Herald of Steel

Lord Parker Heeat was understandably a little bit peeved that his prey had managed to escape just like that.

He had already discussed how this meeting would go.

Either Alexander would leave the garden with a nod and a promise that he would support Miss Linda in her endeavors.

Or he would leave it in a body bag, his body filled with crossbow bolts.

And if Lord Parker had indeed let out these bolts, Alexander would have had a hard time surviving them despite the good armor he had under him, given the huge size and draw weight of these behemoths.

When the two men had decided to kill Alexander, they made sure to come prepared.

Lord Parker had even chucklingly commented to Achillas, "Hehe, how ironic would it be if this Alexander were to die from this… his own invention?"

To which Achillas had chortled back, "Hahaha, yes," before turning to glance at his beautifully carved and crafted weapon, made of the best wood and steel, and embellished with pure gold and silver etchings, as he then let out a song of praise, "But this is indeed a magnificent invention. Perfect to train peasants. And perfect to use in assassinations. Needs no lengthy draws. So can can be fired from confined spaces… like an alcove."

The man's eyes had shined with an ominous light when he said this, as the general could not help but play the scenario in his head.

The first two shots would probably not be enough to kill the target, but the powerful hit from such huge bolts would definitely be more than adequate to immobilize him via sheer shock and pain.

And as Alexander would fall on to his knees, the two men could quickly approach him, reloading their bows midway and then taking their next shot aimed at vitals like the throat, head, or even face, shot from point blank range to ensure the hit and subsequent kill.

Achillas thought the plan was perfect.

However, Miss Linda's vulgar speech and Alexander's abrupt and rapid exit left both the men momentarily too stunned to know what to do, unsure whether to let Alexander leave or kill him regardless of the apocalyptic repercussions it might cause.

And by the time either of them could come to a decision, Alexander was already out of the small, walled garden, beyond the reach of crossbows.

They might have a range of a few hundred meters, but even these powerful crossbows could not shoot through walls.

"*Tsk*, we should have taken the shot when we had the chance. Can we kill him tonight in his room?" It was only now, after he had gotten the time to think, that the next in line Duke Heeat expressed his regret at having let his chance slip, believing letting Alexander leave was a mistake and wanted to rectify it as soon as possible.

"No! Master, you mustn't!" However this time, his ever-trusting general interjected with a terrified face, quickly appraising,

"Since we have failed, it is best that we do not antagonize the man any further. Not without cause at least. He might be young but his military exploits are already legendary. To win against King Perseus and in just two years at that… my lord should know better than most how fearful that it."

"Even the famed city of Thesalie fell to him. Fighting Lord Alexander will not be wise, especially given the situation now. Please reconsider!"

Achillas sounded both amazed and frightened by Alexander's reputation, making it clear he had no wish to meet the man in combat.

A sentiment shared by his wife too, as Lady Adele quickly joined to chime further, "Yes! Unless we have some strong evidence to convict him, it will be ruinous for our reputation to assassinate him in our house. He is our guest here. As hosts, we must treat him with respect, even if it is only outwardly."

This was basic etiquette among most parts of the world and no different for Sybaris.

Letting any harm befall a guest staying in your house reflected extremely poorly on oneself.

So poorly in fact that this time even Miss Linda had to assent, humming, "Mmmm… although I hate to say it, but such an ignoble act will surely poorly reflect on us," before producing a cautious tone, "Not to mention, even if he is gone, his army will remain. They are camped just over there. It is only a short hop from there to here and I do not want to turn my home into a battlefield. We should avoid engaging him overtly if possible."

"..." Lord Parker did not express objection or agreement to any of what the trio said, but only pursed his lips.

Although deep inside he already knew the answer- even as the next duke of the Heeat family he could not ignore the majority will of his retainers.

Especially not when he was in a foreign land and trying to carry out a covert operation such as this.

But that did not mean he was happy with it.

The man personally thought letting Alexander leave was a big mistake, especially because of how talented the man had proved himself to be.

He wanted to cut the tree at the roots- despite the potential military, economic, and political consequences it would inevitably cause.

Who knew when he would get another chance like this?

Surely not one like this one- face to face in a secluded place, given what his wife had just said.

Thus at this missed opportunity, Lord Parker lampooned, 'I should have acted more decisively! But why did he not take the bait? Did he sense something? I thought the trap was certain to succeed given how famous Adhania is for its pruency. So what gives?'

However try as he might, the young lord was of course unable to understand how Alexander managed to avoid the trap.

Hence, peeved by his failure, his anger was suddenly transferred to his newlywed wife, sending her a glaring gaze and shooting through clenched teeth,

"You are saying all this now, but you could not think that before saying all those vulgar things? Why did you have to go off like that? Why did you not just try to seduce him some more to have him touch? Or even throw yourself over to him? That would have surely worked too!"

Lord Parker very casually revealed a potentially frightful outcome for Alexander even if he had managed to hold his lust,something he had luckily avoided.

The reason being, as stated by a sneering Lord Parker, "Is it because he did not instantly fall to his knees upon seeing you? Was it your pride? Are you that petty? Hateful woman!"

Being poked at all her vulnerable spots, Miss Linda was left with little excuse -the man had hit the hammer on the nail.

Being born as the next in line successor to a ducal family, Lord Parker had got to meet all sorts of people, with all sorts of faces, and got to gain quite a knack for seeing through people.

This is why he wanted to kill Alexander despite the opposition because he sensed something dangerous in him.

And this was also why he could easily identify the reason for Miss Linda's outburst- due to being insulted by Alexander's rejection.

"....." Towards all these accusations, Miss Linda had little to counter this with, thus clamped up and lowered her head.

While seeing this as a vindication of his reasoning, Lord Parker continued his scathing rebuke,

"You probably thought being a born noble, a slave like Alexander would feel honored to let him touch you. And when he didn't, you lashed out. Am I wrong?"

The man gave Miss Linda to defend herself once.

And after having the time to quickly think of a good excuse, the cunning lady took the chance,

"You did not see what I saw! For some reason Alexander had already decided to not touch either of us. And I knew no amount of seduction was going to convince him otherwise."

"That's why I tried to anger him. I thought that since he was not going to touch me, I might as well try and make him hit me. Then we would have an even better excuse. It was a good plan!"

Miss Linda fervently defended her actions, claiming to have seen through Alexander's thoughts.

"..." And it was Lord Parker's turn to be muted because if you thought about it like that, Miss Linda's idea did not sound too bad.

It was of course only known to Miss Linda whether she was really thinking this ahead or simply twisting the fact to the narrative and appear like a genius.

But regardless, the reasoning was there, so seeing her husband's silence, Miss Linda went on to further vent, twisting her face into a furious, manic expression,

"And what if I did say it? Did I lie? Everyone knows what the Adhanians do. It is absolutely disgusting! So who is to say his wife is not getting fucked in their bedroom as we speak? The whore definitely is!"

"How dare that slave of an insect preach to me about adultery and chastity? As if I would ever let that filth touch me!"

Despite the diplomatic incident Miss Linda had caused, the lady appeared totally unapologetic.

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