Chapter 18  : The Troubled Kyle

Kyle looked at the jar of wine in Lorne’s hand and could not help but let out a chuckle. The reason why he was reprimanded by Andrew the last time was because he reeked of alcohol. Ironically, the tavern boss just took out another jar of wine. This kind gesture from the tavern boss just added salt to his wounds.

However, Kyle had a rebellious mentality and thought to himself as he stared at the wine, ‘That’s right, Andrew, because you’ve said that I’ve already tarnished my status, so be it. Today, I shall drink to my heart’s content!’

Moreover, he heard Lorne say that the jar of wine today was even stronger than the last time. Knowing this, he could not hold back his desires to further taunt Andrew.

How strong could it be? Could it be strong enough to completely knock him out?

Kyle, as a king, has experienced many things in life, from great battles to tasting the finest of wine. Over the past ten years, he had gotten drunk more times than he could count on one hand. From this, it could be seen how confident he was in his alcohol tolerance.

The last time he drank, he was not prepared and he had too much. This time, he wanted to test his tolerance once more.

“Boss, bring me the wine. I’ll drink to my heart’s content today!”

Lorne opened the wine seal as he was told. In an instant, an extremely strong aroma of wine wafted over their noses. Kyle’s senses heightened after smelling the aromatic wine.

“Boss, this is some really strong wine!”

Lorne raised the corner of his mouth with some pride.

“I told you I’d be bringing the best of the best. Don’t even think about taking back your words right now. But don’t worry, if you drink too much, I’ll be responsible for sending you back!”

The corner of Kyle’s mouth twitched, and he hurriedly reminded himself to pace his drinking. Were he to drink too much, he would not be able to reach the palace safely. After all, Kyle decided to never expose his true identity to Lorne!

Of course, Kyle was a little cowardly in admitting that he may not be as good of a drinker as he was last time, but he would never show any mercy on his face.

“Boss, pour the wine! I, Charles, will also make a promise. If you drink too much, I will close the shop for you!”

Lorne picked up the small wine jar and poured a full glass for himself and Kyle. Knowing what Kyle had said last time about brewing high-quality wine, Lorne immediately went into work crafting the best wine.

His wine could be compared to ordinary whiskey, but it was also enough to contend with the so-called strong wine of this era.

Kyle looked at the pale yellow wine in his glass, picked it up, and took a sniff.

F*ck, he has not even taken a gulp of it and it already made him a little dizzy!

However, he felt Lorne’s gaze on him, so he could not give up. He could only brace himself and lift the glass to his mouth.

“Cough, cough, cough!”

He had just drunk half a glass, and Kyle immediately started coughing violently as his face reddened.

Lorne quickly stood up and patted Kyle’s back to help him breathe. Then, he poured a cup of water and placed it in front of Kyle’s table.

“Look at you, old friend. I told you not to show off. You’re not supposed to forcefully drink it. Here you go. Drink some water to clear your throat!”

Kyle coughed a few more times before he picked up the water and drank it in one gulp. Only then did his fits of cough mellow down.

“Boss, what’s the method of making this wine? It’s really strong. I swear I took my time drinking it, but I didn’t expect that once it reached my throat, it’ll make me cough.”

Lorne explained with a slightly smug look, “Didn’t you say that strong wine could be easily sold last time? I deliberately increased the intensity for this one. Didn’t you say that you were someone who was able to drink strong wine?”

Seeing Lorne’s serious expression, Kyle pondered for a moment.

“There must be a market for this kind of hard wine. I may not be able to stand it, but there are many others who might enjoy something like this. But, you still have to make the taste of this wine smoother. It should be strong, but not too strong. You know what I mean?”

Lorne understood what he meant.

“What you said makes sense. There’s no rush. I’ll try again.”

As he spoke, he re-sealed the jar of wine and placed it aside. Then, he went to the wine cabinet and took out the usual wine that they drank.

“Come on. Eat first, drink later.”

After the two of them started eating, Lorne took the initiative to open the conversation.

“Old friend, didn’t you say that there was something troubling you earlier? Why don’t you share with me your burdens? I’ll enlighten you.”

Kyle was stunned. If Lorne did not mention this, he would have forgotten about it. Since he mentioned it, Kyle suddenly felt the need to vomit out all the things he wanted to vent out.

Kyle downed the wine in one gulp, and then let out a long sigh.

“Speaking of, I’ve been feeling a little depressed. In fact, he’s just an old butler in my family. He’s good at everything, but he likes to dissuade me from my actions and the things I say.

“He’s too straightforward sometimes, and he has a stubborn temperament. I don’t mind if he does it once or twice, but it’s unbearable when he does it constantly.

“To put it bluntly, I’m still the head of the family, and the things he says irks me because he doesn’t do it with respect.”

Lorne processed what he said and replied, “Then why don’t you just ask him to leave? Out of sight, out of mind. You know that he’s gotten old, just give him some money and let him return to his hometown to retire and spend the rest of his life in peace.

“This would end the term between being a master and servant, and it’ll remove the annoyance in your heart. By recruiting a new butler, you won’t have to be constantly annoyed by what he says everyday.”

Kyle shook his head at Lorne’s words.

“If an ordinary butler meddled in my business, then I would’ve asked them to leave a long time ago. To be honest, this butler is an honest and upright person, he stands by his morals, and that’s a good trait to have.

“If I just give him money and let him return to his hometown, I’m afraid that people would think that I’m a person who can’t tolerate others. I’m afraid that my reputation will be tarnished from this. The more I think about it, the more frustrated I get. I know I can’t kick him out, and that makes me unhappy.”

Lorne immediately understood what Kyle meant when he watched the distressed man waver with his thoughts. As a history student, he had learned about countless historical occurrences.

Lorne immediately thought about a certain historical event. It was about King Kyle, and his subordinate, Andrew.

The more Lorne compared the two events, the more he felt as though they were similar.

Lorne rolled his eyes and he immediately spoke up about what he thought.

“Old friend, I now have a different opinion from what you’ve just said.”

Kyle immediately acted as if he was asking for important advice. He cupped his hands and said, “Boss, please, I need ideas, I don’t know what to do.”

Lorne coughed lightly.

“My suggestion is that you should not only keep this person, but to promote him to an important position!”

Kyle was a little surprised. He did not know why Lorne’s opinion completely turned 180 degrees from before. Moreover, what Lorne wanted him to do now was to put the butler in an important position?!

Lorne looked at Kyle’s confused look and immediately reassured him with a pat on his shoulder. He pretended to be profound and said, “Before I tell you the reason, let me tell you about something else first!”