Tristan couldn't sleep.
He thought about what he would say to the kingdom's high officials and generals about why he lent one of the kingdom's hills to the Halu Kingdom.
He had to have a reasonable reason, so they would not question his unilateral decision and support the Halu Kingdom to win the war because they would get 10 percent of the proceeds from the sale of gold from Mount Silonga.
"Why don't you sleep, Your Majesty?" asked Knight Aiden.
"Why do you ask that?" Tristan glanced at his knight standing to his right.
"You've yawned twice, and you have dark circles under your eyes," said Aiden's knight.
"How diligent you are in counting how many times I yawn." Tristan sniffed.
"I did it because you never yawn in the morning and afternoon." Knight Aiden spoke casually, and his face remained flat even though his king glanced at him.
Knight Aiden wasn't afraid of Tristan Madigan, unlike Knight Ajax, who felt nervous near his king.
"Are you afraid of having nightmares again, Your Majesty?" Knight Aiden whispered. He didn't want anyone else to hear him because it would embarrass his king.
Tristan turned to Aiden, trying to hide his embarrassment. "Is it appropriate for you to ask me that?"
"I apologize; I was rude, Your Majesty." Knight Aiden lowered his head. "Knight Ajax and I are worried about you. We've even searched how to avoid nightmares."
Tristan dropped his intention to get angry at his two knights. He was stunned and couldn't believe they were looking for unnecessary information just to save his king from nightmares.
"I'm fine. I won't have nightmares again tomorrow," Tristan said with a serious face. Knight Aiden nodded in understanding.
Tristan did not lie because today was the last day of the nightmare penalty. Therefore, he would not sleep again tonight until the system announced that he had completed the penalty.
They did not speak anymore as the sacred ritual began.
The high priest, ten nuns, and ten people from the Temple of the Goddess of Purity solemnly performed the sacred ritual in the house's front yard.
The 15 people who were attacked by the plague of purulent lump and red eyes were inside the house, and they struggled to restrain themselves from groaning as they scratched their itchy skin.
They had planted the belief in their hearts that the sacred ritual could cure them.
Tristan and his two knights stood under a tree near the wooden gate. The ten palace soldiers who guarded Tristan stood before the gate, preventing people from barging in to watch the sacred ritual closer.
Tristan had received information an hour ago from the thousands of soldiers he had sent to check everyone in the kingdom, including nobles, high officials, and people who worked in his palace and other palaces.
He was relieved that no one was infected with the disease except those who lived in two villages near the Kavar Kingdom.
Tristan also got information from the Kavar Kingdom. They found some people from other villages who were infected with the plague. Eight hundred ninety-five people from 3 villages were infected with the disease.
Therefore, Tristan forbade all people in his kingdom to go to the Kavar Kingdom if they did not want to be infected with the disease of purulent lump and red eyes.
He even threatened them. He would not assign a physician, and there would be no sacred ritual for people who violated the rules.
Everyone in the kingdom knew that their king had beheaded criminals twice. They did not want to get that punishment. Making the king not angry with them was their goal in life now.
***
"The 34 people have not fully recovered, Your Majesty. Their purulent lump and red eyes have not disappeared, but the itching on their bodies has lessened," Knight Aiden told his king after he received a report from the soldier guarding the 34 people.
"Physician Joseph and Physician Jennifer routinely smear their bodies with ointment and hope that the ointment can reduce their lumps, but they do not know how to get rid of red eyes," Knight Aiden continued to convey the information he had received.
Tristan frowned. He was sitting in the hut next to Physician Jonathan's house. The sacred ritual had finished 20 minutes ago.
His two knights stood near him, and the dozens of palace soldiers guarding him circled the hut.
"What about the Kavar Kingdom?" Tristan asked Knight Ajax.
"The people who were attacked by the plague in the Kavar Kingdom have not recovered after the sacred ritual. Their symptoms are now the same as those 34 people, Your Majesty," said Knight Ajax.
Tristan covered his mouth when he yawned and tried hard to open his eyes wide. He was really sleepy. He didn't sleep all night because he had to distance himself from the nightmare penalty.
"The conditions have not changed, Your Majesty, if you suddenly become interested in my skills in healing your 49 people."
Tristan, his two knights, and the eight palace soldiers were shocked to see the witch who had met their king yesterday standing five paces before him.
The two knights and eight soldiers from King Tristan's palace promptly threatened the witch with swords.
"My answer is still the same as yesterday. I believe in sacred rituals. Maybe they will not be cured in a day or two, but they will be cured because God will not disappoint his servants," Tristan said firmly.
The witch woman laughed. "You don't believe in sacred rituals."
Eight palace soldiers walked toward the witch with their swords pointed at her. The witch smiled crookedly and then used her power to disappear.
Tristan clenched his fists. He wondered if the witch would become his most significant threat someday, but he didn't get the task of wiping her out of this world.
So Tristan would just order the Knight Ajax's men to keep an eye on the witch.
***
Tristan decided to go back to his palace after dinner. It was his strategy so that he would not sleep.
Tristan smiled widely at his genius plan because he would arrive at the palace early in the morning, and a few hours later, he would get a notification from the system that he had completed the penalty.
After that, he would sleep all day after meeting with the kingdom's high officials and generals to discuss his decision to lend one of their kingdom's hills.
The King of the Madigan Kingdom, along with the two knights and eight palace soldiers escorting him, left the village riding their horses at a moderate speed.
Tristan gripped his horse's reins tightly and struggled to open his eyes, which had closed numerous times. He even covered his mouth whenever he felt a yawn coming on.
However, Tristan couldn't resist the sleep that had overtaken him for too long. Despite the chilly night wind battering his face and his body shaking from his horse's quick pace, he fell asleep without realizing it.
"Your Majesty!" When their king fell off his horse and hit a rock, the eight palace soldiers stopped their horses simultaneously.
The two knights leading the way turned back. Their eyes widened in shock.
Knight Aiden ordered his horse to turn around. He rushed to his king, who was wincing in pain.
Meanwhile, knight Ajax spurred his horse to catch up with the king's horse.
"Ouch." Tristan was shocked to find blood on his hands. His head was bleeding.
Knight Aiden and the eight palace soldiers turned pale, their hearts stopping at the thought of something terrible happening to their king.
"You guys find a physician around this area." Knight Aiden ordered three palace soldiers.
"My, my. Why is His Majesty's entourage in this forest?" Nine bandits approached them while holding their beloved weapons.