17. How Surprising

Tristan took a deep breath with his eyes closed. He tightly gripped the white handkerchief that had soaked up the horse's blood that stuck to his face.

For some reason, he was annoyed with the farmers who made him get a special task from the system, and unfortunately, he failed to carry out this task. Because of that, yesterday and today, he has had a lot of bad luck.

"Okay, I will welcome those farmers." Tristan actually didn't want to meet them. He was sure his head would get dizzy after hearing the 20 farmers protesting his decision.

The soldier returned to the gate to tell his king's answer to his friends, who were struggling to hold the gate, which was pushed hard by the farmers.

"You should change clothes, Your Majesty," said knight Aiden. The golden robe worn by the king looked scary because of the light brown horse's blood.

"No need. I don't have time." Tristan shook his head. "I will solve this problem today."

Knight Aiden and Knight Ajax looked at their king in confusion, they failed to understand their king's words.

"Your Majesty!" Laureen screamed when she saw her stepbrother's robe. "Whose blood is that on your luxurious robe?"

The 11-year-old girl did not dare to approach her king, and she shuddered in horror when she remembered the perpetrator of the garden fire, who was beheaded by her king.

"This is Max's blood. His Majesty's horse." It was Knight Aiden who answered because he knew his king would not tell anyone about what had happened to his horse.

"What's wrong with Max?" Leonardo asked. The 11-year-old boy approached his king, and his eyes widened when he saw that there was blood on his king's sword.

"The stallion went berserk yesterday and caused His Majesty to fall to the ground. Then he ran away. Two palace soldiers found him with one of his legs broken."

Knight Aiden told the twins about the acts that had been done and what Max had experienced, which prompted their king to kill Max.

Leonardo and Laureen bowed their heads. They felt sorry for their king, who was forced to kill his beloved horse. Their king had lost his precious friend.

Tristan lowered his head to look at his robe, which had the light brown stallion's blood on it. Everyone felt sorry for him, but he didn't feel anything after he killed Max. He was not like Tristan Madigan who had a deep bond with the horse.

"Why are you here?" Tristan asked Leonardo and Laureen without looking at them, his gaze fixed ahead, waiting for the arrival of the 20 farmers.

"We were looking for you in the throne room, Your Majesty," Laureen answered. "We want to know what you're doing in the front yard."

"Little kids like you should study hard." Tristan insinuated that Laureen often slept while the teacher was teaching. In contrast to Leonardo, who focused on studying.

"We study hard." Laureen defended herself because Leonardo wouldn't bother to do it.

Tristan only glanced at the twins through his peripheral vision. In his previous life, he was an only child, and he never interacted with children. It was fortunate that Tristan Madigan was not too close to his two younger half-brother and sister.

"Your Majesty!" The 20 farmers shouted for their king as they arrived before him.

The farmers were wearing t-shirts, but that wasn't what made others look at them strangely. The bruises on their faces were very visible, as if they had just fought.

"We ask you to help us be free from this merchant. We don't want to sell our plantation land," said a farmer on behalf of his friends.

"Why don't you want to sell your plantation lands to that merchant? If the nominal price offered by the merchant is too low, you can increase the price until you find an agreement," said Tristan.

"The merchant really wants your plantation lands, this can be seen from him struggling for a year to persuade you to sell your plantation lands to him. He will definitely buy it if you sell it at a high price." Tristan said it casually, not trying to understand the farmers' feelings.

"Why did you tell us to sell our plantation lands to that merchant?" Some farmers dared to show their disappointment in their king.

Tristan was confused about what he should say. There was no way he would tell them that he wanted this problem to be resolved quickly.

"I know starting a business and trying to work in another field is not easy, but I'm sure you can adapt to your new job very well. Besides, the merchant will buy your plantation lands, what do you need to think about?" Tristan looked deeply at the 20 farmers, who were shocked to hear his words.

"I have nothing more to say to you all." Tristan left the farmers who didn't get what they wanted, and he walked towards his throne room hastily.

Two maids were waiting for him, they brought a new robe for him to wear.

Tristan sat on his throne chair after he changed his robe. He rested his elbows on the arm of the chair and rested his cheek against his palm. His two knights stood on his left and right.

He really regretted why he had approached the farmers at that time, and why did he tell his two knights his opinion about the problems faced by the twenty farmers?

The System was very correct, Tristan should just ignore those farmers.

Tristan stood straight when the prime minister entered his throne room and then approached him, who was lost in thought. Tristan wasn't in the mood to read dozens of scrolls from his people.

"Your Majesty." The prime minister bowed to his king. Then he sat next to his king after the knight Aiden gave him a chair. Understandably, he was old, he couldn't stand for too long.

The king's two knights stood far to the king's right, and the prime minister was sure they would not hear his conversation with the king.

Tristan frowned. The prime minister's movements seemed suspicious.

"I want to talk about the farmers' plantation land." The prime minister looked at his king seriously.

"Are you going to tell me that you don't agree with my decision?" Tristan asked. Annoyance rose in his heart. Don't let him punish those who side with the farmers.

"No, Your Majesty." The prime minister shook his head. "I just want to inform you about why the merchant wanted to buy the plantation lands."

Tristan focused his gaze on the prime minister. He was interested in the information.

"The merchant will build a luxurious inn with complete facilities intended for nobles, officials and rich people from the kingdom and outside the kingdom. The inn will be the first inn in our kingdom that will provide all kinds of alcohol and women, Your Majesty," said the prime minister with a broad smile.

"That business will generate a lot of revenue for our kingdom. We can levy huge taxes on that inn, and our kingdom will become more well-known to those seeking entertainment, Your Majesty," stated the prime minister enthusiastically.