Chapter 830: Trust: Proposal and Rejection

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Bai Zemin. My name is Eloise Mayer, mother of Princess Dianna who is currently under custody in Bearcrest City due to being found suspected of betraying the human race through allying with the demon race."

Hearing the words of the woman in front of him, Bai Zemin did not show any kind of reaction. However, a flash of surprise shone in his eyes a second later when the 0.5% percentage of his God of War's Will skill fell to 0.4% out of nowhere.

The effect of the skill God of War's Will lasted for a long time and could never go down, only go up when Bai Zemin killed enemies or simply disappear when an enemy upgrade did not occur within the effect time. Therefore, there was only one explanation for what had just happened, and that was that the woman in front of him had probably put all hostility towards him aside.

'Let's see how it goes for now.' Bai Zemin looked at Eloise and said giving her the same level of respect she gave him, "It is an honor to be able to meet and exchange words with the Queen of the Pralan Kingdom like this. Even though the circumstances under which I met Princess Dianna were not particularly pleasant, I can say that Her Majesty did a good job as a mother."

As to whether she had done a good job as queen or not, Bai Zemin did not point this out as he believed that the woman in front of him was smart enough to understand his words.

Indeed, Eloise's response did not disappoint him.

She smiled bitterly and said slowly, "I have been guiding Dianna since she was 10 years old to become a dignified queen who could carry on the legacy of the Pralan Kingdom. She is talented and willing, but she usually hesitates too much when it comes to making decisions... Therefore, I've tried to give her confidence to choose and decide what to do when the situation calls for it.... But I didn't expect something like this."

The crown princess of the Pralan Kingdom had made a huge error in judgment and let herself be seduced by the words of the crown prince Gerard. She stupidly assumed that Gales was a kingdom whose decline had begun with the fall of Queen Helena and the obvious weakening of King Philip, she mistakenly believed that the fall of Gales was only a matter of time and so she made a tremendously wrong decision in deciding that it was better to annex the royal family of Gales to save the lives of millions of citizens who might fall victim of the demons due to the kingdom's lack of power to protect them.

"We all make mistakes in this life, from the time we are born until the time we die we go through making mistakes. As long as we learn from our mistakes so as not to make them a second time, our life will not have been a waste." Bai Zemin said calmly before pointing out in depth, "However, regardless of whether it is a kid or an adult, every living being capable of reasoning for itself must bear the consequences of its own actions. At the end of the day, the world we live in is not really peaceful even if that is how it appears on the surface."

Luo Ning, Xiang Feng, Wen Yun, Wen Yan, and definitely many more young kids had suffered a lot with the arrival of the apocalypse on Earth; some more than others, but suffering at the end of the day. They had to adapt and mature faster, learning that each of their actions would have a consequence that they would have to bear.

Because they were thrown into hell along with the adults on Earth, children like Luo Ning and the rest were even more mature than many adults in Eventide World who grew up being protected.

The law of cause and effect was a universal law. Every action always had its consequences whether positive or negative.

"Dianna definitely didn't make any deals with demons," Eloise shook her head and sighed.

Even if she knew that what Bai Zemin was saying was the truth, Princess Dianna was his daughter after all.

Bai Zemin naturally knew that Princess Dianna had nothing to do with demons, he could deduce it because of her expression and actions when it was revealed that Prince Gerard was under the protection of two Third Order demons. However, in war anything was valid.

"If Princess Dianna Mayer is or was affiliated with demons in some way or another, our Kingdom Gales will naturally take it upon itself to find out. If she is innocent then she will be sent safe and sound back to the Pralan Kingdom, Your Majesty need not worry about it." He said with a firm expression.

Realizing that at this rate they would get nowhere and noticing the steadily rising anger of the four kings of kingdoms beside her, Eloise decided to temporarily put the matter of her daughter aside. At the end of the day, she knew that Dianna was well and not at all mistreated as they had their methods of communicating with each other.

"Bai Zemin, how about joining my Pralan Kingdom?" proposed Eloise suddenly.

Her allies looked at her in shock and disbelief as they gasped in shock.

"Eloise, what the hell are you talking about? It wasn't part of the plan at all!" snarled the little mustached king with the two heavy hammers.

"Oh?" even Bai Zemin was surprised. He hadn't expected at all that this beautiful and powerful woman would try to lure him to her side so for a moment he was speechless.

As for Seraphina, she subconsciously reached out her small right hand and held the bathrobe he wore. Her expression was a mix between anxiety and anger as she looked at Queen Eloise as if she was looking at a thieving cat that was trying to steal her delicious fish that she had caught with great effort.

The Queen of the Pralan Kingdom ignored the expressions and reactions of the others. At the end of the day, even if the goal for which she and the other four kingdom kings had come here was different, Eloise was not willing to pass up an opportunity like this; who knows, she might succeed even if the odds were not too high.

"Based on your facial features and your name I can say with certainty that you are certainly not a citizen of Gales, am I correct?"

