Herald of Steel

“…. have you thought of killing the baby’s father instead…we are already planning to kill Lord Assazd and Amenheraft… we can easily accommodate one more!”

Each of those words Alexander said made the insides of Mikaya’s ears ring like the screeching tolls of a nearby temple, and perhaps for the first time in her life, the haughty girl’s mind felt entirely blank.

Even someone described as quite ruthless as her found it difficult to take in the huge news so suddenly. Alexander not only wanted to kill her fiancé- the heir of Bahu, but it seemed plans were already in motion to off the main court opposition and most alarmingly the chief member of the divine lineage.

There was not a single person in Adhania who could have stayed unconcerned after learning this. And if somehow this were to leak, it would cause the entire palace to turn itself upside down.

Hence Mikaya could not help but subconsciously turn her head to take a look at her sleeping nieces, her heart rushing to beat faster in fear. These girls lacked some of the more pragmatic senses of the world so who knew if they would slip the words.

‘Whew…’ Mikaya only calmed down upon confirming both were blissfully unaware, seen closely cuddling each other, likely to try and fight the chilly midnight breeze coming from the nearby Life Sea.

If it were any other time, the sensible aunt could have certainly gone over to cover the bare girls with a blanket or quilt,

However, right now, Mikaya’s heart burned with the desire to understand what Alexander really meant. Hence slowly lowering her head, the silver haired girl whispered in quite a menacing way, “…What… what are you saying Alexander? Explain!”, sending a scary glare out of those beautiful eyes.

“Ahhh! I guess I forgot to tell you, hahaha.” Alexander however did not seem to notice Mikaya’s darkened look in the slightest, but reclining back to the couch, informed in a low, breezy chuckle,

“This was actually what your father and I had been discussing today. We planned to use the ice poison to ki… to remove a few problematic elements in court. We can easily ‘spare’ you a few such ice cubes.”

“…..” Mikaya’s darkened eyes turned to great confusion and hesitation at this, her lips quivering in thought. This was undoubtedly a massive plot thus whatever she wanted to say about it seemed to get stuck in her throat.

“Tell me all what you and Lord father discussed.” Suddenly pulling herself right up against Alexander, she decided to first know the full gist of it.

“….” Alexander turned to first give the eager girl a calm, pallid look, as if ruminating on whether to respond, finally nodding with a small smile, “Okay, I guess there is no harm. Here is the shortened version-“

“….knowing Lord Assazd’s security, I suggested using the ice technique… we also plan to propose to divide the provinces…I gifted a compass as dowry for Azura and Azira….your father is still against killing Amenheraft but I wish to do so regardless… lastly, we are planning to attack Ankoot and Bahu soon.”

The matters discussed with the old man had been long and varied, so it took Alexander a bit while to touch upon them all.

However Mikaya did not complain, but rather hung onto every word almost spellbound, her gorgeous mature face continuously producing all kinds of colors and expressions with each point.

Sometimes it would be one of intrigue, other times of amazement, followed by curiosity, and one time it made her almost jump out of her seat out of sheer shock, that was regarding Alexander’s proposal to shatter Adhania into twelve independent territories.

“…..” Then as Alexander finally finished, a wall of dense, almost pitch black silence descended upon the room, with his audience producing one of the most ponderous looks in her life.

The topics just discussed were so taboo to her that even the usually loud and flashy girl found her heart shriveling up at the thought of the consequences.

The inside of Mikaya’s mind was a whirlpool of mess and unless she had heard it from the horse’s mouth, she would have never believed so many plots and plans had been set in motion just in today’s afternoon.

The quality, scale, and ambition of any single plot would have been already massive, but to do it all in one go, and so quickly at that….

Mikaya for the first time in her life felt a bit of genuine fear of Alexander, turning to give him a cool, respectful look.

This was not just because Alexander had proposed such fantastic ideas, there were in fact many men in Adhania with even more ridiculous illusions of grandeur, but because the Lord of Zanzan actually had the skills to bring such dreams to reality.

