Chapter 1653: Seelima’s Eloquence (Part-1)

Alexander was indeed quite peeved by the way some of these nobles treated his wives. They never dared to slight him in person, so they picked on the weaker members of his family.

And while none of them had yet targeted his sons or daughters, that was only because they were still too young and thus shielded. Alexander knew it was only a matter of time before this got extended.

So it was always on his mind how to deal with such things.

The main trouble was this was not the attitude of the majority- only those who had been brought to heel by absolute force and had loyal ties to Pasha Muazz did this, as if trying to vent their frustration.

They were really only a minority among minorities, and such incidents perhaps happened one out of a hundred interactions.

Alexander thus logically calculated it would cost him more to deal with them than it was worth. And ultimately chalked this up as simply part and parcel of ruling a conquered land.

’Just bear with them for now. This is the best they can do- call grapes sours.’ He a bit helplessly soothed Cambyese.

This however did not go down well with the hot blooded girl- who gritted her teeth and stamped her foot with absolute vehemence- ’Snort, I am already treated as dirt in my own house, my you and your women. And now you are telling me I should also bear with it with those bitches outside! Hmmmp, as if!’

Now, this first claim was of course, an exaggeration. As the main wife, no one would dare treat Cambyses as dirt.

In reality, she had been given much more privilege than any of the other women- while others might be showered with expensive gifts, she was put as the head of the Zanzan’s city guards, a position with immense, tangible power. Her son was named the future heir and she even got an extra night per week to spend with Alexander all alone- this was perhaps most envied by all of Alexander’s other wives.

The only time Cambyses was put on equal footing as the rest of her sisters was if there was any conflict in the house and Alexander needed to step in. His favoring Cambyses would not deter him from being just- otherwise his house would quickly go up in flames.

Thus when Cambyses said those words, she was clearly not thinking straight, and very simply blamed the man for not understanding her position. She posed he was not doing anything because he had not personally experienced it.

While Alexander, knowing how futile it was to try and talk to Cambyses when she became like this just tried to smooth talk his way out of the raging fire.

The effort was mixed at best.

Which was exactly why the Queen Mother’s offer suddenly sounded so tempting. It would instantly solve a long, lingering problem of his family with the snap of a finger.

Alexander quickly whispered to himself with both admiration and apprehension, ’What a formidable woman. She already knows which buttons to press on me.’

Fortunately, he managed to reign in his greed by the end and turning his head up, asked Seelima with a slightly curious smirk on his lips, "Your Highness, you know I am interested... why are you so eager to get me to accept this? I always thought it would be the opposite... you should the last person who wants me to become a part of the royal family. right?... given what it represents!"

Alexander thus hinted at his ability to contest the throne through this ritual.

And as he said it, for a moment, he thought he caught the Queen Mother’s eyes flicker with the briefest of hesitations, ’Crap, I forgot about that!’

But that ephemeral panic dissolved itself almost instantly, as Seelima lifted her chest and proudly showed off her great hanging fruits with a tempting grin,

"Hahaha... that was only before I got to know you better, brat! You will not blame a poor lady for being cautions would you! But now...how can I distrust you when you have given me so much? I want you to take it as a gift of my sincerity, Alexander. Or else I will be offended." The sexy voice suddenly turned couqutesih and shy by this point, sending him a very teary, offended look.

Alexander felt like an arrow had just hit him right in the heart- he was both smitten and amazed at how despite the Queen Mother’s mature age, she could still so effortlessly pull such a young, girlish gaze. The man was forced to take a loud, audible gulp just to calm himself down.

While seeing her efforts produce such magnificent results, Seelima decided to hit the iron while still hot, and eagerly leaned forward with a crafty smile, "Or is there any issue with your faith? Surely as the son of Gaia.... given your Mother has been betrothed to ’our’ Lord, ’we’ already count as among family, right?"

This time Alexander cursed the sharp woman under his breath, unable to exactly rebut that logic, ’I thought you did not even believe in my faith! And now you are using it against me? ’Tsk!’

’No! I cannot be constantly on the defensive like this! I need to attack!’ Then he spurred himself on and hardening his tone, met the scheming woman head on,

"Sigh! Well, since Your Highness we are talking openly, let both of us be frank! And know that whatever I say next, I mean all of it as praise... truly!" This strange disclaimer was enough to catch the Queen Mother’s ears instantly, and she visibly perked them up.

"I do not believe your offer was as altruistic as you made it out to be my lady." Having gotten her attention, Alexander started boldly with this hypothesis, "I think this is your way of creating your own faction within the court. You intend to bring me close to you using this grand ritual. And then use my name to attract the many neutral or confused nobles present here!"

"...." He strategically paused just here, as if trying to gauge Seelima’s reaction. He was however disappointed to see the experienced lady show little reaction. She still flashed that same, confident facade, lips curled in an amused, almost mocking curve- ’Is that so?’

Given all that Seelima has experienced in her life, it was going to take a lot more to crack her.

Alexander too soon got the message.

So he resumed in that smooth, scholarly tone, "I believe this is indeed a good move. Now that Lord Assazd’s faction has collapsed and Amenheraft has one foot in the grave... I imagine a lot of them are confused. So if you can give them the right kind of push...." Alexander keenly noticed Seelima’s light up by the briefest amount as he said- she had subconsciously become happy with the praise. And the feelings turned brighter as Alexander smiled,

"This might work even if I do not fully align myself with you. As long as I am simply by you.... you can use my outward appearance to draw nobles in... growing your strength in court. With the money I am about to give you.... soon your position might even become quite secure! Hehehe....you really have a talent for presenting poison in the most delectable way, Your Highness!"

The Queen Mother instantly lost all her mirthfulness as soon as she heard the last sentence, turning her immaculate face as frostly as the Siberian tundra.

"....." And a heavy silence descended upon the room as Seelima sent Alexander an infuriated gaze- it was such a look that if it could kill, it would have certianly done so.

This was the reason Alexander had put that disclaimer in the beginning and yet....

’Why was the point of saying all those things if Alexander was not going to ultimately accept it?’ She seemed to ask him with blazing eyes.

And the sight was enough to send a chill streaking down Alexander’s spine like few times in his life before. Even the warm princess spooning against him shivered, realizing her mother had been truly incensed.

It took quite some time for Seelima to speak, like she were deciding on exactly how to respond to such a rude address. Then ultimately, she settled for a cool, cold, piercing reply,

"Why do you say that, brat? What is wrong with you drawing closer to ’us’ and ’us’ becoming more powerful? ’We’ thought you wanted ’us’ to become powerful. In that way, ’we’ will also be able to better help you against Ptolomy. Is that not what both of us ultimately want? "

Alexander intuitively detected the source of the Queen Mother’s grievance from her voice and crisply answered with a fearless shake of his head, "I am afraid not Your Highness! I was not sure of your thoughts before Your Highness, so I had to use several ways to gauge them. But now that I am sure.... although I very much admire your idea, Your Highness, I am afraid I cannot accept it at the moment."

"Given the current state of the court.... with all the chaos and accepting such an offer so conveniently and so soon- it would create more enemies for both me.... and you. You are being too greedy!"

"....." The frank reveal of Alexander’s meticulous trap and how she had unknowingly fallen for it predictably made the already angry Queen Mother even more irritable- as evidenced by the visible uptick in the pace of her heaving chest.