Stand By Me Darling
Chapter 251: Surrounded By Turkeys

Chapter 251: Surrounded By Turkeys

Is Lambert such a fickle man who finds pleasure preying upon women?

Talia couldn’t shake that thought off her head. Maybe she was already so tired, she had already leaned towards that conclusion.

"Your Highness, I’m sorry I wasn’t there with you," Mr. Ed broke her thoughts with his hearty tone.

In fact, he could have avoided leaving the Princess, but he was much more interested in learning about the rumours that one of Lambert’s friend, The Marquess of Rodenberg, was planning on asking the Dowager for her hand in marriage. His father The Duke of Luxxenshire, is of a higher standing in Rosandale and can be considered the most influential and wealthy Noble in Rosandale. His family is well suited for the well-adorned Princess Royal to be married into. He wanted to assure the credibility of those rumours and warn the Princess beforehand, but who’d have guessed that the little brother of the Marquess would act this inappropriately with the Princess?

"Ah, Mr. Ed. Don’t blame yourself. I was foolish to walk around alone when I was already sick. I should have left immediately without lingering there. I even let other people order you around. I should have been more smart about it all." Talia said with a sigh.

Mr.Ed nodded half-hearted. As the car moved, her eyes shone beautifully as the sky reflected in her eyes. She seemed to be really not minding his absence, but he knew he needs to answer the Dowager and the King for not protecting the Princess properly. He was willing to accept whatever punishment that would be meted upon him.

" What are you planning? "

Mr. Ed knew the Princess keeping silent is not out of fear of getting shamed or because she is willing to let it go, but because she already has a plan. She is very smart and previously she used the Peter Campbell situation pretty well for her favour. And she is not very kindhearted to let go of the perpetrator harmless either.

And more importantly, he has a very vengeful redhead protecting her and he will obliterate whoever tries to harm her. By law and morality, there are certain things, he as a Knight and a Kingsguard cannot do, but the crowned King of the business world, can do a lot just by waving his little finger and he is smart enough to do it discreetly.

"I do have plans to shake everything, Mr. Ed. I don’t think I’d be allowed to though. Will you help me nonetheless?" Talia darted her glance at Mr. Ed to check his reaction.

"Anything that won’t affect the Monarchy... I’d offer my help," Mr. Ed said with a slight bow. There was a little fear in his eyes, although he tried to be poker faced.

" Oh, Don’t worry, Sir Robert. I’m not going to abolish the Monarchy..." she paused seeing Mr. Ed widen his eyes as if he had heard blasphemy. Talia knew if it were a couple of centuries ago, what she said can be considered treason and she’d be burnt in a stake.

" I don’t want to shake the foundation. I’m just going to clean the house, Mr. Ed... I’m not that ambitious." Talia said with a smile.

Seeing that smile that looked fresh and honest, Mr. Ed felt happy, like he saw a sapling with its fresh green leaves poking out of the ground at the start of the spring, after waiting for an entire winter handling the tough situations.

"You can go on a tour around Rosandale," he suggested.

It’s been a while since a Royal went around and visited around the Kingdom, especially the Southern part of the Kingdom. After the unfortunate death of the previous King, the Dowager stopped the Royals from travelling around fearing for their security. They were only allowed to travel to places with good security and not much resistance against the crown.

This made the aristocrats who were in charge of the already underdeveloped parts of the nation to become more lax and they started to neglect the people and some even started to swindle money from the Crown.

There were some hospitals that are supposed to be open and operational, and in those plots allotted for the hospitals, there are no hospitals and many roads that are relaid just months ago has gotten very broken so soon although the King allotted millions in funds for laying good quality roads.

All these can be handled by a Royal visit or announcement of a Royal visit.

Mr. Ed couldn’t help but smile as he imagined how those aristocrats will run like a headless chicken once the Princess announces her visit to one of the hospitals recently built by the King.

Talia nodded and didn’t say much. For Mr. Ed to suggest this, he must have a very good reason. Surely she is not someone who is very find of travelling, and is the sort of person if given a chance, would curl up in her bed with her chocolates, but she wanted to do something now and she didn’t mind to travel as part of her job, to help the people get what they are promised and to pay back the stress she got today.

"Sir Robert, what kind of person is Lambert...?" Talia asked after a while, silently staring through the window. The scenery outside with the plain open grounds with trees scattered around and a river flowing alongside the road, still didn’t calm her mood.

Mr. Ed understood why the Princess asked this question now. Usually she doesn’t bother with the lives of others and rarely tried to enquire about others and she cared very little about Prince Lambert.

Still her relationship with Lambert was very amicable and although they liked to fight a lot, both of them had warmth and affection in their hearts as they quarreled and they never quarrelled about anything serious either.

For him, their banter seemed like the kind of banter between siblings and he never worried much about it.

But today, he noticed the coldness from the Princess towards the Prince. The Prince was despaired by her coldness towards him and the Princess didn’t notice his reddened eyes. But, It is understandable if she projected that despicable thing Lord Asher did to her onto Prince Lambert since he is associated with Lord Asher.

Tell me who your friends are, I’ll tell you who you are - an old proverb that is very truthful.

Sadly Prince Lambert is not someone who cares for it and doesn’t listens to advise from his brother and elders.

’You can’t soar like an eagle when you surround yourself with turkeys’

This quote is one of the favourites of the Dowager and the Princess, is a very good example of someone who follows that rule of having good friends around.

She cannot be blamed if she thinks everyone will be as careful as her when it comes to their friends. Most people don’t care much about who their friends are when they aren’t around and Prince Lambert is one such person.

But it is good that she didn’t say anything hurtful to Prince Lambert and they can reconcile easily.

"Your Highness, Prince Lambert is not as prudent as you when it comes to his friends. You fly higher and surround yourself with eagles, and Prince Lambert doesn’t care there are turkeys around him." Mr. Ed started with a compliment for Talia to make her calm down. Observing her curious eyes, he continued,

"Prince Lambert has a lot of friends and as long as they are good to them, he considers them his friends and doesn’t care about anything else. He is not that close with most of them and so he doesn’t care what they do either. His closest friends are the ones from the military and they are all good men. One of them just got married and the other one is a decent guy too... And Lord Asher is not even Prince Lambert’s third tier friend. I think Prince Lambert doesn’t know him very well and if he knew he’d have pushed out him from his circle a lot earlier... I can assure you Prince Lambert won’t allow him anywhere near him or you in the future after what happened today. He is very protective of his friends, and sometimes get them out of binds, but not when they are hurting others; especially you."

" Oh? "

Talia didn’t say much and turned to her side and continued watching through the window. But she could feel the heaviness in her chest lighten up after hearing what Mr. Ed said.

So Lambert is not a bad guy. He is just plain stupid!

Mr. Ed smiled seeing the Princess’ lips curling up, through the reflection on the glass. He felt relieved that the Princess accepted his explanation.

The Princess never disappoints and always is smart and can accept the council of her advisors. She didn’t keep the misgivings she had towards her cousin in her heart and decided to clarify her doubts before starting to hate him. This is what he liked about her.

My adorable Princess, I wish I could serve you till the day I die!