Chapter 69: Snow(1)

It's early in the morning and Luke is in front of Ruth's office. Lance and the rest of the group were also present behind Luke. Luke slowly opened the door and went inside.

"Excuse me, Ruth? I'm coming in."

Luke and the group entered the room completely, and Luke looked inside as if he couldn't believe what he'd seen. The scene in front of him was so impossible to think of that he began to wonder if he was still inside a dream.

"Your majesty, about the distribution of the meat and crops from the granary. We must only contribute a third so we can still have food for the upcoming winter."

"Your majesty, the knights and some residents started to hunt animals in the mountains after healing. It looks like the kingdom is back on track again."

"Your majesty, should we make a trading deal with the Flor kingdom for crops and vegetables?"

"Hmm, okay, we'll follow what you say. They started hunting animals again? That's good, we haven't hunted animals for a month so our food supply is shortening. Yes, I leave the negotiation to you."

Luke saw some administrators surrounding Ruth with papers and suggestions and Ruth was answering them with logical answers. Luke looked at him and rubbed his eyes.

What the hell is going on? What happened to Ruth? Did he undergo through therapy while Luke was gone or something?

"T-this... R-Ruth? Am I still dreaming?"

Luke could feel Lance patting his shoulders.

"It's not a dream. He was like that after you passed out."

Luke looked at Lance in disbelief. He then pointed at Ruth with shaking hands.

"That's Ruth? I don't believe it!"

'The Ruth I know is a cold, irresponsible, and stupid dude! Who is this noble and dependable dude?! This is not Ruth!'

While Luke was having an internal crisis, Ruth and the administrators finally noticed their arrival. When the administrators saw the golden-haired priest standing blankly, their eyes sparkled with delight, and they dashed towards him at breakneck speed. They then all kneeled towards Luke while clasping their hands together as if they were praying. They looked at Luke as if he was a miracle from the gods.

"Oh! Mighty priest of God! We deeply thank you! Thank you!"

"You saved us all from the terrible withered souls for three days straight without sleeping or resting! Thank you!"

"Not only that! You showed our reck- ehem, our free-spirited king the way to being a proper king!"

"Thanks to you, we don't need to manage the kingdom alone anymore!"

"We won't be drowned in paperwork anymore!"

Luke flinched and took a step back from the administrators, who were looking at him with teary eyes. He then saw Ruth standing up and walking towards him. Ruth finally reached Luke and suddenly hugged him. Luke doesn't have any time to react at all. Luke was just there, dumbfounded and trying to process what the hell was going on.

"My friend, you are finally awake."

Luke smiled awkwardly and patted his back.

"Haha... I am fine now so no need to hug me this tight...."

Ruth broke the hug and Luke flinched when he saw the teary-eyed Ruth. He felt chills running down his spine when he saw Ruth trying to hold back his tears. Luke suddenly became nervous and decided to change topics.

".... I see that you are properly managing the kingdom? Good job."

Ruth wiped his tears and nodded with his usual blank face. He then looked at Luke.

"Thanks to you, I finally understand what it really means to be a king. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have known the problems that have been stirring around my kingdom. Thank you very much, my friend."

Ruth bowed towards Luke. The administrators also did the same. Luke slowly turned around towards his group with wide eyes. Lina and Selena just shrugged, Julius and Liam looked at him proudly, and Lance covered his mouth with his hand while suppressing his laughter. Luke frowned and faced the bowing Ruth and administrators.

"U-uh, please don't bow. I am just doing what I need to do...."

'How? How did this happen?! I only told Ruth to take care of his soldiers, but he is now taking care of his whole kingdom? Just what happened for things to go south for me?!'

· Dad! Everyone loves you! I love you more than them though, but they still love you! I am so proud!

Luke forced a holy-looking smile as he suppressed his bitter and cold feelings. Ruth and the administrators saw his gentle smile and almost cried. They then saw Luke waving his hands at them.

"Well, we should get going now. We stayed here for a longer period of time than we had anticipated."

Ruth made a disappointed face but spoke as if he understands.

"I understand, take care."

"Y-yes, you too."

Ruth attempted to smile but Luke doesn't want to look at it. He then saw the captain of the second knight brigade and some knights standing behind Lance. It seems like they came here to guard him. The royal mage then stepped right in and cast teleportation magic. He then heard Nash's voice in his head.

-He's not bad; he's at least a high-level mage.

Luke ignored Nash and let his body be teleported away.

---------------------

"Ahhh! Home!"

Nash jumps around the grass of the garden on the island. Luke just looked at him for a bit and went inside the palace. Luke and his group went straight to the palace after dropping Lance off at the royal palace.

Luke went straight to the laboratory. He then saw Bell, Spencer, and the kids researching something. Bell noticed Luke's arrival and walked towards him. Luke then asks a question.

"Is it done?"

Bell nodded with a proud smile.

"Hmm, hmm! It took faster than I expected."

"That means you are just talented."

Bell scratched his head as if he was embarrassed. He then pulls out something carefully from his pocket. It's a small bottle filled with a purple liquid. Bell then started to explain.

"In order to heal the princess of Thea with this, you need to feed the whole bottle to her. If not, she might die faster than being cured."

Luke nodded and accepted the bottle. He already knew how to use the potion, but listened anyway, so that he wouldn't be too suspicious. He then put the potion in his pocket and turned around. He then opened the door and left the laboratory, leaving Spencer, Bell, and the children behind. He then went straight up to his bedroom and slumped down on the bed. He felt tired. He then started to think.

'Who would have thought that achieving a peaceful life would be this hard?'

Luke sighed and was about to close his eyes, but he then heard his door open.

