Herald of Steel

Alexander’s heart sank into a low, sinking beat as he listened to the Queen Mother. She had indeed made a good point that somehow slipped his mind. So subconsciously tightening his grip around the naked princess who was on his lap, he muttered with a frown,

"From what I have heard, Assazd’s sons are quite incompetent... so they were never allowed to even follow in their father’s footsteps. With him now dead....what is Your Highness exactly afraid of?"

"Afraid? I am not afraid of anything, brat! It’s you who should be the one afraid!"

Alexander seemed to have chosen his words poorly as Seelima got herself instantly riled up like a cat that had just had its tail stepped on- she angrily clenched her fists and gritted her teeth at the mere insinuation.

"Snort! Assazd did not build his faction in a single day. He, his father and his father’s father... all did together... over almost a century. His house is not going to crumble just because they have lost their lord. You better be careful brat... he still has many royal retainers, people who are ready to die just to avenge him. Don’t underestimate us."

By ’us’, the Queen Mother here referred to the Adhanian nobility and the honor and respect they held towards their own faction or group. The regal lady found this to be a very praiseworthy trait, even if that was the very thing that was proving troublesome for them right now.

"....." While hearing all this, Alexander was not sure how much of it to believe.

Up until now he had been under the impression that Assazd was a one man show- so if he cut off the snake’s head the whole thing would come crumbling down. That was what he had been told by all his allies, including the lady sitting in front of him herself.

So for her now to suddenly change the narrative.... Alexander began to slightly doubt her motives- perhaps Seelima was simply trying to make more ’work’ for herself through this, exaggerating her usefulness and making her seem more important.

However Alexander swiftly discarded that thought process. Given that he had already promised her the money, this seemed a tad too unnecessary. And as he further ruminated on the points she made, he began to indeed see they made good sense.

Assazd’s retainers were not so dumb that they would not suspect Alexander just because they could not explain how he poisoned the man.

Neither was it wise to think there would not be even one or two hot-headed nobles who would want to harm Alexander even if it meant bringing disaster to their house. In this day and age- honor, loyalty and fulfilling one’s oath were sometimes seen as being many, many times more important than one’s very own life.

"....Then how does Your Highness wish to counter them? Arrest them? Or buy them off?" So after a ruminative pause, Alexander probingly asked.

"...." Instantly a flash of glee, followed by greed sparked inside the anticipating woman.

Seelima took Alexander’s response as basically an acknowledgement of her point, and she swiftly replied with a sexy tuck of her arms under her chest, "What would you recommend, Alexander? Arresting is not possible...there are too many of them and... Ptolomy will also never allow it. As for buying them off... hmmm, that can work. Is there anything small you can gift them, my lord?"

Alexander nearly broke character and laughed at this. He had also spotted the woman’s eyes turning green and a bit of him was honestly impressed that the Queen Mother did not outright ask for one of his recipes for glass, iron, soap, etc. He knew those products were extremely lucrative to Seelima.

But in all seriousness, Alexander was never going to entertain the proposed possibility. It even took a great deal of effort from him not to outright mock Seelima for her unrestrained avarice, she was asking for more even when he was already paying so much.

Instead, he airily breezed his hands and waved, "I do not think they would be zealots if they could be simply brought. And it would also virtually be a direct confession of our guilt. I think we should look for other alternatives."

"...." A flash of disappointment immediately blossomed in the Queen Mother’s eyes as Alexander said this. But given how solid the presented argument was...

"Mmmm, you may be right." The regal lady reluctantly dropped those ambitions for now.

And seeing the slightly crestfallen face, Alexander would admit it felt good to put the slippery party in her place for once. Then to further press on his further, he moreover probed with a sharp gaze,

"You said Ptolo... His Majesty would not also allow this. Does this mean he will try to aid Lord Assazd’s retainers against me?"

This time, Seelima’s eyes flashed with a bit of awkwardness and discomfort. And thought that if she were to be given a redo, she would probably skip this mention- it was really just something that had slipped out and not something she wanted to highlight. The Queen Mother for her part truly wanted the two men to put their differences aside and work together.

Hence she tried to swiftly reassure the man with a large grin and a flashy wave of her hands, "Do not worry about him, brat. I will manage him. He can’t do anything to you with me here."

There was an air of familiarity and strength to the voice that honestly put Alexander a bit at ease. Especially as the way things had developed between the two of them... a private reconciliation was looking increasingly unlikely.

So Alexander could hardly influence the man softly- and forcing him through brute strength also had its limits. Thus for now, Alexander’s true goal was to contain and minimize the man’s power.

And for that, Seelima was the perfect candidate.

"Hmmm...But I remember Lord Assazd’s daughter is close to him. Will that not caus....."

"You leave that skank to me!"

Alexander was just about to caution his ally about how one of the major conspirators was really close to the target and how that might negatively influence Seelima’s efforts when he was curtly cut off by this shrill response.

The reply felt biting cold to the ear and as he turned to look at her, he noticed Seelima’s face turned hard as stone and cold as ice- as if all that warmth and softness he had seen before was merely a figment of his imagination.

The change was so sudden and instantaneous that it made Alexander really skip a small beat.

While the regal lady declared with an aura of imperial absoluteness, "She will be soon leaving the palace. And you won’t hear of her ever again. Don’t worry."

"....." These words were said in such a way... with such a mysterious twinge that Alexander almost had the urge to ask the Queen Mother about the details of her plans, just out of curiosity.

He had some idea knowing how the previous queen and her sons went after offending Seelima, but he wanted the truly juicy details from the horse’s mouth itself.

However, upon swiftly noticing how angry and furious she was looking, the man ultimately thought better. Alexander would know what happened anyway when it did occur.

The more prudent thing to do now seemed to be just to let the lady simmer over the girl that had the audacity to steal her spot and slowly cool herself off.

And in that effort, the Queen Mother continued to flare up her nostrils and vent, now turning her attention to Ptolomy, "Snort! And then after that... I will size up that boy too. He thinks he can do whatever he wants just because he has a bit of power. Hmmmph... I will show him who really has the power over here. "

As the second observer, Alexander honestly found the Queen Mother’s reaction quite funny. And by contrasting this regal look with her previously amorous looks and naked breasts, he also found her quite sexy.

He thus replied to her eagerly with an approving smile, "Then I can rest reassured Your Highness. Indeed, as a man, it is difficult for me to enter the imperial harem or interact with the royal concubines. As the Queen Mother, that is your territory."

It went without saying that the king’s women were off limits to anyone and everyone, including his sons. And the rule applied even with Adhan’s ’open minded’ customs. Or perhaps it applied even more due to it.

The king did not want anyone to simply barge in and have his way with his women just because she was one of the entertainers at last night’s party.

Hence guards were regularly stationed in every corridor and passage and you needed special permission to even be there.

In fact, this strict rule applied even to the royal daughters- a restriction put in place after it was found that some of the concubines were trying to influence the princess through their interactions.

These princesses used to approach many of these noble ladies in waiting regarding various life topics- fashion, jewelry, clothes, marriage, and even the duties of marital activities. Some even shared their personal fears and anxiety.

And as one could imagine, all these intimate interactions naturally proved to be a double edged sword. Many concubines, harboring much darker agendas inside them, would regularly spread various rumors and gossip among themselves using these channels.

And apparently, once such a bad rumor was spread about a princess and her mother both committed double suicide.

The rule was soon put in place after that.