Because there was no foul play had been found in Nikalas's room, the explosion was crossed off as rune drawing went wrong and King Harold didn't pay much attention to that matter ever since.
Also after Don had declined the duel challenge, there was no news about the Agorians either. For some reason, King Harold seemed worried and upset the last two days and Don knew that it wasn't thinking about Prince Nikalas's untimely demise.
At the moment Don was going to the throne hall to meet King Harold after being summoned by him with Arrora. Oddly the number of guards patrolling the castle and guards inside the castle was increased by King Harold and again Don knew it was because of the Agorians.
Entering the throne hall, Don saw King Harold was standing with a man and a woman and Don recognized the woman as she wore the symbol of Emir on her chest.
King Harold asked when the moment he saw Don as the woman ran towards him and knelt
"Do you know about this?"
King Harold looked furious and concerned at the same time when he asked Don while Don looked the woman kneeling before him and said
"Stand up and tell me what happened"
"Your majesty, we have a terrible explosion at the barracks. Most of our men are gone"
"What!"
This was the first time King Harold has seen Don showing his emotion on his face and it was very genuine
"Yes your majesty, our army it's gone"
"How? Who did this?"
"We found this on one body, your majesty"
The woman said as she took a half-burnt crest out from her pocket and handed it over to Don.
The letters and engravings on the crest were barely visible to Don but he could vaguely see a bull in the center of the crest.
"Give me that"
King Harold stepped forward and almost pulled the crest from Don's hand as Don gave the crest to him before he could have done that
"That b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
Even though the crest was badly burnt, King Harold could identify the crest as Agoria's crest. Now it all made sense to KIng Harold, General Hozai disappeared and Don was here at Korrinth, they targeted Emir's army to prevent Korrinth from joining forces.
Since he heard the same news from his spies about the explosion in Emir, he had no reason to suspect Don for playing any tricks on him to save his men from the upcoming war with Agoria.
He already had enough headache hearing that they weren't able to hire skilled mercenaries from the guilds as they were already hired by the Agoria and now everything went from bad to worse.
"It's all your fault"
King Harold couldn't control his anger and frustration anymore as he shouted at Don.
"You think I'm happy about this? it's not your men that died"
Neither of them tried to hide their emotions as the tension between them increased
"Harold! Don!"
Suddenly Don and King Harold heard Queen Bella's voice as they turned to see her coming towards them and by the looks of her face, both of them knew that Queen Bella heard everything.
"We will lose the war before it even begins if we fight among us"
"If he didnt come into Darlene's life this wouldn't have happened, now our entire kingdom is at war and I blame him"
"And I blame Princess Darlene"
As he said Don turned and walked away leaving King Harold furious and Queen Bella shocked.
"How dare you walk away"
Leaving the throne hall, Don heard King Harold's high pitched shout from behind, still Don left without looking back.
"Can we go back to Everlight now and return here when the war starts?"
Don shook his head hearing Arrora's question since he still had some things to do in Korrinth.
********************************************
"Great job Ca.s.sek, Great job"
While in Agoria, King Garreth sat on his throne with an ear to ear grin on his face looking at Ca.s.sek, the spymaster.
"Also we hired mercenaries all the master level mercenaries from the guild and I took the liberty to hire some peak level apprentice mercenaries, your majesty "
"You've never disappointed me Ca.s.sek"
King Garreth laughed as he said thinking about King Harold's situation.
It was not a surprise to King Garreth when Don rejected the challenge for duel even though he knew the nasty provocations written on it. And his all plan of conquering Emir and Korrinth had depended on Ca.s.sek's mission to destroy Emir's army and now that Ca.s.sek completed the mission successfully, he had no doubt in conquering both the kingdoms especially his main goal, Emir.
And to be honest, the rumored Azrite mine of Emir was a better deal than his son marrying Darlene and also, the rumor seemed very real hearing the reports from his spies.
"Guard"
While still in a good mood, King Garreth called a guard and in a few moments, a guard came running.
"Go bring Prince Jowan to here"
It took several minutes before Prince Jowan reached the throne hall.
"Father"
Looking at the wide grin on his father's face, it was obvious to Jowan that he's in a very good mood.
"Jowan, gather our army. We are going to war"
"Father, am I missing something?"
There was nothing to be happy about going to war yet seeing his father's face, Jowan couldn't see any nervousness but his face showed craze and excitement.
Since Jowan had no idea about what happened to Emir's army, King Garreth laughed again and said
"You know the mission I gave to Ca.s.sek"
Prince Jowan remembered his father talking about sabotaging Emir's army so he could avoid facing two kingdoms at once in the War
"Yes" and just as he said, Prince Jowan realized the reason for his father's good mood, and then just like his father, a smile appeared on his face too.
And seeing his son started to realize the reason for going to war, King Garreth's grin stretched more on his face
"Father, the mission was a success, wasn't it?"
Although he asked the question, seeing the smile and the smug on Ca.s.ssek's face Jowan had already guessed the answer.
"Heck yes "
"Father can I lead our men?"
King Garreth was surprised to see his son's enthusiasm and considering the number of mercenaries he hired and the number of men he already has, King Garreth thought that it would be a great opportunity for his son to get some real battle experience in a real battlefield.
And after taking a few moments to think about everything, King Garreth sighed and said
"Alright, don't let me down son"
Hearing his father's approval, Prince Jowan had b.u.t.terflies in his gut as he already started to imagine Darlene in his hand after they successfully conquered Korrinth.
Also, Prince Jowan realized that he would be the king of a large kingdom after they joined Emir and Korrinth with Agoria. And when that happens, Agoria would be one of the biggest kingdoms and influence among the rank 4 kingdoms and even had a chance to move up the ladder with Darlene on his side.
"Ah Father"
Suddenly Jowan remembered something
"What?"
"Can I bring my friend with me, he's a midlevel great master"
"When did you become a friend of a great master?"
King Garreth had never heard of a great master friend of Jowan as Jowan's friend's circles were mostly spoiled n.o.ble youths of his age and pretty girls from his school.
"I've met him in school,he's studying in Redland Academy and he's traveling to every kingdom in the empire as a part of training"
While he finished explaining, King Garreth's grin and the smug on Ca.s.sek's face disappeared as they both looked at Jowan with wide-opened eyes
"Father"
"Where did you say he's studying?"
"Redland Academy, cool right?"
King Garreth almost had a heart attack seeing Jowan's face because he could see that his son still had not realized what he just said because with a student from Redland Academy by their side, they didn't even need an army. A single student's influence from a powerful place such as Redland Academy was greater than the king of a rank 4 kingdom and if Jowan's friend came to the battlefield with them, King Harold had nothing to do but yield.
And if Jowan said about this friend earlier, it would have saved his time and a lot of money that he spent on hiring the mercenaries especially the group he sent to eliminate Emir's army.
"Will he come with us if you ask him?"
"Yeah, he's here for training isn't he?"
Jowan had already talked with this guy and became a good friend with him so he was sure that he would come.
"Son if you bring him with us, I will crown you as the king before I die"
Prince Jowan's heart skipped a beat when he heard King Garreth. Because of Prince Jowan's intelligence and the fact that he didn't have any children beside him, King Garreth decided to rule Agoria as long as he lived but now he changed his mind.
If Jowan's friend agreed to come with them, it would be the biggest trump card of Agoria and they could even conquer the two kingdoms without even losing a single man if he offered to let King Harold live, in return of his kingdom and no one in their right mind would go to war with a kingdom which had a student from the Redland Academy.
