Herald of Steel

“Alexander has also just gotten out of trouble with Nanazin. That matter is not even settled yet. Let’s not give our enemies even more arrows in their quivers.”

Whatever objections the Queen Mother had in mind, it was quickly buried by this single warning from Lady Inayah. That was still a tenuous topic, and even the island he promised the man to soothe this ache over was only a mirage. The details had yet to be figured and the risk of it creating a wave was not low. Adding Ptolomy’s jealousy on top of all that was hardly prudent.

“…..” Understanding this, the regal queen puffed up her cheeks in quite an unlady like manner and seemed ready to dive back into another, possibly stronger bout of depression.

“Then why not the Queen Mother sponsor herself?” When suddenly Alexander added this from the side, and as everyone turned to give a slightly dumbfounded look, he quickly elucidating the proposal with sparkling eyes,

“Since no noble can sponsor Her Highness, why don’t we set up a business in her name? We can run the day to day business in her stead and then deposit the profits made to her personal coffers! Would that still cause any problem?”

“…..” Alexander had probably never seen the Queen Mother appear as stunned as she was now… eyes widened and lips parted, almost like she was trying to process how the hell she had missed something so blatantly obvious.

“That…umm… that…” While her friend’s condition seemed to be worse, stuttering with great breaths as she racked her brain to hide a flaw in the plan, “Umm… If I recall, royal members are barred from doing business…so…um, it seems…”

“That does not matter!” The fidgeting Lady Inayah appeared to be on the verge of objecting when Alexander firmly interjected against the weak, hesitating voice, and imperiously flashed his palms,

“Queen Mother has said it herself. Times are different now. We are at war, and the royal confers are empty. So who would dare object to the royal family earning money legitimately? They are simply plotting against us!”

“I believe we have compromised enough. We cannot simply stay where we are just because we are afraid we will step on some toes.”

“Lady Inayah, I would kindly like you to arrange for a portion of your export business to go towards Her Highness from now on.”

“…..” At the address, the lady in question pulled a difficult face, shifting her gaze and slowly lifting her chin,

“That…umm… it is not that I do not want to do this, my lord. But that business belongs to my family, not me. I am simply unable to make such a promise without consulting everyone else. So…” The lady trailed off with some difficulty, and to this, Alexander very animatedly pursed his lips in displeasure.

He saw this clearly for what it was- the lady unwilling to share. Because even by his rough estimates, even simply Lady Inayah’s own portion should have been more than enough to cover all of Queen Mother’s expenses and then some. The volumes Alexander exported into Agnirat were enormous.

Thus it seemed there was still a thin line of selfishness that separated the two’s friendship.

“Sigh… Fine, I will arrange for a special additional delivery of goods worth three million ropals a year. The proceeds of those sales will be just for Her Highness.”

Alexander did not bother to expose or even argue with Lady Inayah over this, but like the filthy rich man he was simply decided to throw money to solve the problem.

“….” And it was such a generous amount of money that hearing it, the room instantly went silent.

Everyone’s eyes went wide, like they could not believe it. And the lady most affected by this was none other than Seelima.

She could not help but compare Alexander with her previous experiences and instantly found that not even Alozmer at his peak was that generous.

Sure, the mad king regularly gifted her dresses and jewelry that exceeded Alexander’s gift many times over but those things had limited utility of Seelima- they were very hard to convert into cash.

In terms of liquid funds- the most she got a few hundred thousand ropals, and that too was at the height of Alozmer’s infatuation with her.

Yet just now Alexander offered ten times that.

And he did that with such an air of confidence that it seemed like this would not put even a dent in his pocket.

The Queen Mother could not help but feel a slight bout of jealousy invade her soul at the proof of such bountiful wealth.

“Thank you, my lord. This will help ‘Us’ tremendously.” The lady at last accepted Alexander’s offer with a slight bow, addressing herself with the formal ‘we’.

“Ummm… no problem, Your Highness. We are all in this together.” Alexander lightly waved his hands before once again reassuring her,

“And do not worry about the birth of your child. Regardless of whether it is a boy or girl, we will see you or Princess Hellma be crowned the Queen Adhania. We did not work so hard for that idiot to put some sweet talking nobody there.”

The words got a short, pleased smile from Seelima even though ordinarily it should have angered her. But right now, the lady was feeling a sort of fluttering giddiness that she had not felt since she was a kid.

It almost made her feel like she was back to being a teenager as she felt a sudden bout of immense power and relief.

…..

The meeting seemed to finally come to an end with this as Alexander slowly got up from his soft armchair and bid his farewell with a pleasant smile, “Then my ladies, I will see at the court tomorrow! Good night!”

He was then just about to accompany the three very willing and excited ladies for some much needed relief back in his room when suddenly,

“Wait, Lord Alexander! There was something else,” The Queen Mother asked this from behind, her tone turning very suggestive, “Why don’t you spend a bit more time with ‘us’? You don’t have anything else to do, right?”

The man hearing this turned around to face the slightly blushing lady with such a look of incredulity that his face went nearly white, while, in protest, Lady Ezaya’s face went dark, eyes flaring with unbound anger from behind.

‘Yes, he has something to do! Goodbye!’ She wanted to blurt it out vehemently and only managed to stop herself at the last second using the very last vestiges of her sanity.

It was not like she was that into Alexander, but as maids appointed by her mother to take care of a guest, she saw this move as an encroachment of her duties and hospitality.

“….” Thus for a moment, a sort of uncomfortable silence reigned, with Alexander quickly sending pleading glances towards Lady Inayah.

He did not dare refute Seelima outright in fear of embarrassing her, so figured her friend would be a much better candidate.

As for the thought of taking her on the offer, he did not even dare contemplate it.

‘Let us not give your enemies more arrows in their quivers.’ Lady Inayah’s statement really stuck in his mind.

But Lady Inayah also found it hard to interject here.

Because she did not believe for a second that the Queen Mother was not aware of the possible repercussions of her actions. Not when they were even right inside the royal palace.

Yet she had made it, so….

“Seeli… thats… right now it is…” But eventually, despite all the misgivings, Lady Inayah still decided to try her luck, hoping to talk some sense into the lady before she did something very brash.

“*Suushh* Inaya. He has promised to give me 3 million ropals a year. How much have you promised?”

The Queen Mother completely shut her off even before she could get a single sentence out with this not so subtle dig.

Lady Inayah was forced to clamp up with a clear blush in her face, while Seelima, no longer waiting for Alexander’s reply, gave a hand signal towards her maid, who silently stepped forward and swiftly began to undo the complicated knots holding the regal lady’s elegant dress together.

Soon, the upper half of her undone, and as the maid pulled down the dress to the hips, Alexander was once again graced with the sight of those bountiful peaks, huge and fluffy, only held in place with a sexy, linen black brassiere.

They were so enormous in fact that the clothes appeared to be stressed to their limits, at risk of snapping any moment now.

Then, just below the slightly drooping mammaries was another great wonder for Alexande- the pregnant queen’s enlarged wheat baked tummy, protruding out like a soft boiled egg and exuding a motherly radiance that seemed to invite all to come and caress it.

The Queen Mother had a slight, red blush as she faced Alexander in this state, and seeing this, he felt a certain heat in his lower half.

How could he not?

This was one of the most beautiful and charming beauties in the whole country and there was such an easy chance to lay with her… which man could even think of passing it up?

Not to mention the rare state her body currently was in. That swollen belly gave such an immoral aura that tickled all of Alexander’s lustful desires at once.

“Your Highness! I would urge you to reconsider twice! Let us not give our enemies even more arrows in their quivers.”