Herald of Steel

Seeing Miss Linda essentially start to pleasure herself in front of him, Alexander found himself once again distracted.

He knew he really should not look, but the beautiful lady was really too gorgeous, and her performing such a private act in front of him stoked his lust, making it very hard for him to turn his gaze away.

His mind once again urged him to reconsider his celibacy and instead enjoy the partner in front of him, while his lower half hurt in anticipation, so much so that Alexander felt a slight wetness in a certain part of his pants, as the preliminary, clear fluid had already began to ooze out.

But Alexander eventually managed to bring these foolish wants under control, as lightly biting his tongue, he stopped his body from doing anything stupid.

And then turned to talk to Miss Linda regarding why he was there.

Alexander decided to do this regardless of what the other side was doing because he understood that this was what he should have done as soon as entered the room.

That would have denied the promiscuous lady from leading him by the nose all around the place like a leashed dog.

The gallts on this woman to say that everything with the guards was just a prank!

Alexander did not bother trying to seek clarification from the woman regarding this since he understood she was just playing with him.

He would find the truth out of the mouth of the two guards instead.

So instead, for now, he turned to state towards the bare lady,

"In light of the current developments, the elders of the family have agreed to nominate Lady Miranda as the next head of the house. Thus you are required to abdicate your claims in front of the gods. Surrender my lady… you have lost."

Miss Linda suddenly stopped what she was doing hearing this 'bold' statement, as a genuine face of shock graced her face.

But this was not a shock of concern, only of sheer incredulity.

Because Miss Linda could not believe as clever a man as Alexander would make such a foolish proposal.

"Has my husband's army in the city disappeared?" Miss Linda thus quickly made the query, this time sounding truly confused.

The unintended problem of being so very clever was that they tended to naturally disregard the most foolish options.

So Miss Linda thought that something truly unimaginable had happened, resulting in the complete dissolution of the army- such as Lord Parker suddenly dying, or a mass plague breaking out, or there even being a full fledged mutiny.

Something that was very unlikely to happen, and never even considered that Alexander simply wanted to accept the terms just because he said so.

Because then Miss Linda would begin to see Alexander not as an opponent, but as a donkey whose head had been kicked into shit.

While Alexander, although very much wished to bluff that the army was indeed gone, suddenly found his tongue tied.

How was he going to reasonably explain the disappearance of 20,000 strong men?

All the plausible excuses he could think of right now would be easily disprovable.

All Miss Linda would need to talk to literally anyone.

And if Alexander were to cut off all her communications to the outside world, then he could not get a deal out of her.

So thinking quickly on the spot, he replied, "No. But your husband has abandoned you. He has put the mansion under siege, stopping all food from entering the house. He wished to starve us out. You and your son included."

Alexander clearly noticed a distinct chilly flash pass of the lady's eyes as soon as he took the mention of Quentin.

But it was only for an ephemeral second, as quickly returning her face to a neutral countenance, Miss Linda simply declared, "If lord husband has indeed decided so, then so be it. As a dutiful wife, I must follow his wishes. Regardless of the consequence."

Miss Linda's tone betrayed not an ouch of concern, as if she had the utmost confidence in her better half's capabilities, regardless of how dangerous it might seem to an outsider.

While Alexander's lips twitched in incredulity at this chaste, pious, claim, as he shouted to himself,

'Dutiful wife? You sitting here naked with your legs spread out and pleasuring yourself in front of another man is your definition of a dutiful wife? Are you sure it is 'wife' and not another word that starts with a 'w' too?'

To the young pasha, Miss Linda's words would have sounded a lot more sincere if her actions matched them.

She instead looked more like a dutiful whore sent here to cater to all of Alexander's needs than a dutiful wife, be it her attire, action, and let's not forget all that pleading.

In fact, most whores would feel embarrassed and shy doing what Miss Linda was doing, and would likely never be as natural as her.

So if it was any other time and place, Alexander would have surely pointed it out and mocked her.

But after being verbally thrashed so many times by the lady, Alexander seemed to have developed slight trauma and decided not to engage her, fearful of what technique she might use to turn the tables on him.

While Miss Linda kept her true thoughts to herself, which were,

'Is the mansion really under siege? When did that happen? I should find out. Surely Parker is not so stupid, right? To risk both your lives?'

As Miss Linda thought like this, a sudden bout of panic flashed inside her, letting her heart skip a beat.

Men were after all fickle creatures. So who knew if the man had decided to abandon them after finding that they were too much of a hassle?

'Not, do not think about it like that!' However, this uncertainly was only momentary, as an instant later the confident lady pushed such intrusive thoughts down to the abyss, restoring her tranquil heart and pallid face.

As she then said to herself, reaffirming the potency of her charms, 'I know very well just how deep I have my claws in him. The idiot is tangled between my fingers in a way that he cannot ever hope to get out. He will not abandon me. He will abandon us. He cannot abandon us.'

However, at this point, Miss Linda once again started to get a bit hysterical, especially when thinking about her son, but then soon placated herself, 'No, calm down. Since he was laid the siege, he can also lift the siege. Yes! This is just a tactic to get Alexander to back down. All I have to do is wait… and we can win.'

'He (Alexander) is desperate. That's why he came to me so soon. The siege cannot have started more than two days ago and he is already here to 'negotiate. This shows it all. His soldiers must not have must grain. Mmmm, that's it. Heh heh, the boy is still too green.'

Seemingly finding faults with Alexander's logic, many of which were indeed true, Miss Linda began to understand that her situation was not nearly as bad as the other side making it out to be.

Alexander might have won the battle, but the war was far, far from being over.

And that this was simply a negotiating tactic by him to try and close the conflict when he had the advantage.

'Heh! I would be a fool to accept!' Thus Miss Linda rightly deduced that she should not give an answer right away.

But that instead, she should play for time.

So cocking her head, Miss Linda then turned to pose in a slightly fake reticent voice, "But you said that the elders were in favor of supporting elder sister? When did that happen? They have always supported me. What changed? I would like to talk to them."

The intention was to hang a low hanging fruit in front of Alexander, just enough to make him think he could get it, but never quite.

In that way, he would continue to hop and jump, thinking everything was just around the corner, but never quite get there.

So that all that time and energy would be wasted.

And unfortunately for Alexander, Miss Linda was right, as seeing the other party even be slightly interested, the man took the bait hook, line, and sinker.

Producing a knowing smile, Alexander chimed, "My lady should not place too much on those old crones. These withered sticks bend whichever way the wind blows. With their lives threatened, they were quick to swear their allegiance to Lady Miranda in front of the gods. You too would be prudent to do the same."

Offering such 'sincere' advice which was mixed in with some subtle threat, Alexander then decided to sweeten the deal even more, as he proposed,

"Also, Lady Miranda is not heartless. As the eldest sister, trust me when I say that she truly loves you. That's why, instead of snatching everything, she is willing to graciously share."

"Lady Miranda has agreed to let your son ascend the family seat once he comes of age. So this is all just a temporary measure!"

Miss Linda sneered in her heart at that particular phrase- there was nothing more permanent than a 'temporary measure'.

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