Herald of Steel

The moment Alexander asked about the Kaiser family, the light suddenly went out of Miss Linda's eyes, turning dull and reticent

It was as if she was glitching for a second, unable to properly respond to the threat that family might pose.

"It is best that we do not involve the Kaiser family right now. If they learn of our civil conflict, they will surely try to take advantage of our weakened state." Miss Linda however quickly recovered from this and hastily created a reasonable excuse, before hurriedly reassuring, "But remain sure my lord, I promise to get justice for you the moment we have finished dealing with our current predicament."

Alexander might have bought this reason if he did not have enough auxiliary evidence to suspect otherwise.

Miss Linda probably did not want to involve the Kaiser family because it would unravel their plot at the most inopportune time and might result in the bird fleeing its coop at the last second.

Alexander was already an unpleasant surprise, so the last thing they needed was the intervention of another power- a much stronger power at that, one that was stationed on this island and thus able to call a much bigger force.

Thus in Alexander's mind, what Miss Linda was trying to do here was mainly buy time and stop him from stirring the pot too much, until they could get the job done.

And once they accomplished their goal, and the Kaiser family finally woke up to the plot, well by then both of them would become bitter rivals anyway as the Kaiser family would certainly treat the Margraves with hostilities for this dirty trick.

Which might not matter that much to Miss Linda and the Heeat family, but it would surely leave Alexander abandoned in the middle of the road, as by then the Kaiser family would surely not be interested in any negotiations.

Hence Alexander threw her promise of justice for him into the dustbin without a second thought.

But externally he appeared greatly pleased by Miss Linda's promise, nodding and smiling, "That is great! I had asked Lady Miranda about this too, but she only shrieked away. You on the contrary are clearly a much more capable leader, Lady Linda… I'm reassured, hehe"

Alexander's open flattery was enough to make the opposite side quickly produce a great grin, "Haha, I'm glad my lord can see the truth."

Alexander again understood that Miss Linda was weak to buttering.

Thus taking advantage of her good mood, Alexander prodded with a cunning flash of his eyes, "It seems my lady is a bit apprehensive of the Kaiser family. Are you expecting trouble from them? Could they interfere in your family's internal affairs? What have they been doing up till now? Do you suspect Lady Miranda might ally with them just as you have with the Heeat family?"

The young pasha keenly noticed how Miss Linda appeared to slightly flinch every time he made mention of the Kaiser family- like she was being prodded by a stinging sensation.

It was apparent that she did not want to talk about it.

And this will manifested in her speech, as in a curt, sharp tone she cut Alexander off, "My lord, does not need to worry about them. We have a peace treaty with them and with the Heeat family on our side, they will not dare to intrude. They are immaterial to our cause. Forget them."

This was in complete contrast to what Miss Linda had just said in her prior sentence, that she was cautious of them, and thus the hasty reply worked to reveal a clear fear of them.

And Alexander's heart danced at this- as he thought he finally found a way out.

"I see. Then I guess I was only overthinking it. Haha." Then, not wanting to alarm the other side, Alexander pretended to drop the matter, appearing convinced.

And Miss Linda was also glad to see, as it was evident that she did not want to pursue this matter either.

Thus with a charming smile, she related, "Yes, yes. The Kaiser family has already its hands full trying to swallow the Marsh family. Where will they have the time to turn their attention to us, hehe."

"Swallow the Marsh family?" This was news to Alexander, as he thought they were only working to puppet them.

Hence now being told that they were planning to cut up an entire ducal family, he rapidly turned his head to meet the lady's gaze to confirm what he had just heard, only to spot a terrified gaze.

Alexander understood that Miss Linda was not supposed to say this, she had only accidentally let it slip.

The saying women had loose tongues was proving true here.

And it made Alexander rejoice as he had suddenly gotten this vital piece of information.

While Miss Linda, waking up to her foible, quickly tried to cover up her mistake, as she almost pleaded, "Ah! Please keep this a secret, Lord Alexander. I only told you this in confidence."

This was something her husband had let out during one of their bedtime sessions while being caught up in the act and instantly urged Miss Linda to not tell a soul.

Something which she had broken.

"Hehe, what did you tell my lady? I seem to have already forgotten." Alexander was more than happy to play the fool with Miss Linda's requests, much to the lady's delight as she nodded her head like an excited chicken, "Yes… yes."

She was beyond relieved at Alexander's tactful performance.

While Alexander's heart inside stung like it was being sprinkled with acid.

Because this information led him to suspect that the Heeat family and Kaiser family might have come to a mutual understanding- one swallows the Margraves family and the other the Marsh family, while promising to keep out of each other's way.

This could explain why Miss Linda was so terrified of revealing the secret, as the revelation of the plot would surely draw the covetous eyes of the other 11 ducal families.

Of course, this was only a hunch from Alexander, as an alternative theory could also be that the Heeat family had decided to swallow the Margraves while the Kaisers were busy, trying to preemptively take their next meal while they were currently distracted.

And if the Kaisers were alerted to this, they might put off their current endeavor to come and 'rescue' the Margraves.

And Alexander was more inclined to believe it was the latter, as judging by Miss Linda's initial reluctance to contact the Kaisers.

But still, the threat remained that even if Alexander was to contact Governor Straus, he would not be able to obtain the required resources from the Kaiser family on time given their obligations elsewhere.

Perhaps they might choose to sacrifice the Margraves to eat the Marshs, exchanging an earldom for a dukedom was not a hard choice.

There was a lot to think here.

Alexander needed more time to gather greater information about all the involved parties before he made his play.

Thus, deciding on that and having gotten all that he likely wanted from Miss Linda, he decided to end the meeting for today here, as turning to Miss Linda, Alexander produced a warm smile and a gentle nod,

"Lady Linda, I admit I'm very tempted by your offer. It is all I could have asked for."

"But let me ponder on it for a few days and consult my advisers. Surely you too are aware that even I am unable to switch allegiance on a whim. Let us agree to meet in a few days and I will be hopefully able to greet you with good news soon."

What Alexander was asking was completely natural as this was how these things naturally went.

No one would decide on such huge matters with just a single meeting.

They would almost always take the time to think it over and consult their advisers.

However, it seemed that was exactly what the lady was expecting here, as instead of letting Alexander excuse himself, Miss Linda deftly caught hold of one of Alexander's sturdy arms and insisted,

"My lord, what is there to think about? I have everything, while my sister has nothing. I can promise you everything, while she can give you nothing. Aren't we both wasting our time by doing this? What is the point of this tedious going around the circles? Let us stamp our allegiance right here, right now, and be done with it!"

Saying this, the elegant lady's face suddenly turned flushed and flirtatious like a succubus, as she licked her lips,

"Do this and we can even celebrate!" as the lady then in one smooth motion, undid the knots holding the front part of her dress, letting the garments gracefully fall off the sides to reveal her creamy breasts to the world.

She had not worn any bras or corsets underneath the dress, leaving Alexander to fully enjoy the sight of those globular goodies as Miss Linda then openly tempted, "Does my lord like what you see? Don't be shy…come have a squeeze! Here ahhh!

Miss Linda then even lightly squeezed her breasts, letting out a soul stirring moan, and causing a tiny jet of white, hot milk to squirt out.

'Succubus!' Alexander cursed.