Herald of Steel

As Alexander ended his speech to Miss Linda with the words, '....your people cannot wait too long' the lady understood this was a not so subtle threat.

It alluded to the fact Alexander was not willing to feed and care for all those captured men indefinitely.

The original plan for Alexander was to take the majority of them as war slaves back to Zanzan, sparing only Lord Bernard and a small entourage for their voluntary divulging of information regarding Lord Parker.

Without Lord Bernard's very eager recount, Alexander might not have been able to reach the hill before sunset, and from then on, who knew how the story would have unfolded?

But even without Alexander's 'strong urging', Miss Linda knew she would have to move quickly.

Because she needed those people's support to stabilize her own rapidly plummeting position.

Thus as her mood to helpless acceptance, Alexander heard the lady open up one last time, in a voice that sounded flat, yet was filled with so many upheaving emotions,

"So let me get this straight my lord. You are willing to give me the loan… provide Lord Castell promises to marry me. Am I getting that right?"

"Yes! I heard from Lord Kite that despite Lord Castell's age he is still unmarried. So if you can charm him, he can readily accept. There is no family to cause complications." Alexander quickly expanded, reassuring the lady.

As for any societal taboo regarding an 'awkward' union, there was no need to even bring it up. There were records of far more bizarre marriages happening because of political convenience.

Even a monogamous society like Sybarsis was not immune from that plague.

In fact, it could be argued that because men were allowed to officially marry only one woman, the limited choice sometimes made their relations even more twisted.

Apparently, there was even one record of a son marrying his mother in order to strengthen ties between his and his mother's house… although that record's veracity was quite contested.

But still, just given that it even existed, spoke volumes to the types of unions that were still agreeable to the Sybarians.

This was also why Miss Linda never brought up their kinship as any sort of barrier.

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Instead, hearing Alexander's reply, she curiously quizzed, "Then do you why did he not marry yet? Is there something wrong with him?"

"Haha," Alexander could not help but let out an amused chuckle at the innuendo, before shaking his head, "I'm afraid my lady will have to find out the extent of his bedroom prowess by yourself. I do not know."

"But Lord Kite did say it was because he has many mistresses all over Lynica and does not want to get tied down with only one woman. This also lets him avoid posing any threat to his elder brother. The truth is probably somewhere in between."

Alexander had gotten this information during his short drinking time with Lord Kite, where the two men also discussed various general knowledge of the two countries.

"......" Alexander's answer made Miss Linda enter into another spell of rumination, as she worked on deciphering the new information.

'If he really has many lovers… there is impossible for him not to be able to get it up!' She thought with a heavy sense of disappointment.

To her who already had a son, a powerful yet impotent husband seemed to be the best candidate.

But since that was not possible, she would have to make do with the former and not the latter.

"*Sigh*," Thus releasing a long, held in sigh, Miss Linda at last curtly nodded her head, "Okay, then I agree my lord. I will try to propose a union with Lord Castell."

This sounded like music to Alexander's ears, making him feel like he had just managed to take a great step forward.

'With this many things will become easier!'

However before he could burst out into congratulatory laughter, Miss Linda suddenly slammed him with another question,

"But how can you be sure that he will accept? As you said, he already has many lovers, and yet no legitimate heir, because he does not wish to raise any conflict with his brother. But if he were to marry me… with my son's identity. I have already noticed some very unfriendly gazes being sent to him! That's why I thought marrying my brothers in law would be better."

For the first time, Alexander sensed fear in the lady's voice as she confided in him, her eyes darting furtively as if very confused.

It did not take a genius to figure out where this was coming from.

Which is why he once again insisted Miss Linda follow his plan,

"That is why you should marry Lord Castell. Duke Heeat knows his younger brother has no love for the seat. Otherwise, if you were to marry one of your brothers in laws… there is no guarantee they won't kill you and your son once they get the position."

"I know that according to Sybarian law, if the father dies, the son should automatically take over. And you could try to argue that. The problem is Lord Parker died too early. He was not even officially crowned the Duke."

"So the seat will now go to the one the current Duke declared as his next successor and his progeny, not Lord Parker's. As for the chances of that successor happening to be your son, well I don't need to tell you how small that is do I?"

The present Miss Linda and her son were not only totally unknown to the vast majority of the nobles there but the contender was also literally an infant.

Someone who it was not even known would even make it past childhood. Child mortality during this time was fifty percent after all.

So if Duke Heeat were to even consider such an unknown candidate, most nobles would become very displeased.

Especially when he had two strapping sons already by his side.

All this was told to Alexander by Lord Kite during their conversion, during which the man highlighted the challenges the Heeat family was bound to face.

"The biggest mistake Lord Parker made was not fully concluding the marriage," He claimed while taking a long sip of the drink, before quickly adding when noticing Alexander's inquisitive face,

"Now, don't get me wrong my lord. Of course, they are married as husband and wife. And their child is legitimate, no doubt about that."

"The problem I am talking about is that Lord Parker never took Miss Linda to his home. This is a big taboo in our society… for a woman to not visit her house. Because of this most nobles will never accept her as their own no matter how much she tries. She will continue to be an outsider… always."

Alexander quickly grasped the issue here.

In this time period, and even in modern times to some extent, as soon as a woman was married, her husband's house became her home, and she became a guest in her own father's house.

This was also the way Sybarians transformed 'outsiders' into their own kin.

But sadly, Miss Linda never got to go through that ritual. And now with her husband dead… there was really no house for her to return to, only an empty room.

'"No one will ever accept such an outsider as their new duchess." Lord Kite thus very prominently pronounced.

And needless to say, Miss Linda was well aware of that.

Which was why she originally wished to marry one of her brothers in law. It would solve a lot of her problems.

But as Alexander pointed out, this was hardly a sound move.

The flaw in her logic was beginning to unravel, and Miss Linda's face started to fall.

This was exactly the result Alexander wanted.

So he kept pushing,

"Also as a man, I can also confidently tell you we do not like to take care of other men's children. It hurts our ego. We always want our women to belong to us and only us."

"So what happens when your son has a younger sibling from one of his uncles? Won't he be neglected? He might even be seen as a threat by his now stepfather and stepbrother. And your new husband will surely favor his blood over his brother's! Can you accept that?"

"...."

"In that respect, Lord Castell is much better. Clearly, he has no love for having children. So he is either childless or even if he has some, they are all illegitimate. Much less threatening for you pair!"

"......" As Alexander finished he noticed Miss Linda's eyes shifting a couple of times from one corner to the other, as if desperately trying to find a way out.

….Until finally it settled.

"Okay! I will try to get Lord Castell to marry me!" She announced with a resigned voice, her eyes appearing almost pitiful,

But before the happiness Alexander felt from hearing the agreement could spread, her demeanor suddenly changed, and producing a mocking sneer she added,

"However then I want 6 million wesas! 3 million for my dowry!"

"And more than that... I want to know the truth! The truth of why you are so concerned about getting me married to that old fart. Heh! What's in it for you? " Explore more stories with empire

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