Everyone's attention turned to me as I entered carrying a thick stack of papers.
I pulled out several sheets and announced confidently, "These are the blueprints that will form the foundation of our business."
"Good heavens! What are all these?"
"You drew these yourself?"
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the blueprints, exclaiming in astonishment. The drawings were so precise that they looked as though I'd copied them directly from the originals.
The Grand Duke's expression barely changed, but the space between his eyebrows narrowed by about two millimeters. He was clearly surprised too.
While everyone else was excited, Albert was the one to voice his doubts.
"But Your Highness, having blueprints doesn't mean we can simply produce clocks out of thin air."
"Her Highness has gone to the trouble of drawing up these magnificent blueprints. Surely, if we gather the residents of the grand duchy, we'll find some way to make clocks! Hahaha!"
Victor laughed proudly, as though our arduous journey to the Kingdom of Grace had finally paid off.
Albert clicked his tongue.
"Your Highness hasn't been in the grand duchy long, so you may not realize this, but our people already work themselves to exhaustion cultivating this barren land. If you force them to take on the additional labor of making clocks, they won't be able to endure it."
"You're probably right."
I nodded in agreement.
The Grand Duke's residence wasn't the only place on the verge of bankruptcy. The residents themselves had looked as though they were barely holding on.
When I readily acknowledged his point, Albert seemed to seize his opportunity. His voice grew firm.
"Before the people's dissatisfaction with His Grace grows any worse, you must abandon this ridiculous idea."
"You may be the administrator of the grand duchy, but I won't tolerate such insolence!"
Victor sprang to his feet in my defense.
Albert, however, was equally determined.
"If we'd saved the money spent on the trip to the Kingdom of Grace, we could have covered several months of operating expenses for the Grand Duke's residence."
"His Grace and Her Highness must have had good reasons for going! Isn't that right?"
Fuming at Albert's criticism, Victor whipped his head toward the Grand Duke and me.
He looked at us with bright, expectant eyes, clearly hoping one of us would offer a convincing rebuttal.
"..."
The Grand Duke remained silent, gazing at the blueprints I'd brought with a complicated expression.
Perhaps he was remembering what we'd witnessed during our inspection of the territory. The residents' circumstances had been dire, after all.
Albert, quick to read the mood, promptly produced the private loan agreement he'd tucked into the territorial report.
"The residence's treasury is nearly empty. We must borrow money while we still can and distribute it among the people to restore their goodwill."
"I certainly agree with Albert that we need to win back the people's trust."
I gave him a pleasant smile.
Rrrip!
Then I snatched the private loan agreement he'd practically shoved under the Grand Duke's nose and tore it cleanly in half.
Albert's mouth opened and closed in disbelief.
"Your Highness! What on earth are you—"
"But taking out a private loan isn't part of our plan."
With that, I dropped the substantial stack of papers remaining after I'd taken out the blueprints onto the center of the office table.
They were brightly decorated flyers.
"What... exactly are these?"
The Grand Duke frowned slightly, looking back and forth between the unfamiliar flyers and me.
That was the question I'd been waiting for.
I answered him in a solemn voice.
"We're going to start a revolution."
"A-a revolution?"
Everyone's jaws dropped.
Victor let out a strangled squawk.
This time, even the Grand Duke's eyes widened dramatically in shock.
Then came a heavy thud.
The younger soldiers immediately burst into a commotion.
"M-Mr. Albert! Sir, wake up!"
Apparently, the elderly Albert had fainted from the shock.
I shrugged and handed the sturdy soldiers armfuls of flyers.
"From now on, your assignment is to distribute these flyers throughout the Empire."
The soldiers swallowed nervously at their orders.
I then turned my attention to Victor and the Grand Duke, both of whom were still frozen in place.
"And the two of you will need to accompany me to meet the residents of the grand duchy. Albert too."
By then, Albert had apparently regained consciousness, judging by the pained groans coming from the floor.
I crouched beside him and whispered gently.
"There's no time to lie around taking it easy, Mr. Albert Dovier. You're not off the hook just yet."
******
The residents exchanged anxious glances at the unexpected summons.
"Why have all those important people from the Grand Duke's residence come out here...?"
"Don't tell me they're going to punish us because last year's harvest was so poor."
"This is terrible. Today's the day we're supposed to transplant the seedlings..."
But the whispers stopped the moment the Grand Duke appeared.
The gathering fell deathly silent.
Nobody dared meet his eyes.
