Herald of Steel

With Pandria out of suspicion, Cambyses and the others quickly shifted their attention to the inconspicuous lady standing in the back, thoroughly scanning her.

The way Alexander addressed her and the fact that he had brought her to his home instead of gifting her away clearly revealed his intention.

He wanted to keep her, which naturally meant new competition for the four.

And given they were already at each other's throats trying to win Alexander's time, it was only human for them to want to know this new girl.

Arrya was dressed in a loose, black robe like gown that covered her entire body, etched with colorful red and yellow designs around the sleeves and chest to accentuate her beauty.

Her head was wrapped with a headscarf in a large voluminous fashion that made sure not to ruin her ringlets and her face was covered by a black opaque veil that only showed her eyes.

This was the traditional way Iyizaridian women dressed, and despite being covered head to toe like this, it did little to hide her inherent charm.

Especially her pair of crystal clear blue eyes, they appeared to glow like shimmering diamonds under the soft candle lights, mesmerizing anyone who looked at them.

But if anyone looked a bit further, they would have found the pair to be gazing back with a sort of inborn defiance, as if the lady still refused to accept her capture.

It was something Alexander had also noticed and even found cute. Conquering such a girl was always more gratifying than someone who simply 'melted' away.

While sensing the four pair of curious gazes landing on her, the tall, curvy girl quickly hid her bitterness and lightly stepping forward with an air of nobility, introduced herself to the four madams of the house in as best Azhak she could.

Although the words were so butchered that it almost made the others hurt to hear it.

However, that was hardly Arrya's fault as the language she spoke- the dominant tongue of Iyizadians was vastly different from Azhak.

It was called Hirish, and unfortunately, neither Alexander nor possibly anyone in the whole of Zanzan possibly knew how to speak it, as a result of the two places' great distance and Adhania's isolationism.

And so that also led to the situation where even though Alexander tried to get to know the girl back on the ship, the language barrier only caused all the endeavors to end in a very awkward situation.

They could only use sign language and point at things to express what they were trying to say, but predictably that only got them so far.

'I should have asked for a translator.' In the end, Alexander even mumbled so in a slightly peeved manner, finding a small flaw in accepting the gift.

Since Vidiyan spoke some Azhak and Arrya never opened her mouth, Alexander had missed this concern.

So without any help, in the last couple of days, Arrya was able to only pick up some very basic vocabulary - yes, no, hello, etc.

However, the people in the room soon forgot about her slight disability as all their thoughts were captured by the reveal of that beautiful face and stunning hair.

Cambyses and the others instantly understood why their husband wanted to keep her and even wished the girl had not taken off her veil and headscarf.

The soft round face with rosy cheeks, the curvy figure, and the most alluring of all, that never before seen noble hairstyle made every woman except Ophenia feel terribly inferior.

Even Ophenia could not help but turn to look at that hair with a touch of nostalgia, finding the silky golden like waterfall too beautiful to look at.

She had gotten so used to dying her hair black that by now she almost forgot how she looked in her original color.

Even though the threat of her real identity causing trouble had mostly ebbed, she still kept dying her hair because that was what the people around her got used to seeing.

She only sometimes showed it when sleeping with Alexander and even then, she did not think her hair was this luscous.

Thus she felt that if Arrya was just a bit more beautiful, her silky hair and proud demeanor might have even allowed her to surpass the high priestess of Zanzan to claim the title of Zanzan's most beautiful lady.

…...

Arrya's beauty naturally made Cambyses's and the other's looks turn from just curious to much more guarded and hostile, for they felt threatened by her.

Especially since this was the first woman Alexander had brought home that directly challenged them in their own house.

Other noble ladies like Lady Nanazin, Mikaya, the Queen Mother, and others were mostly outsiders who had no lawful connection with Alexander, so could not stand in front of the four under any real light, while Fabiyana and Princess Camelia were either too young or too unfavored to matter.

The proof was in the fact that both of them were still virgins.

Hence as the only exception to the rule, Arrya was destined to draw a lot of hate.

However given the time and place, Alexander had just arrived and they were still in the hallway of the door, the four still acted civil, with Cambyses even taking a step forward to greet her with a 'pleasant yet so fake' smile,

"Welcome to our humble house sister. I am the main wife of the house. I am sure you will find everything you need here. But if you still need anything, please free to ask me."

Although Arrya did not need to understand Azhak to figure out what this lady was really trying to say- her looks and tone very clearly told Arrya that she was being asked to behave and not complain over what she was given or there would be consequences.

In fact, the message was so transparent that even a man like Alexander understood the message.

'*Sigh*, what did I expect? All women are jealous by nature. Cam has the power here so it must be almost an instinct for her to want to suppress any new rival.' He bitterly smiled to himself.

Alexander could quite well guess the political shenanigans in his harem and how cutthroat they might be. But he typically let the women work it out among themselves because he thought it was better this way.

If he were to insert himself and somehow started favoring one of the ladies, the situation would only get worse.

So he chose a hands free approach and only laid out some ground rules for all of them to follow- such as not harming the other, not causing trouble for the whole family, etc.

As long as Cambyses followed these rules and did not intentionally bully and cause trouble for Arrya, Alexander was content to let things play out as is.

So decided to move things along, changing the topic and curiously asking, "Where are the kids? And Fabiyan and Camelia?"

"They are waiting at the back. Come."

It was Adhanian tradition that lords returning from a campaign should be greeted by his main wife right at the door, while the much less significant concubines stayed in the back behind closed doors.

As for the children, if they were too small, they too were asked to stay behind in case they acted in improper ways in front of the public.

"Daddy! Daddy! Hehe! Daddy!"

The first to run towards Alexander as he entered the children's room was his eldest daughter- Alexandria, who was dressed in a fine emerald dress with a beautiful tiara.

She had wanted to meet her father in her best attire.

And Alexander also gave a huge grin as the girl hugged his knees, picking her up with a loud, unrestrained laugh, "Ahhh, my dear princess. You have grown so big. Ohhh, daddy almost did not recognize you!"

Alexandria had not only gotten taller but perhaps more than that, she had got much 'wider', becoming plumper than ever before.

In fact every time she took a step, her entire body appeared to ripple and wobble, the excess soft, baby flesh jiggling around.

Thus she felt like a soft ball of flesh to Alexander and as she nuzzled his nose against her fair neck, the little girl burst into a high pitched squeal of glee.

It was a while before the father daughter pair separated.

Alexander's reactions towards his other three children- Philip, Ahsan, and Ophenia were far more reserved.

The two boys dressed in beautiful black and brown tunics seemed to have grown up quite a bit, and as they elegantly bowed towards their father, got a few polite smiles and light pats on the head.

While his most beautiful daughter dressed in a golden gown to match her long blonde hair got a kiss on both her cheeks.

Alexander then at last moved to find his two mistresses, who were waiting in a room further back, each greeting Alexander in a very mature and reserved manner.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Princess Camelia, now fifteen, appeared to have bloomed into a far more mature flower but looking at her, Alexander could only feel a pang of guilt.

He was after all sleeping with her mother.

As for Fabiyana, honestly he half expected to find her playing with Alexandria.

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