Damien had to order his men to set up a separate camp for his women since he knew he couldn't let others know he and Yuria were sleeping together.
So to make things look good on the outside, he decided to stay with the undead Tristen in one tent while Valentina and Yuria would be in the adjacent tent.
But of course, when the night comes, it would be too easy for him to slip into his women's tent.
However, for now, he decided to approach the ethereal barrier while bringing along the undead Tristen for show.
He also learned that the Shizar King was popularly known as the little king.
Some of Tristen's guards immediately noticed Tristen walking towards the barrier and informed their general, who rushed towards him in a panic, "Your Highness, may we ask what you are planning to do?"
Damien ordered Tristen to say with a smile, "We are going to negotiate. What else does it look like?"
The general had his eyes widened and said in a panicky tone, "Please, Your Highness, it's too dangerous to go like that. We should instead let them send their representative here to talk and not the other way. Otherwise, we would have no control over what they might try to do to you, Your Highness. The only way to assure your safety is to bring the whole army in, but obviously, they won't agree to that."
The general knew this was a big assignment since he had to guarantee the safety of the prince else his head might roll.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})So it was his duty to advise him in case he was about to make reckless decisions like these.
Damien saw through his worries and made Tristen pat the general's shoulder and say in a reassuring tone, "General Khadim, I appreciate your advice but let me tell you one secret to negotiation, and that is showing goodwill. Think logically. Even if I go in there alone, it's not like they would try to kill me or harm me since that would only give the whole Gale Empire a reason to storm straight through the barrier and destroy them all. I am sure as a general you know this, right?"
Khadim knitted his brows as he nodded with a thoughtful expression, thinking that the prince's words made sense and said, "You are not wrong, Your Highness. But still, it would be a gamble since the Forsaken is a bunch of rebels without any moral rules or values. We can never predict what they might do. And if even if someone hurts you in the slightest, it would all be my responsibility, and it wouldn't rest well with my conscience."
"Does the general not trust in my ability to negotiate?" Tristen asked with squinted eyes as Damien looked on.
The general raised his brows and shook his head frantically, "Of course, not. I do believe that no one can be a better negotiator than you, Your Highness. I was merely voicing my concern since the Forsaken has an infamous history." The general tried to include some flattery so that Tristen wouldn't get angry with him even though he believed that this fool knew nothing about negotiation or about acting diplomatically.
He had heard of the rumors and even saw him acting lecherously with women many times in the past, and so he couldn't help but think like this inwardly. That was why he was worried if this prince might commit some foolish act inside and get himself in trouble.
It was easy for Damien to know what kind of opinion the general had of Tristen and made Tristen say, "I know I might seem like an incapable prince because of my past history. But that has all changed over the past few weeks. I am sure you heard about the Strength Returning Pills which by now must be at least in you and your men's hands, right?"
The general narrowed his gaze and slowly nodded with a thoughtful expression.
"And you know who concocted them, right?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"It was you, Your Highness," The general said with a thankful bow, feeling that maybe he was too quick to judge the prince since he knew how valuable the prince's pill was. It could raise his and his men's winning chances by a lot in case of an emergency.
"So if I could already do things to make our empire stronger, I am pretty sure handling some negotiation with a rebel group wouldn't be too difficult for me. Obviously, even if they refuse, I will simply come back instead of trying to start an argument with them. But this is something we all know. So are you still not convinced by my capability, general?"
The general felt ashamed and said with a bow, "Of course not, Your Highness. But can I at least send a few of my men with you for protection?"
Tristen shook his head and said, "No. They should know we come in peace, and our talks would go smoother without any men with weapons around me. It should make them think I don't have any hostile intentions yet. And besides, few men won't make any difference anyway."
The general let out a sigh as he nodded while feeling a bit tense, seeing Tristen walking towards the barrier alone.
Kale saw Tristen walking towards the barrier alone and scoffed, "What a fool. He surely is going to get himself killed by going in like that and well...his friend as well."
He then turned towards his men and asked, "Did the message about telling them to vacate the kingdom I sent to those rebels get delivered?"
"Of course, Your Highness."
Kale frowned, "But no response from them yet?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"I am afraid not, Your Highness. It could also be that they ignored it since it's customary to at least respond to our message within half a day."
"Hmph, these rebels don't know what's good for themselves. Start finalizing the plans for our attack while I wait and see if my foolish brother is going to come out in one piece or not, hehe."