Screech

Luke sat up in his bed and looked at the person who had just come in. It was Liam.

"What is it?"

"We wanted to invite you to dinner. Spencer cooked for us and the children wanted to eat together so...."

Luke sighed. Well, it wasn't too bad to eat together once in a while.

"Alright."

Luke got to his feet and walked past Liam. Liam smiled and followed behind him. They then both quietly walked through the hallways and went towards the dining room. What greeted them was a noisy and messy dining room.

"Hey! That's mine!"

"No! I got this first!"

"Ahh! You are staining my coat!"

"I just washed this!"

"Hey! Stop fighting!"

Lily, Michael, Jessa, Josh, and Nash are shouting and fighting about food while...

"Hey, can you step aside?"

"What if I don't want to?"

"Huh? What did you say?"

"I don't want to repeat myself."

Spencer and Bell irritating each other. Seeing Bell's annoyed face for the first time is indeed terrifying, like what the novel described. He won't throw poison all of the sudden, right?

"Hey Lina, want to play cards later?"

"Sure? What's your bet?"

"Hmm, later, I'm still thinking about it."

"Please don't gamble; it's a bad idea."

Selena, Lina, and Julius are talking about gambling. Luke covered his face with his hands and sighed.

'What a mess.'

Luke sat at the end of the long table and Liam sat beside the children. The rest were so absorbed in their own worlds that they didn't even notice Luke and Liam arriving.

"Oh? Dad! You're here!"

Nash finally noticed Luke and immediately stuffed his plate with all kinds of food. Luke immediately stopped Nash, who kept on stuffing his plate.

"Stop. I am not that hungry."

"I know, but you need to fatten up! You are so thin!"

Liam and the children nodded in agreement. Luke just sighed and wiped the remaining sauce from Nash's mouth, which made his tail wag. Luke then grabbed his fork and knife and cut out the steak that was on his plate and ate it. He also shared some of the food with Nash.

"Hmm! Delicious!"

Lily agreed with Nash.

"I know, right?"

Michael then butted in.

"When it comes to cooking, big brother Spencer is the best!"

"Cough, cough!"

Spencer did a fake cough. He looked flattered but tried his best to make it less obvious. Unfortunately, everyone noticed it. Spencer noticed their stares and asked them angrily. He looks embarrassed.

"What are you looking at?"

"...Nothing."

Bell, who was sitting beside him, continued to eat. The rest did the same. It was a peaceful but quite chaotic dinner. But it is still fine because everyone is here and eating happily. Luke peeked at them happily eating and secretly smiled.

'Ahhh... What peace....'

Add peacefulness to the good food. This is the luxury that Luke was searching for. But, of course, it's far off from his dream goal. He then suddenly remembered something that he didn't really want to remember.

'Ahhh, you dumb fool, don't cry at me. Why don't you just smile and live peacefully for me? I think my ghost will appreciate that than you crying to me.'

Luke frowned and shook his head. He then frowned, wondering why, of all times, he remembered it this time? He then looked at his hand. He then noticed an illusion of blood on it, just like in his memories. Luke clenched his hand and frowned.

'Damn it, I need wine.'

Luke then grabbed the bottle of wine on the table and chugged it. Spencer noticed this and spoke with a frown.

"Hey, why are you soloing all the wine? You could have simply poured some into your glass."

Luke didn't answer and emptied the bottle. He then placed it back on the table. Selena then spoke in amazement.

"Amazing, you finished it all?"

Luke remained silent. He then abruptly stood up and wiped his mouth.

"I'm going first."

Luke then left and Nash followed behind him in confusion. The group looked at Luke's back walking away from them. Lina then asked in confusion.

"What's wrong with him?"

Selena then followed.

"He looked fine earlier."

Julius then spoke in a worried voice.

"He seems to be in a bad mood all of a sudden... Is it because of us?"

Spencer sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. He'd been watching Luke for a while, so he definitely noticed his secret smile while peering at them.

"No, I don't think so. He seemed to be happy a second ago, but maybe something bad passed by in his memory that made him in a bad mood?"

Bell then agreed while nodding his head.

"Yeah, the memory must be that bad. I noticed his face darkening earlier. "

Michael, Lily, Jessa, and Josh spoke in worried voices.

"His aura is... solemn."

"What bad memory could it be?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it must be really bad."

"His expression is not easy to read."

The table became quiet. They were beginning to wonder why Luke had abruptly walked away. Liam, who is quietly listening to them started to think.

'Is it... loss?'

Liam could not exactly know, but Luke's face earlier was exactly the same as when he always remembered how he was being thrown out of the orphanage or whenever a friend left the orphanage because they had finally found someone to adopt them. It broke his heart every time he remembered those painful memories. The loss of a home, a family, a friend. Liam touched his chest and made a sad face.

'Is Luke... feeling the same too?'

Liam looked at where Luke had just walked off to. Luke didn't notice that the dining room had become quiet and kept on walking. Nash followed behind him while looking at him with concern. Nash then asked in a worried voice.

"Dad, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Luke stopped walking and picked up Nash. He then patted Nash and walked straight. He then answered.

"Nothing... It's nothing."

"Are you sure?"

Luke slowly nodded, but Nash wasn't convinced. He was sure that there was something more to it, but he couldn't ask because Luke seemed to be extremely down. He just rubbed his face on Luke's chest and spoke brightly.

"I know that you are not okay! But I will wait until the day you want to share it with me! So don't be sad!"

Luke slowly smiled and patted Nash's head. They then both entered back into their room on the top floor and went to bed. Nash cuddled in Luke's arms and Luke just patted his small and round body. They then both went to sleep.