Chapter 36: Even the King Is Poor!

After the two ministers left, Kyle ordered the carriage to return to the palace. He then took a comfortable position and lay down on the carriage.

While the carriage wheels turned, so did the wheels in Kyle’s mind. It seemed that he had returned to the time of the mutiny.

The scene of that day reappeared as clear as day in his mind.

His personal guards named Pegasus and the First Prince’s army were fighting in front of the north gate of Lolan City. Suddenly, the city gate was shut with a loud bang. The ground was stained with blood. Broken arrows and broken swords were scattered everywhere, as well as the bodies of countless of his own people.

The final outcome ended with the beheadings of the First Prince, Lens, and the Third Prince, Nasim.

The two brothers lay in front of him. Their chests stopped moving after a while, and their pale faces were still deeply imprinted in Kyle’s mind.

This made him feel afraid, and even his breathing became rapid. An ordinary person would never do such a thing as to murder their siblings. Until now, when Kyle thought of this scene, he often could not sleep at night.

Even if many people said that the king was heartless for doing that, to him, it felt like empty words that got passed around.

Kings were also human, and they also had feelings. This was what Lorne had said in the beginning, and it was very suitable for Kyle’s mood right now when he thought about it.

Soon after, the scene suddenly changed.

When Kyle looked around, the First Prince’s army had turned into his father’s personal guards.

Lens and Nasim, who previously lay on the ground, had now become his father, Bidas.

When he walked closer, Bidas’s face was covered in blood, and he started back at him with soulless eyes…

“Ah!”

Kyle could not help but scream, and then he suddenly woke up. The carriage that was carrying him to the palace suddenly stopped, and the voice of a guard came from the side of the curtain.

“Your Majesty, do you acquire any assistance?”

Kyle wiped the cold sweat off his head, took a few deep breaths, and let out a long sigh. Only then did he calm down. He lifted the curtain and looked at the sky outside. Then, he told the anxious-looking guard beside him, “Let’s go to the study place first. I suddenly remembered that I had some important matters to attend to.”

The guard replied and immediately ordered the carriage to go in the direction of the study place.

Soon after they arrived at the study place, Kyle rummaged through the pile of government documents on the table. It took him a long time to find the palace construction blueprint that the Ministry of Industrials had presented to him.

Kyle took a pen and wrote on it. Then, he said to the guard standing at the side.

“Go and hand this drawing to the decision-making department. Let the leaders have a look at this and make the amendments. Make sure that Rosen and Andrew are present. They will understand what I mean by this.

“By the way, tell them that that palace will be rebuilt according to the size of this palace. It must not be sloppy at all. This palace shall be built for my father. Tell them if they require more funds, do not at any means go to the National Treasury, they can directly take it out of my own funds.

“I’ll use my own money to build this temporary palace. I’m sure those old men in the decision-making department will not find any reason to object.”

The guard hurriedly took the blueprint with both hands and left the study room with hasty steps.

This was the suggestion that Kyle had accepted from Lorne.

He wanted to expand the temporary palace in the northeast of Lolan City. After it was built in proportion to the size of this palace, it shall be specially used for Bidas to live in.

He had already named it Bidas Palace.

This is to honor his father, as a respectable son.

After using Lorne’s suggestion, the civil and military officials should never mention about him being dishonorable to pressure him ever again. In addition, he did not go through the National Treasury directly. Instead, he used the Royal Treasury. This was equivalent to him personally spending money to build a Bidas Palace that was the size of a proper palace.

No one could find the slightest mistake in this matter. It seemed that they would only say good things about this action.

However, after Kyle lifted his pen and filled up the blueprints with his heroic spirit, he began to feel an oncoming headache knowing about the amount of money he was going to spend. In fact, he knew that there was not much money left in his treasury at all. Although he had the glory of being a king, there were times when he had to eat peanuts in order to save up on finances.

The money in the National Treasury was taken and allocated by the Ministry of Finance. It was calculated as a whole. It was used for the construction of the country, the expenditure of the palace, and other matters, as well as for the benefit of the people.

Were he, the King of Lolan to use the money from the National Treasury, he would instantly be criticized by others. It was really unnecessary to stir up such a topic because of such a small matter.

However, the expenses of the royal family were not small to begin with. He and his many wives and concubines were all people who loved to spend money.

Notwithstanding that, building a Bidas Palace was like asking to build a mountain of gold. It could be expected that after the Bidas Palace began its construction, he would be living off peanuts for a long, long time.

“Alas, even I’ve become short of money. Next time I go to that kid’s tavern, I’ll just give him fewer silver coins than usual. I have to live frugally from now on, or else I won’t be able to live this life!”

Thinking of this, Kyle smacked his forehead.

“Forget it. Men, prepare a carriage for me. I wish to visit my father!”

As he spoke, he picked up the jar of wine that he had gotten from Lorne and walked out of the study room.

…

A day later, Kyle’s request to expand the temporary palace and rebuild the Bidas Palace was immediately approved by the resolution. After a short discussion, several officials from the decision-making department immediately approved the draft.

The Ministry of Industry and the administrative department immediately started the construction plan for the Bidas Palace after all matters were attended to.

After Rosen and Andrew’s explanation, the ministers understood the deeper meaning that happened behind Kyle’s action.

The palace was full of admiration for the king’s political wisdom and profound strategy.

In addition, the king did not withdraw the money from the National Treasury. Instead, he paid for the expenses himself. This behavior made many others praise him for his honorability.

Listening to the praise and admiration of the civil and military officials in the palace, although Kyle’s heart bled from the loss of money, he could only show elation on his face.

Moreover, after he went to visit Bidas unexpectedly that day, the outcome surprised Kyle. Bidas had naturally showed great surprise upon his arrival, but he was not as cold and angry as he had imagined.

Instead, he appeared to be a little happy. The father and son drank this jar of strong wine to their heart’s content. At the end of the drink, the two kings of the Lolan Empire began to talk nonsense the more drunk they got.

Kyle himself did not remember what he said, but after the drunken incident yesterday, the relationship between him and Bidas had improved a lot.

This morning, when he went to visit Bidas, Bidas smiled at him and fully showed the kindness of a father.

This made Kyle overjoyed. Knowing this, Kyle did not forget about Lorne and had felt more grateful towards the tavern boss.

If not for the advice given by the young boss, he would still be here, not knowing how to improve his relationship with Bidas. It seemed that Lorne’s value had increased greatly in the king’s heart.

‘Lorne, you’ve indeed been a great help in my life. I shall forever be eternally grateful for your talented presence. Throughout the ages, there have been only a handful of kings like me who would get to be this fortunate in their prime!’ the king thought to himself.

At this moment, Lorne’s position had reached the highest position in Kyle’s heart.

He had quietly risen to the level of being on par with Rosen and the other assistant ministers.

In any case, Kyle had already made up his mind. As long as Lorne joined the palace as an official, he would put him in an important position no matter what.

As long as the rules allowed, he, as the king, would treat such a well-deserving official with the highest standards..