Herald of Steel

Hellma stopped right next to Alexander, so close that a light, musky odor of perfume began to excite his nose.

But the presence of the girl still did not change the core equation in Alexander’s mind.

Taking a small breath, he thus chimed with clenched teeth, "Your Highness... please speak frankly. What do you wish me to do?"

"Snort! What do you think I want, brat?" The Queen Mother instantly sneered, her eyes suddenly turning bloodshot and angry. The invitation she made was even clearer than crystal... thus, Alexander’s foot dragging was starting to make her lose her patience.

All he had to do was grab the fruit and it would willingly enter his mouth.

"...." Alexander however still refused to fold. Despite the allure... it was simply not possible for him. 30- 40 million ropals were on the line.

So once again clenching his teeth, he spelled out his stance with a clear shake, "Your Highness, this is not something that can be simply bought through sex. The money... is too much. At the end of the day, even a Pasha like me has to be somewhat accountable to my lords and retainers."

"Snort!" The Queen Mother seemed to become offended by the words and huffed at her low ’price tag’, "Do you have any idea how much others would pay to be in your position, brat? Not even Ptolomy has seen Hellma in this state. Hmmp! This is a sight without second in this world! Be eternally grateful."

The excited lady even proudly lifted her delicious melons afterward, shaking them just like a peacock displays its tail.

Alexander’s eyes naturally lingered on the tempting sight a bit, but internally, he rolled his eyes, ’Then maybe you should go ask for money from them? Why come beg me?’

But he was at least clever enough to keep such a rude saying to himself, knowing that saying this would totally destroy their alliance.

"....." Instead he simply kept looking at the Queen Mother with cool, nonchalant eyes, clearly indicating he was not going to take the bait on offer.

"...." And Seelima too was determined not to be outdone and kept sharpening her eyes, trying to forcefully pressure Alexander.

All while the poor daughter stood between the two like a statue, her face a frosty mask of helpless indifference. It was yet to be revealed how much Hellma was involved in all of this... whether she was here willingly or under pressure from her parent.

The staring contest between the two opposite parties lasted for some time... until the air began to stagnate and turn heated, as sparks of flames began to spark out of the Queen Mother.

Alexander quickly recalled given the regal lady’s current state, it was very likely she was going to suddenly burst.

Thus for both their sake, he decided to be the mature one and tactfully retreated with a swift flash of his palms, "Okay, okay, Your Highness, I accept, I accept. But... what about His Majesty? Surely he favors Princess Hellma a lot. Would it not be extremely danger..."

"No need to wag your tongue anymore, Alexander!" The Queen Mother officiously cut the man off before he could make the most use of his talents, her eyes flashing with impatience.

Then she declared imperiously with a flash of her hands, "Whether you choose to accept or reject Hellma, it will not change the result. You will give me the money. And it will all be as a gift, not a loan."

"....." Needless to say, such a bold, forceful statement caught Alexander’s attention.

But rather than feeling offended, he was more intrigued- given the poor state of the royal family, he really wanted to know where the lady got this confidence from.

"Heh!" In response, Queen Mother first gave a small smirk. She did not miss the slightly disdainful flash that ran through Alexander at her words, like he was mocking her.

Hence it gave her quite some pleasure to grin triumphantly, "For someone so smart, sometimes you are really dumb, boy. How could you have forgotten something so important- that you have very few allies here in the capital. In fact..." The Queen Mother here animatedly raised three of her beautiful, dainty fingers, "me, Farzah and Inayah... that’s about it really. That is all the friends you got! While your enemies...."

Seelima curving her lips into a taunting sneer, "How many are they? Those who live both openly and those who lurk in the dark? Countless! So I would advise you that when your allies ask you for your help, you give it!"

"..." Alexander did not disagree with what the Queen Mother said on principle.

However, he still rejected the move as he found the size of the aid asked too much. Similarly, he really did not like the blackmail like tone she used, not when he was the one with all the cards.

But the Queen Mother was not done yet, and slouching her body next, she breezily added,

"Now, since you went through the trouble of putting me as the prime minister... you might as well help me keep it. I might not know too much about ruling... but I know the royal court. And I can write it in gold that those pests will start causing trouble the moment I take my seat. I will need to quickly deal with them. And for that I need money. Money and power. And you are the only one here with both!"

Alexander would have to admit, if this was the Queen Mother’s way of flattering him, it was working. And who would not be flattered when such a beautiful woman was praising you such with her chest fully bare?

Not to mention, she also made some good points.

As a brand newcomer and more importantly, the first ever female minister, she needed to show everyone she was competent. And she needed to do so as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the short sighted Ptolomy would surely find some excuse to remove her soon.

Thus his tone also became much softer and agreeable, "I am very glad Your Highness is taking this so seriously. And indeed, I agree, we need to quickly grow a support base for you in court as well as among the regular people of Adhan. I even have some ideas on how to do this. But...all that will not be cheap. So covering all the costs myself is a bit too... hmmm... I can at most give you half!"

After observing the whole situation for all it was, Alexander finally chose to bite the bullet and make this great concession; he agreed to grant them a cash ’gift’ of 20 million- an enormous sum by any measure of the metric.

Clearly the Queen Mother’s flattery worked.

"No! I cannot afford that." However it seemed even this concession appeared inadequate for the regal lady, and vigorously shook her head in protest, "Ptolomy will not lend me anything. Especially after I talked by myself today... I know it. Hmmp! Why else do you think I am offering both myself and Hellma to you, Alexander?"

There was a very haughty undertone to her voice as the Queen Mother finished, showing her off chest and lifting her chin with a clear air of disdain. It showed Alexander that even though the royal queen might seem very eager to open her legs to him and let him taste her whenever he wanted... this was only an exception that she afforded him alone.

In reality, the Queen Mother was no loose woman who would invite any nameless man to her bed just because she needed something. Rather, she was usually extremely cold, and only the prospect of enormous benefits would bring out her soft, amorous side.

Thus, Alexander once again felt flattered by her ’hospitality’.

However this time it was not enough to move him. He had already made his concession, and so hearing of the Queen Mother’s troubles, cursed a bit to himself, ’Then why don’t you sell some of your clothes or jewellery? They should be enough to buy at least a few cities! Why come begging to poor old me?’

Here Alexander was also not exaggerating- Queen Mother’s collection was indeed that rich. Alozmer, for all his faults, had never been stingy with his favorite concubine. He even gave her some jewelry that had been passed along from one queen to another through generations.

These were precious and historic heirlooms that really had no price.

But that was also why it was impossible for the Queen Mother to even dream about selling them.

All her belongings were in clear records with the palace scribes, and selling or even lending them was not just illegal, it was considered high treason. And this verdict extended to not only the seller, but the buyer, the transporter, and even the wearer- even if none of them knew anything about the item.

And even if Alexander were able to somehow hoodwink everyone by taking advantage of his powerful position and obtain it... then what?

His wives or mistresses could never wear it to any party or dance as the piece would almost instantly be recognised by the other ladies there- the jewelry Seelima had were all very unique and famous, and regularly shown off to high level nobles during royal parties.

’The wife of Pasha Alexander wears stolen jewellery...’ Alexander would not have a place to bury his head if such a scandal were to happen.

Hence he was once again left trying to find an alternate source of funding for his ’poor’ ally.