Bai Zemin nodded silently, there was no need to lie regarding such a thing.

"In that case, why don't you join Pralan?" Eloise proposed with a serious and honest expression. "Whatever Philip has promised you in exchange for your help, I will multiply by three! Besides, whatever your goal is, don't you think it will be easier for you to achieve it if you have the support of a parent kingdom? Although Gales has become great and powerful due to the repeated conquests of the last few days, the power of Pralan is a fully established power in contrast to Gales who will still need many years to consolidate the newly acquired gains."

The expression of three of the four kings next to Eloise changed slightly for the better upon hearing her words, after all, if Bai Zemin joined the Pralan Kingdom the war against Gales would end immediately and they would not suffer any kind of real backlash. However, the expression of the king of the Theles Kingdom turned extremely ugly, because if Bai Zemin joined Eloise the power of the Pralan Kingdom would immediately skyrocket, and it was not impossible that in the next few years the other two parent kingdoms would be swallowed up by Pralan.

Seraphina's face soon became paler than before and her grip on Bai Zemin's robe grew tighter as the fears in her heart increased. She had heard from Bai Zemin that his goal was to obtain as much information and resources that could help his world in both the short and long term, therefore, from a certain point of view, his best option was indeed to join a kingdom with a larger number of high level powerhouses fully established.

Seeing that Bai Zemin remained silent and did not immediately refuse, a small spark of hope ignited in the heart of the Queen of the Pralan Kingdom.

Eloise gave Seraphina a sidelong glance before turning her focus to Bai Zemin: "I heard that the King of Gales offered the hand of Princess Ellis and Princess Seraphina, I don't know if it is true or not but I am also willing to give you the hand of my daughter Dianna if you join us. In terms of beauty, my daughter doesn't lose at all with a fully developed beauty like Ellis, and even though her talent is a bit lower compared to the first and second princess of Gales, I can guarantee you that you will get something much better in return if you team up with Dianna."

After a moment of silence, Bai Zemin opened his mouth and slowly said, "Your Majesty is not curious about what kind of response Princess Dianna will have about it?"

"Dianna is a girl who has always said since she was young that she will marry someone worthy. Is there anyone more worthy than you in the younger generation of Eventide World?" Eloise pointed out before adding, "Besides, even if she didn't want to she will have to accept my arrangements as punishment for her stupid and lamentable performance. She'll understand, though I don't think she'll refuse anyway." The more she spoke, the more Eloise felt that her chances of success increased.

Hearing this, Bai Zemin sighed. To Eloise's surprise, however, he shook his head.

"I am sorry for having to decline your offer, Your Majesty Eloise." He said in a clear voice.

A flash of surprise shone in the eyes of the Queen of Pralan and the other four kings. Indeed, what Eloise was offering Bai Zemin was something that not only any young man would dream of having but even 99.9% of the men in the world would kill to hear.

Wealth, honor, beauties, status... He could have it all, everything, just by saying the word 'I accept'... but he truly refused.

"... May I ask why you are so attached to Gales?" Eloise asked after a moment of silence. She pointed with a slight frown showing her confusion, "I know you arrived in Gales recently, I don't think in that time you have built such a close relationship with the royal family, or have you?"

In Eloise's eyes, a person as powerful as Bai Zemin should have practically everything, therefore, approaching him should be tremendously hard. It was hard for her to think of anything Philip Di Gales could have used to gain his loyalty like this.

"It's not about time, it's not about promises either. It's about actions." Bai Zemin said and for a brief moment gave Seraphina a sidelong glance before continuing, "Due to certain circumstances, I ended up deep inside the Forest of the Ancients badly injured, and due to the overload of a skill that grants me great power, I lost consciousness. In that kind of situation, no matter if it's First Order or Third Order, even the strongest could be slaughtered by a mutant beast with enough attack power; a bite to the head or heart would mean game over."

Badly injured? Forest of the Ancients? The memory of Eloise and the other four quickly moved to the terrifying explosion that occurred almost 1 month ago which not only wiped out 1/20th of the mutant forest but also seemed to coincide with the moment when Bai Zemin appeared before the masses.

"It was the second princess of the Gales Kingdom who found me unconscious and saved my life, taking me to her family's castle and taking care of me even though she didn't know me at all. King Philip, Her Majesty Helena, and the two princesses treated me like a friend, none of them tried to take my treasures from me even though my body had several of them and I could have done nothing to protect them." Bai Zemin sighed and said in a grateful voice, "They might have said that when they found me I no longer had anything on me and I could not have done or said anything about it, but all they gave me was kindness. I'm sorry, Your Majesty Eloise, but my alliance with the royal family of the Gales Kingdom is unbreakable, because they are the only ones in this world who can give me what is most needed for an alliance."

Eloise closed her eyes and sighed, "Trust, eh?"

"Trust." Bai Zemin nodded, completely dismissing the idea of having been betrayed by the girl standing next to him. "In this world, I can only trust them and no one else. Other than them, I am alone."