"Can you sit down, Your Majesty?" Knight Aiden asked Tristan, who was still lying on the ground and showing no signs of sitting up.
Tristan turned to his two knights, who were squatting to his right. The three palace soldiers who participated in escorting him had left him to catch his light brown horse, which had suddenly gone berserk.
"I can sit." Tristan nodded. Then he sat up, ignoring the pain in his back and buttocks. Luckily, there were no rocks or tree trunks.
"Would you like to ride with me or the knight Ajax, Your Majesty?" asked knight Aiden. He hoped his king would choose him.
Tristan looked behind him, trying to measure the distance between him and his palace. It takes two hours to walk.
Tristan's gaze shifted around him. They were on the path, right and left of them was a forest with trees that towered up to cover the sky.
A strong wind from the west swept dried leaves scattered on the ground toward us.
"Damn it." Tristan let out a short breath through his mouth. He didn't try to count the number of times he cursed.
"I'm riding a horse with you," Tristan said to the knight Aiden. The brown-haired knight smiled broadly, and his face radiated happiness. Tristan accepted the outstretched hand of knight Aiden, who helped him to stand.
"Your Majesty?" A merchant riding in his horse-drawn carriage hurriedly approached his king, leaving his horse-drawn carriage behind with his 10-year-old son. "It is my good fortune to meet you here, Your Majesty."
Tristan was shocked. He glanced at the merchant's horse-drawn carriage. His two knights forbade him to shake hands with the merchant and also not to stand too close to his people.
"I want to express my happiness to see you become king of the Madigan Kingdom," said the 40-year-old merchant.
Tristan nodded. He didn't know what to say when his people expressed their happiness at having a new king like him.
"I know you must have forgotten me, but I will never forget your kindness. A year ago, you helped me fight ten bandits. At that time, my son was sick, and I was taking him to a doctor. Thanks to you, my son's life was saved." The merchant turned to his son, who was guarding their horse-drawn carriage, to prevent the two brown horses from running away.
Tristan delved into Tristan Madigan's recollections. Tristan Madigan vaguely remembered the tense events of that night. After Tristan Madigan helped the merchant, his two knights found him and brought him to the palace.
"I am happy to see your son. He is a great child. He has struggled through his critical period," said Tristan to the merchant, who nodded his head.
Tristan felt he had no right to say that because he was not the one who helped the merchant and his son.
"We must return to the palace immediately, Your Majesty. The sky is getting darker." Knight Aiden reminded his king.
Tristan got on the dark brown horse, and he sat behind the knight Aiden. Their horses ran at moderate speed towards the palace.
They passed behind the officials' residence, two kilometers from the palace. Tristan stared at their large and elegant house, which was quite different from ordinary people's homes. It turned out that the rich people of this world and the world he came from were the same.
***
"Have a good rest, Your Majesty." The two knights bowed their bodies to their king.
"You also rest," said Tristan to his two knights. Then he stepped toward his room. He glanced at the maids, who were busy in the kitchen area opposite where he was.
"They are women." Tristan forgot that in his palace he could see women. Yeah, even though they were maids, weren't many kings married to their maids?
However, none of the maids in his palace made Tristan fall in love with them.
Tristan stopped walking when he found a woman sweeping the garden in the backyard. His pupils dilated as the strong wind blew the woman's hair. "So beautiful."
For some reason, Tristan's heart didn't beat fast, he just admired the woman's beauty.
In his previous life, he had an ex-girlfriend. They dated for five months, and they broke up because their ex was embarrassed to have a boyfriend who was a prisoner.
"Why am I thinking about a woman?" Tristan shook his head very hard. "I need to focus on my new life as a king."
Correctly. Women weren't important to Tristan yet. One day, he would meet a lady who could make his heart race, and he would marry her.
He was a king, handsome and dazzling. No one could resist his allure. Only strange women didn't want to live with him.
Then, surprisingly, Jane's face appeared in his mind. Tristan hurriedly erased the female witch from his brain. He shouldn't think about someone whose existence threatens his life.
"Soaking in warm water can refresh the mind and make the body much more relaxed." Tristan was in the bathroom after three maids had prepared everything he needed to take a shower.
"I'm going to daydream." Tristan took off all his clothes, and then he walked towards the round bathtub, which required him to climb four steps.
"I'm coming," said Tristan as he was about to dip his feet into the warm water, but bad luck came back to him. His foot slipped, which caused his head to enter the bathtub first.
"Hot, hot." Tristan quickly got his head out of the warm water. He gripped the edge of the tub tightly, and his gaze was fixed on the water, ignoring his sprained right leg.
"Damn system." He didn't know where he got the courage to express his anger at the system.
"I only failed one task, but why are you so cruel in punishing me?!" He shouted, even though he knew the system wouldn't listen to him.
Tristan inhaled and exhaled slowly through his mouth. "Calm down, calm down. It's better to soak."
Tristan was relieved that he was able to calm himself so well.
He closed his eyes when he was already in the warm water. All his tiredness seemed to be absorbed by the water, and his brain, which was like a tangled thread, slowly unraveled.
He didn't think about anything. He was resting his brain, which he didn't stop using to think.
He found peace that was difficult for him to feel in his current life or in his previous life.
Being king was not as happy as other people imagined. Moreover, Tristan must comply with all tasks from the system.
Tristan has only been in this world for more than a week and has become a king, but he hasn't found any other happiness other than getting the opportunity to live again in the body of a king.
He should have enjoyed all his money and the facilities provided by the palace.
Tristan had never even ordered the two palace knights or soldiers to buy anything he wanted or do anything to please him.
"The moon and stars light up the sky." Tristan stared out the window for a few seconds. Then he closed the curtains, he didn't let a glimmer of light into his room.
He was full. Luckily, nothing bad happened while he was having dinner.
"Damn lizard!" Tristan growled when he saw a lizard on his sheets.
With irritation bubbling in his chest, he struggled to catch the lizard like a man possessed.
Tristan laughed out loud as he stared at the lizard in his hands.
"Damn lizard." Tristan gripped the lizard tighter until the animal that was supposed to be crawling on the wall died in his hands.