Chapter 1: First Day as A King
Gold, silver, robes, silk, servants, power, women, and eternal happiness—If you asked any ordinary person what kingship is their answer would always be confined to these elements. Their eyes would endlessly glitter in imagining such joy.
But my view of kingship is different; I will explain it throughout, but kingship is greedy. It eats away your freedom, your thoughts, your time, and sometimes even your family and friends. This is why every life has its equal share of happiness and sadness, or if you do not view it in such a way, of pain and comfort.
Last week marked the death of my father, king Justinian the Second. And as a kingdom, the next king will naturally be me, the eldest son, prince Rajid of the Djinn kingdom.
I have just woken up to my first day as a king. The bedroom wasn't the one I was accustomed to, for it used to be my father's bedroom. Sure, the servants did religiously clean and changed the furniture to my liking, but the scent of my father still lingers. It is a smell I wish to forget soon. And if you are wondering about my mother, queen Listia, she was older than my father by seven years. She died five years ago when she was 67 years old. I sometimes wonder, will I also die in my sixties as my parents did?
I heard a soft but a loud knock on the door, followed by, "Your Majesty, I am Ludik, may I enter?'
After all these years I still do not understand how our servants precisely know when I wake up.
"Yes, you may enter Ludik," I replied.
Ludik opened the door, and as usual, his steps had no sound to them. He has always kept his head low while talking to my father, and now he treats me the same. I have no complaints about Ludik, besides the snow-white hair that signals his remaining lifespan.
"I hope you had a good sleep Your Majesty?" asked Ludik. "Today will be a long day as all your viziers, and other followers are waiting for you in the main hall. They are quite eager to see you."
"They weren't that eager to see me before I became the king," I replied as I stood up from my bed.
"Do not say that Your Majesty," retorted Ludik. "And do not forget to respond to other people inquiries. You had completely ignored my question about whether you slept well or not."
I smiled, "Yes, I slept well Ludik, and thanks for pointing it out. There are a few people who can speak so freely to their superiors the way you do."
"Oh, I beg your pardon," replied Ludik anxiously as he has gone down on one knee. "It is a bad habit that I cannot seem to get rid of after all these years."
No, it is not like that Ludik. I lowered myself to his level, touched his left shoulder with my palm and said, "No, it is in fact a good habit. Do not you dare get rid of it; it is an attitude that helps your king improve as I still know next to nothing about kingship."
"I understand," said Ludik with a surprised tone. "You and your late father are quite different from each other. Now that you are in the same position as him it is becoming clearer."
I know what Ludik is implying. King Justinian the Second, or my father, would never accept such blunt words to be said to him. So despite being the King's head servant, Ludik had suffered through sharp treatments behind the walls.
"My father did change a lot ever since he had lost the Three-Year-War to the Lorope Empire fifteen years ago. He lost half of the empire's lands, countless people, and turned into a puppet to the Lorope Empire. I realize what I am about to say is dreamy, but the public should not blame the unjust actions of my father on the Three-Year-War instead."
"I see," said Ludik. "You still have a hard time hating people Your Majesty, always trying to justify their wrongdoings. But do you realize that this way of thinking may bring great harm to you and your people now that you have become the king?"
"I do Ludik," I replied. "But it is hard to break a habit, the same way it is hard to break yours. It is just that any wrong habit that a king has gets amplified to affect all his people. It is an unfortunate notion and an unfortunate fact. In any case, let us keep this discussion at a later date for I do not want to keep my guests waiting for too long."
"Very well," said Ludik. "I shall inform the guests that you will meet them very soon. In the meantime, we have prepared for you both a warm bath and a warm meal."
The bath involved more scrubbing by the servants, and more flowers dipped in water than usual. Once that was done I went to have my breakfast in the dining room. The meal presented contained ten types of fresh and aged cheese. Ten types of thinly sliced meat each prepared in different seasoning. Ten types of crispy and chewy bread, followed by ten types of jam made from different fruits. Finally, the list ends with ten types of coffee at different grinds and bitterness levels.
This banquet is enough to fill the bellies of at least ten adults up to their throats. So I asked the head chef Luti, who was standing beside the dining table waiting for my approval. "I will not finish even a tenth of all this food," I said. "What do you guys do with all the leftovers?"
"Of course we toss them to the garbage, Your Majesty," replied Luti. "We would never dare to insult Your Majesty by eating from the food that we prepared just for you. I personally would never allow it."
"Is that so," I replied. "Tell me how long has it been since you started working at the castle?"
"Ten years Your Majesty," said Luti. "They are, until this very day, the best days of my life."
"I am glad that is the case chef Luti," I said. "So how is your team? Do you require my assistance in any way, or are there any difficulties facing you these days?"
"There is just a single matter quite unworthy of your precious time," said Luti. "It is about a disrespectful young man named Varwan who has been working under me for the past two years. He is talented but keeps complaining about all the leftover food that we toss to the garbage. I thought that time would stop his complaints, but it does not affect him."
"And you would like me to punish him or fire him for his disobedience?" I asked.
"I would not dare to suggest Your Majesty on doing anything," replied the head chef. "You have the foresight, the wisdom, and the experience but I have none. I only and humbly require your assistance on the matter in any way you find suitable."
"Very well, bring him to me," I said.
"Right now Your Majesty?" Luti asked.
"Yes, right away," I said. "Varwan should be at the castle's kitchen right now, is not he? If so then it would not take him more than a few minutes to be here."
The young chef named Varwan had quite the common features. Brown hair, thin, and with a forward neck posture highlighting long focus sessions. I asked him as soon as he came to my presence.
"The head chef Luti claims that you have been protesting against the uneaten food that gets thrown to the garbage, is that true?" I asked.
"What you have uttered is true Your Majesty," said Varwan. "It is something that I have always wanted to talk to you about. I was born in a poor family where our bellies were always half empty. But thanks to my natural cooking capabilities I managed to make a strong name for myself, enough to work in this castle and I am most grateful for that. But after seeing how large quantities of food get thrown day after day without care into the waste containers, I could not help but feel enraged. There are at least hundreds of malnourished mouths in the city that would beg to have a bite of the wasted food. So I beg you Your Majesty, please stop this practice."
He is not afraid to speak the truth. I like that.
"Luti," I said. "What do you think of what Varwan had just said?"
"It is always the same story Your Majesty," replied head chef Luti. "He recalls his hungry past to prove that eating after the royalties is correct. I would say it is disgusting and is a clear sign of disobedience."
I stood up from my chair... disobedience huh?
"Varwan is not a man who should be punished but rewarded for resisting against the castle's unemphatic opinion. Varwan, from today you will receive the head chef title. You will also be responsible for distributing all the uneaten food in this castle to the poor, starting with these plates in front of me. And former head chef Luti, for the next six months you will act as an adviser to Varwan for his new role. Until then I will decide on a more suitable job for you."
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