Herald of Steel

Alexander stared at the Queen Mother’s beautiful exposed chest with a locked gaze.

But he was really not ’looking’ at them. Rather his mind was busy trying to find the best way to avoid getting swindled by the forceful woman.

’Hmmm... maybe I can give her some business to run? She could then pay the amount back in installments.’ He hopefully mused initially. But quickly moved away after some thought,

’Tsk! No! Which business in the world pays 30 to 40 million ropals? And even if it did... I don’t believe Seelima has any head for business. Lady Inayah has it for sure but Seelima... I highly doubt it. She will probably be too busy with her court duties and run the thing to the ground. Hmmmp! In that case, I might as well run the business myself and take the whole profit.’

In this way Alexander suspected if he truly made such a deal with her, he would die, his children would die, and even his grandchildren would die but none would ever get to see any sign of the money.

So out of ideas, Alexander found himself circling back to his previous consideration. And despite the risks, tentatively posed so in a slow, probing tone,

"Then Your Highness... have you considered selling...or maybe lending some of your jewelry... We..."

"Let ’us’ stop you right there, Alexander." Seelima immediately interjected with a sharp, cutting tone, glancing at Alexander with dagger like eyes. All the softness she just had now was nowhere to be seen- replaced by a cold, frigid countenance,

It had always astounded Alexander just how quickly this moody lady could change her temper- like a summer’s tempest.

The Queen Mother then threatened with clenched teeth, "For the sake of our friendship, I will pretend you never said that, brat. Or else... I would hate to see you tied up on the cross and be pecked apart by the crows!"

The regal lady made such a specific threat because that was the punishment for selling jewelry, clothes or other similar ’artifacts’ of the royal family. All these acts fell under the crime of ’graverobbing’ and ’desecrating the royal family’, and violators were indeed all killed in a very ’creative’ way.

They were first tied with ropes on a cross, then had many thin slices made on their skin and finally their wounds were coated with a special honey like concoction made from various crushed tree leaves.

This syrup would then attract a special type of eagle that would be released from their cages nearby and then...

Well you can probably imagine the following gruesome scene. It was an extremely painful sight to see and an even more painful way to go- if you were lucky, the blood loss took you ’quickly’, which was within a few hours.

But most likely it would be up to the infections and septic wounds to finish the job, and that took even the hard working bacteria several days.

As you can imagine, having infected, pus ridden wounds all over your body for so long was not pleasant. And it was especially unpleasant to have that wound poked constantly at by sharp beaks and talons.

The infamy of this punishment was so well known that it very rarely needed to be put into practice. Countless wayward and opportunistic hands were deterred from reaching out and grabbing something they should not just by the courtesy of the few existing examples. From that angle, this law could indeed be called extremely effective.

"Please, please, do not get angry, Your Highness. I was simply talking... I never meant any disrespect! It was only..." While sensing the mood of his mercurial ally to be on the verge of exploding, Alexander swiftly raised his palms like he was surrendering, trying to placate her as best as he could.

’Dammit! I should have known she was going to react like this! She changes her jewelry three times a day! So how is she going to let a single one go?’ He even cursed himself inside for being tactless.

Alexander was also exaggerating much here.

It was completely normal for him to see the Queen Mother wearing something eye catching in the morning, changing to a much more gorgeous piece for court, and then wear something a bit more subtle for the rest of the day.

The same went for her clothes. It was very rare for the Queen Mother to wear less than two a day- one casual in the morning and one more formal... plus of course a third, softer, more comfortable nightwear.

Thus to Seelima, Alexander’s ask seemed to stretch out to her necessities, angering her.

But the man himself, since he had come this far, found his greed keeping him at that place.

So clenching his fist, he once again gritted, "Your Highness... I was just saying perhaps... perhaps the royal family could use some of its heirlooms as collateral! Just until the money is paid back. And.. and maybe... we can even pay you to use it occasionally in parties o..."

"*Bang!* I will not be some poor whore who pawns her family off!"

Alexander did not get to finish his proposal before it was blasted off into the sunset by an utterly incensed Queen Mother. Her eyes appeared to blaze with fire like an enraged lioness, and her taut body seemed on the verge of jumping on Alexander and strangling him.

Even for someone like Alexander, Seelima thought this was too audacious. These were priceless artifacts that a few mere ’tens of millions’ could never buy. So the lady found her patience with the negotiations starting to run nil.

Seeing the reaction, Alexander too cleverly clamped up. He originally wanted to get some of the Queen Mother’s jewelry for his wives because he knew very well how much they would appreciate such historical pieces- in terms of price and legacy, their collection did not have even a tenth of what Seelima had.

However that was also precisely why the regal queen blew her top off like that.

But at the same, Alexander seeing this could not help find the situation a bit funny- it struck him very odd that Seelima, as proud and haughty as she was, had no problem letting her and her daughter become bedwarmers for him, willingly spreading their legs far and wide... almost begging him to take them in all kinds of shameful way... and yet, she was too proud to sell off her belongings.

’Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t it be like the woman who tries to pawn off her gold to save her starving family, but me, the leecherous merchant, wants her for her body instead?’ Alexander had a far easier time imagining himself as the villainous party blackmailing an innocent mother daughter pair rather than having to pay out the gold out of his own pocket.

However in reality, it was Alexander’s thinking that was flawed here- he forgot to consider Seelima’s status in the royal family.

Currently she held a very honored position in the royal family- she was one of its respected elders, the former king’s most favored consort, and the current king’s stepmother. So for someone like her- it would indeed be too shameful to have her jewelry in some other ladies’ necks.

It would announce to the entire world just how truly broke and destitute the royal family had become, that they had to resort to even selling off their belongings. People usually did that only as an extreme last resort.

Whilst the alternative- sleeping with Alexander, that was a much more private and hidden matter, and something that was very unlikely to come out given the naughty, covert nature of their union. The Queen Mother even enjoyed her time with Alexander, finding the young stud to be quite an adequate lay.

So logically speaking, why should she pay with her precious stones when she could do it otherwise so cheaply... and even get pleasure out of the ’repayment’?

And even in the worse case scenario the ’dealings’ all got out, it would only affect her, not the whole royal family. And Seelima was confident she could manage the fallout of this smear.

After all, she was not some virgin saint, pure in heart and body. Rather, the number of people who got to see all her shameful sides over the years was embarrassingly high- all courtesy of her former husband.

Many of those nobles might now pretend nothing like that ever happened, but if it truly came down to it... Seelima saw little harm in giving those old leeches one more chance to talk about her ’lips’.

Thus indeed, behind the Queen Mother’s alluring offer too lay cold, hard logic.

Meanwhile, Alexander did not yet have the clarity of mind to see through all that fog. And simply assumed the lady was being ’capricious’.

But seeing there was no budging the lady, and she was starting to lose her temper, finally decided to save his breath and threw in the towel, "Okay, okay, Your Highness, I agree, I agree. I will pay for it all. Don’t get angry, don’t get angry!"

If the Queen Mother was truly unable or unwilling to pay... what could Alexander truly do? He really needed her on that post.

While Alexander’s words instantly melted the icy looks on the gorgeous lady’s face, and a sweet, charming smile bloomed on the alluring face. It was like winter had passed and spring had arrived.

"But I need a guarantee. If I give you this money... what is stopping His Majesty from swindle...borrowing money from me again and again?"