Herald of Steel

Alexander's lips visibly twitched hearing Miss Linda's demand and even felt his heart do a small leap.

'60 million ropals!' He cried inside, the joy he felt upon hearing her agree instantly dissipating at the premium ask.

And that was not even the worst bit.

What she wanted him to answer was perhaps even more damning.

'How did she figure it out?' Alexander found himself a bit alarmed, trying to figure out where he had messed up.

And as if sensing Alexander's incredulous gaze, Miss Linda let out a pleased chortle that reverberated across the whole room, "Hehe, what's wrong my lord? You look suddenly a bit pale! Did I say something untoward?"

Those narrowing eyes looked down at Alexander like a bird of prey, sharply cutting into him like fearsome talons.

"Isn't my lady asking a bit too much?" The young pasha at last decided to open his mouth with a slightly forced smile.

"To answer your question… the reason why I want you to marry Lord Castell is simple… I believe it will bring peace to these lands. This is something I would very much like to see… at least for the duration of the treaty." Alexander claimed while straightening his back, before ending with a simple brush of his hands,

"As for the money…. 6 million is really too much. At best I can do 4. Take that extra 1 million as a wedding present!"

Alexander was rich enough to throw that extra 10 million ropal without feeling too much pain and

thought that this incredible show of generosity would be enough to sway the lady.

But Miss Linda completely bypassed his 'suggested gratuity' like she did not even hear it.

"I thought I asked you to be honest my lord. I want the truth. Why do you really want me to marry Lord Castell?" Miss Linda's eyes blazed as her cold voice told Alexander she was not going to accept the deal without finding out what Alexander was really up to.

She reasoned, "If you really wanted peace, the best thing you could have done was simply ship me off to Lynica. There I would be unable to do anything. Out of sight, out of mind. Those old farts will be certainly more than happy for to me go.

And then after a few years…., maybe you could even have my 'new husband' kill me and my son… just like you said earlier. That would have been the best way to clear the way for my elder sister. So why go through all the hoops and make me stay?"

"...." Miss Linda's words suddenly made Alexander's plot become see through like perforated cheese and caused the man to produce a serene poker face, as an eerie bit of quietness descended upon the room.

Then for a while the two man and woman found themselves staring at each other with a disquieting ambiance.

Until….

"Hahaha…" the stalemate was broken by a low, frank chuckle from Alexander, causing Miss Linda opposite of him to scowl.

She heard a bemused voice address her with a very mirthful undertone,

"You indeed have a better head than your sister. She might not have been clever enough to notice this." Alexander judged before his voice suddenly turned hard and business like,

"You want to know why I favor a union between you and Lord Castell? Fine, I don't mind… it is not anything malicious as you might think anyway."

"I want you to marry Lord Castell because I believe it will distract you from causing trouble to your sister and thus by extension me. I want this because I do not have confidence in the peace treaty terms we signed. Ten years is probably too long for you to stay your hand."

"..." Alexander quickly noticed Miss Linda's eyes flicker with a chilly light as he made that statement as if she was angry at having her thoughts exposed.

But the lady said nothing to deny this because, at that point, she would be just insulting Alexander's intelligence. Alexander had already made up his mind and she decided to let him be without making any further comments.

While pleased with not being interrupted, Alexander continued,

"And the way I want you to distract yourself from picking on your sister is by letting you…or more specifically your son have a chance to contend for the seat of the next duke."

"????" The bold statement instantly made the scowl on the beautiful lady's forehead turn into a surprised grin, as her ears quickly perked up.

She might have not been very interested in what Alexander was saying till then… but now… it was as if fresh life giving water was being poured over her shattered dreams.

And noticing that he finally got his audience's attention, Alexander lightly grinned before continuing in that magnetic tone,

"In order to allow your son any chance at becoming a duke… the best helper you can find for him is Lord Castell. This union will make it invaluable to both the pair of you."

"First of all- it will help you get back into the good graces of …' both your husband's' family. Meaning you could make the Heeat family stop stripping you of all your wealth. The taxes earned by your family will remain in Caira, rather than being used to please some unknown lord living in some unknown land."

"This 'ungiven' tithe can then be used to help you quickly recover your war torn lands and let you get back up on your feet."

"With that considerable resources at your disposal…I believe you could then substantially affect the moods of the nobles there. Combine that with Lord Castell's political symbol as the current duke's brother and you will undoubtedly be able to throw your son's name into the lot for the duke with considerable might."

"Even if you need some time to get going and Duke Heeat chooses one of his sons as the next successor in the meantime, it will still be possible for you to contend that decree…. if you are sufficiently powerful enough. If you are powerful enough you could even have the 'new duke' be announced illegitimate! And that your son- as the progeny of the first son of the 'former Duke' is the one and only legitimate heir!"

"All kinds of impossible things can suddenly become possible… if you are powerful enough."

"......." Each of Alexander's honeyed words sounded like the whispers of the devil of Miss Linda, yet she found she could not get away.

She was like a moth to a flame, drawn to it despite the clear perils involved.

The embers of her broken heap of dreams that she thought had been thoroughly extinguished began to smoke and rise up, her soul waking up with a strange, inextinguishable flame.

'Right! Just because I lost that waste does not mean I need to give up. There are still others!' Miss Linda flamed the flames of her soul even more, using Alexander's words as crackling firewood.

And as Miss Linda thought about it more and more, she soon came to realize that she would now marry Lord Castell now even if Alexander objected!

While from the opposite side, although unable to guess her exact thoughts, Alexander sensed that the lady had started to pant a bit in excitement.

And when she opened her mouth to speak, the young pasha clearly noticed a very excited undertone to her voice,

"Hehe, so you are asking me to let Lord Castell become the stepping stone for my son? I seem to have underestimated you, my lord. Hehe, even though I thought I had judged you highly, it seems I have still underestimated you!"

Miss Linda repeated the words like great admiration, and the saccharine laced words sounded like the songs of a bird to Alexander's ear.

The man stared back at the excited face with that wide grin and those twinkling black eyes shimmering in the light with some awe, as his heart could not help but jump a bit at the beauty.

Miss Linda seemed to genuinely worship him at this point, and looking at the gorgeously dressed red fairy, a sudden urge to obtain her overwhelmed Alexander.

It took no small amount of willpower for Alexander to maintain the placid look on his face, only letting out a thin smile to curtly nod,

"I'm glad I could make you see things in the best way, my lady. As long as you can make Lord Castell bring him over to your side…you can go anywhere. I am confident you have the necessary charms."

Miss Linda gave a wild grin at this, not denying her capabilities.

In fact, she was rather confident in her skills and even seriously mused,

'The fact that the man has so many mistresses means he is not a wood. That's all I need. Hehe… once he gets a taste of me… Hmm, maybe I should get elder sister here too! Give him a two for one!'

The elder sister here of course referred to Lady Adele, the middle sister, and given the kind of 'bonding' the two shared with their husbands together very recently, it was only natural for this scheming young lady to think like that.

Miss Linda was reluctant to let her go just like that and even figured using her to rope General Achilla to her side.

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