Chapter 52: The jealous king
Anemone felt an eerie calm coming from Ceremus as he entered the grand study to give his daily reports.
Usually, by now, Ceremus would be grumbling his complaints of how tired he was about hearing about other people's problems. But the King's attention was riveted on the advisor's words this time. Since their conversation yesterday, it seemed Ceremus had developed a newfound respect for his advisor.
Under normal circumstances, Anemone would be thrilled about this new development, but this was King Ceremus we were talking about. The man changed moods like he did clothes; no one ever knew what version of Ceremus awaited them. After finishing his report without any interruptions, instead of receiving the usual replies asking him to deal with everything himself, Ceremus was proactive and went straight to work.
What shocked him even more was that he thanked him for the good work he was doing.
"Uh, Your Majesty? Are you feeling alright?" Anemone couldn't help but ask.
Perhaps he'd gotten ill, or all the wine he'd been consuming had finally started to affect his brain. What else could explain his strange behavior?
The King absentmindedly waved his hand, assuring him he was all right. Anemone could only accept his answer and leave it at that.
"Ah, Anemone, I have a favor to ask you before you go," Ceremus said.
Anemone furrowed his brows. "A favor?"
"I'm planning on taking a few days off starting tomorrow. I'd like it if you could rearrange my schedule." He said.
Anemone raised an eyebrow in surprise. The King always decided to have some time off on his own, usually without Anemone's knowledge, so this wasn't anything new; in fact, it was a daily occurrence, but Ceremus never actually saw it through. He'd take half the day off at most before returning to his duties. This was the first time he'd formally requested some time off. The advisor wasn't sure why Ceremus was suddenly informing him now, but since he'd been working non-stop for the past few days, he didn't see any reason to refuse. So the advisor nodded his head.