“Check mate, Your Majesty.”
“Damn, no!” shouted the king, hitting his fist on the chessboard. The figures shuddered and fell to the floor, and the king’s opponent, realizing his mistake, was already ready for his fate. “Execute him! Execute immediately!”
The people who watched it just sighed and cleared the way for the guard. Several armoured knights quickly approached the “winner”, took him by the arms and pulled him out of the throne room in complete silence. No one prevented this, because this man was already sentenced to death for his crimes.
“Great! A delightful manifestation of uncontrollable aggression!” was heard from the crowd and, tapping his heels on marble tiles, the tall young man stepped forward. A long light robe spoke of his membership in the healers guild, which surprised everyone. Who allowed him to go to the palace?
“Who the hell are you?” still grimly grumbled the Sullen, sitting back on his throne.
"Me? From today, by the orders of your adviser, I am your personal doctor. My task will be to control… this, Your Majesty. Why are you angry this time?"
“I lost, isn't it clear?” the king hissed, leaning a little forward. “I'm the king, so it’s not right for me to lose.”
“And… that’s all?”
A barely audible laugh passed through the hall, which, however, didn’t escape the king’s sensitive hearing. He only frowned even harder, trying to figure out what to do with this annoying medic. He doesn’t need such a nanny, he is not a child, and he can take care of himself. However, it would be foolish to do with him the same thing as with the previous one…
“Yes, hell yes, that's it! It is a terrible example for my subjects! Do you want to say that there is something good in this situation?”
“I understood!” suddenly exclaimed the young man. “So you, it turns out, are just a pessimist!”
“What?! Is that an insult?”
“No, what are you!” the doctor hastened to justify himself, slowly moving closer to the throne. “Most people are divided into two groups. The first ones are optimists, they see only good in everything. The second ones are pessimists, they prefer to see
in everything only something negative. You, it seems to me, are just a pessimist. After all, as I already managed to notice, even the good news or event seems to you simply awful.”
The Sullen frowned again, straightening the crown, and wearily leaned back on the throne and look to the doctor:
“And how do you suggest that I become this... optimist, you say?”
“Well, let's look at this using chess as an example,” the young man smiled happily, picking up the fallen figures from the floor. “I noticed that you constantly play only for blacks. Why is that so?"
“Because they have an advantage, I never manage to make a good first move in this damn game,” the king muttered, slowly calming down. “And I just like this color, what's wrong with that?”
“Oh no! Nothing at all. So you subconsciously choose black color...” the doctor began to write something in his little notebook. “Why are you so angry because of the loss?”
“What could be good at losing? After all, for all these people I look like a complete fool.”
“Well, it may be good, for example, that you were able to gain experience in chess. Certainly, the chances of winning the next game have grown up.”
The king looked in surprise at the young man who was able to find something positive in such a hopeless situation. Now the conversation with this doctor interested him, but he was still going to defend his point of view.
“So you think that there is something good in everything?”
“Exactly!” the guy nodded, already ready for a verbal skirmish. The audience held their breath in anticipation.
“Good,” the king grinned. “For example, a few weeks ago a raging giant almost completely destroyed our western defence wall. What can you say about it?”
“Well, since this monster came from the mountains, most likely it weakened the kingdom there, which gives us an advantage in the current war. In addition, this is chance to make our walls even stronger, because the last time they were restored a long time ago.”
People in the hall began to whisper, surprised by what he said. Wow, the doctor really found something good in it! But this is not the end, is it?
“Huh…” said The Sullen. “What if barbarians attack us with such weakened walls?”
“This is a good chance to stir up our army! For a long time, they didn’t feel the real danger!”
“And what if they defeat us?”
“So our army is full of rubbish! There will be an occasion to reflect on a new set of recruits.” the young man responded cheerfully, without even thinking about the answer.
“And what if they also burn the capital?” the king squinted.
“This will be a wonderful opportunity to update the outdated architecture of our glorious city!”
“And...” the king looked around the courtiers. “You know, the wife is cheating on Lord Raven!”
“It's generally good that he has a wife. There is a certain stability in his life.”
“Oh, but Lord Stolm has no wife!” foreseeing a victory, responded The Sullen, but the contented face of the opponent knocked him out of the rut.
“And that's good too! It means that the lord is free both in body and soul!
Everything is still ahead of him!”
The king's face was suddenly contorted by terrible rage. He resolutely went to the slightly taken aback physician. He, of course, knew that sooner or later this would happen, but it was always scary to face the angry face of the king.
“That’s enough!” he hissed right in the face of the young man, threatening him
with a finger. “Can you find something good in your execution?!”
Silence instantly hung in the hall. The doctor had never been so close to failure itself. But the guy was able to put his thoughts in order, and looked into the king's eyes.
“Of course that's good! Firstly, in our faith, violent death is tantamount to martyrdom, which means I’ll definitely go to heaven! Secondly, the dismissal of my post will allow you to reduce treasury expenses, there will be money to rebuild our walls! Is it bad?”
The Sullen walked back a couple of steps, not believing his ears. This bastard was able to find something good even in his own death!
“It's good!” the king agreed in impotence, sitting right on the cold marble steps. He raised a slightly dumb look to the winner of the argument. “That's damn good! But how do you do that?”
The young man grinned and offered his hand to the king, helping him to get up.
“It's very simple, Your Majesty,” the doctor said in a soothing tone. “As everyone knows, our life consists of Black and White stripes. You, as you already understood, pay attention only to Black ones. You just need to turn your attention to White stripes, then everything will be fine.”
“And will I succeed?” gloomily asked The Sullen, looking directly into the eyes of his subordinate.
“Definitely, Your Majesty, it will definitely work out!”
While they continued to discuss the “further course of treatment,” the witnesses of the unexpected change in the king’s behavior began to slowly diverge.
No one even thought that today everything would change so much. Each courtier sincerely wished good luck to the doctor in the future. Indeed, in order to make “Joyful” out of “Sullen” you need to do a lot!
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