"What do you mean, Lord Alexander?"
The Queen Mother was deliberately very cold in her query, striking him with a very unamused gaze. And this time she was not pretending, like the rest of the royal family, she too viciously condemned the proposal.
Alexander slowly straightened his back while deliberating his response, until he was as straight as a rod.
Then in an impressively cool voice, he slowly began,
"Esteemed Empress, I realize this sudden suggestion has made you confused and angry. Indeed I should have consulted His Majesty before it. But now, I invite you to take a look at our current situation from an objective viewpoint. The treaty we signed with Amenheraft is very near its end. And the four allied provinces of Adhan, Matrak, Zanzan, and Rusti under His Majesty are clearly at a disadvantage against his eight. So the question we must ask ourselves is how do we balance the scale?"
