Herald of Steel

Since Alexander, the master of the house firmly declared his decision, the discussion about saffron was firmly put to rest.

Thus the rest of the dinner was largely uneventful, with only Fabiyana perhaps appearing a bit sullen, being very careful not to waste even a single drop of her liquid gold.

The eight quickly finished their large assortments of beef, chicken, fish, salted vegetables, and chess and then it was time for some cards, for today was blackjack night.

Alexander was the dealer, and as they were playing Cambyses offhandedly commented,

"Alex, have you thought about moving to a bigger house? With so many of us… it's getting quite cramped here. The place is so small that many of the lords even laugh about it behind our back."

The lady lightly complained.

And Alexander instinctively frowned at this.

Now, he was not angry over what the nobles did, that was old news.

What he did not like was Cambyses putting any thought into the words of such hollow people.

He even told her multiple times to ignore such comments.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

'Most of these people are base and vain, wasting all day gossiping and backbiting. Forget them!'

But understandably this was a very hard thing to do for the young girl.

In a society that celebrated pomp, extravagance, and showing off, Cambyses also wanted to show off her immense wealth- her beautiful dresses, gorgeous jewelry, rare perfumes, and of course, a big, magnificent house.

This was simply the accepted norm- that each subsequent noble peerage would be richer and flashier than his retainer.

So Alexander was the actual oddball here, the weird one out.

And as Cambyses did not possess his modern mindset, she found it hard to resist that inevitable flow.

Hence after a few years of living in this 'cramped' manor, and being constantly poked and prodded insidiously by the other noble madams about them living in basically a shack, the girl finally found the guts to ask Alexander this, indicating that she wanted to rebuild the burnt down Pasha Muazz's place- the place that had more than a hundred room.. Stay connected through empire

Towards this, Alexander initially wanted to immediately shut down this conversation, thinking this was just a useless expense.

He really had no love for a bigger house and thought their current living standards were more than adequate.

He preferred to use the money for far more utilitarian purposes.

However…. just as he was about to reply to Cambyses with a delaying tactic, he suddenly detected everyone except Arrya produce a positive glow on their faces at this mention.

Even the ever loyal and obedient Ophenia sent Alexander a desiring look.

This made Alexander understand that it was not just Cambyses who wanted a bigger house, nor was she looking to only brag.

Something that Gelene also pointed point, detailing the various everyday inconveniences they faced.

Things like overcrowding, maids getting held in the kitchen due to orders getting mixed up, noise, regularly bumping into each other… mundane things, but things that eventually got irritating.

All this was a bit enlightening to Alexander.

He was away from his home so frequently that he had forgotten this was a thing.

"Hmmm, yes, I forgot that there are seven of you now. Then there are the kids, their playrooms, guestrooms, dining rooms, the hall room, the maids…. there will also definitely be more in the future... mmmm!"

Thus as he began to scan the situation properly, he could see how their want actually made sense.

"Okay, I will see what I can do about it." Alexander at last agreed, much to the glee of the others,

"But the trouble is finding enough space in the city." although that smile was short lived as he quickly added this.

"Isn't that why we are moving the eastern garrison? Surely we can have space then!" Fortunately for the group, Cambyses seemed ready with this quip, her eyes determined not to take 'no'.

In fact, this was the main reason she had exaggerated the crime in the city, to make space for her dream home.

And Alexander did not deny this improvement, commenting,

"Yes… hopefully the city will become a bit less crowded with this. But then… where do you want to build it Cam? I don't want it here in the central district, it's too crowded and…. full of so many other buildings. Even if we make space in the eastern parts, this part will still be like this."

At this point, the frown on Alexander's face deepened, his tone turning a bit repulsive,

"I especially do not like the sights from here. Say whatever you want about Muazz, but the man had taste. That palace on the hill overlooking the lush Cisran range on one side, and the blue Central Sea on the other, I really miss that."

The memory of that huge house and its luxurious amenities quickly made all those who had experienced it turn a bit reminiscent, as then a slightly bitter tang then filled their heart upon recalling what happened to it.

They of course understood and even wholeheartedly supported Cambyses's plan to burn the house down rather than have Perseus take it, but still… they missed the huge and opulent palace.

As for rebuilding it….

"*Sigh*...yes, it is too bad it's been all taken over by the workshops." Cambyses bitterly chimed.

Now, perhaps she was saying this simply out of regret, or perhaps she was trying to ask Alexander to move some of the workshops elsewhere to make space for her dream home.

But in the end, fearing his anger at even such a suggestion, she did dare reveal it clearly and Alexander also simply took the comment at face value.

And he was supported by Gelene on this, who was against moving any of the workshops. Her business was there.

So she suddenly interjected with an urgent tone,

"The workshops are too important to be disrupted in any way. It is our lifeblood. The place also already hides so many secrets, I am sure master would not like to risk revealing them."

The secrets here referred to both the various advanced manufacturing techniques, as well as the five thousand mercenaries disguised as sugar farmers.

Then, without giving others a chance to intervene, changed the topic in a slightly jealous tone,

"In fact, when sister raised this topic, my mind instantly went to the palace master has at Thesalie. That place is so beautiful. It is such a shame that Lady Felicia gets it all to herself. How about we move there? Master already spends tens of thousands of ropals every year just on maintenance for it!"

Gelene's words quickly reminded everyone of that huge mansion with its pools, rush greeny and sight of the river Diannu.

One time Alexander had even wished to move his capital there- it was so much more beautiful and even a lot more defensible. The fortress city still had its reputation despite being breached once.

But Alexander quickly put these thoughts aside because Zanzan was already too developed by now.

Economically perhaps he could move the workshops and still come out unscathed, but politically, it would alienate most of his core nobles.

"*Sigh*, let me think about it for a few days." Hence unable to come up with an answer on the spot, Alexander decided to deter it to a later date, musing,

"Perhaps we can indeed move to Thesalie for a few years. Cement is in such short supply... building the palace will at least take a decade. We need finish some of these projects soon."

The matter of the white powder seemed destined to eternally haunt the man.

Or so he thought, as at that point, Cambyses suddenly chirped in a clear voice,

"Actually Alex, this is also what I wanted to talk to you about. You say you cannot build more cement plants because you cannot find the appropriate hills with springs. But why not use the watermills on the river instead? There are certainly many rivers around here, right?"

The lady of the house appeared very pleased by her idea.

However it appeared Alexander had already thought of it, and solemnly shook his head,

"...The waters here are not fast enough, you need a certain flow to be able to quickly grind the cement pebbles. But even if I found some fast flowing rapids, there is still the secret of adding gypsum. So I will have to build additional plants to build huge rotating drums that mix the two powders."

"All this will require a lot of space, and more importantly a lot of security."

Alexander added the last part as it was no secret that he zealously guarded the exact method of making cement.

Not even his main wife- Cambyses knew the exact recipe.

This answer basically put the final nail in Cambyses's aspirations.

Alexander would only open plants in places he felt secure, run by people he trusted.

Until Ophenia of all people put her own two cents, innocently asking in an inquisitive voice,

"Actually master, why don't you build more of those rotating drums here in Zanzan? Then you have kilns all move the lands."

"The cement pebble can be grounded into powder on site and then sent here for 'refinement'. After adding the secret gypsum you then ship it back again with none the wiser!"

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