Chapter 787 New Residents of The Mansion (Part-1)
Alexander's much lower offer of the goods to the Adhanian nobles was of course to be expected.
Why would these nobles get the same privileges as the original?
That made no sense.
And thankfully all of the news ones understood this, accepting the conditions without raising any objections.
Many were even pleased that they got anything at all.
But though the Zanzan nobles were able to be handled with such ease, the Tibians one proved far more difficult.
Even just gathering them in time proved to be quite difficult as even though Alexander had set the deadline to before September, many of the nobles were unable to arrive in time- be it due to the poor roads, the problem of raising enough cash for the ransoms, the attention demanded of them for the spring harvest or just simply receiving the call from Alexander late.
So Alexander could do little but patiently wait for the nobles to gather.
So in the meantime, Alexander asked had a few more guests to come to his mansion to liven up the place.
Among them of were his wives, all four of them.
"Alex!" The moment Cambyses had gotten off her carriage, she called out to Alexander in that sweet tone of familiarity, giving him a hug, quickly followed by his two year old daughter and one year old son.
And it was also only then that he got to see his two newborns for the first time, both being swaddled by their mothers.
"I'm sorry, I could not be there for you. I know I had promised," Alexander sounded apologetic to Mean and Ophenia as he then turned to gaze lovingly at his two new children's faces.
They were bright red and all scrunched up, their eyes closed shut.
Both were less than three months old and appeared to be sleeping.
"No, master. We couldn't be happier that your campaign was successful. My daughter too certainly feels the same," At Alexander's apology, Ophenia gave only a light smile to say this instead, before lightly bowing.
And Mean added something similar.
Following greeting his family, Alexander then turned to the next group who too had been welcomed here.
"My lord, congratulations on capturing Thesalie. The books will surely record your accomplishment for eternity, the bard will sing songs of your deed in every inn and the people will praise your victory for centuries." Lady Nanazin greeted Alexander as such, along with a formal bow.
Following her were her three daughters who too followed their mother's action, and in response, Alexander too returned some flowery words.
After his house had burnt down, Alexander's interaction with the queen- at least in name, had decreased quite significantly, turning from an everyday occurrence to meeting once or twice a month during the small personal parties he would hold among his close retainers and friends.
So having not properly talked to her for some time, as he looked at Lady Nanazin, he was surprised to find how much she had changed.
He found her to have grown so much more beautiful than what she looked two years ago, her cheeks now much fuller and rosy, her complexion healthy and sunny.
It seemed that being free of the mental stress of having to deal with Ptolomy and his harassment had allowed her to enjoy her life truly.
And this was very much true.
Here in Zanzan, she could wake up whenever she wanted in the morning and no one would be there to tell her off.
A simple luxury that was impossible for her to have previously, for in much contrast to her current life, when living in the royal palace in Adhan, she was expected to be up and fully ready before her husband woke up, being presentable to him in her best and finest.
Or it would mean getting an awful earful from the Queen Mother.
So this usually meant getting up hours before Ptolomy to do her makeup and put on the elaborate dresses, all so that Ptolomy might once in a blue moon sweep a glance towards her.
Not only did Ptolomy never care to appreciate her efforts, but sometimes it also proved quite hard for Lady Nanazin to get up in time, for example, if she had been made to entertain guests deep into the night prior evening, something that Ptolomy had grown to increasingly prefer after his ascension to power.
But now, there was nothing like that.
Hassle free, she would wake up at any time of the day to still find a sumptuous breakfast already prepared for her.
Typically this included fresh bread of various types, cheese, olive oil, cured or cooked meat, fish, and fried fruits, all downed with various types of sweet, spicy, or sour wine.
And perhaps her favorite thing while eating breakfast was using the newly invented fork to cut and tear the bread or meat by herself.
Before Alexander made those, Lady Nanazin would have to wait for the servants to cut the portions for her, but now she found the practice of doing it by herself so much more enjoyable.
Then after breakfast, Lady Nanazin and her daughter would go to tend to her garden that she had made in the backyard.
There was a huge empty plot there, and Lady Nanazin tried to make use of as much of it as possible.
So she not only grew various potted plants and several beautiful flower beds but also various household vegetables such as well- gourds, pumpkins, cucumbers, eggplants, beetroots, and peas to name a few.
This for a noble lady, would have been of course scandalous at any other time.
If it came to be known in the capital that the queen was personally cultivating vegetables in her garden like a lowly peasant, Ptolomy might have divorced Lady Nanazin then and there out of embarrassment.
But here, where Lady Nanazin was all alone with no one to judge her, she could pursue her passion without worries,
She even found the practice to be very rewarding.
So she with her daughters would work in her huge garden till lunch, and after being served the large meal, usually take a short nap.
Then waking up around late afternoon, she had options.
Sometimes she would go to the temples to pray and meet up with the twin princesses and Ophenia.
Sometimes she would go to the market to buy this and that, various trinkets and such, or to simply just walk around the city and see all the new things that were being constantly constructed.
Other times she would go riding around the safe parts of the Cisran hills, enjoying the various small springs and streams running through the hilly areas.
She even had a small, very beautiful crossbow with gold workings etched into it gifted to her by Alexander, with which she would try and hunt small game like rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs, various birds, etc.
Or if none of those things attracted her, she would occasionally hold small get-together parties with the noble ladies of the city- such as Cambyses and the wives of other recently made nobles.
Her typical daytime would pass like that, and after dark, she would quickly finish her dinner and then spend a bit of time with Azura and Azira who shared the bungalow with her, chatting or playing various board games invented by Alexander with them.
After that, she would perhaps read a few pages from a book, or directly hit the bed, ready to repeat it once again.
Her days passed like this, with nothing to worry about, no problems that could cause headaches, and certainly no social interactions she would be tedious or disgusting.
Everything was taken care of and paid for by Alexander- be it the servants, the food, the clothes, the jewelry, or the guards and all she would have to do was enjoy.
Alexander even gave her and her daughters each 1,000 ropals a month for miscellaneous expenses, and would even gift her new clothes and jewelry every three to four months.
So to Lady Nanazin, the previous two years almost felt like a dream.
It was so good in fact that sometimes she would even wake up in the middle of the night full of sweat, scared that all this had indeed been a dream and she had returned to her beastly husband and hellish life.
After tasting such comfort, now Lady Nanazin was even more afraid to return.
Thus upon confirmation that she had indeed managed to escape, she would heave a sigh of relief.
Though if there was one thing to complain about, it was that her nights were quite cold.
All alone in bed, many times she would find herself comforting her lonely kitty all by herself, but be it her fingers, no matter how many, her wooden toys, no matter how big, or even a vegetable, no matter how curved, it could not sate her lust.
She yearned for a man's touch, or more specifically that man's touch.
For even though many times she wished to have the many male servants and slaves or even the guards itch her scratch, that desire would instantly evaporate as Alexander's face would surface immediately following such thoughts.
And Lady Nanazin had vowed she would never sleep with another man in her life unless forced otherwise.
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