Herald of Steel

Alexander thought that when he mentioned the matter of wedding to the two ladies, they would be either surprised or impressed by his deductive skills.

Then he would swaggeringly ask for the details, thus showing off his talent.

Yet… as he turned around to look at them, he was only met with a wall of ugly looks from both of them.

“…..” For a brief second, the air seemed to even turn sour and distasteful, such that it caused the surprised Alexander to produce an asking look towards Lady Inayah. He was afraid he had unknowingly stepped on a land mine.

While facing her ally’s inquiry, the black lady first produced an uncomfortable look, sending an asking look towards her friend, as if looking for her advice.

After all, the topic was entirely about her.

However, she received neither a yes nor no.

So thinking for a bit, the noble lady lightly heaved her large chest and in a slightly forced way, succinctly smiled,

“The wedding… Seelima decided to postpone the wedding for now. She is close to delivering and there is already so much going on at the capital. Adding a royal wedding on top of that would really be too much.”

“Your Highness is having complications? Are there any specific symptoms?” Alexander’s mind instantly went towards Lady Inayah’s first claim as soon as she said it, thus quickly turning to give the Queen Mother a very concerned look,

“Do you have morning sickness? Vomitting? Any blood with discharges? Cramps? I have quite a few qualified doctors with me. Would you like them to take a look, Your Highness?”

His voice was very genuine here, although it would be wrong to only say this was out of the goodness of his heart. This was also because Seelima was one of the primary tools he had to control Ptolomy.

If she was gone, Alexander would be like a ship’s captain who just lost control of his rudder.

Disastrous!

However, even though Alexander asked this due to his own selfish desires, the act still warmed the Queen Mother’s heart- her ‘husbands’, neither of them ever showed such close concern.

She answered in a gentle, reassuring tone,

“No my lord, rest assured, the wet nurses have promised me everything is alright. It is me… I just do not want to take any chances. Weddings are so hectic affairs, with all the sitting and standing… it is so tiring. So once Mikaya is done with her, I decided we will hold a small…. “

“Was it Your Highness or His Majesty that wanted this?”

Alexander was not in the mood to listen to the Queen Mother drivel on about things that contained no truth, and thus pointedly interjected as such, his voice sharp and testy.

“…..”

“…..”

Both the two ladies instantly clamped up with this, pursing their lips in their own way.

While receiving no answer, Alexander fought to control his frown as he mused out loud,

“There is no way either of you do not understand the significance of having the wedding. It is so much more than simply a ritual! So why the delay? And why are you trying to hide the cause from me?”

“….” Once again, Alexander failed to get an answer.

“There is no hiding anything, my lord. Do not ass…”

“Is it Lord Assazd? Do not tell he pulled the same trick with the son as he did with his father?” The Queen Mother had initially tried to clench a makeshift answer to cool Alexander down, yet the man was too fast.

He took a wild throw at the dirt board, and,

“*Sigh*, sometimes… I really wish you were not so smart brat!” Lady Inayah finally cracked, chirping up with a reluctant shake of her head.

Then sending her friend an understanding gaze, confirmed much of Alexander’s suspicions,

“Yes, you are right, my lord. His Majesty Ptolomy has indeed recently taken a new concubine- Lord Assazd’s youngest daughter. Even I do not quite know how that old fox did it, but he did. And I even hear she is currently very favored in the haram. It was that shameless husky that whispered to His Majesty to not marry Seelima right now.”

There was predictably great anger in Lady Inayah’s voice as she said so.

“…..” While Alexander’s lip visibly became pursed, so much so that some might have worried they might fuse together- such was his displeasure.

It was to the point the air inside seemed to become as still as a frozen lake.

“Not to worry, Your Highness, men are fickle creatures. I am sure His Majesty will soon tire of his toy and come back to you.” Fortunately, before it got the chance to fully solidify, Lady Ezaya’s youthful chirping voice shot out behind, thawing much of the water.

