Herald of Steel

As soon as the men were out of the room, Alexander turned to face Hemicus with a bit of an apologetic face and chimed, "I am sorry you had to do that."A

"Heh heh, don't mention it." The usually stoic man however only broke into a small, happy chuckle, then slowly tapped Alexander on the shoulder to reveal,

"We already decided that I will play the strict commander and you the generous lord. Otherwise, those two idiots would not take us seriously. And see your kindness merely as a weakness."

Yes, the tough, nasty guy act that Hemicus had pulled was all part of the show.

This was not the first time they had done something like this, as there were many other times when Alexander had to discipline his guards, such as over stealing food or cutlery from his house, flirting with the maids, and most common of all, slacking off whenever they got the chance.

In all those instances, Hemicus, as their immediate commanding officer would work to heavily punish them, while Alexander would suddenly intervene, appearing like a beacon of hope to these terrified men and then like a living saint, reduce their burden.

And this strategy worked quite well, as Alexander was seen as a benevolent lord and thus his popularity among his men remained sky high, while Hemicus was seen as a martinet commander, which was also a compliment.

Many soldiers actually liked having strict and inflexible officers because they inspired respect and were seen as trustworthy.

"Why did you let them off so easily?" However, although that strategy worked very well most of the time, Hemicus thought this time was different.

Given the gravity of the crimes involved, he thought this time they should have been seriously punished, not let go with not even a slap on the wrist.

If too much strictness was bad, then too much leniency was worse.

Who knew if those two were going to truly pay heed to Alexander's warning, or simply see this as a get out of jail free card?

He had not questioned Alexander's direction directly back then so as to not affect his prestige, but now that they were alone, Hemicus felt he needed an answer and a good one at that.

Which Alexander provided, reasoning,

"We are already short handed. So I prefer not to lose even two pairs of hands."

"And given the stunt Lady Linda just pulled, if I were to replace them with a new pair, I'm afraid they might very well fall to the same mistake."

"Although I hate to admit it, the lady is that charming. So it is better that it be them. Since they already know about her, I believe they will be much more resistant to her advances. And hopefully won't make the same mistake twice."

This line of thinking did not sound too bad to Hemicus, who could certainly see good points.

But at the same time, he could not help but look at the whole thing from the other lens too, pointing out,

"And what if it is the opposite? What if after tasting Lady Linda they start feeling attracted to her? What if they want another taste? Like how people started craving sugar after tasting it for the first time. In the same way… won't the familiarity with the lady make them even more susceptible to her charms?"

Saying this, Hemicus hypothesized,

"You too heard what she had done with them. Even most whores would not be so wanton. So if I knew there was a woman like that behind the door I was guarding, I am not even sure I would be able to control myself. Especially when it is someone as beautiful as Lady Linda, I might be tempted even at the threat of death."

Alexander frowned hearing this, feeling Hemicus had made a great point.

He had not thought about it from that angle.

Who knew if deep at night those two idiots would suddenly get the primal urge after recalling the springtime they had with the lady and decide to sneakily get a shout or two in.

The noblewoman certainly possessed the assets to cause such a thing to happen, as many men would choose to discard their lives just to be with her, even if for just a few moments.

"......" Thus for the next few while, Alexander found himself reassessing his decision.

But the trouble was, it had already been given.

And Alexander was reluctant to change it in order to persevere his own 'credibility' rating,

"Let them be." Thus he decided to keep it as is, despite the potential consequences, reasoning,

"Since the deed has already been done once, then it does not matter how many more times it is repeated. The magnitude of the trouble will still remain the same- enormous. In fact, since that wanton woman tried to seduce the men for her own gain, then this might very well be an adept punishment for her… heh!"

Alexander could not help but suddenly smirk after realizing how Miss Linda might have invited a tiger into her house after using it to drive away the wolf.

If the lady 'claimed' these two men had forcefully taken her, then it would be a disservice to the men to not have actually done it.

So although Alexander did not say it out aloud, deep inside, a tiny, tiny, evil part of him wished for the thing that Miss Linda had claimed to happen to really happen, if for nothing but to let her know the pain of the act, so that she would never falsely claim to be a victim.

But at the same time, Alexander doubted the noble lady could even be forcefully taken- a conclusion reached after analyzing what she had done with the two guards.

Hemicus was not exaggerating when he said most working ladies would not be so 'easy to use'.

As many of these things were the types that even Alexander had only started lately, after getting to know his wives better.

So the fact the lady did them on their 'first date', well at least she was not lying when she claimed to be wanton.

From the sound of it, it seemed that the lady knew both how to flirt and get men into bed, as well as keep them satisfied in there.

Now, of course, Alexander's wish to see the lady harmed was only his evil, vindictive part of talking.

He did not actually want his men to break into her room in the middle of the night and forcefully take her.

Thus, after finishing imagining all that could have been and venting his frustration at the imaginary scenario, Alexander returned his attention to the present and ordered Hemicus regarding the two men,

"Send a patrol man to that part of the corridor at some point during the night… just to see if the two are really following what they had promised. If they are, then good. If they are not… I don't want them to see sunrise."

Alexander could not help these men if they did not even have regard for their own lives.

And although he hated to lose even two men when they were so outnumbered, that did not mean he was going to let the two off scot free so openly.

"With pleasure." Hemicus immediately answered like a wound up spring, his eyes becoming brighter and his nostrils flaring up, clearing showing he was very eager to carry the task out.

This was because internally he was quite dissatisfied with Alexander's lukewarm method of punishing the two and really hoped they would fail.

He would be able to finish the job then.

'I cannot believe they humiliated me and Alexander like that,' He said to himself, as being the head of the guards in the mansion, he saw the men's act as a stain on his own record.

A stain he was eager to wash with their blood.

It remained to be seen how the two poor guard's fate and by some extension Miss Linda's fate turned out to be.

Speaking of Miss Linda, as Alexander left and the lady heard the doors shut behind her, the bent over bare woman turned around with the fury of a twisted madwoman, gritting her beautiful pearly white till she almost started to bleed as her eyesight almost went dark.

She could not believe Alexander had rejected her once again.

"Agh!" Thus grunting like a wild animal, she turned her angelic face into what might as well as a devil's, and then suddenly, her eyes landed on a beautiful glass showpiece that was on her study table.

This was a piece that was imported from Zanzan, but as soon as Miss Linda remembered that, it subconsciously produced the image of Alexander in her mind, and that alone was enough to send the lady over the edge.

She could not bear to have anything from that hateful man.

Thus suddenly grabbing the product, the enraged lady instantly hurled the piece against the nearby stone wall with all her might, shattering it into a million small shards, destroying an item that was almost worth its weight in gold.

But at this point in time, the furious lady could not care less, as she only let out enraged roars at being humiliated.

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