Herald of Steel

The Iyizardian double standard for slaves seemed to have been the last straw for Alexander. Facing all the various objections and reticence from Vidiyan, the man finally lost his patience, impatiently waving his hand and declaring he did not need to go if he did not want to.

It was a statement that instantly made the pirate captain's face turn pale and remorseful.

"No, no, my lord, I will go, I will go! I did not mean anything by it. My apologies, my apologies!" He immediately pleaded, eyes almost glazed in tears.

Alexander's soft and gentle approach appeared to gave the man a bit too much leniency and he greatly regretted trying to fish for so much.

The pirate captain even seemed on the verge of getting on his knees and begging.

While seeing the man's reaction and also feeling a bit reproaching about his own snapping, Alexander's heart moistened.

"Sigh, okay, okay, do not plead. Let me think about it." He chimed with a flash of his palms, before lightly tapping the ends of the table.

"....." What followed was perhaps the most uncomfortable few minutes for Vidiyan, as the pirate captain nervously scanned his eyes all around the room, focusing on every inch of the place except Alexander or the lady sitting next to him.

He was too shaken up to meet the man's gaze, really hoping for a good idea from Alexander inside while at the same time afraid of being let down.

"Okay, we will do it like!"

Then as Alexander cut the silence, the man's ears instantly perked up almost like a rabbit's, turning to look at him with great interest.

"Let us say that we recovered Arrya from a shipwreck. We will claim she was washed up here after suffering a great storm, and upon rescue, the guards took her to my place. Meaning she is a guest in my place, not a slave."

Alexander was quite impressed with his own idea if he said so himself, thinking this explanation cleared all of Vidiyan's objections.

Yet,

"Bu.. but my lord, we captured her ships thousands of miles of here. It was also going west while Zanzan is south of Iyizard. So the king might…"

Vidiyan still seemed to have a bone to pick with even this one, poking at the details like a crazed woodpecker.

And this was him being more pedantic than actually malicious.

Really what The man wanted an as air tight as possible story, in order to ensure his life would be as safe as possible.

Hence he nitpicked even on the smallest of details.

Realising this, Alexander also exercised patience and thinking swiftly on the spot was able to quickly alleviate his worries.

"No problem! I will simply have Array write a letter confirming everything, the bad weather, the storm, the shipwreck, her becoming my guest… everything. She will even confirm you were the one who rescued her. Now, is that okay?"

There was clear impatience in Alexander's voice, clearly hinting at his limit.

"....." And finally the pirate captain chimed down, seemingly out of excuses. Or at least, he did not dare make any.

Thus lightly closing his eyes, Vidiyan took a slight while to adjust his mindset, resolving himself to take this dangerous journey.

Then opening them, he spoke with a determined gaze,

"Thank you, my lord. If it is like this… there will be no problem. By the time they meet her and verify this, I will hopefully be long gone."

"So there is only one last thing that I ask from you… a portrait of Lady Arrya and you."

It was really out of nowhere that the man added this request, mixing it with a great amount of pleading.

"My picture? Why?" While the unconnected ask naturally drew a curious frown from Alexander.

The pirate captain's facade quickly changed from pleading to a professional countenance at this, as he declared emphatically in almost a memorized tone,

"My lord, if I had a portrait of both you and Lady Arrya, it would make a lot of things much easier for me."

"First it will prove that I really am who I say I am. Even if the Iyizardiam court does not know you… when they see your impressive study, all the books, the mirror, the golden chandeliers in the painting, they will surely be forced to acknowledge your power and status. I can even get past most city gates by just showing this… otherwise I will need to bribe all of them." Vidiyan pumped his fist as he said so.

Then added,

"And secondly, the portrait will also show that Lady Arrya is alive and well, being treated as a guest just as claimed. In fact, I think it would be best if she was actually allowed to wear her veil when the picture is drawn."

"Just as you said, Iyizardian women always cover themselves. So this will prove her status as an honored guest."

"..." Alexander did not answer the man right away, taking a bit of time to actually think about it.

He actually agreed with the second point right away, and was even impressed about Vidiyan's comment regarding the veil. He had not thought about it like this.

He originally wanted to have the lady forcefully remove her veil when the painter came. After all, how could it be a portrait if you could not see the face.

But after having the point shown to him, found that would have likely aggregated her family.

His problem however was with the first ask.

He did not buy Vidiyan's claim about his face making things easier for him. He could buy his way regardless.

And if you wanted, that picture really could have been of anyone's.

In fact, due to once living in the era of photoshops and digital editing, Alexander had a general distrust of all pictures and portraits.

But the man was also aware enough to know these were his own prejudices.

For the people of this time who were never exposed to such tricks, pictures and portraits still remained a trusted source.

Yet despite this consideration, Alexander still did not think this was the clever pirate's true goal.

'Hmmm, it is more probable that Vidiyan wants to have my picture as leverage. A bona fide Pasha shaking hands with a pirate… it would be too shameful for me if it were to be leaked. And that picture would be a greatly damning proof!'

In this way, Alexander figured he had found the real answer.

Yet, instead of feeling alarmed, he actually only smirked,

'Hehehe… too bad this can't really hurt me. I am already at war in the rest of the country. And yet they still keep trading with me. So what if they know… they will still need to get their sugar from me.'

'Hmmp, even my retainers will at best say a few empty words and then ask me to be a bit more careful next time.'

'While my only one ally is Pasha Farzah. will likely pat on the back and congratulate me for having grown up. As for Ptolomy and Lady Miranda… one is a loose cannon, the other a subordinate. So what if they don't like it? I could care less."

In this way, Alexander found Vidiyan's trap to be quite an innocuous one, completely ruining it before it could take birth.

And if that was not enough, to crush it even further, he then mused with a hidden chilly gaze,

'Hmmm, better yet, I will have the printing press make many copies of the same portrait and sell them. The people of Zanzan should get to know their pasha. Hahaha, I wonder what Vidiyan's face will be like then.'

Thus with the intention of screwing the pirate captain from the beginning, Alexander gently acquiesced to the request,

"Sure, if it will make your journey safer captain Vidiyan, I will have a painter get both of our paintings within three days. Will us sitting on the couch work?"

"Yes! Yes! That will be perfect, perfect. My lord is generous, my lord is generous." Vidiyan appeared very excited at this, letting out a very broad grin.

In fact he appeared perhaps a bit too excited, and as Alexander looked into the excited eyes, he thought he could see the triumphant glint hiding deep in his black iris.

Knowing what to look for, this basically confirmed Alexander's suspicion.

The pasha was beginning to see that this pirate captain very much liked to take advantage of people, to sit when asked to stand, and liked to lay when allowed to sit.

But this did not put Alexander off.

In fact, he was actually a bit relieved.

Because Vidiyan was a pirate by trade and nature. This was what was actually expected from him.

Thus Alexander also felt no qualms about treating him as deemed appropriate.

….

The portrait that was asked by Vidiyan would be done just as wanted.

It would be taken in Alexander's study, the place being slightly renovated for the occasion, showing off his expensive furniture, priceless mirrors and clear glass tables as well as a set of golden armour set in the background.

While the man and women sat opposite each other wearing resplendent clothes,

Alexander embellished in a robe with intricate gold and silver workings, and Arrya is a similar golden gown.

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