ll go and ask Lorne what he thinks of Andrew.”

After making up his mind, he did not care what time it was. He directly asked for a group of the palace’s personal guards and disguised himself to go out of the palace once again.

At this moment, Lorne was packing his things in the tavern and was preparing to close the tavern up for the night. To him, owning a tavern felt comforting. Therefore, the door was never opened at night. It was just better to lie down at home and sleep.

Therefore, just as the table and chairs were being put up, Kyle suddenly appeared at the entrance of the tavern.

“Boss, are you going to close up now?”

Lorne was a little surprised when he saw that it was Kyle. This was the first time he saw Kyle coming to his place for dinner this late in the evening.

“Charles, what a rare guest. The sun has already set, and yet you still have the time to visit. Don’t you have a family to go back home to? Wouldn’t that be more comforting than this place?”

Kyle immediately revealed a bitter smile.

“Boss, let’s not talk about personal matters. Right now, I’m feeling frustrated about a lot of things and need a place to release my stress.”

Lorne found it odd that Kyle, which was introduced as Charles, had spoken to him like that. The two of them had known each other for more than a month. According to his knowledge, his old friend seemed to be quite capable. At the very least, his business should be doing well and his family should be happy. It was rare to see him express his annoyance.

Lorne immediately reached out and put an arm around Kyle’s shoulder.

“Come, come, come in first. After I close this door, I’ll give you a special treat.”

Kyle followed Lorne’s direction and walked in. Then, he watched Lorne close the tavern door, signaling that he was closed for business.

“Clack!”

Lorne took the small wooden stool off the table and wiped it.

“Sit and rest while I prepare some dishes for you.”

Lorne then turned around and went into the kitchen. As he walked away, for some reason, Kyle’s originally frustrated heart suddenly calmed down. It seemed that this young man had the ability to ease his restlessness with just a few words.

The environment of this tiny tavern also seemed to make him more relaxed as compared to the slightly depressing atmosphere in the palace. This made Kyle daydream again. The act of him stepping into this tavern in disguise a month and a half ago was perhaps the greatest thing he had done in the past few decades.

It also made him feel very comfortable talking to the owner of the tavern as a friend and as an equal.

Kyle wondered if Lorne entered the palace and became an official, would he still have the chance to drink and eat with Lorne this comfortably?

Kyle had no idea. He could only take things one step at a time right now.

…

Not long after, Lorne brought a few dishes and placed them in front of Kyle’s table. Without needing Kyle’s help, Lorne added another set of cutleries for himself, including a bowl to eat.

Then, Lorne went to the wine cabinet and rummaged around to finally come out with a jar of wine.

“Old friend, you’re in luck today. Didn’t you say that you’re in a bad mood?

“Good thing I happen to have a jar of this high-quality alcohol wine. This is what I drink to drown my sorrows. After drinking a cup, there’s nothing to worry about. You’re lucky.. The last few jars you had would not be as strong as this one.”