Chapter 417 - The Shizar Kingdom
Damien thought that Farah had ulterior motives whenever she slept with Tristen because when he scanned his memories, he noticed how Farah was trying to extract certain information from him.
If Tristen was alive, then he might not be experienced enough to notice it, but someone like Damien who knew about such traps could see it clearly.
He also thought that she might not be doing anything to help Kale but somebody else since if she truly loved Kale, she wouldn't be cheating on him in the first place no matter what.
So the only other person he could think of was the Gale Emperor, and since Tristen was known to have a weakness when it came to his lower member, he felt that it was quite natural for the emperor to take advantage of this weakness by using Farah to get the information he needed.
He then remembered how he noticed the two exchanged glances when they all stood before the Gale Emperor before leaving for the competition, and from that moment onwards, Damien was feeling suspicious about these two.
So, he decided to test out his theory with the help of Rhea and see if he could gain anything out of it. Because if this was really true, then Damien thought that things would be a bit easier.
He then wondered how Kale's face would look if he heard about Farah's illicit adventures and the things he might do in his anger.
As Yuria and Damien walked out of the palace and entered the carriage to go to Luton Town, she asked, "What's going on? You seem like you got everything under control."
Damien looked at her as he smiled, "It's because I do. I will explain everything back at the mansion."
After reaching the mansion, Damien explained everything to both his women about what was going to happen, though only Yuria seemed surprised.
"You are associated with the Forsaken? Oh my god...if these empires knew, you—"
"Relax. They won't know, and apparently, their leader has some kind of soul seal to prevent their own people from snitching against each other. And even if, by chance, anyone knew, I would still have a safe haven. Anyways, it would only be a matter of time before I have to do things on my own and these empires find out that I am coming for them," Damien said with a shrug.
"So we are going to the Shizar Kingdom now?" Valentina asked excitedly since she felt that she would be bored staying inside too long.
Damien nodded, "Yes, we will have to set up camp as if we are planning to attack while I negotiate with the Forsaken. Of course, Kale and his corps would be there. But even he won't attack since the first step would always be a negotiation to avoid unnecessary waste of resources."
However, Damien felt that he probably wouldn't have any need for an army other than just keeping them for show.
He already received permission in written form to let him take control of 50,000 men from the Silver Troops.
He was also sure Kale would get to have 50,000 men from another army unit under him.
The day passed, and soon it was morning, and all three were preparing to ride out from the imperial city.
So, along with the undead Tristen, the four set off with a large army towards the borders of the Gale Empire, where the Shizar Kingdom was located.
He heard how a boy of ten years old was the puppet king of the kingdom. It seemed that the Forsaken didn't forcibly dethrone him but instead planned to use him as the face of the kingdom while the boy had to listen to whatever they said.
Damien pitied the boy since his fate forced him into such a situation, and the fact that he had no one to depend on only made it worse.
On the way, Damien took out Moonblade to expose her to some of his soul energy, trying to make her familiar with him.
At first, Moonblade showed signs of nervousness in his hand, but soon she began to become docile the more Damien took care of her by giving his soul energy and even sometimes talking to her along with his women.
Since Yuria was with him, she knew best about guiding him to take care of Moonblade.
When they reached the place, Damien was surprised to see many large tents set up across a large area, and by seeing the various flags planted across the land, it was obvious to him that it was Kale and his army camping here to lay siege and they had reached here early.
This only showed him how desperate Kale was to win back the kingdom and prove his worth.
Before getting off, Damien took control of Tristen's body and got off only to see Kale coming over with a big smile.
"And here I thought you would be coming late to take more time to enjoy some time with your fiance. You shouldn't neglect such a beautiful girl," Kale purposefully said these words in front of Yuria just to make her feel bad and embarrass Tristen.
"You should worry about your own wife, brother," Damien said with a smirk, making Kale squint his eyes as if there was some meaning behind his jab.
"Anyway, I hope you are not going to do something as foolish as attacking them without negotiating, right?"
Kale scoffed, "You don't have to teach me about the arts of war. I was born before you, and so I have more experience than you. We don't really need you here. Just the army royal father gave you is more useful than you."
Damien didn't get provoked since he didn't feel provoked at all and said with a smile, "We will see who's useful and who's not, won't we?"
"Hmph," Kale snorted as he left while Damien and his army prepared to set up camps and, of course, two big luxurious camps for him and his women.