Chapter 995 Lord Janus's Arrival

Chapter 995 Lord Janus's Arrival

While Alexander was ready to depart for the capital Adhan, one inconspicuous morning he was suddenly informed that a small merchant fleet bearing the Margrave Family's sails had docked at the harbor.

This news surprised him a bit when he got it first because he had gotten no prior letter to their arrival, which was the usual custom of the times.

Thus, given this anomaly, Alexander quickly set up a meeting with the dignitaries that very afternoon, curious to know the reason.

"Lord Janus! What a pleasant surprise! It's so good to see you are well. How is Lady Miranda?"

The Pasha initially greeted the lone, elderly man dressed in a colorful blue and gold robe with a warm smile in his guest room.

While internally he was a bit surprised to see the elderly man alone, without the matriarch of the house accompanying him as was always the case before.

But he quickly thought that he had found the reason himself.

The Lady had gotten married during his while, so it was only natural she could not leave her house like before.

"Haha... forgive me coming to you unannounced my lord. It was a ...spontaneous trip." Lord Janus seemed to reluctant to start discussing the reason why he was right away, as he then quickly turned the point,

"Well first let me congratulate you on you successful campaign against Tibias on behalf of the Margrave family. We all at Galiosos have been in awe of your triumph! Please accept Lord Margrave and Lady Margaret's regards!"

This return greeting from Lord Janus was quite sincere and cordial in tone and words but Alexander keenly noticed the smile that the white haired man's mind seemed not to be here at the moment, like he was struggling to keep the jovial facade.

This, coupled with the strange, untimely visit made the Zanzan lord suspect that things might not going so well on the opposite side.

"Thank you, Lord Janus. It was in no small part to the weapons and armors you supplied us. Is everything going well in your part?" Thus Alexander decided to lightly probe.

"Hehe... we... we are getting by my lord, " And the anemic reply proved his doubts.

"....." Thus for the next while, an uncomfortable silence descended on the room, as Alexander waited for the man to reveal his intentions.

While he took the time to take a closer look at his counterpart, causing him to spot weary, droopy eyes and a screen of unease and hesitation underneath the elder man's normal countenance.

Like he was trying to compose himself.

And finally, once the aged lord felt he was ready, Lord Janus finally revealed his circumstances,

"*Sigh*... as my lord has probably guessed there is indeed a pressing concern why I'm here. You see, a few months back the Lord of the House, Lady Miranda's grandfather Sir Margrave IV sadly passed away."

'I wonder how many of those allegations were real and how many were fabricated to fit the narrative?' Alexander as a matter fact of course also suspected foul play in those eliminations.

Lord Janus however was naturally not aware of these skepticisms and continued,

"Things were still fairly stable when the Lord was alive. He held great authority in his family and with his support Lady Miranda was able to put Marcus as the heir. Then the win against Governor Straus further worked to solidify the family's position. All seemed to be going well and we thought we were out of the woods... until...*sigh*..." Lord Janus did not feel like repeating the sad news as he let out another deep, sad sigh- his heart aching.

"....." Alexander only carefully listened for now, not commenting, and soon, after the pause Lord Janus once again began,

"After the lord and Marcus's death, it was Lady Miranda's younger sister- Lady Linda who rose to oppose her. She has recently given birth to a son and is married to Lord Parker Heeat."

"Heeat?" The utterance of the name suddenly caused Alexander to interject, as he was familiar with that name.

"Heeat as in that Duke Heeat of Sybarsis?" Alexander recalled Lady Miranda mentioning the name to him.

"Impressive, my lord. You have a fantastic memory." Lord Janus was quick to confirm Alexander's query, nodding, "Yes! The very same one."

This made Alexander wonder how could the second daughter of a mere Earl could get to marry into a ducal family?

It had to be noted that Sybarsis was a monogamous society, so there was no official way of taking a mistress or concubine like here in Adhania.

Fortunately for Alexander, Lord Janus was there to elucidate on that without needing him to pry,

"Lord Parker is only very distantly related to Duke Heeat, and is himself illegitimate. He was sent here as part of a delegation to Galiosos. We are currently trying to ally ourselves with the Heeat family now you see." Lord Janus casually revealed the family's intention to switch from the Marsh family to this ducal family, before adding, "And that was how he met the young miss. They seemed to have both caught each other's eyes and with the Lord of the House's blessing they got married just last year."

Up until now, Lord Janus's voice had been jovial, if not at least neutral.

But upon approaching this point, Lord Janus's tone suddenly turned angry, "Initially the couple were very supportive of Lady Miranda. So much so that the lady even let them handle a lot of the family's business. And they even proved themselves to be quite good at it."

"That was until Marcus's death. All of a sudden, even before the child's body could go cold, the pair started to stir up trouble."

Not only they claimed themselves as the legitimate successors, but they also brought your name, my lord! Saying that the free tradesmen that you made them sign was destroying our economy! And that if they got the seat, they would annul it!"

The moment Lord Janus said this, he had Alexander's attention. He could not let that happen.

Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!

Please come Here!