Herald of Steel

Alexander did not get to immediately enter the room even though he was invited inside.

Because the moment the doors were open, the very first sight that greeted him was an extremely unwelcoming one.

Right across him, sitting beside the king sized bed was Miss Linda, holding the hand of a bedridden old man that Alexander easily judged to be Lord Nolan.

He appeared very thin and frail, with gaunt cheeks and wrinkled skin, fully wrapped up in a velvet blanket and seemed currently to be engrossed in quite an amusing tale with the much younger, and beautiful woman, a thin smile streaked across his face.

It was only upon hearing the door open that the pair chose to disengage their conversation, swinging their heads towards the sound to greet their new guests.

Alexander's eyes blazed with firey hatred the moment the slanted pair of eyes met him, as he recalled the words the woman had uttered just two days ago.

And he had to really test his patience to douche that for now, hiding it behind a cool countenance and denying his body the permission to sprint over there and strangle the troublesome woman right here, right now, thus nipping the threat in the bud.

Such heavy handed tactics would not work.

"Sister! It is so nice to see you!"

While Miss Linda, lifting her head up, had her face lit up with the utmost glow the moment her eyes landed on her eldest sister as if she had just spotted her long lost other half.

If Alexander was wondering that upon suddenly seeing each other the two sisters would immediately start throwing claws at each other, then he didn't need to worry.

As seeing Lady Miranda by the door, the younger sibling hurriedly got up from her seat and came almost rushing up to her with arms spread open, then without any warning gave Lady Miranda a large, warm hug, embracing her in an almost bear like snuggle.

Alexander was astounded by just how quickly this woman could change faces- to think this was the same lady who was willing to fight to the death with her sister.

And this same thought ran through Lady Miranda, who could only stand stock still, shocked, her arms limply hanging by her side.

Lord Nolan, who was observing all this, did not look impressed with Lady Miranda by her behavior, as from his perspective, it looked like it was Lady Miranda who was being cold and vindictive by not reciprocating her sister's hug as if she was not willing to maintain family ties.

In the old man's eyes, whatever differences the two sisters might have, they should never let that get in the way of them always maintaining kinship between themselves.

And the much more socially adept Miss Linda knew this, which was the only reason she bothered to produce this facade.

And Lady Miranda knew but did not follow, which was why she got taken full advantage of here.

From just this small exchange, it could be seen who was the better schemer here.

Miss Linda easily proved why the old Margrave had chosen her as his successor instead of her elder sister.

As following the hug, Miss Linda then further drove home her deadly nail, regaling to everyone in a loud enough voice so that even the hard of hearing elderly man could hear, "I'm sorry I could not meet you in the last few days, big sister. But Quentin has been really sick and so I came to ask Uncle Nolan for his blessings. You know what they say, 'The gods accept the prayers of people who are suffering, hehe.'

"...." Looking at the cute, charming smile, both Lady Miranda and her husband Lord Cassius again entered their stunned state.

They did not how to respond- play along with his fake game and pretend everything was fine, or reveal the other side's misdeeds for the caretaker for the Margraves family to hear.

While Alexander, seeing all this from the side felt like slapping his forehead.

The couple really had a chronic indecision problem. Whichever move they chose, it would have been much better than this suspended limbo.

Hence, although reluctant to enter himself into this intimate family moment, and also feeling disgusted at even having to talk to the lady, in order to try and save the couple from this embarrassing situation, Alexander decided to step in.

Producing a large, frank smile, Alexander thus chimed,

"Greeting Lady Linda! How auspicious that he would meet again. It was just two days that we had such a lovely conversation. I'm very sad to hear about your son. Let me wish him the best of recovery. Would you like one of my doctors to look at him? Zanzan has one of the best physicians in the world you know!"

Miss Linda very telegraphedly rolled her eyes right in front of Alexander, not bothering to hide this very rude gesture in the slightest.

And if not that she was within the elder man, she might have even paired it with a very biting remark, like how she had done before.

But since she was here, she chose to be a bit more civil, flashing a sweet smile and nodding, "Thank you my lord, but Quentin is already showing signs of recovery. I will be sure to take advantage of your offer next time."

And then not willing to be in this presence for any longer, quickly attempted to excuse herself, bidding them as well as the bed ridden elder man goodbye.

To which the gentleman replied in a very gruff voice, "*Cough*, *cough*, *cough*, yes, Linda. Thank you for visiting this old man. And don't be too worried about me. You have a family now. Take care of your husband and son more."

However Alexander was not willing to let her off so easily.

Since she was here, the man wanted to interrogate her in front of the supposedly powerful, neutral old man.

Thus as Miss Linda was turning on her heels, Alexander noted in a loud voice,

"My lady, I heard there have been multiple attacks on the temples in the city during these past few nights. As someone who might very well become the next Mother Regent, I wonder what are your thoughts on the matter? Because I personally find it very strange that these god forsaken devils can move so openly even though there are 20,000 armed men in the city. Your men!"

Alexander was sure to make that last point very clear, directing these words more to the ears of the supervision of the Margraves family than actually Miss Linda.

But Miss Linda did not stumble.

Instead, swinging her head back and turning her tone cold and incisive, she too loudly declared,

"There have been indeed many miscreants looking to take advantage of our current situation. Vultures drolling to feast on our carcass the moment we fall…. But you should know that better than anyone, Lord Alexander, right?"

The lady really did not hide her animosity here, very clearly calling Alexander a vulture who was poking his nose where it did not belong and accusing him of being one of the miscreants who attacked the temple.

This ridiculous statement caused Alexander to produce a disdainful scoff, "Heh! So you are saying I ordered my men to attack the temple at night? All while your men watched? I thought you had twice as many men as us? What were they doing? Is this how you intend to rule the city when you take over?"

Alexander's inquiry was very brass and sharp, will at the same a bit untrue, as he intentionally inflated his men's true numbers to downplay the gap in strength between the two parties.

But this was of course only natural.

He would have been of course a fool to reveal such a prized secret.

Miss Linda however was not so easy to swindle and expertly retorted, "Correction my lord, we outnumber you five to one," she upped her advantage too, and then very deftly defended herself, pronouncing in a wounded tone,

"And the only reason you could do such heinous crimes is because you took advantage of us and our good nature. When we first received the reports, we did not want to even believe them. After all, you were invited to our homes by my eldest sister whom I respect the most. And we even broke bread and drank wine together. So how could we not believe you to be an upright person? Thus we waited for two nights. I admit it was our mistake." Miss Linda ended with a small bite on her lips, as if tearing up.

Alexander was astounded by the eloquence and charm on display here.

Because although it sounded like Miss Linda was blaming herself, she was actually laying it on Lady Miranda and Alexander.

It was a masterclass on how to shift blame.

Alexander had initially thought he was going to be able to corner her in front of the elderly man, revealing her crooked deeds and thus gaining an advantage in the subsequent negotiations.

But now it felt like this woman was thrashing him like she was Mohammed Ali in his prime, or Germany against Brazil in the semifinals.

Alexander thought he was seeing stars.

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