Herald of Steel

Alexander's asking about Iyizarid's state was not as much as wanting to warn Sybarsis of an impending attack but more of wanting to find out how he could make that happen.

A Sybarsis- Iyizarid war would not be bad for him, as it would occupy some of the Kaiser family's resources which would help his ally out.

So now the question was how to do it. 

The ducal families of Sybarsis did not sit and stand at  Iyizarid's actions and even if there was a war, not all the resources of the massive country that was Sybarsis would be diverted to fend off that threat. 

So trying to change the course of the fate of entire countries was not something Alexander could easily do, especially given his relative size.

That would be mad.

But it was only something like a pet project for now, as Alexander then forced his focus back to the two people presently sitting in front of him.

And after getting to the full extent of the bind the Margraves were in, at last said, 

"I think I get where we all stand."

"It seems the money the Kaiser family has spent as war reparations and the men Governor Straus lost will take some time to recover."

"So we can breathe a bit for now." Alexander lightly nodded his head, but then said in a cautionary tone, 

"But I would advise against lowering our guards,"

"It also seems the peace we obtained is a precarious one." Alexander said the word 'we' to show his solidarity with them, adding, 

"And given how the enemy is willing to play dirty, such as they did with the ransom money, it would not surprise me to see that they used some excuse to break the treaty ahead of time."

"I hope my lord and lady will be careful." 

To Alexander, it was apparent this was only a truce, not a lasting peace agreement.

"Thank you for your reminder. We will keep an eye out, "Lady Miranda solemnly replied, though it was unknown how much of Alexander's warning she took to heart.

Breaking treaties were very very rare, nothing like the sly sleight of hand the Kaiser family pulled off with the ransom deal.

So Lady Miranda was a bit skeptical about Alexander's caution.

And Alexander would be very happy if he was wrong about it. 

As this part of the discussion ended, then if came Lady Miranda's turn to recount what happened to her personally over the last year, 

And for her, the biggest event during that time was of course the birth of her son, which also enabled her to get control of her family.

And over the past twelve months, she mostly focused on him, nursing, and tending to the love of her life.

But that was not only the thing she was engaged in.

She participated in other activities too.

For instance, she had to learn various administrative practices from her grandfather, oversee the reconstruction of their old capital, manage the books, meet with the various nobles under her and ensure their fealty, and in general strengthen her control over the lands.

All this was a lot of work and needed her to physically stay at her fief.

Combining this with the care her son needed, she simply could not make the time to visit Alexander till now.

"Congratulations on having a son, Lady Miranda! If I had known before, I would have certainly sent a great present, What's his name?"

  Knowing of the birth, Alexander gave a hearty smile, even proposing a toast to the young boy's health.

"Thank you for your kind word, Lord Alexander. I named him Marcus, after his father," 

At the mention of her son's mention, the overly powdered face of the fair woman seemed to turn a lot gentler, and her eyes dimmed as if she was not looking at Alexander, but her son right now.

Clearly, the lady held immense love for the child.

And after a bit of reminiscing, Lady Miranda further added

"I wished to bring him with me to meet you, my lord. But he fell a bit ill at the last moment."

"So I was afraid I to bring him on the journey."

"He is with his grandfather!"

At Lady Miranda's decision, Alexander was very understanding, nodding and saying, 

"Yes, yes, the journey from Galiosos to here is not easy. Especially for such a young child. My lady did the right thing."

"The seasons are changing and people tend to get sick around this time,"

"I pray that your son recovers quickly. Surely the gods will bless him,"

As Alexander said, he felt like pulling on the collar of his tunic, to let some air in, as he felt too hot and tried to cool himself him. 

"Besides, the heat in Zanzan for the last week has been unbearable! It would have been too hard for the poor guy, haha," He then added as a comment.

The latter half of August was always like this in Zanzan, unbearably hot

A grueling, sweltering heatwave would always hit the region around this time as if to try and bake everything, just before everything began to cool down by the arrival of fall during September.

It was as if the summer heat wanted one last chance to remind everyone of its existence before it finally disappeared for almost six months.

And as Alexander made mention of the heat, Lady Miranda agreed with a smile, "Haha, yes. It is really too hot," as she fanned her neck with her palms.

The noblewoman was also very hot, as evidenced by the many beads of perspiration running down her cheeks and neck, as well as the fact that her gown was now sticking to her wet back. 

And it was no surprise given how heavy the attire she wore was.

Alexander felt hot just by looking at her.

But up until now, Lady Miranda felt a bit shy about saying anything about it as it would make her seem being a demanding guest.

But now that she had euphemistically pointed it, Alexander quickly signaled one of the maids who was serving them food and drinks to start fanning her.

Which got a grateful look from the now feeling much more comfortable woman.

The recounts and conversations Alexander and the two nobles made lasted all noon and eclipsed into the night, with Alexander entertaining them for both lunch and dinner, where he introduced them to many new sweet dishes, such as new biscuits, a novel pastry, and small a saffron pie like cake, much of both's delight.

"My lord, this sugar…how much can we buy?" 

And coming to know what was the main missing ingredient, Lady Miranda did not quote how much she wanted to buy, but how much Alexander could sell.

  Her language and way of thinking truly spoke of her lineage, a true blue-blooded aristocrat who went back generations, 

And Alexander too wished he could one day have a mindset like her's.

"Haha, let us leave the talk of business for tomorrow. Today, let us feast. My lady, eat, eat…!" 

But for tonight, he made sure that the two close guests were well entertained.

And it was the next day, after a sumptuous breakfast that the two nobles began their trade negotiations with Alexander.

"My lord, I promised you that free trade agreement if I became the head of the family. Here it is," Lady Miranda handed a formally written contract with everything on her part signed and sealed to Alexander.

The contract was surprisingly written on paper, as opposed to the usual material- parchment, and it was several pages long, detailing both big and small things.

Receiving the page, Alexander was internally a bit surprised.

He had asked for the removal of all trade barriers between the two regions for 20 years as a way to boost trade.

And it seemed Lady Miranda had given him everything he wanted.

Alexander honestly did not think he would get so much, especially the long time.

He had just said the number to shoot for the moon and then intended to negotiate it down to a more reasonable number.

But it seemed that to Lady Miranda since she had promised, she decided to keep it.

And though Alexander would not know, Lady Miranda had to fight quite hard with many of her uncles and cousins and even her own grandfather to make them agree to this, all of whom wanted a more reasonable 10 years.

"I swore in the name of soul that I would get him this trade agreement if I became the head of the Margrave family!" But Lady Miranda had screamed as such and after quite a few row-filled meetings at last had gotten her way.

Alexander's crossbows did play a critical role in the results of the battle and Lady Miranda made sure to leverage that, going through a lot of hardships to place all the letters on the paper

But she did reveal any of this to Alexander and instead just let him carefully go through it.

On the first page was written the intention to form the free trade area zone, as well as listing the names of all the parties involved.

These listed not only the Margrave family but also various trading guilds.

Then came various legal jargon, as well as swearing to the gods to prevent any party from violating the agreement.

And lastly, a place to sign and seal.

*Stamp*

And as Alexander gave his seal and initials on it, 

Voila!

He had his first free trade agreement.