“Mmmm, right, right. You were His Majesty’s first love. His mother, his protector! He will surely come back to you! Just give it a few months!” The eldest sister was also joined by the youngest, as Lady Anisha’s bubbly voice confirmed.

“His Majesty is simply… distracted.” At last, even the usually extremely reticent Lady Elia spoke up to aid her sisters.

And what was the result of all this buttering up…

“…*Snort*!” The Queen Mother still appeared to be fuming, her eyes burning with a disdain flame enough to burn a thousand suns.

It was also very easy to guess what she thinking- she was probably furious that she had removed one eldest sister, only to be plotted against again by the youngest.

Since they came from the came tree, Seelima of course painted her with the same brush.

Conversely, as the chief criminal responsible for burning her nephews and sister, Ptolomy’s latest concubine too had no love for this woman.

They were like fire and water.

And it was remembering those events that truly incensed the Queen Mother.

Luckily, as Alexander scanned the lady a bit later, she appeared to calm down a bit, placated by Lady Inayah’s daughters.

“.Sigh… so why try and hide this from me?” Hence the man turned to pose his own inquiry, sending a suspicious gaze towards both of them.

Here, he did not bother hide the fact he was doubtful that this was the whole, full answer and thus wanted to confirm from the horse’s mouth.

To this, Lady Inayah gave a slightly embarrassed smile,

“Hahaha, well Seelima is very protective of His Majesty. So she… wanted to preserve the dignity of the royal family… She was concerned…. “

“What is the real reason, Lady Inayah? Beating around the bush does not suit you. And having one… no two bastards does not exactly preserve the dignity of the roya family.”

Initially, Lady Inayah appeared to be in a very professional flow but then she was rudely interjected by Alexander once again, a clear sense of expiration lacing his tone.

“Tell me exactly how Lord Assazd sneaked a whole human into the king’s harem? Is the man a magician? Or a great circus performer? Should I hire him as a jester for my court?”

“….” The air that had just thawed once again began to freeze over like it was hit by a blizzard, as Alexander’s cold rebuke made both the noble ladies purse their lips.

This was not how a junior talked to his elders.

Which was why Lady Inayah also snapped with a whole lot of bitterness in her tone,

“Fine… this is the simple answer- Ptolomy does not listen! I know you will blame us brats for everything, but this is the main thing… what more can I say?”

“That snake Assazd has even poisoned his ears saying Seelima has no maternal family…so taking her as the queen has no benefit. Rather, he has asked him to take his daughter as a concubine. I hear he has even offered one of his granddaughters to become his wife… her mother is the main wife of the Pasha of Saibad!”

As Lady Inayah chirped down with a helpless surrendering undertone, Alexander keenly noticed the Queen Mother’s grip on her crystal wine glass suddenly become dangerously tighter.

She clearly hated this development.

And Alexander agreed with her on this.

Thus the excuse given was not good enough to placate him.

“You did not…” He was just about to contest Lady Inayah when suddenly,

“How is it, master? Are we doing it right? Is there anything else we can do?”

Sensing the man’s temper about to rise, Lady Ezaya suddenly cooed so from the back, asking for a review of their service.

She even pulled back that head into her chest without waiting for feedback, letting her bountiful fruits further press against it.

“Mmmm… no, my lady. You really are fantastic… all of you.” And feeling the sweet sensation, Alexander too decided to hold back his tongue.

It would be too embarrassing to cause a scene with Lady Inayah with her daughters here.

“Ahhh… I have nothing to complain.” So he complimented.

“Hmmm… is that so? Good!” Lady Ezaya first let out a beautiful sigh of relief, before her voice suddenly turned a bit teasing, “I am also pleased to see my lord’s little brother feels the same way.”

Her hot gaze directly pointed to Alexander pitching a small tent as she said so, and as the man tried to hide with his hand,

“Hahaha, who knew master is actually so shy.” Anisha from below amusedly chuckled, her eyes gleaming with mischievous intent,

“It seems our massage has loosened him up a bit. The blood is finally going to all the right places. Perhaps we should get mother to also join us… have her sit on the lap!”