Now she could only hope that Don pull some miracle and help her kingdom or she would have to escape Korrinth with her family leaving the kingdom to be conquered by the Agorians.
Loss of the access key was nothing to her since they already promised to let her join the group of Cold Moon Palace if she gets selected in the first place which she had absolute confidence in. And as far as she concerned, a small-time king like Don could never survive or get the full benefits from the dungeon even if he got all the keys in the continent and she felt pity about it.
"Darlene?"
As she was thinking about everything, Darlene saw Kate entering her room with a nervous look.
"Hey Katie"
Seeing the worried face of Kate, Darlene didnt show her thoughts on her face she greeted Kate with a smile
"What are we gonna do Darlene?"
Kate was shaking lightly and clutching her hands tightly as she looked at Darlene
"Don't worry Kate, Me and Don got this"
When Kate heard Don's name she couldn't help but frown and show her resentment
"Don't take this the wrong way Darlene but you deserve someone better than him"
Although it was true, Darlene had to keep up the act until she had no use for Don or Kate's arrogance could mess up everything
"Trust me, Katie. He's not what you are thinking, he promised to keep us safe and I believe him and you should too"
Kate sneered as she said
"Seriously Darlene? You're putting your trust in a guy who couldn't even cross the master level"
Darlene had a good chuckle inside seeing Kate's face as she said yet Darlene couldn't make fun of the only viable option at the hand
"That doesn't mean he can't help us, Kate"
"What made you like this guy in the first place Darlene? I thought you wanted to marry one of the Archeron Princes"
Like Kate said, Darlene always wanted to marry one of the two princes of the Archeron Kingdom and that was one of the reasons that she's aiming for the core disciple position in the Cold Moon Palace.If she could get the core disciple position and get into the top ten ranks in the Archeron Kingdom's tournament, she would achieve all of her ambitions.
However, without a good supply of resources and training, she couldn't even enter into the tournament since all the young cultivators would partic.i.p.ate in the tournament from all over the empire including some of the princes from the star empire.
There were many events and tournaments coming which Darlene had to shine in order to get noticed by the princes of Archeron Kingdom. The ancient dungeon, the kingdom ranking, and the Archeron Kingdom tournament were the main ones.
And because of the sudden revitalization of life energy in the world, there would be even grandmaster level cultivators in the upcoming events and according to Darlene's teachers in her school, even the cast spelling time had become shorter and everyone predicted that the distinction between the long-ranged mage and close combat mage would soon disappear and everyone would be a combat mage.
Also, there would be numerous changes in many things in the future because of the revitalization of life energy.
"Katie, If you don't get what you like, like what you get "
It was one of the many pieces of advice from Uncle Steve which she didn't believe in but it sounded like good advice.
"Wait, you are saying you love that guy because you didn't get one of the princes"
"All, I'm saying is you'll meet the right guy at the right time"
How could Darlene say it's all fake to Kate and explain, the mysterious person strictly said that she must not tell anyone about their meeting or any truth related to Don until they complete their mission. And also even if she told Kate, she knew Kate would run her arrogant mouth all over the place and treat Don to the point that he wants to leave the G.o.dd.a.m.n place and disappear.
"Whatever you say but I will only marry a man at least at peak great master level. I don't care what he specializes in"
"So you want to marry huh?"
As she said, Darlene pinched Kate's nose and tickled her while Kate started to laugh forgetting about the upcoming war for a moment.
***********************************
"Are our men ready?"
King Harold asked Korrinth general, a man in his mid-forties wearing full plate and chainmail.
"Yes, your majesty"
As he said, King Harold noticed a little nervousness in his voice
"I'm not getting any vibe of confidence from your tone, General Wil"
"Forgive me your majesty, our men have never seen a war till now. They are all afraid"
Hearing General Wil, King Harold couldn't get angry at his men because he knew Korrinth had never been to war in a very very long time and the current men in the army were basically the grandchildren of the men who went to an actual war. After his grandfather, King Harold was the king going for war in the history of Korrinth and the war his grandfather faced was really just a small fight that they glorified as War in the history books.
His spies already reported that King Garreth has almost eight hundred men in his army which is nearly four times the size of Korrinth's army. And King Harold almost had a heart attack when he heard the number of master level men in Agorian's side. Basically King Harold knew that he's going to fight a losing war since he had no backup from Emir or mercenary guild.
Don and he didn't speak to each other after the fallout they had the other day and as far as King Harold concerned the only thing keeping Don alive from him killing Don is his daughter Darlene. He put his whole family and kingdom at risk by entering into Darlene's life and he didn't have the means to protect his better half.
King Harold also thought about pressuring Darlene to accept to marry Prince Jowan and he even sent some messengers to King Garreth asking a meeting with him in a neutral place but he hadn't received any responses yet.
"I'm ashamed to say this your majesty but even I didn't fight in any war just a few battles" general Wil nervously said as King Harold shook his head
"It's not your fault General Wil and no mine either. The reason we are in this mess is because of my daughter's willfulness and that smalltime King, Don"
General Wil heard about the disputes King Harold he had with Don,Darlene's lover and there was no secret that King Harold hates Don but seeing King Harold's eyes, General Wil realized the extent of his hate towards Don.
"Your majesty, is he at least bringing his men from Everlight?"
According to what he heard from Darlene and Don himself, Everlight and Korrinth had a tremendous distance between them so bringing the men from Everlight to Korrinth would at least take a week or two.
However at this point, King Garreth would take any help he gets so after giving some thoughts, he decided to demand Don to bring his troops to Korrinth and meanwhile, he had to find a way to delay King Garreth and his men from reaching Korrinth.
"He better, it's all his fault. But if things go south, you know what to do right?"
King Harold knew it would go south unless some miracle happens when the war begins and he was glad that his father dug a tunnel from Korrinth to
The Graton kingdom which always had a friendly relationship with Korrinth and also the king of Graton owed a small favor to his father.
General nodded his head as Wil knew the escape plan of King Harold very well and in fact, he already packed the bags in his home to escape with King Harold when the time comes. Plus having no kids or wife or any attachment in Korrinth gave the freedom for General Wil to leave the kingdom anytime he wanted without any worries.
Also even though King Garreth could conquer Korrinth, it would only be a short time victory for him because General Wil knew that Princess Darlene would bring the wrath of Cold Moon Palace when she becomes the inner disciple in two months. And at that time, she would probably wipe out King Garreth and everyone helped in the war against her kingdom without showing any mercy.
Thus they had to protect Darlene at all costs because if General Wil knew this, King Garreth must have too. So when the war begins all the focus of Agoria's skilled men and women would be on Princess Darlene.
"Our men's morale, how is it?"
King Garreth had to ask even though he knew the answer.
"Low, your majesty. Agoria's infantry terrifies them"
As he heard General Wil, King Garreth sighed
"Alright before the battle begins, I will ask Darlene to make an entrance. Since she's a great master, it'll at least give some hope for them "
And after that King Harold would take his family with him and get the h.e.l.l out of this kingdom. He already decided to leave Don so the Agorian's could kill him which he couldn't because of Darlene.
As far as King Harold concerned, the death of Don would make Darlene sad for a few months or a couple of years but after that, she could find a better man and make him proud.
