Damien along with his undead slave, Tristen walked towards the barrier which was opaque white, making it unable to see what was inside when usually ethereal barriers are transparent.
With this, he realized that someone who was a master in formations had created this barrier.
Since he had no idea how to exactly 'knock' on this barrier, he made Tristen say aloud, "Your Majesty, King of Shizar, I am Prince Tristen of the imperial family, here to offer a diplomatic solution to all of our problems. All I request is an audience with you for a few minutes to talk. I hope you would agree to this so that we can do without any needless bloodshed."
Damien knew officially it was still the ten-year-old boy who was the king of Shizar in name, and thus it was only right to address him instead of the Forsaken, especially since the Forsaken weren't the rulers officially.
Kale snickered, seeing Tristen say these words aloud, "Heh, diplomatic solution? Is he an idiot or what? Hmph, sleeping with women must have made his brains mush. His best case would be that they ignore him or, in the worst case, kick him out unless they don't care about killing him, huhu."
Yuria and Valentina were also looking at Damien, wondering if everything would go alright though after hearing from Damien about his partnership with the Forsaken, they didn't feel like there was much to worry about.
Still, seeing that there was no response from the other side for a few minutes, they wondered what was going on inside since it was rude to keep an imperial prince waiting for so long, especially when he was there to offer peace talks.
However, soon the ethereal barrier rippled as a small door-like opening appeared near Damien, and a man dressed in full armor came out and said with a slight bow, "Please come in, Your Highness."
Damien, along with Tristen, followed the guard as they entered the barrier, crossing over to the other side while others eagerly looked on, wondering how things were going to turn out while most of them, including men from Kale's army, sighed in admiration, seeing how brave Tristen was to enter enemy territory alone without any entourage.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Damien entered the other side and was surprised to see military tents here with soldiers practicing their weapons. It seemed as if these people were preparing for a fight, too, as if they were sure a fight would break out.
He couldn't help but wonder why the Forsaken was so desperate to take this kingdom though he saw that these soldiers were from the Shizar Kingdom and not Forsaken's people.
So he thought that maybe they stood to lose nothing by simply using the little king's army to fight it out and see if they could achieve a miracle.
Soon, Damien entered the royal palace and walked towards a courtyard where he saw a kid about ten years old dressed in royal robes and a small crown sitting on a chair near the table.
His cheeks were chubby, and overall, his innocence still hadn't left his face though signs of hardship could be seen on his face, mostly because of how his face had a tired and pale expression.
Damien felt pity for the boy since this was no age to shoulder the burden of a kingdom and especially not to be used as a puppet.
However, upon seeing Tristen, the boy immediately got off his chair and greeted him with a smile, "Welcome to my kingdom, Prince Tristen."
Tristen smiled and said, "It is my pleasure, Your Majesty. But can we have a talk in private?"
The Shizar King had a thoughtful expression and then turned around towards his guards, nodding at them to leave.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})The guards showed a sign of hesitation but seeing that only Tristen and some scholarly-looking guy were here, they left.
"Please sit," The Shizar King gestured to them with his small hands.
Damien inwardly appreciated how this boy was able to maintain the decorum of a king.
Tristen put out an ethereal barrier and sat down as he said, "Your Majesty, I won't play around with words and ask if we can speak with the Forsaken?"
The Shizar King's expression suddenly became difficult, but Tristen continued, "We know that Your Majesty is facing too much pressure from them, so we only want to make things easy for you."
The boy slowly looked up and said in a wistful tone, "You know...I never asked for this, especially being a king nor being used by others as a front. All I want is my family, but I know that is not something that is ever possible. So all I want now is to lead a peaceful life, but at the same time, I want to make sure my people are safe. That is why I am still here so that these Forsaken people or the Gale Empire won't ill-treat my subjects which my father looked after."
Damien was glad to see that this boy still cared about his people instead of his own self-interests despite everything that happened to him. He was sure not everyone could act like him, even adults.
But at the same time, he knew this boy wouldn't be able to rule a kingdom with this mentality in such strong prey on the weak kind of world.
This time, Damien spoke, "We understand, Your Majesty. But trust me when I say that after we speak to them, we can assure your people's safety and also find a ways to end this siege soon."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})The boy softly nodded with a taut smile and said, "Okay...But I don't know if the leader of the Forsaken would listen to you two since he seems quite the scary guy and...he's not a good man," As the boy trailed off, Damien noticed him clenching his fists and frowned, wondering who this leader was since he knew Forsaken's true leader was an old woman or even if it was a temporary leader, it should be Triton who was known to be gentle and kind unlike what the boy described.
Damien said with furrowed brows, "It's alright. Please bring us to him."
