Herald of Steel

Alexander was informed about Lady Felicia's arrival as he had just finished having breakfast.

'Well that was fast,' And upon receiving it, the very initial thought was this.

He only had the talks with Lapitus just last night, not even twelve hours from now.

So although Lapitus had promised he would send his family as soon as possible, the speed appeared certainly very impressive to Alexander.

And this to him seemed to say that Lapitus was ready to launch his attack at any time, hence the urgency.

Alexander asked the herald to help make the lady as comfortable as possible in her new dwelling while he spent the morning in meetings with his generals, informing them of the defector's visit and the subsequent changes to the plan.

And it was only mid-afternoon that he invited the lady to come to his tent for lunch. 

"Greetings, esteemed Lord of Zanzan, conqueror of Thesalie. We are humbled to be in your presence." 

As Lady Felicia entered, she gave a very grand bow, along with some heavily embellished flowery words.

"We thank you for letting us dine with you, my lord,"

And immediately following that, a little girl that was next to her pronounced so, her pure, immature voice sounding like the sweet chirping of a flirting canary, who too bowed imitating Lady Felicia.

"Ah! Welcome, my ladies," Hearing the greeting, Alexander turned his focus to the two, inviting them in with a smile, as he scanned the pair at the same time.

He found the mature woman to have a very beautiful face, causing him to agree with Lapitus's statement about his wife's beauty.

And to accentuate that beauty, she was garbed in an equally exquisite jet black half-sleeved gown, heavily gilded with fine intricate stickwork and laced with numerous strings of small stone and pearls along her bountiful curves, all of which glowed under the perforating sunlight, lighting up the dress and causing it to sparkle.

Her neck and ears had lavish jeweled gold ornaments, while her arms possessed patterned gold and silver bangles.

The leather shoes she wore had a floral pattern on them, decorated with a yellow topaz and there was a hint of sweet lilac emanating from her body.

While the girl next to her was almost equally immaculately dressed and dolled up, wearing very expensive dresses, jewelry, and makeup of her own, her gorgeously fashioned head reaching up to her counterpart's hips, the fresh innocent face appearing to be around eight or nine years old.

Looking at the duo, Alexander was actually more surprised to see them dressed so ornately under the current circumstances rather than their actual beauty. 

Especially Lady Felicia, Alexander thought that judging by her choice of garments as well as the countenance on her face, it did not at all seem like she had just escaped from her home in fear for her life while leaving her husband behind.

Instead, her body language appeared to convey the feeling of as if she was attending a lavish party or a family get-together.

To Alexander it appeared that this lady was not that much concerned about her current circumstances and instead seemed much more interested in maintaining her image and presenting herself at the peak of her beauty.

This caused Alexander to judge her to be very materialistic, likely always wanting to enjoy all the good things in life.

Which then drifted his mind to subconsciously ask, 'How the hell did Lapitus manage to afford all of this for her?'

Because just the dress the two of them wore should have cost Lapitus his yearly salary or even more, forget about the extravagant ornaments and accessories.

And Alexander would know a bit about such expenses, as after his house burnt down, he had to buy all his girls as well as the twins, and Lady Nanazin and her daughters quite a few such expensive dresses in order to compensate them for the things they lost in the fire so that they could keep up appearances.

To him those bills, which were nothing.

But he doubted Lapitus had such deep pockets.

Although being the city lord's right-hand man was no insignificant post, and the pay was no doubt well enough to match that title, but even still, Alexander doubted it was 'that' good.

It had to be also remembered that Lapitus was no noble and likely had no other significant sources of income, like from lands he owned.

Meaning his earned income was all he could have to spend.

And earned income can only get you so far.

So Alexander judged that to afford his wife's expensive lifestyle, either Lapitus would have had to borrow from others, be a crook and steal from the military, or be heavily favored by his father-in-law, who certainly had the capital to give his daughter all this.

And Alexander wondered which of these were.

And it was all these things that were running across his mind as he invited the duo to a small dining table that had been placed there specifically for them, beneath a large tent flap that let in much of the bright afternoon summer sun and illuminated the entire room with a decadent golden hue.

"My lady, please have a seat. I hope you had no trouble coming here. And I apologize for the bare accommodations. Sadly we are unable to provide you with better, haha," 

Alexander gregariously posed as they were being seated, while some of his staff worked hastily to serve the food onto the table.

"My lord is too humble. We are honored to be just in your presence. And our accommodations have been nothing but of the utmost luxury. We dare not complain about the slightest of imbroglio." 

At Alexander's niceties, Lady Felicia too gave some flowery replies, while her hands were seen quickly grabbing the expensive food being presented to her. 

Because Alexander knew he would be entertaining guests, he had asked the kitchen to be a bit lavish in their menu, and they did not disappoint.

There were huge loaves of freshly baked white bread, honey-roasted chicken, barbequed beef, salted mutton, cured trouts, salmons, butter-fired vegetables, and various aged wines which made up the mains.

This was a rare treat for Lady Felicia despite her husband's relatively high position, as she only got to feast so lavishly perhaps only once or twice a year when her father held large parties.

'To think he can get such food in a warzone! I was not wrong! I must have him!' And as Lady Felicia used her pearly whites to break down the foods, instead of relishing in the flavors, her mind was much more preoccupied with coming up with schemes on how go get into Alexander's bed.

As for feeling even the slightest amount of guilt for her husband over this planned infidelity, well that was long thrown out of the window.

For perhaps it never existed.

For she justified her actions by only saying this, 

'This is the least I deserve. This is my birthright. I'm a princess!' 

For the lady, being born of a father who belonged to the royal family, she had always thought she would be married to someone of similar status, i.e.- a high-ranking noble or even one of her step-cousins who would be a prince.

But when her father decided to marry her to someone like Lapitus, someone who was not even a noble, the amount of rage and frustration she had felt then was enough to burn a thousand cities.

So now that there was such a juicy target in front of her, there was no way Lady Felicia was going to let any morality or consciousness tie her back.

As Lady Felicia was swimming in her thoughts, Alexander here was in the midst of making some polite conversation. 

As they had their meal, Alexander brought up many miscellaneous questions which he used to get to know Lady Felicia and her husband better, and in that midst, he at last moved to questions about the mistress he was supposed to take in.

So he posed this, 

"My lady, I was wondering where is your daughter? I was hoping to meet her since I promised Sir Lapitus I would take her as my mistress. Is she not feeling well after her journey? Should I send a doctor?"

Alexander was informed by his messenger that the lady of the house had come here accompanied by two teenage girls and a child.

And Alexander presumed one of those girls to be the daughter he would take.

But instead of answering his question, Lady Felicia only let out a small gasp of "Ah!" as if she had forgotten something important and then quickly turning to the girl next to her instantly asked, 

"Fabiyana! Go introduce yourself! Quick!"

And hearing her mother's sudden order, the little girl whose tiny mouth was still full of bread and meat initially only turned to face her with a blank look.

It was too abrupt for her to instantly follow it.

But the clever girl quickly woke up to what was being asked of her, so she swallowed the large portions down as fast as she could, before lightly bowing to Alexander and saying in that same cute, immature voice, 

"Lord Husband, it is an honor to be in your grace. My name is Fabiyana!"

'I'm not a lolicon!!!!' Alexander maddeningly howled this in his mind. 

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