Herald of Steel

*Creak*.... Bang!

As Alexander was in the midst of swearing all the Tibian nobles in, suddenly the huge heavy main doors of the royal court swung open with a forceful push and through it hurriedly entered a lith, petite figure with swift steps, dressed in regal, party attire.

Her abrupt appearance instantly caused many heads to turn and curious looks to dawn, as the court's attention was momentarily whisked away with the desire who this intruder was.

Because no one was supposed to be this late.

And no one was certainly supposed to intrude on Alexander while he was swearing the nobles in.

Thus even Alexander was curious to know the identity of the interloper.

He did not have to wait too long to figure it out either, as the figure covered the long aisle distance in the blink of an eye, before getting close enough for Alexander to properly see.

The lady, or perhaps more appropriately girl in front of Alexander, appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen, dressed luxuriously from head to toe in a blue and silver gown, with matching sapphire necklaces, bangles, and earrings.

Possessing a slender, nimble figure housed in a short stature, her round face still had a bit of baby fat, right around her cheeks and her body radiated a youthfulness aroma.

This was the sixth and youngest princess of Tibias- Camelia, and fated to be Alexander's mistress.

And once she was close enough, the young girl greeted Alexander with a graceful bow,

"Your Lordship, I'm terribly sorry for the delay. I was feeling a bit tired and overslept. Apologies!"

However, in much contrast to the words she addressed towards Alexander, her tone was actually light and jovial.

If she was truly sorry, she was not showing it.

But that was not the reason why everyone was looking at her right now.

At least not with those kinds of curious eyes.

Instead, by now most of those gazes had turned from inquisitive to shocked and even horrified, with many crying out in stunned astonishment,

"*Hisss* Has she gone insane? Humiliating the pasha like that! What has happened to the royal family?"

"Tsk! Right! It really has down the drain. A family that can't even control its own daughters! No wonder they lost the war!"

"Stupid girl! What does she mean to accomplish with this?"

"*Sigh*, I always told Queen Parthia spoiled this girl too much."

"Abomination! Absolute Abomination."

"Filth! Utter filth!"

Such and many similar hushed whispers of curses and cusses started to waft through the air the moment everyone got to get a good look at the princess, and the reason was surprisingly mundane.

It was because the girl had appeared here with her hair cut short!

And being one of the closest people to her, Alexander got to get one of the best looks at this new hairstyle.

The chestnut mane of the girl now only covered up to her ear, with there being various patches of hair of variant lengths, the hair ends appearing quite uneven, clearing showing the cut had been done quite haphazardly by an amateur, possibly in a fit of rage or frustration.

But why was this seemingly innocuous fashion getting such a huge and negative reaction from the court?

Well, it was because of the culture of the lands.

It was not only frowned upon but perhaps even a grave taboo for a lady to cut her hair short.

Women with short hair were seen as unsightly and even believed to be actually cursed witches and hags who stole and ate children at night.

Thus there was even a punishment in Tibias for female slaves and criminals who had their hair cut short.

Due to this, no respectable woman would ever be caught sporting hair anything less than that crossed her shoulders, and instead tried to keep as long a hair as possible.

Because the longer hair a woman possessed, the more attractive she was deemed by society.

For example, remember how Lady Felicia's raven hair covered the entirety of her back, while Fabiyana, who was yet a child, still had hair reaching her knees.

The mother daughter duo did this because Tibias was a country that expected its women to dress in a certain way.

And thus even if one experienced hair fall, like some older women did due to some disease, they would always wear a scarf to cover it.

But by not following that and cutting her hair like that, it was apparent to everyone that the sixth princess- Camelia, wished to humiliate herself- showing herself as disobedient, unruly, and even cursed.

Which would not only disgrace her family but also her master- Alexander.

Because remember, in this time period, women were considered the property of their husbands- slaves.

And whatever a slave did, it perfectly reflected on her master.

"You scoundrel! You dare *slap*... humiliate our family like that!" Towards this display of utter defiance, the very first to react was none other than Philips- the princess's eldest brother, as he almost pounced from the back of Alexander's throne to the front of the girl in a single step and with this manic roar, instantly sent a slap so strong that it made the girl reel in shock.

And behind this rage was actually fear.

Fear for his life.

Fear for his family's life.

Even fear for this sister of his life.

Because after being so openly humiliated like this, in front all the court, Philips feared what Alexander might do to his sister.

After all, she was his property.

It was because of this Philips did not hold back anything in this strike, twisting his body and swinging down his right arm in a full arc, with such speed that it was like he wished to snap that head from the spine with this single hit.

All to try and produce the excuse that he had already punished the girl and there was no need for Alexander to step in.

*Thud!*

Amongst the backdrop of the pin drop silence of the royal court, the crisp hit was dreadfully clear, and the young woman, half the size and weight of her brother, instantly fell to the ground from the impact, a clear impression of four large, thick fingers developing on her fair cheek, as she then started to spew spits of blood.

But if you thought that that was going to make Camelia regret her decision, then you would be sorely wrong.

Because instead of pleading for help or apologizing, Alexander keenly noticed the young princess's thin, bloodied lips actually curved into a triumphant smile.

It was like she wanted this.

To be beaten and humiliated in front of the whole court.

Because if she was to be humiliated, it meant her master, Alexander was also humiliated.

And since Alexander could detect this smile from all the way back there, could how Philips, who was so much closer to her miss it?

It was a sight that incensed the usually cool tempered man to heights few had ever seen, as Philips cursed his stupid sister for wasting all his goodwill.

'Father really has spoilt her rotten!'

And thus could not help but raise his hands again, intending to truly knock her consciousness this time, as he roared, "You ungrateful wretch! You wish to ruin us…."

"That's enough Philips! Step back!" However Philips never got to carry out his strategy, as right when he was about to start Round 2, this cool, clear command rang right behind his ear.

Alexander had decided to intervene!

And it was a thought that terrified Philips, fearing that if the girl were to land in that man's palm, her fate could be very miserable.

Thus like a switch had been flipped, Philips's anger suddenly disappeared like darkness disappears upon touching light, and got replaced by fear and pleading, as the man kneeled and groveled in a pitched voice,

"Esteemed Pasha. My sister is dumb and stupid. I beg you not to be offended. We will punish her appropriately in our family court. And we will surely adequately compensate you for this incident."

The man seemed on the verge of crying.

Despite all this, it was very apparent he loved his sister very much.

"Hahaha, Philips you are thinking about this all wrong. I'm not offended."

However much contrary to Philips's fears, Alexander's reply actually sounded light, even a bit bemused as evidenced by the chuckle of an answer.

Which to Philips, although sounded very positive, was also something that caught the man off guard.

Whatever reaction he had been expecting it was not this, because it seemed too easy.

But before Philips could figure out what was really on, he quickly heard the young pasha on the throne lightly pronounce with a smile,

"I'm sure Princess Camelia is just a free spirit who wished to try a new hairstyle, hoping to impress me. She must be very excited about her union with me and thus this surprise, hahaha."

Alexander seemed very pleased with this made up excuse, as he then turned to look at the lady, and found her to be staring at him expressionlessly with a pool of dark, onyx eyes like he was her hated enemy.

"Camelia. I must say, your look is different from anything I have in my harem. I like it." And Alexander was happy to pour oil on it.

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