Herald of Steel-Chapter 1516: Seelima and Inayah (Part-1)

For the first few minutes, Alexander really did not notice there was anything wrong with his room, skipping from one to the next and taking in the luxurious sights.

Almost everything was better made than what he had in manor, although it could be argued that was more because Alexander simply did not care to spend money on such things.

But still, the point still stood, and under the brilliant lighting of the candles, lamps and fireplace, along with the view from the balcony, he was in quite a good mood.

The man even poured himself a cool glass of wine and took a long sip while soaking in the atmosphere.

But while Alexander did not seem to mind his lodgings, outside, the palace staff were losing their collective heads on what to do about him.

Because of so many nobles coming to attend, including a few powerful Pashas- the palace suddenly found they had a shortage of the experienced and beautiful maids they needed to send to him.

Those in hand had already been assigned and it was simply not possible to reallocate them. When a maid was given to a nobleman to accompany him, this was set in stone for the duration of his visit.

It would have too much of a social faux pas to move her even from a Shordar (Baron) to a Pasha. Not to mention, the truly skilled maids had been given to far more influential people.

'Damn it! This… is… I cannot!' Scratching her head about this until she felt tearing her hair out, the head maid screamed and shouted to herself inside her heart, biting her lips and almost tearing up.

If not for the fact that Ptolomy was king, she might have even started cursing him out for giving such an enormous order at this eleventh hour.

"I… let me meet her. If even she cannot give a solution… then I simply have to commit suicide!" Then unable to find any solution to the dilemma, the middle aged lady resolved herself like that and turned on her heels to speed towards a very special part of the palace, placing all hope in that one lady.

As for her muttering about taking her own life if she failed…. She was not joking here. She truly intended to do so in order to not bring shame to her liege.

And ironically enough, this was not even that uncommon of a thought, neither in this world or in Alexander's previous one.

For instance, famously Louis XIV's chef killed himself in his room with a sword to the heart by placing the weapon against a wall and running himself through it because a fish shipment he wanted got delayed, making it impossible for him to live up to his promised culinary art. So rather than disappoint the king, the man chose the high road.

Incidentally, the body was found when someone came to tell him that the fish had arrived.

So compared to this, the head maid atoning for her failure to properly entertain a pasha did not seem all that unusual.

…..

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Alexander was just starting to make himself comfortable with a glass of sweet wine and some fruits, sitting by the balcony and enjoying the soft breeze and light show from the Life Sea when suddenly, this gentle but firm knock came from the main door.

And first and foremost, he groaned.

After such a long day of walking and travelling, Alexander's legs were killing him, as was the rest of his body. So initially the man did not want to even get up and check.

For a second, he even contemplated the outrageous thought of shouting at the person on the other end and dismissing him. That would have been very insulting, even if it was a maid.

"My lord, are you there? May I enter?"

Alexander did not get to contemplate much on how to respond as the urgent shout revealed a feminine voice, and finding it somewhat familiar, the man quickly made himself decent and went forward to unlock the door.

"My apologies for making you open the door, my lord. I deserve a thousand deaths!"

And instantly upon opening it, the young man was met with a grand bow from a stern looking middle aged lady, whose face seemed blacked with regret.

He instantly recognised her as the head stewardess of this palace- Ptolomy had introduced him to her in his last visit three years ago.

Quite tall and moderately built, the head maid had a nice, mature figure, although most of it was tightly bound in her elegantly dressed colorful gown.

She wore many layers of cloth, each complementing the other beautifully and all of them perfectly ironed and straight, without a single crease in them.

In the same methodical way, she tightly bound her auburn hair in a bun with half of it freely flowing down her shoulder and past most of her back, while her brown leather sandals were shiny and well polished like they were brand new even though she walked all around the palace the entire day.

The experienced lady appeared to be in her mid forties, with very light red lipstick on her thin lips and lightly done make up, only done so to hide the minor wrinkles that were starting to appear around her lips and eyelids.

Her face had certainly been once very beautiful, with sharp, distinct features making her stand out, but now it radiated more prestige and authority than charm, with her most distinct being a pair of very sharp, keen eyes.

Just glancing at them was enough to intimidate even some small nobles, forget the maids and servants.

In fact, even Alexander was a bit taken by them when the onyx like gems glanced up to meet his, as he was shocked by such a sudden greeting.

"My lord, apologies for not arranging the maids immediately. We ran into some unforeseen problems. But rest assured, we promise to make this up to you." The head maid quickly confessed as such, and then quickly looking up, was relieved to see Alexander was not that angry.

He kept that same cool facade, sending her only a temperate gaze, thus letting her give out a smoothing exhale.

'Thankfully, what she said was true. This young Pasha is quite well mannered…. actually much better than some of the other ones I have to deal with it, hmmmp! You really cannot trust the rumors.'

'In fact, it is those who called him an uncouth slave barbarian that are the real foxes, hoodwinking his Majesty and… making him…' Looking at Alexander's handsome face and well mannered attitude, the currently quite flustered head maid let her mind run wild for a while, conjuring up all kinds of extraneous things…before finally reigning herself back.

"Ahhh… Please accompany me to the Queen Mother's chambers, my lord. She has invited you to have dinner with her and is currently waiting."

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The whole thing was bit too sudden for Alexander, who even struggled to find the real reason why the maid was apologizing. The absence of a maid had not even struck the tired man.

In fact, he was actually enjoying the solitude.

But hearing the words, and getting an invitation from the Queen Mother, Alexander quickly put all these queries to the back of his head.

He too wanted to have a one to one with Seelima, so hastily putting on a more decent tunic and some strong perfume to hide his musky odor built up from the whole day's marching, and swiftly made his way to the room.

The Queen Mother's room was surprisingly in quite a secluded part of the palace, in a keep some distance away, hidden from most prying eyes. The only thing special about it was how heavily guarded the place was, with bright lighting and pairs of armed guards at almost very corridor.

It seemed Ptolomy was very afraid of anything happening to her or her baby during this busy time.

The head maid and the man exchanged little words during the whole journey, each more occupied by what was to come next, as finally, they arrived at their destination.

A heavy double door, guarded by not two, but four men.

Knocking, the oak door was swiftly opened by the Queen Mother's personal maid, who gracefully ushered the man inside, and there Alexander was instantly greeted with the sight of not one but two gorgeous ladies, one dressed in a luxurious red and gold gown and the other in a blue one with silver stitching.

They sat leisurely on huge, luxurious armchairs opposite each other, one's skin golden brown and healthy like wheat, the other, dark, like a shiny chocolate glaze.

They were of course the Queen Mother and Lady Inayah respectively, and they appeared to perfectly contrast each other in color, intentionally having worn so.

"Ahhh, welcome to the capital, Lord Alexander. We did not get to talk before you, so I thought of inviting you for dinner," The heavily pregnant lady was the one to first turn her beautifully made head to Alexander, flashing a very charming smile, acting as if they were meeting for the first time.

"Thank you Anna. That will be all for now." While Lady Inayah worked to dismiss the head maid, who wordlessly excused herself with a small bow.

Creak!

And then, just as the door was closed, before Alexander could get a word in, Seelima instantly teased a smirk,

"So how was Nanazin? She is good, right?"

"....." Alexander's lips visibly twitched at the abrupt greeting