Herald of Steel

If Alexander knew of Lady Parthia's restraint, he would have likely only chuckled in amusement, finding her over cautiousness funny.

He might have taken these words seriously if it was said by her eldest son, the crown prince, but after getting to know the lady better, in one than one way, Alexander's weariness had greatly subsided.

This was not because he had fallen in love with her or anything, but more so because he found the queen to be not that kind of person. A loving mother and a dutiful wife, Alexander knew she would never risk losing all her remaining family for just a simple chance at more power.

She was simply not that ambitious.

But then again, Alexander also did not think she was as black bellied as she was showing herself to be now. Your next journey awaits at m v|l-e'm,p| y- r

So perhaps there was more to this mature, ravishingly beautiful woman than meets the eye.

And thus intrigued by those crafty, dark, armorous eyes, he returned to discuss the topic at hand.

"I must say, my lady… you have given me a lot to think about," Taking a sip from his cup, he broke the silence, first expressing his admiration for the plan.

"But although I understood where you are coming from, how do I convince Lady Miranda about this all? Will she ever agree?"

Then posed the all important feasibility test.

Because Alexander did not think any sane person would agree to the plan he was proposing, much less Lady Miranda who had gone through so much.

He even wondered whether the lady might threaten to die rather than see her family split like that.

"Heh! Why does her consent matter? She is nothing!"

If Alexander was on one side of the extreme spectrum, being too cautious and worrying about every single one's opinion, then Lady Parthia was solidly on the other side, showing herself to be utterly unconcerned about what anyone else thought.

This former queen appeared to become a bit incensed at Alexander's frequent attempts to find faults in everything she said, and so swinging her hands wildly in a very belittling manner, she spat out in front of a flabbergasted Alexander,

"My lord, you give Lady Miranda too much credit. Ask yourself… Why do we need her? What can she do?

What has she done till we got here?"

"Other than giving us a roof over our head… the answer is very little!"

Lady Parthia narrowed her eyes like a hawk announcing this, and it caused Alexander to produce a complicated look as soon as they made contact.

He did not like to reduce his allies to such zero sum mathematical models.

But Lady Parthia apparently did, which was why upon seeing Alexander avoid her, she pressed on, this time pointing her hands toward the widow overlooking Alexander's camp and shouting,

"Out there… it is we who are freezing! It is we who are bleeding. It is we who are dying. It is we who are putting our lives on the line! Where are Lady Miranda's men? What are they doing?

How are they helping"

Lady Parthia's cruel taunts shredded the veneer that Alexander and Lady Miranda were equal in any sense of the word, as the mature queen sneered,

"So how would she dare say no! Who does she think is? Does she think she matters to us for a second?"

"We are doing everything here, so everything we say goes!"

"She should be grateful we even bother to let her sit in our meetings! As if her words matter… Tsk…. She is only still alive because of us!"

Lady Parthia slammed her fair back on the soft cushion as she finished, her beautiful face etched with a very frustrated frown, clearly showing her true feelings regarding Alexander's apprehension.

According to her, Lady Miranda ought to be simply nodding and kneeling at everything they say, and expressing her gratitude for saving her life three times a day.

Anything else that happened to her was simply a boon.

"...." While in the case of Alexander, once again, he was blown away by how domineering the regal queen was showing herself to be, blasting out such a tirade that even made him feel a slight chill go down his spine.

Lady Parthia almost reprimanded Alexander with such force and determination that even though he was the man here, even though he was technically her superior, the man could not help but suddenly felt a little bit cowered.

He knew that if their roles had been reversed if Alexander was something like a small official in the Tibian court, his heart would have certainly skipped a few beats facing this enraged queen.

The way she spoke and the temperament and domineering aura she displayed easily showed that Lady Parthia had truly ruled a country for several decades.

It was an ability that Alexander also yet lacked, simply having not had the time to nurture it,

In fact, it even made him wonder if this was also one of the reasons why he felt attracted to this forbidden fruit because she was so very different from all his other women.

For instance, Lady Nanazin could not produce a tenth of her aura, due to her being rarely allowed to wield any power in court.

Towards Lady Parthia's outburst, Alexander produced a mixed bag of emotions.

In one way, he was glad to see things from a different perspective. Alexander certainly would not have dared to think of stabbing Lady Miranda in the back so brazenly as Lady Parthia was suggesting.

While at the same time, Lady Parthia was also proving to be very different from him.

Whereas Alexander preferred to move forward amicably, Lady Parthia much preferred to snatch things by force.

According to her, since Lady Miranda could not contribute, she should shut up and take whatever was given to her. Beggars could not be choosers after all

And Alexander would have to admit, this type of thinking really fitted the style of a blue blooded royal queen like her.

Alexander listened to all that Lady Parthia had to offer on the matter and found there to be both merits and drawbacks to it, along with many challenges dotted in the way.

So much so that Alexander felt a slight headache coming.

Hence producing an understanding nod, he placed his hands on the desk and with a smile addressed Lady Parthia,

"....Thank you for sharing your thoughts, my lady. I must say you have given me a lot to think about. Let us meet again in a few days!"

"No! You should make a choice by today!"

However, instead of obediently taking the hint and leaving, Lady Parthia stayed put and insisted Alexander make a decision on the spot, sincerely advising,

"Time is running out. We should not count on the harbor being safe forever. Even if you do not want to break the Margraves you should still move. At least meet with the natives and hear what they have to say. Remember… it is not wise to place all our trust on one faction."

"....." And once again, Alexander found it hard to deny Lady Parthia's statements.

Then as a flash of lightning suddenly raced through his head, Alexander clenched his teeth out of nowhere bit the bullet.

"Okay! I will give the order right now. We leave in three days!"

Since he was being advised by so many of his advisors, he finally made the decision!

"Great!" And Lady Parthia instantly let out a bright big grin, her eyes twinkling with pleasure.

She was very glad to see that her forceful pressure technique had worked and hoped that things would go just as she wished.

Because if that were to happen, surely there would be a big, fat, 'commission' waiting for her, be it land, or power.

Thus she watched the following days pass by with anticipating glee.

And it was a sentiment that was also shared by Lord Janus, who felt his efforts were finally being rewarded.

The man even congratulated Alexander with the words, "My lord, you will not regret this! In my fief, there are even a few of those new ships that you designed. Hah hah, I am sure you like them!"

This let Alexander also recall one of the other main reasons why he was here- the shipbuilding and the experienced sailor.

And with that, he quickly asked himself what it would be like to get them to be a part of his fief.

Suddenly Lady Parthia's proposal was beginning to sound a lot more enticing.

But Alexander pushed such thoughts down for now, knowing such things were far off into the future.

First, he had to win the battle.

And speaking of winning, before he left, he tried one last time to meet with the Margraves council members, once again asking them to declare Lady Miranda as their head.

But they still refused, with the eldest of the men declaring with a shake of his,

"There is no point. This conflict has already spiraled completely out of our control. It is now a war between you- Lord Alexander and the Heeat family. We are just the unwilling participants."

Alxx released a dejected sigh at this, for he had hoped to let Lady Miranda have a much more legitimate claim using this.

But it seems it was not meant to be.

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