If Alexander really could do this- shatter Adhania, take control of the royal and destroy their two main rivals, all in one go… Mikaya’s entire body felt hot just at the thought of it, as a thin, calculating smile crept up her face.

She initially wanted to even flatter the man with all kinds of praises.

But her pride ultimately stopped her- all her life she was the one who was always flattered hand and foot, so to suddenly switch the role… Mikaya could not do it.

The determined girl thus decided to keep all these thoughts to herself.

And then she became more focused trying to deal with the large pang of jealousy that had started to erupt from her heart, as Mikaya began to feel hurt her knowing her nieces were going to have this amazing man while she could not.

Mikaya did not even bother to compare Alexander with Shahel, she had not even before and completely gave up after the talks right now. And soon regret began to build up as Mikaya looked back at many of her actions with bitterness -‘Ahhh… perhaps if I was a bit modest…’, seeing herself to be too unchaste.

“So have you decided what to do?” The girl’s thoughts were finally broken by an ask from Alexander, seeking to confirm her choice.

“….” And immediately Mikaya unconsciously moved her hands over her slightly swollen belly, producing a very complicated look. The thought of killing the father of her unborn child disturbed her, since killing kin was a big taboo in Adhania, and for better or worse, husbands were indeed counted as kin.

Hence even though Mikaya quite disliked Shahel and she was not a particularly upright girl, able to do many things people would find shocking without even batting an eyes, she found herself hesitating here.

If she could, Mikaya wanted to avoid matricide.

Hence with a difficult face, she chimed an excuse in a low, unsure voice, “If Shahel dies… what of the alliance then?”, thus trying to frame it as not her rejecting the idea but that there were other political considerations.

“What of it? You will still be their daughter in law, right?” It was too bad Alexander did not care and just nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. According to him, it seemed enough that Mikaya went to Rusti, regardless of whether there was anyone waiting for her there.

The reply however made Mikaya instantly purse her lips in annoyance because Alexander was clearly pretending not to notice her point.

So she sent him an accusing glare, such that Alexander was forced to respond, “Okay, okay.”

Then flashing his palms boldly proposed, “If you are so worried about Rusti, then we can arrange to make the entire thing appear to be the work of our enemies. Better yet, we will make it so that the drink appears to be directed towards you…towards the pasha’s precious unborn grandson! That will surely bind Rusti to us, right?”

“…” Mikaya’s body shivered, half cursing Alexander for his abominable idea, not because it was bad, but because it was good.

Unfortunately, the circumstances made her unable to accept it, as twisting her face twisting she growled, “And what if it is not a son? Or more to the point, I am not even married to Shahel yet… so how can I be their daughter in law? Won’t Pasha Ozman throw me out?”

“….” Alexander did not immediately respond to the girl’s outburst. But turning his face cool and somber, rather seriously asked, “What is the real problem here, my lady? Do you prefer not to do this?”

“…..” Mikaya’s gaze slightly faltered, her heart speeding up as Alexander really hit the nail on the head,

“Because all these problems should be trivial to you. You can have a small ceremony tomorrow to officialize your marriage with Shahel, or you can marry one of Shahel’s brothers to enter their family and there is simply no way for anyone to treat the princess of Matrak and her child with the slightest disrespect.”

“…..” The girl, who perfectly knew all this, could only exude a wall of flat silence.

Alexander finished by promising, “And if you are still worried about bearing a girl, we can arrange to have her switched at birth. I will even adopt your daughter so you can meet her anytime.”

“….” Mikaya’s eyes went wide in shock, before suddenly her lips curved in a sort of amused way, “You really have thought about it all, haven’t you Lord Alexander? Hahaha, I used to think my elder brother was formidable. But you…”

The beautiful lady shook her long, silky silver hair as if unable to believe the plot. More than anything, Mikaya was impressed by how quick Alexander was in coming up with new schemes.

“Your brother… Mirzah, does he know Shahel?”