Mr Nolan had to return the plants he had initially planned to sow in the palace because of how damaged they were from the encounter he had earlier. On his way back home, the two guards which the king had assigned to him followed him. As they journeyed back to the little village Mr Nolan resided, they passed the village that the incident occurred earlier, Blackthorn. Mr Nolan felt his teeth chattering as they passed through Blackthorn. He noticed the guards throwing glances at him and he tried to pull himself together. He wasn't a five year old that would shiver and shake but that experience was too surreal for him. He breathed in and made his teeth to stop chattering and finally breathed out after he felt them stop. Finally arriving in his home, he got down from the carriage and he turned to the bodyguards and the Coachman "I do apologise, my home only has one spare room and a little shed at the back. I know this is totally different from the castle but please bear with me for now." Mr Nolan said to them. "We don't have a problem with that sir" One of the guards replied. Mr Nolan turned to the Coachman to get his response and the coachman only smiled back.
Mr Nolan showed the coachman where the shed was and the Coachman placed the horses inside the shed. They all entered inside the house and Mr Nolan offered them the couch to sit on. Though his leg injury was already tended to, it still hurt. He didn't see any of his children in the living room so he assumed they were in their rooms. He struggled to climb the stairs due to his injury. Getting to the girl's room, he knocked on the door and Gabrielle opened up and was quite shocked to see her father. Firstly, because she knew he was supposed to be in the palace by now and secondly because of his injured leg. "Pa, what happened to you?" She said as stared at him from head to toe and declared in her heart that he was either mugged or beaten up.
"Don't worry about me. Where's your sister and brother?" Mr Nolan asked. "Mirabelle is here" she said pointing inside the room. "I think Kayden would be in his room too" she continued. "Okay. Get both of them, we have guests" Mr Nolan said. When he was about to walk away, Gabrielle said to him one more time "Pa, please tell me what happened". The man sighed and reluctantly said "I was beat up by some thieves. But I'm fine now Gabrielle, go get your siblings!".
He didn't want to make his children worry too much about him. He didn't even know how he was going to tell his wife about what happened. She would definitely freak out. His wife was a worrywart!
Funny enough, before the king employed him as his gardener Mr Nolan's wife initially begged him not to accept. If it were just any king, she need not to be worried about anything but because the king that ruled over them wasn't like any other king, it took time and conviction from her husband to agree to the king's employment offer. The stories she had heard about this so-called king of theirs was not so pleasant. At a time, even Mr Nolan was scared and unsure but he just wasn't ready to give such an opportunity up. Out of the many professional gardeners in the kingdom of Denver, the king chose him. Him -A human!
It was indeed surprising at first but they needed the money that came from working for the king. The money the king pays him, he uses it to make better his wife's pastry shop. Mrs Nolan earned little from her shop because of the other multiple existing pastry shops in their little village, Cornswell. The competition was just too much. Most times what she earns is used to buy more ingredients. But if she saves up, she can get a few food stuffs in their home. Mr Nolan uses his own part of his pay, after giving his wife some. He uses it to make their home better. One thing he prioritized was comfortable living. It wasn't a luxury he had in childhood so he wanted his family to enjoy that.
Their home wasn't the fanciest or even close to the fanciest in Cornswell but it was comfortable and conducive. Outside of their home had a well-kept garden which he prunes and takes care of by himself. Their family had good days and bad days but the hardworking Mr Nolan made sure his family never slept on an empty stomach.