Amid the atmosphere of mingled fear and resentment, Albert sighed miserably and protested.
"This is the busiest time of year for farmwork, you know."
"Don't worry. That won't matter nearly as much anymore."
"Haah... Right now, every last blade of grass matters..."
Albert sounded utterly despairing at my casual response.
He seemed convinced I was about to ruin everything.
Unperturbed, I stepped forward to address the assembled residents.
"I have an important announcement to make."
The people were too frightened to look directly at me. They kept their heads lowered, sneaking glances from beneath their eyelids.
I cleared my throat and made my declaration.
"From now on, you'll need to stop growing crops in the grand duchy."
"...!"
A wave of agitation swept through the crowd.
"I-I knew it! They're going to punish us!"
"Are they trying to drive us out?"
The residents began murmuring in panic.
Albert looked as though he'd just received a death sentence.
I calmly explained my plan.
"Instead, we're going to build clockmaking workshops."
The unexpected announcement silenced the crowd.
I took advantage of the opportunity to continue.
"Rather than cultivating crops, you'll be constructing workshops. And while construction is underway, the Grand Duke's residence will pay you regular wages."
"W-wages?"
The people looked bewildered.
Most of them made their living through farming or small businesses, so the idea of receiving a fixed wage was unfamiliar.
I smiled.
"Once the workshops are complete, you'll work there."
"B-but we... We don't know how to do anything except farm."
A man who seemed to be representing the residents cautiously raised his hand.
Beside me, Albert nodded emphatically, wholeheartedly agreeing with him.
"I'm sure that's true for most of you. That's why we're bringing in experts to teach you."
"Experts are going to come to Grand Duke Richard's territory...?"
The residents' eyes widened.
After all, people left the grand duchy because life was so difficult here. Almost nobody ever moved in.
"Of course!"
I triumphantly raised one of the flyers that the Grand Duke's loyal soldiers had been dispatched to distribute throughout the Empire.
★ URGENTLY HIRING ★
Blacksmiths, locksmiths, gunsmiths, and other metalworking specialists welcome!
Employment Type: Permanent, full-time
Working Hours: 9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. (Flexible schedules and generous vacation allowances)
Salary: Industry-leading compensation guaranteed. Room and board available if needed (Featuring premium LaXLaX beds)
Benefits: Assistance with personal legal disputes available (※ Including direct physical intervention by the Grand Duke)
♥ We welcome everyone to the Richard Grand Duchy, where we're one big family! ♥
"What...? She said experts, but..."
"They're just craftsmen..."
"You want us to learn trades?"
The enthusiasm visibly drained from the crowd.
Some even looked offended at the idea of being taught by mere blacksmiths.
They only say that because they don't know any better!
The Empire was a nation that valued the humanities above all else.
Politics, philosophy, and the arts had flourished, but skilled tradespeople were looked down upon.
Naturally, science and technology had made little progress as a result.
The Kingdom of Grace was a smaller and weaker nation than the Empire, yet its technology was far more advanced.
Even Count Bonetta's guards had carried guns.
Meanwhile, swords were still the more common weapon in the Empire.
Not that I had any grand ambitions to advance the entire Empire's technological development.
But surely I had to do something about the grand duchy.
With that thought, I continued my explanation.
"The grand duchy produces only 1,723 pounds of wheat per hectare. That's less than twenty percent of the Imperial average. On top of that, our population is only about forty percent of that of other territories."
At my words, the residents exchanged uneasy glances.
"Farming land this poor is inefficient. That's why we're going to build workshops and manufacture goods instead."
The revolution I had in mind was none other than the Industrial Revolution.
I would gather all the metalworkers and mechanical technicians who were looked down upon throughout the Empire, bring them to the grand duchy, treat them well, and have them manufacture clocks while teaching their skills to the local residents.
At first, production would take place in small workshops using the blueprints I'd brought back.
But as time passed and their technical skills naturally improved, we'd surely be able to move on to mass production in factories.
In other words, I intended to transform the grand duchy into an enormous industrial city.
"Right now, you can barely earn 100,000 gold a month from your wheat harvests. But once you start working in the workshops, you'll receive at least 500,000 gold in wages every month."
The crowd immediately stirred.
One after another, people turned toward me with expressions mixing curiosity and anticipation.
I wasn't about to let the opportunity slip away.
Raising my voice like a master propagandist, I proclaimed,
"And all of this was planned by Grand Duke Richard himself, for the sake of his people!"