HERALD OF STEEL

Alexander listened patiently to some of the names given by Lady Nanazin, but he either did not know any of them or had only just barely heard of them being mentioned in the furthest of the periphery in a report.

Meaning they were either too small, they did not matter in the context of his life, and also to some extent, Alexander was simply ignorant. He really did not bother learning much about the royal court and its ‘inhabitants’ as he found it irrelevant.

“You…” Something that shocked Lady Nanazin after seeing that vacant face and hearing the frank admission that he had little idea who the lady was talking about.

She could not believe the man below her was so ‘illiterate’, unaware of even these major players in Adhanian politics.

How was he to navigate the complex political shenanigans if he did not even know who he was playing against?

This made her at first want to scold him.

But soon found it too much of a hassle.

So deciding to forego it, she lightly rubbed her temples and simply chimed,

“*Sigh*, forget it! I will give you a list of the names of the nobles involved and their details. Be sure to learn them. As you once said- knowledge is power.”

“I do not know what tricks they have hidden in their bellies but it is best to be at least be aware they exist! Do not underestimate them.”

Lady Nanazin made the comment with the utmost sincerity, fearing foul play and slightly shivering upon remembering the numerous ways these nobles had to get their money back.

“Hmmmp, tricks!” However Alexander felt arrogant enough to dismiss these words of caution with a trivial wave of hand, narrowing his eyes, and sneering, Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire

“I respect your advice Nanazin, but with all due respect, I am not a poor, helpless housewife with an abusive husband by my side. These names that you listed… the reason why I did not recognize them is not because I am foolish or ignorant but that they are simply too small and insignificant.”

“That is right! The people who abused and hurt you, the people who you are so afraid of… they are nothing to me. I am that strong!”

It was unknown if Alexander truly believed in this embellished status of his or if he was just saying this to alleviate the worried lady’s heart.

But whichever it was, it worked, as Lady Nanazin decided to drop the topic. They had already argued about a whole lot more in the morning and by the end Alexander had still decided to go with it no matter what.

So why keep beating a dead horse?

Coupled this determination with Alexander’s very special standing- a unique economy and a very strong army… and the boastful display did parlay much of her worries.

‘Maybe I am thinking too much. These nobles… hmm would I fear them like that if I too had a 50,000 army at my command?’ The Adhanian queen asked herself seriously, re-evaluating their threat.

Then as she lowered the score relative to Alexander, suddenly taking advantage of his good mood, curved her smoky eyes and chimed with a teasing tone,

“Then my lord, if you are so strong… why don’t you take my daughters as your concubines? What are you afraid of you- Ptolomy?”

“…” Alexander quickly lifted his lidded eyes at the sudden proposal, matching it with Lady Nanazin’s demanding gaze.

He was a bit taken back by the ask- because the lady had never been this direct. Until now it had all been signals and subtle hints.

But it seemed the lady had finally run out of patience and wanted a direct response.

The problem was Alexander was reluctant to give one- because it would be a strong negative and he feared as a mother Lady Nanazin would not like it.

The same reasoning went for any explanation.

So Alexander instead once again decided to change the topic, giving her a light smile, and cooly asking, “Did you take part in tonight’s festivities as part of a deal with Cam for this? Why the sudden urgency? Did something happen?”

“Hmmp! I was always concerned about them. I just did not tell you yet, my lord!” At Alexander’s question, Lady Nanazin gave a sort of haughty snort, as if slightly offended by the innuendo that she had not been looking out for her daughters till now.

The trio were the lady’s most precious treasures and she would never let anyone bully them.

Thus narrowing her eyes, she added her reasoning, “The problem is they are getting on with their ages. No, they have already gotten on with their age. They are twenty three! By the gods… girls have sons that can fight in wars by this age… Ahhh how time flies!”

Lady Nanazin slightly shook her head with a misty look in her eyes as she sighed.

It was unknown if she was lamenting over her daughter’s overdue marriage or the fact they had grown up so quickly.

While the listening Alexander indeed agreed with Lady Nanazin on this- twenty three years might sound very young us- like a tender girl fresh out of college and just starting to blossom, still possessing a bit of that tender naive teenage charm in the midst of her feminine beauty, but in this time period, there was really only one word for it- old.

There was no other way of putting it.

Due to the average lifespan being so low as well as it being costly to raise a child, a daughter who would eventually leave to become another man’s possession by law was not seen as a logical long terms investment for most regular peasants.

So the father, thinking the best for the whole family, tried to set this ship off before it began to sink them all, tying his daughters’ knot around the age of nine to twelve, if not even younger.

While the more affluent nobles could afford to delay it for a bit longer, letting the girl’s body mature and gain some more worldly knowledge- such as her training.

But even then, their age not be more than sixteen years. Maximum was eighteen but that was already quite pushing it.

Hence for the triplets to be already twenty three and still have no suitor in sight…. this would indeed be very concerning for any mother.

Not to mention Adhania, just like most of the known world had some very nasty rumors regarding older women that got too old without getting married- and spinsters and shrews were the more gentle and kind ones of the sort.

They were believed to be cursed by the gods as the people reasoned- ‘Why else would the heavens not pair them with a husband? It must be because they had done something to upset them. The gods are angry with them.’

While another group saw them as vessels of diseases- reasoning this was why they lacked the desire to marry and procreate.

Remember in this time period, diseases were thought to be supernatural phenomena caused by the unseen- gods, devils, and spirits. So the logic was the ‘impurities and death’ stored in these girls’ bodies repelled any close intimate contact with life- i.e.- having a husband and then producing a child with him.

And lastly, there was a minority with the extreme view these girls were actually ‘witches’.

These people believed that an old, preserved virginity was a requirement for learning magecraft, with the effects becoming stronger with age- so the older the better.

And these half psychos even liked to sometimes even hunt and burn these poor girls at the stake, calling them ‘whores of the devil’.

And what was perhaps even worse was what they would do prior to this- remember their belief about virginity… well they believed these ladies required ‘purification’ before their absolvement.

As for what they did with do ‘cleanse’ them, well let us not get into the macabre details.

But it was not hard to guess the great tragedy that fell these innocent women,

Now thankfully, these last group of extremists were very low in numbers. The origins of such faith lay in the pagan beliefs native to these lands which existed before the advent of the Ramuh faith and given the millennium of erosion till date, most of that had already been drowned out of existence.

Only a few scattered twisted remnants remained, which got inadvertently mixed with the official Ramuh teachings, leading to such bizarre practices.

But because these practices were so hidden and subtle, the Ramuh temples also hesitated to outright declare it heresy.

It would involve too many people and it was not like everyone who cursed unmarried women also burnt them at the stake.

So the clergy only covertly hunted those who not only believed in this but openly implemented this.

Also, to clear a point, it would be wrong to think the temples defended the unmarried women from such barbarity out of the kindness of the heart.

Rather, they were almost just a lucky side beneficiary as the temple’s true gripe with these deviants was that the ones zealous enough to do this also liked to do something arguably far worse- due to their belief concerning magic and chastity, they did something very bad to very young girls.

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