"Will!" Wendy ran towards William and gave him a hug. "Did you also pass the trial?"
"I did," William replied and he returned Wendy's hug. He was surprised that after meeting Belle, his feelings for Wendy hadn't changed. It meant that the straightforward girl had managed to worm herself inside William's heart and the latter had also recognized her as his lover candidate.
'Belle said that I can have up to nine wives or concubines,' William thought. 'I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I get there.'
His gaze then landed on Ian and remembered Belle's warning about him.
"What are you looking at?" Ian asked. "You look creepy."
"Yep. It's impossible for this snot nosed pansy to be a girl," William muttered as he averted his gaze. 'Belle's intuition was wrong.'
The Oracle had already warned them that they should keep the contents of their own trials a secret. Although they could share it with other people, she advised against it. She said that if other people were to know the contents of the trial, they would not be able to set foot in the Northern Regions again.
Because of this, none of them asked each other what happened in their trials. They returned to the Peak of Chivalry because William still had loose ends to tie up. To his surprise, the representatives of the Anaesha Dynasty had already left, while the representatives of the Zelan Dynasty remained.
Sir Jerkins personally informed William that Crown Prince Alaric wanted to talk to him. Although he was surprised, William decided to meet with him after he settled the issue with the tribes.
"As you may already know, the Great One has appointed me to choose the next Great Chieftain of the Tribes," William said with a serious expression.
All the different Tribal Chiefs looked at him anxiously and waited for his next words.
"The Great One has also issued a decree," William continued his speech. "The Tribes will not participate in the war nor will they act as the reinforcements for the Hellan Kingdom. They are to stay in the Northern Regions until the war is over."
Some of the Tribal Chiefs sighed, while others nodded their heads. Most of them didn't want to participate in the war because it would only cause the death of many of their tribesmen. Although the regions of the North were harsh, they weren't lacking in anything.
"There's more, the nearest town of Stanmore will now fall under the jurisdiction of the Tribes," William said. "This will be the compensation of the Hellan Kingdom to the Tribes for not participating in the war."
Earlier, Sir Jerkins had told William that the King had told him that he could use the three towns near the Kyrintor Mountains as bargaining chips to gain the aid of the Allied Tribes. However, since the Demigod had forbidden them from joining the war, the bargaining chips became useless.
William knew that some of the Tribal Chiefs still had the notion of expansion, so he was willing to compromise and satisfy their itch. The Half-Elf told Jerkins that in order to prevent the tribes from joining the Tri-Party Alliance, they needed to sacrifice one of the towns on the border in order to appease them.
Jerkins readily agreed to William's suggestion because he was afraid that the tribes would really switch sides if they didn't give them some form of compensation.
For the Ambassador, losing one border town was better than fighting on three fronts of the battlefield.
Just like William expected, the Tribal Chiefs were quite happy with the new territory they had gained for free. Even Great Chief Evander gave William a nod of admiration for his ability to compromise.
"Okay, now that is settled, we will talk about the position of the Great Chieftain of the Tribe." William gazed at the Tribal Chiefs and completely ignored Great Chief Evander, which made the latter's smile stiffen.
"Four years," William held out four fingers in front of everyone seated in the Great Hall. "For four years Evander will remain in his position as the Great Chieftain of the Tribe. After that, all the Tribal Chiefs will vote if he should continue to stay as the Great Chieftain or if he should step down from the position.
"If the Tribal Chiefs are going to ask Evander to step down after four years, each tribe needs to send one of their representatives to clear the trial of Enlightenment. The first person to clear the trial will become the next Great Chief of the Allied Tribes.
"There will be no age restriction to the trial. Anyone can become the Great Chief, but only one representative per tribe is allowed to participate in the selection ceremony."
The Tribal Chieftains nodded their heads in agreement. They thought that the new system was good since it prevented anyone from holding the position of Great Chieftain for an indefinite span of time.
Great Chief Evander happily accepted the new system after confirming that members of his tribe could also participate in the selection ceremony. He knew that William had given him four years to remain as the Great Chieftain, so that Brianna wouldn't suffer.
After he had settled the issues of the Tribes, William asked Sir Jerkins to invite the Crown Prince of the Zelan Dynasty to his quarters. He was very curious about what the "next king" of the neighboring dynasty wanted to say to him.
It didn't take long before Prince Alaric came to William's tent to converse. He didn't come alone. Princess Aila, Connal's Ex-Bride Candidate, was with him as well.
The beautiful brother and sister pair sat opposite William and looked at him with calm expressions on their faces.
"When I came here to the Northern Regions, I thought that I would only be meeting with the leaders of the different tribes," Prince Alaric said with a smile. "I didn't expect that I would see a distant relative and witness his amazing battle prowess first hand."
"By relative, you mean me?" William asked in confusion. "You might be making a mistake, Your Highness."
"Well, if your Grandmother's name is not Erza then yes, I may be making a mistake," the Prince replied in a playful tone. "Tell me, Sir William, is Lady Erza not your grandmother?"
"She is," William replied.
"Great!" Prince Alaric clapped his hands. "Actually, your grandmother and my grandmother are twins. Lord James went to the Zelan Dynasty to personally ask her parents for her hand in marriage. Naturally, they didn't agree at the start and made things difficult for him."
Prince Alaric chuckled. "However, Lord James was able to beat all of Lady Erza's suitors, and finally gained the approval of her parents. She then went with your grandfather to the Hellan Kingdom and would just occasionally visit our domain whenever she felt homesick. Long story short, you and I are distant cousins since we share the same heritage."
"I see." William nodded his head in understanding. "So, what does your Highness need from me?"
Although he agreed on the surface, William didn't take the Prince's words to heart. He would have to consult with his grandfather first and confirm whether what the Prince had told him was true or not. Even so, he was still willing to hear what the Prince had to say since the latter had waited for him to return to the Third Peak of Chivalry.
"I want you to pass this letter to Lord James and also take my little sister, Princess Aila, to meet him," Alaric replied. "I know that this is an odd request from the Crown Prince of a Dynasty that is planning to wage war on your borders, but it is still something I need to do for the sake of my cute little sister. You can do this for me, right, Cousin?"
William frowned, but still nodded his head. "Is that all?"
"Yes, that is all." Prince Alaric smiled. "Perhaps, this is the last time we will meet in such an amicable manner. The next time we see each other will be on the battlefield. Until then, make sure that you stay alive, Cousin."
William returned Prince Alaric's smile but said nothing else. He then looked at the beautiful Princess who had been observing him since the moment she entered his tent.
"I hope you don't mind living in the countryside, Your Highness," William said. "Because that is where you will be staying until the war is over."
"As long as there is food to eat, a bed to sleep on, and a roof over my head, I believe that I will be able to manage, Sir William," Aila replied. "I am looking forward to meeting the legendary Lord James who single-handedly defeated a hundred warriors when he asked for Lady Erza's hand in marriage."
Princess Aila smiled sweetly as she gazed at William's eyes that were as beautiful as sapphires. She wanted to know more about the Knight Commander who was wearing a slave collar on his neck.
The Princess of the Zelan Dynasty knew that her brother was right. It would be safer to stay in the enemy's territory than return to their domain. Because if she did return to the Zelan Dynasty, all that was waiting for her was a life filled with regrets and misery.