Herald of Steel

Seelima was not interested in the service Alexander was willing to provide.

Rather, taking advantage of his eagerness, the shrewd woman asked about one of the most pressing matters in her heart- the true extent of Alexander’s desire and what he wanted from the royal family.

This was a question that had been burning in her heart from the moment Alexander became pasha, and she desperately wanted to know if she could trust him.

While the weight and suddenness of the question caught Alexander quite off guard- he did not think this was the appropriate time to discuss this.

So given the Queen Mother had indeed brought this up…

“What does Your Highness mean?” He turned to look at her a bit defensively, wanting to confirm the query with caution laced in his voice.

“It is as ‘I’ said…what do you think of ‘us’?” Seelima met Alexander’s gaze fearlessly without any hesitation, reiterating her question with none of the previous softness. Right now her eyes were sharp and fierce, as she noted,

“There have been many rumours among nobles about what your true intentions are regarding ‘us’. Rumors that make ‘us’ uneasy. So…we would very much like to know, Lord Alexander.”

“Oh?” The man curved his lips into a small grin at this new information, raising his eyebrows curiously, “I am not well versed in the gossip of the capital! What do the esteemed nobles say about me?”

The Queen Mother subtly furrowed her beautiful brows upon observing Alexander’s nonchalance. She had assumed that if Alexander had some ulterior plans, they would surface during their talks, even if by only a little bit. So seeing his current frank, open attitude… she became a bit confused.

But the experienced lady quickly hid this before it could be detected. Just because Alexander did not reveal this did not mean no ulterior motives existed.

Thus quickly flashing her beautifully manicured fingernails, she answered him,

“There are many, many rumors strewn about you. Too many to realistically count… especially if you take the most ridiculous ones. However, there are indeed a few that concern ‘us’…”

At this point, Seelima strategically paused, but was disappointed to see Alexander contain that same, cool look, totally unfazed by what was to come.

So she gave up on her prodding and went straight to listing all her misgivings,

“There are many here in the capital who question your recent string of conquests. They think you are too much of a warmonger.. that you control too much land and… have too much power. ‘They’ most fear you will once start having designs for Adhan…. after all, you did once conquer it.”

“….” Alexander only snickered in his mind at this accusation- not asking who ‘they’ truly were and certainly not putting the words into his ears. Because of course his enemies, as well as soe allies were going to become weary of him becoming strong. This was only natural.

Outwardly however, he kept a serene facade, staying silent and simply nodding to acknowledge that he had heard the point and noted it down. He intended to answer later.

Thus the regal lady continued with her list,

“The nobles also do not like your way of governance. ‘We’ hear that you have set up something called a parliament… where even commoners can ‘vote’! This.. this is a terrible thing… an affront to the Father. Only us nobles are allowed to rule, not the common, nameless masses. It is our divine right. ‘We’ caution you not to introduce your Thesian ways here, my lord.”

Seelima seemed properly riled up as she made this point.

“….” And once again, Alexander stayed silent and just nodded- even though he could have easily said a lot. For instance, if Seelima truly followed what she preached, then even she would not be here.

But given the circumstances, Alexander let it go.

Thus the Queen Mother finished herself with the ultimate complaint,

“Lastly, there have been many unsavory talks about your goods. They say you can only make your glass so clear by using black magic. And that, that thing you make.. Umm.. what’s it called… umm…cement, yes, cement! They say cement is made by mixing crushed skulls of babies. Also, making white sugar requires blood sacrifices and that you cut up live humans in your clinic to make your medicines.”

The Queen Mother did not notice it as she finished, or simply thought Alexander was scoffing at the ridiculous allegations, but the man’s face visibly changed at the last point. The others were of course all complete balderdash but the matter of dissection…

Well while technically not exactly true, as Alexander only carried out autopsies of dead bodies in his clinic- so that the doctors could learn about the internal structure of the body as well as test out new medicines.

But much to his shame, sometimes… well let’s just say the subject would not always be dead, but merely very close to it.

This, needless to say, this was a taboo among taboo in the deeply theocratic country.

It did not even matter if Alexander had clear consent from the patient because this consent was not his to give.

Adhanian society vehemently rejected the modern motto- ‘My body, my choice,’ but believed the body to be a sacred vessel ‘lent’ to them by the Father.

Thus it was vitally imperative to take the best care of it.

This belief even extended to surgeries- such that even vital procedures that could surely save one’s life were still seen in an extremely bad light. Impressively, this same respect even extended to the battlefields, where mutilations and savagery were very rare among Adhanian units.

Indeed dead bodies were seen as one of the most untouchable things in the world for Adhanians.

Thus, the consequences for the one found intentionally soiling it…

Well let us just say that Alexander could be caught doing incest with his own mother by the entire city and it would still not be as bad.

All nine pashas, possibly ten, would surely declare war on him for the crime of the highest form of blasphemy.

‘How? How do they know? Did it get leaked? Did someone talk? Or is it simply blind luck?’ Alexander’s heart thus palpitated like few ever before, struggling to detect the flaw. This secret of the clinic was naturally well guarded, and so he found it hard to believe it got out so easily.

‘This was not supposed to happen. Certainly not so soon. If it gets out…Tsk! I am not ready!’ He quickly clenched his fist in alarm, and then even started to consider shutting the whole project down.

Fortunately he was inadvertently yanked out of his thoughts by the voice of a distracted Queen Mother, thus stopping his spiraling descent down the rabbit hole.

She interjected him with a sharp, inquiring voice, “So Lord Alexander, what do you think of ‘our’ concerns? Are they warranted?”

This was not a question.

“….” So in response, the man slowly turned his head up to meet the gorgeous lady, restoring his original facade and then softly chuckling in a breezy, nonchalant voice,

“Hahaha… well I must say… some of them are certainly novel… novel indeed. I never thought the capital had such talent. I.. I am honestly feeling a bit overwhelmed. What can I even say here… hehehe.”

Seelima on the other hand appeared less amused, possibly because of Alexander’s doggy answer.

So with that same frosty facade, she responded in a thick, somber tone,

“Indeed, many of them are ridiculous. But these rumours do exist! And the men do listen to them. So how does my lord plan to quash them? Or are you content to let them just float about, thinking time will dissolve them by itself?”

“….” Alexander’s eyes too turned a bit lidded hearing this, as he found the Queen Mother did make a good point.

It might seem totally absurd to him given he knew the ins and outs of all the manufacturing procedures of his product, but to the unlearned masses who only had guesses and conjectures to work it… well, people have believed far more ludicrous things.

Just look at the example of witch burnings, the flat earthers or any other thousands of crazy conspiracy theories.

It surprisingly took very little effort for foolishness to take root. Thus Aleander found it would indeed not be in his best interest to simply let such dangerous talks germinate and spread without any hindrance.

Also in addition to mere panic, Alexander thought he detected a far more sinister hidden agenda, and could not help but consider the motives of the people behind it.

And by people, he of course meant the nobles- as the common masses had no place here.

As a side note, the same also went when Seelima mentioned the word- as the general public were barely seen as living beings in front of the haughty woman.

So given the nobles were involved…

“Oh, I forgot one last one- the priests are also unhappy with that… ‘writing machine’ you made.” Alexander’s thoughts were suddenly interpreted by this abrupt musing, as Seelima breezily added the last point with a bit of an ironic smirk,

“They claim knowledge is a divine gift from the Father… granted only to those who deserve it. It is a sin to waste this on commoners. So they want ‘us’ to order you to destroy all the machines.”

“Snort!” Alxx immediately threw the reply to this absurd request like a bullet, “If they have a problem with it, they can come and destroy themselves! We will see.”