Herald of Steel

Chapter 1313: Lady Linda's Fate (Part-3)

As Alexander sat opposite the lady and talked, he found that conversing with her was actually quite pleasant.

The defeated lady appeared to have let go of a lot of her inborn arrogance and with a face as beautiful as her's, it made any man feel flattered to have her attention.

While Miss Linda for her part also kept talking in order to try and make a better impression on Alexander.

Thus she kept talking, recounting how she knew so much about how soldiers were paid.

"It was my grandfather. He wanted to prepare me for the family's takeover. So he personally taught me many things... including how to lead and finance an army."

At this point, Miss Linda's eyes went a bit misty as she recalled her grandfather's many pieces of advice. One of which was that as a mercantile family, coin was always their favorite weapon and that they should splurge on it without restraint when it came to defending it.

And from the opposite side, Alexander also noticed the pause and clearly sensed that the lady had much love for this elder man, undoubtedly much, much more than even her former husband.

Miss Linda managed to quickly bring her heaving heart in check, and using fast talks to try to dampen her rising emotions, quickly concluded,

"He also told me that this type of arrangement benefited the fighting men too. The pay boosted fighting morale and for many, this 'capital' was a large necessity. Especially the men with families... sometimes they would not even leave their homes without it."

"These men would leave their wives with a significant part of their paid wages to keep the house running while they were away and then also have a large part of the remaining amount deducted as weapons, lodging, and provision expenses by the military."

"So most would be left with just enough to make their ends meet- such as occasionally buying liquor, good food like meat from nearby markets, pleasure women and gambling."

The story was similar for unmarried men too, only here the 'wives' would replaced by 'parents and brothers and sisters' or simply 'pleasure'.

But whichever it was, at the end of the day, most soldiers would be considered quite poor, very different from the juicy targets Alexander was making them out to be.

That was also why Lord Castell could not just take the money for himself. Instead, he had to 'borrow' since otherwise, the nobles would start to object to remaining Alexander's prisoners for too long.

......

Hearing all this, Alexander was able to at last determine that Miss Linda indeed had no way to raise capital other than him.

Then, after keeping Miss Linda on the hook for so long, Alexander finally declared this verdict,

"My lady, although we have had your ups and downs, I can agree to give you the money. You will find me to be a generous man in that regard. But before that, I ask you to explain one thing.... Why should I? We are technically still in opposite camps. I do not believe you still harbor any goodwill for your sister, someone I still support. So tell me, what is it in for me?"

What Alexander made was the most natural question.

It was only after they found out about Alexander's military prowess that they even began to think of a negotiated settlement.

But by then they had lost so much that the ball had pretty much left the court.

Alexander watched Miss Linda's dams break with some surprise and soon felt a slight pang in his heart seeing the sad state of the beauty, 'Damn! She really is something!'

Seeing such a doll really made the man in him feel hurt, as an overwhelming desire to protect her bloomed in him.

Thus figuring that perhaps he might have pushed her a bit too hard, Alexander quickly raised his hands and switched to a more soothing tone,

"Okay, okay, let's not get bogged down on who did what. What has happened has happened. Let it be. But let me ask you one last thing... say I give you the money. Then what? How will you pay back the amount?"

"Do really you believe a merchant family can't pay back the amount? Even if the interest is 10 percent, it will be no problem for us. You will get your money within 3 years!" For Miss Linda, the answer to Alexander's dilemma seemed simple.

According to her, she only needed the money to get started and everything else would fall in order.

"Hmmm..." But the hum told that Alexander was not convinced, as narrowing his eyes, he chuckled,

"My lady, who are you trying to fool here? You said it yourself, didn't you? All your elders support Lord Castell now. So whatever your family earns from now on... it will end up in the Heeat family's coffers, not yours."

Alexander quickly noticed Miss Linda's eyes dim as the man before her easily pointed out the flaw in her plan, as he went on to expose her plan,

"I can see what you are trying to do here. And let me be frank, I did not think there is any point. The Margraves family... at least for the time being has been for all intents and purposes defeated."

"So if you are hoping to buy back the loyalty of your men using money... then sorry, I have some bad news for you. Whatever you can give them, the Heeat family can give better. I suggest you give up "

"....." Alxx saw the lady once again lose her voice, at which point, he dropped the bombshell,

"In fact, if you want the best for your family, the best thing for you to do is marry Lord Castell!"

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