As the Desert Goblins descended into madness, the tunnels they had built began to collapse one after another. Seeing this, Charles wasted no ti and headed straight toward the surface. He didn't even stop to check if the Desert Goblin Queen had been completely killed.
After overcoming nurous obstacles, Charles finally made it back to the surface. The ground was covered in large craters, and sand began pouring into the underground tunnels the Desert Goblins had constructed. Seeing this, Charles was certain that the Desert Goblin Queen was dead.
"The Desert Goblin lair will soon be completely buried by sand. Even if there are other small Desert Goblin tribes left, they won't be able to interfere with my plans anymore," he thought. After a brief mont of reflection, Charles began to plan his next move. He needed to find the mbers of the Ancient Academy. If he could eliminate most of them before the Stellar Empire's attack began, Withered Tree Fortress could hold out.
anwhile, Connell had returned to Gold Fortress. He gazed at the grand structure and took a deep breath. The upcoming task was incredibly dangerous. He had to be flawless in order to deceive everyone, and, in the process, he would even have to sacrifice his own dignity.
Once ready, he walked toward the entrance of Gold Fortress. As expected, he was stopped by the guards.
"Who are you? Do you have a pass? No one without a pass is allowed inside Gold Fortress!" the guard said in a businesslike tone.
Connell put on a flattering smile. "Please, let through. I have very important information to share with His Highness, the crown prince. His Highness has t before, just tell him my na and he will definitely see ."
The guard sneered. "You look like nothing more than a beggar. How could His Highness have t soone like you? Get out of here! Don't disturb us!"
With that, the guards began to push Connell back with their weapons. Connell imdiately threw himself on the ground and began to roll around.
"I won't leave! I must see His Highness the crown prince! I truly have sothing important to tell him!" Connell's childish behavior infuriated the guards and drew the attention of many onlookers. The presence of the crowd only made the guards more furious.
"Get out of here! If you don't leave now, don't bla us for being rude! Your actions go against military orders, and we have every right to kill you," the captain of the guards said angrily.
Although he acted as if he was ready to kill Connell, he didn't actually dare to take action. There were just too many onlookers around. If he really struck, it could cause more trouble. He only hoped to scare Connell off with threats.
But since Connell had already decided to throw his dignity aside, he wasn't going to be intimidated by their threats.
"I must see His Highness! He will want to et with !" Connell grew more frantic.
The captain of the guards could no longer tolerate it. He lowered his voice and spoke to his n. "We can't let him keep causing a scene here. Looks like we'll have to kill him! Who will take care of this? I'll make sure you get a reward for completing the task."
Not a single guard dared to take on the task.
"A bunch of useless fools! I knew I couldn't count on you!" the captain yelled. With that, he approached Connell, weapon in hand.
In the current situation, only he could take care of Connell personally.
Connell felt a bit nervous seeing this. He didn't want to die here. He had only been trying to get the crown prince's attention. If the crown prince hadn't noticed him, his entire plan would fail. He started considering whether he should fight the captain.
Just as the captain was about to strike, a royal guard in ornate armor suddenly rode up on a horse.
"His Highness has given orders to let him in," the royal guard said. Without another word, the guard threw a rope and caught Connell.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Connell was dragged into Gold Fortress.
The distance from the entrance of Gold Fortress to the tower where the crown prince resided was quite long, and Connell was pulled all the way there. His pitiful state was seen by nearly everyone in the fortress.
When they reached the tower's entrance, the royal guard removed the rope from Connell.
"His Highness wants you to wait for him in the stable," the royal guard said before leaving.
Connell was in a pitiful state. His clothes were torn, and his face was covered with wounds from being dragged earlier. Yet, despite his condition, he looked strangely happy. There was no trace of resentnt in his expression.
The onlookers stared at him as if he were a fool. But only Connell knew that this was the only way to lower the crown prince's guard.
Up in the tower, the crown prince had watched the entire scene. He was now debating whether or not to et Connell. For the crown prince, Connell was insignificant, and he had a pretty good idea of what Connell wanted. It was probably just an attempt to earn a chance to prove himself and regain wealth and status. He had seen many people like that before.
However, he had never t anyone like Connell, soone willing to completely discard their dignity. The crown prince wanted to see just how far Connell was willing to go.
"Your Highness, I've brought him to the stable. Do you really want to et him?" the royal guard asked, slightly hesitant.
"Of course. He wants to see so badly. I'll grant his wish," the crown prince replied, and then headed straight to the stable.
As soon as Connell saw the crown prince, he imdiately dropped to his knees and crawled towards him.
"Your Highness, please give another chance! I'll do whatever you ask of . I don't want to be abandoned by the Empire!"
His actions made the onlookers show their disdain, and they started whispering and pointing fingers.
The crown prince smiled strangely, not even glancing at Connell. After all, to look at Connell, he would have to lower his head.
"Everyone fears being abandoned by the Empire. But what exactly can you offer to contribute to the Empire?" the crown prince asked.
"I'm a Beast Master! My strength may not be very great, but I can still be of help in battle! And I will be completely loyal to you, I'll never follow anyone else's orders," Connell replied.
As soon as Connell said these words, the crown prince's expression changed. Connell's flattery had indeed reached an all-ti low. However, he was the first in Gold Fortress to openly declare absolute loyalty to the crown prince.
The crown prince knew very well that he had many enemies. Both the pri minister and his father were wary of him, and his brothers and sisters were eyeing the throne. If he could use Connell's example to subtly encourage others to side with him, perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing.
After thinking for a mont, the crown prince finally lowered his head. His smile beca even more approachable than before.
"You're a Beast Master, and you could indeed be useful in the upcoming battles. I also admire your honesty," the crown prince said.
As soon as he spoke, everyone around them fell silent. Even the crown prince's own guards were so shocked they didn't know what to say.
To the onlookers, Connell was just a clown with no dignity, shalessly trying to win favor from the crown prince. For the crown prince to reward such a clown was completely unexpected.
Connell quickly responded, "I will never forget your kindness, Your Highness. I will fight for you until my last breath! Whatever you ask to do, I will do it!"
The crown prince nodded with a smile. He looked at Connell with approval and imdiately gave an order to the royal guards.
"Help him up imdiately. He is now my soldier. Take him and get him cleaned up. The attack on Withered Tree Fortress is about to begin. I want him ready to fight when the ti cos."
Although the royal guards were sowhat displeased, they imdiately carried out the crown prince's command.
Connell had finally gotten what he wanted. Although he knew he hadn't completely earned the crown prince's trust yet, it didn't matter. As long as he cooperated well with Charles during the battle, he would gain the crown prince's full trust.
After that, his plan was simple: to betray the crown prince at the right mont.
He was willing to go to any lengths to achieve revenge. The waiting ti didn't matter to him.
Soon, word of what happened between the crown prince and Connell spread throughout Gold Fortress. So sly individuals began to think about whether they should follow Connell's example.
Those who were already dissatisfied with the crown prince beca even more upset. mbers of the pri minister's faction in the Stellar Empire were particularly displeased. So of them planned to quickly report what had happened at Gold Fortress to the pri minister and the emperor.
The crown prince's poor judgnt in trusting such a scher would certainly tarnish his image with the emperor. If they could use this incident to make the emperor lose trust in the crown prince, that would be even better.
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