Herald of Steel

843 Lady Felicia's Fate (Part-1)

Theocles of course did not buy Lapitus's claim about the dream he supposedly had.

It was too vivid, too descriptive, and too much filled with symbolism.

Lapitus also did not bother to make it believable either.

He only wanted to euphemistically confirm whether he could be absolved of his oath by swearing fealty to the new goddess.

He chose to do so in such a roundabout way because Lapitus felt a bit ashamed to open himself up too directly, for he felt it was like he was confessing to some sort of crime.

Thus it was fortunate for him that Theocles was skilled enough to accurately determine the key point behind Lapitus's request, and thus answered accordingly, reassuring him that he was no oathbreaker… if he only followed this new religion.

And Lapitus needed no more encouragement.

Ordinary people might be unable to sympathize with his thought process, but for a career, straight laced soldier such as him, an oath weighed heavier than gold.

And few could imagine the discomfort the man had felt every time he recalled how he had violated it.

If not for the fear of his family, he would have never done it.

But it was ultimately because of this that Lapitus was so indecisive about what to do with the letter.

On one hand, he thought of trying to offset his guilt by offering this vital intel to his king, regardless of whether the man would feel grateful or not.

But the potential consequence of this, particularly the wrath of Alexander on him and perhaps even more frightfully on his daughter gave him pause.

It was because of that he did not send a bird to the capital yesterday.

And it was because of that that he wanted to get on a boat and go to the capital himself, to simply run from his family as a way to escape the consequences.

But now that a professional, robed, pious looking priest was offering him a way out, how couldLapitus be foolish enough not to take it?

After all, he had already betrayed the ancestors, so what was the point in staying with them?

Hence on that very morning, Lapitus converted his faith under Theocles's guidance, and as he prostrated towards the feet of the goddess at the end of his initiation, very casually he threw some scraps of paper into the blazing inferno there, its true contents only known to him.

Lapitus would then return home feeling like a thousand tonnes had been lifted off of him and crash into his bed so heavily that he would not wake up till the next day, such was his mental exhaustion.

While coming back to Alexander's perspective, he would receive the full account of Lapitus's activities at around dusk on the very same day and upon learning of the full story be actually a bit surprised at the turn of events.

'Huh! Not only did he refuse, he even converted to my religion, Must have been a busy day!' Alexander mused to himself with a small chuckle.

Alexander was quite relieved to see this report for he liked the fact that he would not have to waste a useful pawn like Lapitus.

He was also weirdly glad to see Lapitus's struggle with his oath.

For this went to show that he was at his core a man of principle.

And if Lapitus had really sent the message, well then unfortunately, he would have met a 'little accident' inside an alleyway very soon.

But just as one's success meant another's failure, Alexander too now was left with the decision of what to do with Lady Felicia.

And to let her know that, after around supper, he decided to call the lady to his study.

And this time there was no misunderstanding over why she was being called.

An evidence of which was how Alexander found her to be visually very different than her regular self.

For in much contrast to the usually very stylish way the lady tended to present herself, Lady Felicia's current appearance could be said to be almost frightening, for she not only looked very haggard and gaunt, with sunken eyes and sullen cheeks, but her entire body also seemed to ooze a kind of melancholic fragrance like all the liveliness in her had been sucked away.

The lady wore a very simple, nondescript white dress and upon noticing Alexander, gave a very woody bow, before proceeding to sit in that very chair from two days ago without needing any more instructions, her steps appearing almost like a puppet.

To Alexander, the entire thing looked very bizarre, as if the lady he knew had been replaced by a weird, lifesized robot.

But then again, if their sides were reversed and Alexander was as power hungry as her, perhaps he would be the same.

Taking a seat across the table, Alexander then leaned on the luxurious chair, initially enjoying the sight of this devious woman squirming.

Until finally getting to the main point.

"I believe you have heard?" His voice was cool and collected.

".... Yes." While the reply was anything but.

It took a while for Lady Felicia to produce this word, and it sounded extremely coarse, like it a bone was stuck inside her throat.

Even now, the woman was in kind of a daze, for she could not believe Lapitus had not done it.

And when she had first learned of it the lady felt like her world was literally spinning, as she even felt very unwell.

Furthermore, much similar to Lapitus, she too had spent a sleepless night, and now that the only promise she had made to Alexander had come crumbling down, she felt like she was lost at sea, all alone and amidst a typhoon, with no end in sight.

And it was while swimming in that horrific whirlpool of absolute terror that she suddenly heard Alexander's cold voice, "So what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Nothing... I was wrong."This time the answer was instant but very monotone.

Like Lady Felicia had lost the will to fight.

This was because she could tell that Alexander was not really asking her to provide any excuse, but simply wishing to see her reaction.

To play with her.

However, if Alexander was thinking he was going to get a good show, then she would have to disappoint him.

As even when beaten and defeated, the proud woman was not going to let herself be treated like a jester.

Hence she did not put on an elaborate performance of crawling and begging Alexander.

That trick had already been used.

Instead, she was of the mind that if she was gonna go down, she was gonna do down with her neck held high, like a proud peacock.

While Alexander, seeing this and sensing a sort of martyrdom in Lady Felicia, half chuckled to himself,

'She seems to have some misunderstanding about what is about to happen.'

Then, without hanging the lady in waiting for long, Alexander straightened his back up and revealed,

"Well, you were not wrong necessarily. I can say with good authority that Lapitus did indeed think of sending the message."

"But seemed to have changed his mind midway."

"So I'm willing to give you the city…. for a price."

One should have seen how Lady Felicia's face changed the moment Alexander said this, like as if a lightbulb had turned itself on.

"My… Lord Pasha," The other party seemed so overwhelmed that fiercely gripping the handle of the chair, she began to stutter, almost having lost her voice.

And then Alexander even noticed literal tears starting to streak down her face.

Something which caused him to half lampoon, 'I have not been said what I the price will be.

But just the promise of the city seemed to be enough.

And it took a few minutes for Lady Felicia to finally bring her emotions under control, as at last her logical mind took over her emotional heart, and halted her from doing something like starting to jump in joy just yet.

Instead, it managed to at last give a proper response to Alexander's offers, by making Lady Felicia deeply bow her head and give this aureate praise,

"Thank you, my lord. Your insightfulness is truly a manifestation of your great eruditeeness. Verify you are a god's favored."

The words were so flowery that Alexander struggled to even understand some of them.

But he could at least tell they were good things about him, as he then continued.

"However.. the condition…" Alexander paused a bit to look at Lady Felicia's reaction, but in much contrast to the expected wariness, Alexander only saw alacrity.

It appeared that as long as Alexander was willing to give her rule of Thesalie, the woman was willing to endure it all.

So he pressed on, narrowing his eyes to coldly say, "If I were to ask,... which body part would you be willing to sacrifice for this position?"

"Anything!"

If Alexander was wishing to see Lady Felicia squirm, he was grossly disappointed, for the answer came almost instantly, like the presumed act was not even worth a consideration, and her face was even flushed with excitement.

'Hisss! I forgot just how ambitious you were.' Alexander could not help but slightly curse as reminded himself of this once again.

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