Herald of Steel

The small number of people gathered inside the dimly lit room would not have been any strangers to Alexander if he were to see them.

He had met them all recently, with the two most prominent people being Lord Nolan and Miss Linda.

And it was the old wizened man who took the charge, sanctioning the attack and firmly declaring, "We will use our men in the mansion to commit the deed. While at the same time, Lord Parker will launch an attack on Alexander's men from the other side, distracting them and thus preventing them from coming to his aid," as the man then sharply slanted his eyes towards the angelic looking woman, "Linda, let your husband know. The timely must be perfect."

Lord Nolan made sure to put an emphatic emphasis on the last bit, as he feared that otherwise, Alexander's men, after hearing of their lord's demise, might become enraged and choose to take their anger out on them, blindly slaughter everyone in the mansion as revenge.

So the moment when all this happened was very important.

The attack on Alexander and the attack on Alexander's line must be done very close to one another, or it could alert the other side.

If Alexander was killed while his men were free, the lightly guarded mansion would be turned to ash and smoke.

But if the Heeat family soldiers attacked Alexander's men before Alexander was assassinated, then Alexander might react unpredictably, such as receiving word from them and leaving the premises to lead the defense of the line.

The bird could not be allowed to leave the coup.

Neither could the entirety of the Margraves family be sacrificed to kill just one man.

Lord Nolan had explained all of this to Miss Linda in great detail prior to the meeting, hence at the reminder, she deftly nodded her head differentially, "I will be sure to send messengers to my lord when the time is near. He will attack when he sees the light signal coming from the mansion."

In a very rare instance, Miss Linda too appeared solemn and serious, and not at all gleeful and expectant of the attack.

She was suddenly finding that going against the cultural norms and assassinating one's guest was not as easy as she had thought.

Her heart still pricked at the bad decision.

Because deep inside she knew that although Lord Nolan had claimed the people's rage had reached a feverish pitch and they would be able to kill Alexander without repercussions, this was all a hunch, a best estimate.

No one really knew how the following events would unfold. And the 5,000 men stationed right on her doorsteps gave her great trepidation about the act.

However, all this apprehension was of course not enough to stop her.

Given how far they had come, and the dangerous foe Alexander was showing himself to be, Miss Linda knew she had to act.

As long as Alexander stayed alive, that formidable line of defense would continue to hold rock solid and his men would effectively keep them under house arrest as hostages.

Thus the plotting side made sure to try their best to prepare for this dangerous act.

Alexander's route to the room and his routine were thoroughly scouted out using maids and servants, the number of guards around him at all times was definitely determined, and even which men did which shifts were taken into account.

And finally the following plan was formulated.

A group of men would first attack the guards stationed at the door with crossbows all the way from the two ends of the corridor under the cover of darkness, thus killing or at least incapacitating them.

Following right that, the men would charge in with lightning speed to fully capitalize on this momentarily shock, finishing the wounded two off with a swift stab to the throat, before kicking the door open and bursting in.

And there they would stab and kill anything and everything that moved. So it would not be just Alexander who would be the target.

But anyone who might be sleeping with him too- be it Lady Nanazin, Lady Parthia, or even a maid sent to the man as a bed warmer.

Everyone in the room was to be neutralized, and as soon as this was done, a signaller positioned in a particular room of the mansion would be given the go ahead to shine a bright light using a mirror toward Lord Parker's camp.

And given the utter ambient darkness of the night, it would appear like a lighthouse to the men who would know where to look.

Miss Linda was the one who had come up with this method and was even particularly proud of it.

Especially because the mirror to be used here was one gifted by Alexander, chosen because of its high quality glass, meaning it reflected much more light, and also because the lady liked the irony of it.

Having received the signal, the prepared Lord Parker would then immediately launch a huge, nearly all out attack on Alexander's lines, surprising them, and if they were lucky even breaking through them.

But even if the best case scenario did not happen, it would more than likely be enough to stall and distract the men enough for Miss Linda, her son, Lord Nolan, and Lady Adele to either escape to the allied camp or even have the Heeat family soldiers use the ships from Great Harbor to land on the Royal Harbor and secure the mansion.

This was at least the plan.

And having formulated it, Miss Linda then sent her messengers to her husband, informing him of it.

Because Lord Parker had been unable to enter the mansion after Alexander barricaded the streets without significant risks.

Thus the man chose to wisely stand in his camp, safe and sound, with the only drawback being he could not participate in such discussions.

Hence unaware of the decision being taken by the small table, it was left up to the people inside to be his eyes and ears.

And it was carrying the details of the decisions, the time, and the place that Miss Linda sent messengers to her husband.

And yes, it was multiple messengers so ensure that at least one of them reached the man.

However, for all the cunning the lady was blessed with, this was where she stumbled, being unable to foresee the following developments.

Which was that Alexander had suddenly decided to increase the guards and employ stricter checks, as well as block many of the usual routes the messengers would usually take.

And this had happened unknowingly due to Miss Linda's own actions.

Because remember how Miss Linda had swindled money off of Alexander and then had it 'shipped' to Lord Parker?

Well, Alexander's men were not blind fools and luckily managed to catch some of it.

This had happened because the 'smugglers' had to make numerous trips to transfer the gold via boat, both due to the sheer volume of money Alexander had poured onto Lord Nolan's feet and also because they had to hide it among other things, thus reducing the amount able to be carried.

And they had to do all this in broad daylight because there would be a complete curfew at night, where anyone moving around without the appropriate passcode would be either directly shot or be taken to the dungeon to be questioned in the morning.

All of this gave the guards numerous opportunities to detect the operation. And by simple virtue of balance of probability, one day they got lucky.

It happened one morning when one of the soldiers standing guard at the docks suddenly felt a shining glint coming from one of the boats, and becoming curious, he had the nearby vessel hauled to the shore for further inspection.

And there it all became clear to everyone.

It seemed that due to either hastiness or an honest mistake, a few of the gold coins had not been properly hidden.

And when Alexander was informed of this, the man was understandably pissed out of his mind about this.

It did not take the man long to understand he had been swindled.

And at first, he wanted to fly into Lord Nolan's room and strangle the bastard in a blind rage.

However under Lord Nolan's advice, he decided to withdraw his hand for now, willing to give the man rope to hang himself with.

Then he instead ordered the guards to let the boat go after taking a small bribe.

And the servants were of course overjoyed by this.

They were terrified of what would happen if their master or mistress came to know about this, and so not only they paid, but they also very obediently kept their mouth shut about this to anyone.

Meaning neither Lord Nolan nor Miss Linda was aware that Alexander was onto them.

All of which led to one of the messengers being caught during the more rigorous searches.

Due to trying the blocks, this man had to try to pass through a route he was unfamiliar with, and so unfortunately he got caught.

And then the letter he had with him made it to Alexander's desk within an hour, while the man was taken for questioning into the camps.

It did not take long for him to squeal.

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