Herald of Steel

Alexander had all by himself determined the life partner of his friend and general, Menes.

That too with just a few words inside a room and not a single word of consultation from the man in question.

If he had been in modern times, it would have certainly caused an outrage no matter how loyal the subordinate might have been.

However, in this time period, this was very natural.

In fact, the lord choosing one's life partner was seen as a great honor, as it meant the couple would have his wholehearted blessing.

And there were even some unions that very much needed one's superior's tacit approval, such as if the union was political in nature.

And due to the fact that the matter of the marriage of the Tibian princess was both, it was only a matter of course that Alexander intervened.

He also knew that Menes would not dare say no to him, and neither would he have any excuses as he was unmarried.

This was also one of the reasons why Alexander represented Menes and not Melodias as the most viable candidate.

And lastly, although Alexander was most certainly overthinking this, he hoped that by marrying a princess to Menes, the latter would forget even the last dregs of affections he might have left for his last love.

Thus Alexander would at a later date officially declare the union, which would even garner surprisingly strong support from among the nobles as they would see the pair, a princess of a defeated royal family marrying a general of the victorious army as being quite suitable.

Thus Alexander would pass than hurdle relatively easily.

Returning back to the negotiations between Alexander and Philips, with that one point done, the Crown Prince then decided to move on to the next one.

"Lord Pasha, we can accept my youngest sister being your concubine. But having my mother change her belief and become a priestess at the temple of Gaia! That is too much!" Philips sounded shocked and appalled, as he cleverly attempted to use the fate of Camelia as a way to extract some sort of concession from Alexander.

It was like he was saying, 'See! We compromised on that. Now it is only fair that you compromise on this."

"No."

However, who was Alexander?

He was the absolute victor here and in his eyes, the earlier agreements had nothing to do with the later ones.

So after categorically rejecting Philips with that single word, Alexander added with a steely voice,

"There must be a member from the main branch of the royal family to change their faith and enter the Temple of Gaia as a priestess."

"And your mother is the only suitable candidate."

"You and your brother have your own duties. Your sisters have their own families. And your father is in a coma."

"There is no one else."

"This is the first time I'm hearing anything about such a thing!" However upon first hearing this, Philips was at first a bit shocked and could not help but blurt out so.

"Well you are hearing it now!" To which Alexander immediately sneered back, saying, "Did you think even after losing so badly you will all get to keep your beliefs as it was?"

"I had originally wished to make the entire royal family swear fealty to Goddess Gaia. But the nobles objected. And this is the compromise we have come to." Alexander informed Philips in a slightly regretful tone, as then waved his hand in a dismissive manner to show the topic was closed,

"So do not bother to attempt to discuss this anymore."

Philips was finding out about this backroom deal for the first time just now, and the feeling that most arose within him was not shock or anger, but regret and lament at the clear evidence of all the power they had lost.

To think such an important thing had been decided without even their presence, much less consultation.

"I… I'm afraid my mother will never accept it, my lord. She is very much devoted to the ancestral spirits. And she will certainly not leave my father's side!" Thus Philips could only come up with this sorrowful excuse towards the end.

"That's your problem to convince her!" However, if Philips thought Alexander was going to negotiate over that, then his instant curt answer clearly removed that misconception.

The pasha was absolutely not interested in engaging in another bout of back and forth, and simply ended the conversation with, "If your mother does not agree to enter the temple, then fine! One of you brothers will have to. But remember, priests of Gaia cannot told noble titles."

Alexander here was very explicitly warning Philips that if the Queen Dowager did not acquiesce to the request, they would be losing one of the two promised noble titles.

The trade off imbalance here did not need to be said.

".... I… I will try my best." Hence it was an incoming stinging headache that Philips could only stammer this.

In terms of sacrificial pawns, his mother was indeed one of the least valuable as she had already lived most of her life and was no longer suitable to be married.

And thus losing her would matter the most minimum to the royal family.

In that sense, it was quite a good offer from Alexander.

But the main cause of his headache was actually coming from the fact that Alexander was asking his mother to move to Zanzan for who knows how long and thus practically say goodbye to his father.

This Philips doubted the legal woman would be willing to do no matter the consequences."

Hence he tried once to negotiate with Alexander, this time almost pleading,

"Then… my lord, please allow my father to accompany her to Zanzan. Perhaps he will even get better there." as his eyes then shone with a bright new light, "Yes! I have heard the treatment you have there are leagues ahead of us! Please! Take him there!"

Philips sounded very eager.

Although the Crown Prince had certainly made up that last sentence.

He did hear some rumors of Alexander's expertise and advances in medicine, but the sources were so dubious that it was all too superficial and even exaggeratedly mythical for him to take seriously.

He was only saying this in a bid to convince Alexander.

"Okay," And Alexander was actually more than happy to accept, for if Philips was willing to hand over more hostages to keep in Zanzan, who was he to decline?

But Philips was currently not bothered about that eventuality.

He was instead much more preoccupied with giving Alexander a grateful nod.

At least with this arrangement, he had a chance to convince his mother.

Thus done with this second point, he lastly moved on to the last one.

"Lord Pasha, this last clause…. 5 (g)...this is unacceptable. We cannot have all our uncles and cousins being turned into normal citizens! This is too much" Philips pointed out with almost righteous indignation.

"Oh? I thought you would be more than happy about this?" However Alexander seemed to only sneer at it, pointing out with almost a cruel smile,

"With the main branch of your family so weakened, aren't you afraid these people will try to usurp you? Why are you protecting them?"

Examples of a strong uncle usurping a weak nephew was so available that it could almost be said to be cliche.

"They would never!"

However Alexander seemed to have inadvertently poked at a sensitive point as in much contrast to his usual demure manner, Philips suddenly flared up with blazing eyes even at the mere suggestion of such treachery, as the man tightly clenched his fist and declared,

"Many of us have fought shoulder to shoulder. Many even died shoulder to shoulder. None of us will even betray the other."

Alexander found the man's strongly held convictions both chivalrous and also a whole lot of naive.

Which was why he could not help but smirk, "Yea… just like Lord Theony. He too had fought shoulder to shoulder with your father's uncle Ponticus! And then killed your wife and children!"

" But sure… your uncles and cousins they will not betray you. Hehe…"

Alexander's low chuckle hurt Philips more than perhaps a punch to the gut could.

And caused him to become tongue tied.

Although the man would love to believe his cousins, whom he had grown up with since childhood would not turn their back on him at his most vulnerable time, reality and history seemed to beg to differ.

While Alexander, seeing the other side lose his zeal for any objection, quickly capitalized on it and declared,

"As long as the members of the branch family hold power, they will always be a thorn in both your and my side, able to lay legitimate claims of various strengths on the crown of Tibias."

"As long as there is even one of them even slightly ambitious enough, they will surely be able to find many nobles dissatisfied with my conquest to rally around."

"And even if your uncles are good people who have no intention to rebel, there will always be acousin or nephew who will."

"Surely you will not tell me you do not have even one dumb cousin?" Alexander smirked with mockery, and ended this point with the words,

"The branch members of the royal family will all follow me to Zanzan. There they will be given various administrative positions as well as a handsome monthly stipend."

"But they will never be allowed to remain in Tibias and stir up trouble."