Chapter 907 Alexander and Phillips (End)
?Alexander had all by himself determined the life partner of his friend and general, Menes.
That too with just a few words inside a room and not a single word of consultation from the man in question.
If he had been in modern times, it would have certainly caused an outrage no matter how loyal the subordinate might have been.
However, in this time period, this was very natural.
In fact, the lord choosing one's life partner was seen as a great honor, as it meant the couple would have his wholehearted blessing.
And there were even some unions that very much needed one's superior's tacit approval, such as if the union was political in nature.
And due to the fact that the matter of the marriage of the Tibian princess was both, it was only a matter of course that Alexander intervened.
He also knew that Menes would not dare say no to him, and neither would he have any excuses as he was unmarried.
This was also one of the reasons why Alexander represented Menes and not Melodias as the most viable candidate.
And lastly, although Alexander was most certainly overthinking this, he hoped that by marrying a princess to Menes, the latter would forget even the last dregs of affections he might have left for his last love.
Thus Alexander would at a later date officially declare the union, which would even garner surprisingly strong support from among the nobles as they would see the pair, a princess of a defeated royal family marrying a general of the victorious army as being quite suitable.
Thus Alexander would pass than hurdle relatively easily.
Returning back to the negotiations between Alexander and Philips, with that one point done, the Crown Prince then decided to move on to the next one.
"Lord Pasha, we can accept my youngest sister being your concubine. But having my mother change her belief and become a priestess at the temple of Gaia! That is too much!" Philips sounded shocked and appalled, as he cleverly attempted to use the fate of Camelia as a way to extract some sort of concession from Alexander.
It was like he was saying, 'See! We compromised on that. Now it is only fair that you compromise on this."
"No."
However, who was Alexander?
He was the absolute victor here and in his eyes, the earlier agreements had nothing to do with the later ones.
So after categorically rejecting Philips with that single word, Alexander added with a steely voice,
"There must be a member from the main branch of the royal family to change their faith and enter the Temple of Gaia as a priestess."
"And your mother is the only suitable candidate."
"You and your brother have your own duties. Your sisters have their own families. And your father is in a coma."
But Philips was currently not bothered about that eventuality.
He was instead much more preoccupied with giving Alexander a grateful nod.
At least with this arrangement, he had a chance to convince his mother.
Thus done with this second point, he lastly moved on to the last one.
"Lord Pasha, this last clause.... 5 (g)...this is unacceptable. We cannot have all our uncles and cousins being turned into normal citizens! This is too much" Philips pointed out with almost righteous indignation.
"Oh? I thought you would be more than happy about this?" However Alexander seemed to only sneer at it, pointing out with almost a cruel smile,
"With the main branch of your family so weakened, aren't you afraid these people will try to usurp you? Why are you protecting them?"
Examples of a strong uncle usurping a weak nephew was so available that it could almost be said to be cliche.
"They would never!"
However Alexander seemed to have inadvertently poked at a sensitive point as in much contrast to his usual demure manner, Philips suddenly flared up with blazing eyes even at the mere suggestion of such treachery, as the man tightly clenched his fist and declared,
"Many of us have fought shoulder to shoulder. Many even died shoulder to shoulder. None of us will even betray the other."
Alexander found the man's strongly held convictions both chivalrous and also a whole lot of naive.
Which was why he could not help but smirk, "Yea... just like Lord Theony. He too had fought shoulder to shoulder with your father's uncle Ponticus! And then killed your wife and children!"
" But sure... your uncles and cousins they will not betray you. Hehe..."
Alexander's low chuckle hurt Philips more than perhaps a punch to the gut could.
And caused him to become tongue tied.
Although the man would love to believe his cousins, whom he had grown up with since childhood would not turn their back on him at his most vulnerable time, reality and history seemed to beg to differ.
While Alexander, seeing the other side lose his zeal for any objection, quickly capitalized on it and declared,
"As long as the members of the branch family hold power, they will always be a thorn in both your and my side, able to lay legitimate claims of various strengths on the crown of Tibias."
"As long as there is even one of them even slightly ambitious enough, they will surely be able to find many nobles dissatisfied with my conquest to rally around."
"And even if your uncles are good people who have no intention to rebel, there will always be acousin or nephew who will."
"Surely you will not tell me you do not have even one dumb cousin?" Alexander smirked with mockery, and ended this point with the words,
"The branch members of the royal family will all follow me to Zanzan. There they will be given various administrative positions as well as a handsome monthly stipend."
"But they will never be allowed to remain in Tibias and stir up trouble."