Herald of Steel

Alexander watched quietly Mean wolf down a large helping of the pasta, only taking the time to briefly blow at the steaming hot dish so as not to scorch her mouth.

She had been working non-stop from midday and it was already time for supper, so few could blame her for her ravenous appetite.

Finally, after taking close to ten large spoonfuls of the carbonara, Mean finally let out a content moan, "Ahhh, Alex you sure know how to make some good dishes."

"I'm glad it's to your liking." Alexander sent a light smile and then gestured, "It's already getting late. So let's make enough more everyone."

And so, an hour later, the duo along with some additional help managed to produce enough carbonara to feed his family and the guests.

Then under the expectant and curious eyes of the eight awaiting ladies sitting around the table, Alexander and Mean entered the dining hall, carrying a very large bowl of streaming carbonara.

"Sorry for the wait," Alexander smiled apologetically at the delayed dinner service as he placed the large bowl at the center of the table, letting everyone indulge in the rich aroma.

"Hehe, it seems Pasha Alexander is a man of infinite talents," The most senior of the group, queen mother Seelima praised Alexander as her eyes fixed themselves on the heaping pile of pasta in front of her.

"That's right. That's right. The smell is heavenly. And it looks delicious too" Across the table, the white-haired succubus Mikaya, as Alexander had labeled her, nodded with a big smile, her eyes twinkling with anticipation at the beautiful food.

And it was indeed very beautiful to look at.

From above, the golden pasta looked like a rich and luscious dome, being gorgeously decorated using large amounts of pork pieces, seasoned heavily with pepper, and sprinkled with tiny, cut parsley.

The colors of gold, black, charred red, and green all adorned its piquant crown, making it a delicious spectacle and the heavenly aroma that wafted out of it tingled everyone's appetite.

"Well serve us then. We have all been waiting for a long time you know,," Cambyses excitedly smashed her fist on the table, holding forks in both her hands and salivating at the hot dish.

'This girl….' Alexander couldn't help but let out a little guffaw.

"Master, let me," Ophenia, the obedient girl she was quickly stood up to help with the service.

But Alexander simply smiled, "It's okay, Taiyin. There's a technique to serving this."

So, Ophenia quietly sat down, though she still had an uncomfortable look on her face, feeling distressed by the fact that her master was serving her food.

But such concerns didn't enter Alexander's mind as he took a large carving knife and by spinning it around, wrapped a large portion of the pasta around it, then quickly deposited it onto the plates below.

"Ahhhh, being served by the great pasha himself. Even my husband will not treat me so well," Mikaya giggled as Alexander filled her plate with the dish.

"...." Alexander only smiled and quickly went back to serving the food.

To be honest, Alexander was a bit scared of this half-unhinged, absolute stunner of a woman.

He was not of course scared as in 'life is threatened' scared.

But as in socially scared.

Mikaya was so different from all the women he had met and so free with her speech, that Alexander found her difficult to talk with.

And this was coupled with the fact as Pasha Farzah's youngest daughter, the apple of his eyes, she was basically untouchable.

So, Alexander tended to avoid her at all times if possible.

"Thank you," Fortunately Mikaya's two nieces were much more behaved and mannered than their aunt and sweetly thanked Alexander for the meal, though he could still feel the coldness from Azira and Azura's voice.

Alexander noticed that when the twins sat on the flanks of their aunt it produced an interesting picture for him.

Because while their aunt was white to the point of being pale, almost with a pinkish complexion that made her skin look like a beautiful diamond, the twins were almost obsidian black, their smooth skin absorbing all light falling on them.

This was a racial contrast impossible to miss.

Even their grandfather was white as fallen snow and although he had never met their father, judging from Ptolomy's complexion, he was also pretty sure Amenheraft was not black.

But this did not make Alexander question the twins' lineage for a second.

Pasha Farzah wasn't a fool to such an extent that he would launch a rebellion just for two unknown brats.

And besides, the twins still had the characteristic white, silvery waist-long hair that Pasha Farzah seemed to have.

'So their mother and grandmother must have been black,' Alexander came to the logical conclusion.

Alexander's service did not stop while such thoughts ran through his mind, and soon everyone was served, including Mean.

Alexander then took a large helping of his own and then urged, "Please start. Please start."

He said this because everyone was waiting for Alexander to take the first bite, and so he instead gestured not to bother with such etiquettes.

And thus the meal began.

As the girls imitated Alexander spinning the silver fork and twisting the pasta around it, they let out a chorus of praise and pleased moans when the rich, creamy pasta finally entered their mouths.

"Mmmmm, it tastes better than it looks. So rich, creamy, and spicy. Mmmm," Mikaya was the most vocal about her praise, twirling her fork with her flawless jade fingers and taking in large mouthfuls of the large pasta as she flashed a wide grin at Alexander, seductively using her small tongue to lick the tiny droplets of the sauce off her lips.

'*Sigh*, she's truly beautiful,' Alexander didn't miss the signs as he commented in his heart about the silver-haired, flawless beauty, sitting there gloriously wearing a heavy, golden dress with a set of silver jewelry on her.

In Alexander's mind, of all the women he had met till now, he felt that the only girl that could compare in beauty with her was Ophenia.

No one, not Azira, Azura, Nanazin, or any other, including Seelima who was the previous king's favorite concubine, was as beautiful as the mature silver-haired bombshell.

'Ohh, if only she wasn't….like that,' Alexander lampooned as he could never forget what the real Mikaya looked like.

"Pasha Alexander might really be blessed. Because I doubt anyone but the gods can produce something this good," The queen mother Seelima was the second to express her pleasure, shooting Alexander a pleased smile as she took another mouthful of the creamy pasta.

For the inexperienced, this praise was just high praise.

But for shrewd people like Alexander, this was a direct probe into his deepest strategic plan, religious autonomy.

'Bringing her here might have a double sword,' Alexander remarked in his heart.

Outwardly Alexander let out a large smile, "Hahaha, I'm flattered that you like it, Your Highness. But it's a simple dish of flour, egg, and a bit of pork and cheese. I doubt the gods will bother looking at it twice," He easily brushed off the claim.

"Ohhh, Pasha Alexander is truly humble. So young and accomplished, yet so modest. Truly a model for us nobles." Seelima sang his praises.

But Alexander had no idea if the queen mother was being genuine or sarcastic.

This was because she and Alexander did have a little tiff on the first day they landed on Zanzan after the news of the plague had reached her ear.

She was one of the staunchest supporters advocating to return to Adhan, and after unsuccessfully spending almost an hour with her trying to convince her, Alexander had famously said, "If you die, rest assured we will give you a proper burial. But we are not leaving."

This predictably produced a very displeased queen mother, who had huffed and puffed away from Alexander and in fact, today was the first time she was talking to Alexander since that incident.

"This food is really good. Even our chefs would struggle to make something half as good," The queen mother's daughter Hellma too heaped on the praise.

Like her mother, she also had vehemently opposed staying in Zanzan.

And Alexander even heard that when he called their ship back ten days later to port, she had thrown such a tantrum hearing it that the captain seriously considered stopping the ship fearing the royal might do something foolish like jumping overboard.

But ultimately it was Mikaya that had somehow managed to convince the extreme VIPs to dock at Zanzan.

'If she's anything like her father, she no doubt will want something from me in return at some point,' This was another reason Alexander wanted to avoid Mikaya.

"That's right, that's right," Mikaya also strongly nodded her head at Hellma's praise.

And then mocked, "Pasha Alexander, if you ever need a job, I am always willing to hire you as my personal chef."

The cheerful atmosphere around the table instantly froze at this rude joke.