Herald of Steel

The decision to inform Lady Nanazin regarding the matter of Lady Miranda and his wish to take her to Galiosos with him was taken the very next day of his meeting his Lord Janus.

He called her to his study one auspicious morning and the lady entered the study dressed in a simple but elegant white gown with intricate golden stitchings around the ends, her curly hair was made into a bun with two spiraling fringe locks framing her delicate face.

Her feet were hidden by the dress and her face was ruddy and excited, powdered lightly with makeup and only decorated with small jewelry on her ears.

Lady Nanazin looked very smartly dressed, restrained yet emitting a noble aura.

"Thank you for meeting me on such short notice, Your Highness. I hope it was not too sudden." Alexander politely greeted the lady with a slight bow of his head, being seated on a large couch in the middle of the room.

"No, no my lord, I'm blessed that you have remembered me at all." Lady Nanazin's answer however was far less amicable, unabashedly taking a dig at Alexander for leaving the lady to herself for nearly three years, only meeting her in official circumstances.

Lady Nanazin had expected a much more 'intimate affair' with him when she came to Zanzan.

However, towards this reply, Alexander could only helplessly purse his lips, finding the Queen's expectation too unrealistic.

There was no way he was going to bed a queen when there was absolutely nothing to gain from it but everything to lose.

Lady Nanazin was like a discarded puppy to Ptolomy, one he would not care what happened to until it benefited him… such as hearing from an anonymous source that another lord was screwing his wife, thus enabling him to extract some major concessions from him.

Alexander would be a fool to step into such an obvious honey trap.

Especially when that honey was not even that sweet.

Lady Nanazin was certainly beautiful, but not at the level to make Alexander lose himself.

The Queen Mother, Ophenia, and even the much older Lady Parthia of Tibias were more beautiful than her.

This was also why he had shrugged off many of Lady Nanazin's both covert and overt efforts to have an affair with him over the following years, as she often liked to offer whenever they met, such as in many of the parties and gatherings.

The situation had even gotten to the point that Cambyses asked Alexander what was exactly going on with him and the queen, where he then explained the situation.

And it was no different this time, as like always, Alexander cleverly pretended to not hear the Queen's aggrieved voice, but quickly offered her a seat and the large fruit basket on the table, before going on to describe the situation.

"Thank you for coming my lady. The thing is we have received .... so this is why I would very much appreciate if Your Highness could accompany us to help resolve the matter."

It took a while for Alexander to finish the long recount, and no sooner had he ended,

"No problem!" came Lady Nanazin's reply, almost instantly, as she then went on to almost flirtatiously add, "You are being too courteous, my lord! I would go with you anywhere, no questions asked."

The wording she used left little in the way of interpretation.

And towards this overt show of love, Alexander felt his heart groan at the trouble all this might cause, as he rolled his eyes inside his head, "I wish you would have taken a bit more time to ruminate on the matter."

Given the time period, for a woman of her status to be going on such a trip without her accompanying husband was almost scandalous.

Thus, if not for the great potential upside to bringing the queen, Alexander might have even had second thoughts.

It was this matter that then became the content of their discussion- how to convince Ptolomy.

"My lady, you should know better than me that you will need His Majesty's assent to be able to make the trip. How should I best write the letter so that he agrees?"

At the mere mention of Ptolomy's name, Lady Nanazin produced a very explicit disgusted face, her brows furrowed, her nose scrunched up, loathing the man.

Thus clenching her perfect teeth, she promised, "I have been with that beast long enough to know hi… its habits. Leave it to me. I know what to write."

"Great!" Alexander pretended not to notice Lady Nanazin address her husband as 'it', but only cheered with clasped hands, and then ended tried to end the meeting with a warm smile, "Okay. I think that is all for today, Your Highness. I will be relying on you soon."

But Lady Nanazin seemed to have something additional in her mind, as instead of getting up, she only posed in an advising voice,

"My lord, if you are taking me, why don't you take the Tibian queen too? I'm sure she can be the witness that the ducal family wanted."

The sudden mention of Lady Parthia surprised Alexander a bit, as he had not taken the Tibian queen into account when considering this, if for no other reason than that she was a woman.

"Will the people really consider her testimony? They might very well not." He hence could not help but ask to confirm, knowing most cultures tended to disregard such accounts or at the very least find their tongue less credible.

"....Ummm…." And naturally, Lady Nanazin could not promise anything, but quickly promised, "It won't hurt to try, right?"

It was true.

Even if Lady Parthia's account was not accepted, the words that she would speak out would still linger in all the minds, making the Kaiser family's underhanded play an open secret.

And then who knows, perhaps using this, an opportunity would present itself to Alexander in the future?

As the gears inside Alexander spun considering all these future developments, he suddenly heard Lady Nanazin add with a gentle giggle, "Hehe, and besides, even if nothing else, having Lady Parthia on the journey will make it that more fun! Who knows, perhaps we can serve you in bed together my lord."

"!!!" Alexander's heart instantly skipped a beat at this low giggle, as he was torn out of his rumination.

"How do you know?" And quickly turning to gaze at the Queen, he blurted out with an alarmed face.

The matter with the Tibian queen should have been unknown to anyone outside of his innermost circle, i.e.- his four wives, for its revelation could cause quite a scandal.

Alexander might still be able to extricate himself relatively unscathed but he feared that the very conservative queen might choose to rather end her life than live through the shame.

"Hehehe, no worries, no worries, my secret is safe with you my lord." For Lady Nanazin however, Alexander's almost pale face was a much more detectable sight, something she had never seen before, and so could not help but giggle,

"Hehe, I never thought the great conqueror Adhan and Tibias would be so scared of a small rumor. Heh heh, how cute. You really should not admit to such things so easily my lord. Or you will not last a month in the capital."

Alexander slightly blushed at how overtly he reacted to the accusation, basically admitting to the act on the spot.

And he knew if this was the royal court, generally considered a cesspool of conspiracies and slander, where anyone would spread anything about almost anyone, he would be got.

Alexander had never actually seen the actual Zanzan, since the time he stayed at the city after his conquest was very special.

"How did you know?" Thus to move away from his foible, he once again posed the question, fearing a potential leak.

"Heh heh, relax… it was Lady Tayin who told me in confidence," Seeing that sharp gaze, Lady Nanazin first alleviated Alexander's fear that one of his wives' was compromised.

Thus he finally unclenched himself, and slouching back, he heard Lady Nanazin's explanation,

"Recently, I have started regularly going to the Gaia Temple to pray and have become quite good friends with Lady Tayin there. We seem to have quite a lot in common… my lord should know…. about both your past experiences." as Lady Nanazin then gave a very knowing look.

Alexander gave a light nod to it, then commented with a surprised voice, "Hmmm… I did not know Tayin would share them with you. That's unexpected."

To which Lady Nanazin jabbed Alexander a bit, "Haha, yes. Like how I did not think you would share my stories with her."

"...." Alexander could only put a forced smile as those sharp eyes pierced his body. He might have shared some things he was not supposed to have.

Fortunately, Lady Nanazin did not choose to linger on that topic for long, but quickly proceeded, informing Alexander,

"It seems Lady Tayin has trouble having conversations with the likes of Lady Cambysus and Lady Gelene. Being born in such different circumstances, it seems they have few things in common."

"Thus, when she met me, we hit it off quickly and soon began to share our stories. Such as how you bedded Tibias's queen one night, hehe."

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