Herald of Steel

Alexander had little trouble in finding the garden as he expertly navigated the complicated corridors of the huge mansion with the aid of the map, quickly descending the two sets of stairs to finally locate the meeting point.

It was a small shaded canopied garden, with delicate branches and verdant leaves interlocking together to create a natural roof that filtered the golden autumn sunlight onto the ground below, casting playful shadows as shafts of golden light illuminate patches of ferns and flowers.

The dappled patterns of light turned the garden into a tapestry of textures and hues, with ferns unfurling their delicate fronds alongside broad-leaved palms and slender grasses swaying gently in the breeze.

Vines cascaded from above, trailing down the stone walls, while a magnificent marbled arbor encased in emerald green sat right in the middle of the immaculate garden, its outer walls painted with vibrant real red and blue blooming roses.

It was an extremely luxurious and perfectly maintained small piece of garden, managing to impress even Alexander who had no shortage of experience in lounging in such decadence.

Thus the man took a moment to appreciate the quaint scenery.

Until finally he brought his attention back to the present and quickly swerved his head around, trying to spot his host.

She was right inside in that opulent arbor, dressed in an elegant blue gown with matching sapphires for jewelry, and sat at a small tea table with a clear glass top, one of Alexander's products no doubt, from where she was taking occasion sips of wine.

While right next to her stood a tall maid, swaddling an infant child.

Alexander would bet half his fief that that child was a boy and his name was Quentin, the son of the lady who was sitting down.

Miss Linda noticed Alexander at the same time Alexander noticed her, and instantly produced a warm grin, returning her luxurious wine cup to the table to quickly stand up to greet cordially him,

"Welcome to my humble garden, Esteemed Pasha of Zanzan, Conqueror of Tibias, and Liberator of the MV family. My son and I are honored that you have accepted our invitation. Please! Come and join us. We have much to discuss."

Listening to Miss Linda's address of him, Alexander was of course a bit taken back at first. Because while he had of course heard the first two epithets, the last one was brand new.

'When did I liberate her family?', he wondered.

Miss Linda here was of course embellishing the role of Alexander's supply of iron had in managing to halt Governor Straus.

And Alexander would have figured this simple equation out, as well as returned a similar cordial greeting back… if he was not currently so distracted by the sight before him.

"Yo… you? You are Lady Linda?" The young pasha for a moment lost his composure, as he found the regal lady greeting him to be the exact one who had handed him the letter- the one claiming to be Miss Linda's personal maid!

Alexander would never mistake that beautiful face he met just a while ago for anyone else.

"Hehe hehe, that little trick always gets everyone!" And the lady in question did not even bother to deny it, instead giggling charmingly to reveal her amusement, as she found Alexander's flabbergasted face a thrill to observe.

Before finally composing herself to reveal in a saccharine, lark-like voice, "Oh, do forgive me for deceiving you earlier my lord. But I was simply too interested to meet you in person. I could not wait for you to come to me, I had to take a look!"

The lady very cutely whined, and then very charmingly put one of her index fingers on her lips, drawing Alexander's attention to those plump, juicy red velvety organs.

The lady very well knew her charms and mastered the way to use them.

As evidenced by how after drawing Alexander's eyes at them, she then mischievously curled them into a small, happy smirk to explain her actions,

"You are a hero to many Cairians my lord. The tales of your legendary deeds inspire awe and reverence in them all the way to even here."

"Did you know how surprised we were to know that you managed to capture the whole of Tibias within just two years? It blew us away! Nobody thought it was possible! We made us feel like we were living under the shine of a living legend. So I naturally wanted to see you in your regular every day. Hehe. I hope you do not mind."

Alexander's heart skipped a beat at hearing these honey coated words and watching the flirtatious manners of the lady.

You had to give it to her, Miss Linda really had a way with her words, buttering Alexander up to make him feel like he was at the top of the world, while she was his biggest fan girl, groveling at his feet and willing to do anything.

As the fairer and disadvantaged sex, Miss Linda had learned this technique of pretend fan girl worship from her mother as soon as she could understand things and then mastered it with over a million different tries, until it became a technique capable of succeeding a million times over.

'Succubus. Another succubus like Mikaya and Tayin,' Fortunately for Alexander, he was no green eyed country bumpkin who would be swept away by the tide of oil and flattery being applied to him.

But instead, his mind instantly worked to lift its guard up against this potential adversary, labeling her so and half-

dreading the opponent's prowess.

In Alexander's mind, just this initial meeting was enough to put Miss Linda on to the same ranks as the most beautiful and deadly woman he sure.

Sure, she did not have the angelic face like Ophenia which would bewitch a man with just her smile.

Nor did she have the raw sexual charm of the silver haired Mikaya, who was able to give any man a raging hard on just by talking to her.

Or the Queen mother's imperious aura that could dominate a man's desire.

But what Miss Linda had was boatloads of charms, as even slight movement of her arms, fingers and even lips made men to give up everything and simply listen.

She was like the next-door friendly younger sister, one who always made sure to greet you every single morning.

One who could brighten your day with just her simple smile.

Alexander had not noticed this while Miss Linda was disguised as a maid because he was not frankly not paying attention, as well as she was intentionally hiding it.

But now, looking at the lady's allure in full display, Alexander felt almost smitten.

Thus he lightly cursed in his heart, 'Lady Miranda, when you were describing your sister with all those expletives, you forgot to mention how beautiful she was. You say Parker Heeat was no love struck fool? Well looking at her, he might as well be. At least I half am!'

If Alexander was not so old mentally and already had women of comparable beauty, he might have actually faltered here and wanted to charm and impress this woman.

Thus it was fortunate that Alexander was able to maintain a dignified stance, smiling politely to humbly chime, "No, no, how dare would I? I'm simply flattered that my lady would hold someone like me to be of such high esteem. I'm but a humble pasha in charge of little land. My conquest of Tibias was all a gift from the gods."

"Does my lady play such pranks on all your guests?" Alexander then finished with a curling smirk of his own, as he imperiously took his seat without waiting for Miss Linda's invitation.

"Hehehe, only those who pique my interest." And the lady did not seem to mind, as she took her own, giggling the reply playfully, and even adding with a tease, "How do you think I got my husband, hehe?"

This frank revelation suddenly stumped Alexander, as in a very, very rare example, he did not exactly know how to respond to this very personal information and only twitched his lips.

Which was exactly the opportunity Miss Linda was looking for, as taking advantage of Alexander's momentary stun, she worked to jab him,

"Also, my lord, it is best not to be too humble my lord. It would be a real shame if people were to really start treating you like a slave once again, right?" The stunning lady taunted, before further sniggering,

"A small pasha with little land you say? Victory at Tibias was a gift from the god, you claim! Heh! Then remind me, how many pashas are there? And among them, how many of them are like you, having obtained the title despite being born with nothing? If conquering Tibias was so easy, then why did it last for so long?"

Miss Linda's sneer and scorn was self-evident, while Alexander was half shocked at being grilled over such an innocuous remark,

He was of course being flowery here.

Which was exactly the problem Miss Linda had as she spelled it out,

"My lord, there is no point in playing dumb here. You and I both know how powerful you are. Which is the reason why I invited you here in the first place. I want you to switch sides from my sister to me!"

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