Herald of Steel

The reason for Miss Linda's 'celebrations' could be easily understood when one learned how loans were given during this time period.

First of all, even the most generous loans of the time usually came with 5 to 10% interest, although the far more common rate was closer to 20%- loan shark amounts.

So compared to that, Alexander's deal was basically interest free.

In fact, the only reason he even charged that small amount had more to do with the principal than any motive for profit.

He just did not want to appear like an endless 'coin well' to Miss Linda.

And secondly, given Alexander had not brought it up, Miss Linda seemed to sense there might not be too much of a repercussion if she was unable to repay the borrowed amount.

Now if a lord refused to pay back his loans, there were a few things that happened, broadly depending on who they borrowed it from.

If the money came from nearby lords or the temple and clergy, the failing nobles could lose their social standing and credility, be forced to make certain political concessions, or be asked to allow certain religious practices and privileges to priests among other things.

While if the amount you owned was to the royal treasury, well the results could turn from just embarrassing to outright disastrous.

If that happened, then amongst the above listed things, they could also have their lands sieged, which if large enough could even make that noble lose his peerage due to going under the minimum land threshold needed to be owned to hold his title.

While in the worst of the worst case scenario, they could be completely rooted out through all out war.

Now the latter two options were of course very very rare but still, it did happen from time to time, especially if that noble house had powerful enemies or made them thoroughly enraged.

Hence a far better source of coin for most nobles were the wealthy merchants residing in their lands.

Not only were they sometimes even richer than some of the nobles, but the interests on these loans were also quite small, many times even absent.

Many times nobles could simply take that enormous amount of money from the merchants and then refuse to pay it back.

If that happened, the nobles would still suffer a hit to their reputation but given this 'crime' was committed against a commoner, it would leave a much lighter stain.

Some of the nobles even thought they were doing the right thing, 'putting these commoners in place'.

As for the 'rich yet poor' commoners, well they had little choice other than to swallow the loss, chalking the whole thing up as simply a necessary expense for doing business here.

This type of mindset was cultivated by the thoughts and ideas of the time period, where money did not make the world go around, but God did.

And who did God appoint to rule on earth on his behalf… all those noblemen of course.

So the best these merchants could do as retaliation was refuse to lend them money in the future.

Of course that was easier said than done given all the land they lived on belonged to the man.

If your landlord wants something and he has an entire army backing him, would you dare to refuse?

And the lords understood this too, thus they could sometimes become particularly oppressive, trying to leverage their privileged position to repeatedly fleece those beneath them.

When that happened, those merchants would either grit their teeth and try to endure until they went out of business or simply leave and set up shop elsewhere.

But that was far easier than done when one's entire production base was here, all the suppliers were here, and all the loyal customers were here.

So to leave it all and start all over again almost from scratch… the difficulty could be imagined.

Plus it was not like the businesses in those new lands were going to welcome this new competition with open arms.

And all this was to even mention the familial and societal aspects of all this.

People in these times were far less geographically mobile than their modern counterparts and preferred to spend generations in the lands they grew up in.

So many chose to simply bear through the tyranny.

While others tried to middle ground- i.e.- join a guild!

The tyranny of the nobles was indeed one of the reasons why merchants tended to join guilds- for there was strength in numbers.

A nobleman might have no problem angering a single or even a small group of merchants, but to aggravate an entire guild or even a group of guilds- well that was a whole another thing.

Their entire manufacturing economy could grind to a halt.

Now this did not mean it never happened.

If the lord was especially greedy and incompetent or if he was pushed right to the edge, drowning in debt from wars, rebellions, or some kind of natural disaster, he would forcibly seize assets regardless of the consequences.

However in general this 'repeated fleecing' was relatively uncommon.

Most lords preferred to keep these merchants happy because they brought various necessary goods from distant lands that their own lands could not produce but still required.

This could involve essentials like enough grains and vegetables to feed the populace, luxuries like cloth, timber, stone, and even exotic fruits and spices, or critical things like salt and iron.

The sale of all of which produced significant income for the landlords.

In fact, the revenue collected from sales taxes was usually only eclipsed by what they got from working the fields, a typical statistic for an agrarian society.

So most nobles tried to keep merchants if 'not happy' then at least 'not angry'.

.....

As the new round of negotiations came to a close, Alexander saw a twinkling with delight Miss Linda slowly mount him, a resplendent grin plastered on her place.

"My lord, to be so generous with your gifts… the interest is so low that it feels like you are giving me your dower! Hehe, are you sure you do not want to marry me?" The fully bare young lady cooed while slanting her eyes charmingly, "I would not mind you know!"

"....." Alexander did not bother to respond to such teasing, feeling too drawn by the alluring sight in front of him to care.

He subconsciously swallowed a dry gulp at the gorgeous nude lady towering over him and soon found his loins become red hot as Miss Linda began to grind wet, hot sex over his crotch, painting it with her and his mixed fluids.

The sticky, sticky turbid liquid was like an aphrodisiac to his skin.

"Mmmm!" Alexander thus felt his hands being magnetically drawn to that warm body, and as he grabbed her by that thin, willow waist tightly, it became clear in his mind that he would not let the lady dismount now even if she wanted to.

Then understanding what he was about to do, Alexander loudly lampooned one last time,

"To pay 10 million ropals extra for one session in the bed. This will definitely go in the history books as the most expensive sex in the world. If my wife were to know, she would tear my ear off!"

"Hehehe…." Miss Linda did not seem at all bothered that the man she was about to have sex with was thinking about another woman. She was far too busy thinking about the high evaluation Alexander just gave her- 'most expensive woman in the world.'

As a reward for saying such things, she started to grind her hips in a much more sexy manner, rotating them in a dancing motion that seemed to almost hypnotize Alexander.

He heard her chuckle in a mesmerizing tone,

"Rest assured my lord…. I am more than worth it. Soon you will be telling the world that the Duchess of Lynica, Linda Margraves Heeat is your bitch! That you even took her in the ass! How many can claim to have pumped a duchess's ass full of his nasty cum!"

It seemed that when it mattered, this woman really could talk dirty, having no shame in presenting herself in the most bae way.

And credit to her… it worked as intended.

Alexander's lower half practically jumped up in anticipation upon hearing such provocative words, or at least tried to given it was still firmly held under Miss Linda's heavily wet, juicy lips.

And feeling the sudden jolt on her sensitive nether regions, the lascivious lady's smile only turned larger and she even began to confidently show off her nude body, moving her slender arms along the entire length of it to emphasize each and every part,

"Look at me! Am I not the most beautiful woman you have ever been with Lord Alexander?"

"My face is perfect! Even the gods are envious of my beauty!"

"My breasts are the most sublime… perfect to hold in your palms! And if you squeeze… ahhhh, see…you can even drink the freshest juice!"

"I have no fat on my belly! And my stretch marks paint it in the most exotic colors."

"My hips are so narrow you can snap them with one hand. And my pussy… well I do not need to tell you about that my lord, right?"

"....." Discover exclusive content at empire

Once the couple was finished with their torrid affair, Alexander was truly finished for the day, so much so that that night he skipped his rendezvous with Lady Nanazin.

And the scenery kept flashing before him even when he met Lady Miranda the next day.