Herald of Steel

As Alexander sat opposite the lady and talked, he found that conversing with her was actually quite pleasant.

The defeated lady appeared to have let go of a lot of her inborn arrogance and with a face as beautiful as her's, it made any man feel flattered to have her attention.

While Miss Linda for her part also kept talking in order to try and make a better impression on Alexander.

Thus she kept talking, recounting how she knew so much about how soldiers were paid.

"It was my grandfather. He wanted to prepare me for the family's takeover. So he personally taught me many things… including how to lead and finance an army."

At this point, Miss Linda's eyes went a bit misty as she recalled her grandfather's many pieces of advice. One of which was that as a mercantile family, coin was always their favorite weapon and that they should splurge on it without restraint when it came to defending it.

And from the opposite side, Alexander also noticed the pause and clearly sensed that the lady had much love for this elder man, undoubtedly much, much more than even her former husband.

Miss Linda managed to quickly bring her heaving heart in check, and using fast talks to try to dampen her rising emotions, quickly concluded,

"He also told me that this type of arrangement benefited the fighting men too. The pay boosted fighting morale and for many, this 'capital' was a large necessity. Especially the men with families… sometimes they would not even leave their homes without it."

"These men would leave their wives with a significant part of their paid wages to keep the house running while they were away and then also have a large part of the remaining amount deducted as weapons, lodging, and provision expenses by the military."

"So most would be left with just enough to make their ends meet- such as occasionally buying liquor, good food like meat from nearby markets, pleasure women and gambling."

The story was similar for unmarried men too, only here the 'wives' would replaced by 'parents and brothers and sisters' or simply 'pleasure'.

But whichever it was, at the end of the day, most soldiers would be considered quite poor, very different from the juicy targets Alexander was making them out to be.

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That was also why Lord Castell could not just take the money for himself. Instead, he had to 'borrow' since otherwise, the nobles would start to object to remaining Alexander's prisoners for too long.

...…

Hearing all this, Alexander was able to at last determine that Miss Linda indeed had no way to raise capital other than him.

Then, after keeping Miss Linda on the hook for so long, Alexander finally declared this verdict,

"My lady, although we have had your ups and downs, I can agree to give you the money. You will find me to be a generous man in that regard. But before that, I ask you to explain one thing…. Why should I? We are technically still in opposite camps. I do not believe you still harbor any goodwill for your sister, someone I still support. So tell me, what is it in for me?"

What Alexander made was the most natural question.

And the answer frankly surprised him, because instead of pleading or swearing some kind of allegiance to Alexander as he had guessed, Miss Linda's eyes suddenly went from frosty to very furious,

"Because this is the least you can do! You have destroyed our lives, split our family, taken half of our lands, and then even shamelessly declared yourself a 'neutral party'. You owe us this much- to both me and my son."

Before coming here Miss Linda had of course rehearsed what she was going to say when Alexander asked her why she should give her the money.

And needless to say, this was not what she had practiced.

But when she looked at him and saw that 'sanctimonious' smile, all her memorized thoughts went down the drain and her tongue seemed to gain a life of her own.

She only wanted to vent.

"Hahaha, you really did not hold back your tongue my lady… haha!" Alexander for his part did not feel even a bit offended at the accusation, and humorously chuckled, "Well at least you are honest. I would have been more worried if you tried to bend the knee and suck up to me."

Miss Linda's beautiful face however only twisted seeing Alexander's nonchalant reaction and soon even her teeth began to produce a grating sound when she heard the man's defense,

"I admit I am guilty of all that you accuse me of. Indeed I had a hand in your husband's demise, as involuntary as it might have been.

Indeed I split the Margraves family with the Heeat family for my benefit.

And indeed I took a large portion of land in the guise of peace as payment of my services to Lady Miranda. I make no excuses for that. Neither do I ever intend to. This is my prize for putting my neck on the line… many times literally."

Alexander's tone here was firm, almost just and sage like, betraying not a hint of regret over how he had screwed his ally over.

Rather, he cleverly shifted the blame to the opposite side, saying,

"But before you go off pointing fingers, please recall that I initially offered genuine peace. I only wanted a guarantee of my interests and a compromise- your sister gets to rule until your son comes of age. This should have been a no brainer for you."

"You already had the support of the family's elders and if you then added your husband's position in the Heeat family, it would have made your son's position unshakable even if Lady Miranda had ten more sons. You should know better than me what unconditional support from a ducal family meant.

They could have helped your family far more than what an outsider like me could have ever given as Lady Miranda's supporter."

"But you lacked the patience or foresight. You could have straggled your elder sister out slowly but you grew arrogant. So you refused to take my hand. And look what that has gotten you?"

As Alexander destroyed Miss Linda's point to smithereens, he noticed a pair of very clear teardrops slid past the fluffy rosy cheeks, bitter regret crystallizing right in front of him.

Now to be fair to Miss Linda, what Alexander said was not exactly scrupulous. Many of his points relied on the power of hindsight.

At the time, Miss Linda or more specifically Lord Parke had held such an overwhelming advantage, outnumbering Alexander 4 or 5 to 1 that it would have been quite foolish for them to consider the offer.

It was only after they found out about Alexander's military prowess that they even began to think of a negotiated settlement.

But by then they had lost so much that the ball had pretty much left the court.

Alexander watched Miss Linda's dams break with some surprise and soon felt a slight pang in his heart seeing the sad state of the beauty, 'Damn! She really is something!'

Seeing such a doll really made the man in him feel hurt, as an overwhelming desire to protect her bloomed in him.

Thus figuring that perhaps he might have pushed her a bit too hard, Alexander quickly raised his hands and switched to a more soothing tone,

"Okay, okay, let's not get bogged down on who did what. What has happened has happened. Let it be. But let me ask you one last thing… say I give you the money. Then what? How will you pay back the amount?"

"Do really you believe a merchant family can't pay back the amount? Even if the interest is 10 percent, it will be no problem for us. You will get your money within 3 years!" For Miss Linda, the answer to Alexander's dilemma seemed simple.

According to her, she only needed the money to get started and everything else would fall in order.

"Hmmm…" But the hum told that Alexander was not convinced, as narrowing his eyes, he chuckled,

"My lady, who are you trying to fool here? You said it yourself, didn't you? All your elders support Lord Castell now. So whatever your family earns from now on… it will end up in the Heeat family's coffers, not yours."

Alexander quickly noticed Miss Linda's eyes dim as the man before her easily pointed out the flaw in her plan, as he went on to expose her plan,

"I can see what you are trying to do here. And let me be frank, I did not think there is any point. The Margraves family… at least for the time being has been for all intents and purposes defeated."

"So if you are hoping to buy back the loyalty of your men using money… then sorry, I have some bad news for you. Whatever you can give them, the Heeat family can give better. I suggest you give up "

"....." Alxx saw the lady once again lose her voice, at which point, he dropped the bombshell,

"In fact, if you want the best for your family, the best thing for you to do is marry Lord Castell!"

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