Herald of Steel

Facing her half insane husband, Lady Miranda initially had tried to maintain as rational a facade as possible, trying to bring herself to terms with all that he had done.

And perhaps the most astonishing thing was that even after all this, even after all the things he said and all the things he wished to do, at the end of the day, Lady Miranda was still willing to overlook all of them if only he apologized and promised to never repeat them.

Yes, that's right, deep inside, Lady Miranda was of the mind to forget the cheating, forget the fact that her husband was madly in love with her sister, and even overlook the so very damning fact that he had just betrayed them all.

All if only Lord Cassius sincerely repented.

Thus, when Lord Nolan ordered Lord Cassius to go and make up with her, Lady Miranda actually became hopeful.

But two things happened afterward that changed her mind on that.

One was Lord Cassius's erratic behavior with Lord Nolan, an act that Lady Miranda found extremely loathsome.

She could not imagine staying with a man who committed such acts with his own parent.

In fact, even as little as just a few minutes ago, she could not ever imagine the man she knew doing the things he was doing.

Lord Cassius was usually a very gentle, refined man.

Which was all the more reason his current actions appeared as if he was possessed- as if his body had been hijacked.

Lord Cassius had never experienced a situation like this and it was like the realization that his plans had been foiled and that he might never see Miss Linda again pushed the man temporarily to the brink of insanity.

Combine that with the grievous charge of treason, the captured and caged man did not know what to do.

Now, in this case, what Alexander and co. should have done was leave the man and give him some room to breathe, allowing him to cool down on his own.

The interrogation could happen after that!

But that was not how events unfolded.

Lady Miranda instantly pressured the man for truth, while at the same time, Lord Nolan berated him for getting them caught in unspeakable tongues.

All this suddenly caused Lord Nolan to flip out in a way that even he could not foresee.

Thus resulting in the tragedy.

But whatever the reasons for Lord Cassius acting like this, be it insanity, despair, or simply wanting to vent out decades of frustration, it happened and Lady Miranda found it loathsome.

This was the first reason behind Lady Miranda's change of mind.

While the second reason was much more simple and concise- it was Lord Cassius calling Lady Miranda barren.

Or more specifically, it was Lord Cassius loudly calling Lady Miranda barren in front of so many outsiders.

This simple word might not sound too bad to a modern reader, but for women of that time, it was in many ways worse than being called an adultress or a prostitute.

Because the goal, almost the sole goal in the life of any woman in the time period was to get married and have children.

This was true for most men as well, but it was especially true for womenfolk.

And it was much more strongly followed here in Sybarsis, due to its monogamous society.

Since a man could marry only one woman, a lot more pressure and expectations were put on her to be able to deliver.

Every girl, lady, and woman from the day they were born was expected to have a healthy womb and produce healthy babies, preferably boys.

And failure to do so expectedly produced very bad outcomes for the womenfolk.

Some were verbally and sometimes even physically abused by their husbands and in some cases as well as their in laws.

Some were outright divorced and driven away from their homes, and it has already been said what happened to divorcees.

While others faced perhaps the most tragic fate, they were sold to brothels.

And this was surprisingly a common thing to do.

Because unfortunately, the red light institutions of the country were always in high demand for such women, and even willing to offer a pretty sum for the purchase.

The reason of course need not be revealed.

A barren woman meant the place would not have to spend any coin on contraceptives, as well as being able to cater to certain tastes without any possibility of future hassle.

Thus there were even times when some of the more despicable men would not 'technically' divorce their woman, but would 'lend' her to such a place, with the understanding that the red light institution would give the man a cut of his wife's profits, all while the man took another woman out of wedlock and produced bastards, who would then inherit him.

It was undoubtedly a filthy act of the highest caliber, a husband consuming the money of his wife he forcibly prostituted, being perhaps even worse than what the Adhanian nobles did with their partners.

At least there the women there were not treated like common, public property.

And what was truly despairing about all this here was that due to the social structure, there really was no way out for these women.

They were stuck in this hellish fate until the gods saw it fit to relieve them from their anguish.

These women could not even defend themselves by saying that perhaps it was their husband's fault and not theirs.

Because unlike in Adhania, the men here had only one woman.

And thus the inability to produce an heir was of course squarely dumped on the lady's head.

Whereas if the man was allowed to have multiple wives, and none of them could bear fruit, then it would undoubtedly prove that he was the culprit, not her.

And the result of such mistakes did show from time to time in Sybarsis, with those 'special working girls' somethings becoming pregnant.

That would then give rise to another set of complications.

And thus like this, at the end of the day, it went to show that calling a woman infertile was one of the worst insults one could throw in Sybarsis.

And given the fact that Lord Cassius had done it to Lady Miranda in front of so many people not once but twice, enraged, ashamed, and wounded her.

It was at that point that she then and there decided that she no longer wanted to be with him.

With this decision reached in her mind, Lady Miranda's thoughts then suddenly became very clear.

No longer was she hindered by the cloud of dismay at her husband and father in law's betrayal like she had been.

Because to her, they were no longer her kin. But only treasonous traitors.

Detractors who wanted to replace her with her sister.

This could not be allowed to happen.

Which meant, long story short, they had to go!

Yes, Lady Miranda decided the death sentence for her husband and her father in law just like that., at the drop of a hat.

The lady had already hardened herself once upon learning of her family's decision to replace her son with Quentin, even if it meant breaking their oath.

And now, with the flipping of her two closest people, the transformation was complete.

Lady Miranda had managed to completely shed her weak, indecisive self.

And then, as the new Lady Miranda made her first decision, suddenly her eyes landed on the large dagger hanging by the waist of the man next to her, its ornate silverly glint flashing past her eyes.

This was standard carry for Alexander, a small weapon to defend in the worst case scenario, very similar to how a modern general carried a handgun.

He did not think he would ever need to, but he did just in case.

And seeing this, who knows why, Lady Miranda suddenly decided to carry the execution out on her own.

She did not know what terrible power caused her to possess such a thought, but she did.

Hence suddenly, at a speed that defied any chance for Alexander to react, he felt his dagger being snatched away from him, as Lady Miranda grabbed the solid metal hilt with all her strength.

And then having obtained her weapon, the lady charged, like a hurricane towards the man, who remained totally unaware of the danger bulldozing towards him.

Lord Cassius in his delirious state only kept on repeating the utterly unspeakable profanities that came to his mind.

And he only stopped when Lady Miranda finally lunged with the large, silver blade at him, aiming straight for the heart and making solid contact, as the finely made tool pierced the soft flesh like a hot knife through butter.

This dagger, made of the best steel in the world, tore through the clothes in an instant, broke the skin like it did not exist, separated the tissue and muscles with ease, and then finally came to rest inside the man's beating heart, who by now only had the power to glanced at his attacker with a pale, utterly incredulous look.

"Yo… you!" Clutching his chest, with the still stuck dagger, the shock that Lord Cassius experienced was perhaps even more than the pain, as he slumped onto the ground with a heavy thud, dead!

If you are not reading this at wuxiap.com, then sorry, the content you're reading is STOLEN!

Let us say no to Original! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!