THE products Bertine launched into the world—the scarlet fabric, the stingers, the variety of jarred goods—continued selling well, adding to the country’s coffers. Stingers found a market in the Azdal Monarchy by way of its neighbor, the Empire. They were well-received there too. As a result the Azdal Monarchy, with its thriving arms manufacturing industry, made direct contact with the Federation. By using its ships to travel southward around the coastline, its people were able to avoid having the Empire act as intermediary.
One day, when they saw a massive ship out on the water, Federation citizens cried out in alarm at the threat of an enemy raid. But the men who landed on shore in small boats lowered from the huge vessel were shouting something about stingers. They took some out on their palms and using gestures managed to convey their desire to buy stingers. Turns out, the men weren’t invaders but enthusiastic merchants.
Cecilio’s father, Delio, noted that the Azdalian ship was powered by machines instead of sails. I need to tell Cecilio before they leave. Once his son received the urgent message, he journeyed to the Callisto district as quickly as he could via riverboat. Then Cecilio offered to buy the whole ship as well as the mechanism responsible for mobilizing it.
Bertine had accompanied him on the rushed trip. While her husband and the Azdalian merchants conducted their negotiations, one of them took her on a tour of the vessel. Inside, she learned that coal was the fuel driving the enormous machine. This knowledge spurred her to make a recommendation to Cecilio.
“There’s coal aplenty in our country. Instead of buying a ship or two, we should buy those machines in bulk instead. They can deliver to us via their ships.”
So the scale of the negotiations increased dramatically. Ignacio was there too. I have a feeling this will be another golden egg for us! The thought sprung to mind when he listened to Bertine. He immediately turned to a civil servant working in the finance department and ordered them to find whatever funds were available in the national budget to buy the machines.
Lately, Bertine and Ignacio were so in sync, Cecilio found himself remarking how much the other man was coming to resemble his wife. He said the words with a serious expression. Luca had been on the mark when he’d called Bertine the next Alchemist. Her instinct for business grew sharper the more experience she gained.
“I firmly believe we need people in this country with an interest in these machines. Ignacio, what do you think about starting a program to train interested individuals on how to service and maintain them? After all, we can’t use them if, or when, they break down, so it would be prudent to have staff who can fix them on hand. The first step will be to invite Azdalian engineers to teach them,” Bertine reasoned.
“You make a very good point. If we can’t repair them when they break, then the machines will just be useless hunks of metal.”
The Federation government dispatched representatives to the Azdal Monarchy at once with requests for knowledge and training on the machines’ service and repair as well as engineering. The Monarchy agreed in exchange for stingers. This meant the newly built schools in the Federation would come quite in handy.
An announcement was sent to every school in the country, targeting students in the upper grades. The government would provide scholarships to anyone interested in learning how to service and repair marine machines as well as those wishing to study abroad. Though the turnout wasn’t as large as they expected, the scheme nevertheless received a few applicants.
“I knew it. Though the Federation’s people have a reputation for being overly relaxed and come what may, there are still dynamos ready to take on the world.” Bertine was delighted.
Applicants were interviewed and whittled down to ten students, who would start by learning the basics of the Azdalian language. The national government hired an interpreter as their teacher from the company Evance had used. Once the students mastered Azdalian well enough for use in their daily lives, they were ready to head to the Monarchy. Bertine spoke to these future engineers before they departed.
“You don’t have to rush while you’re there. As the inaugural cohort, even if it takes the next three years to learn what you need in the trade, that will still be a success. But remember this. The most important thing is that you all return safely.”
Gathered in the capitol building, the ten youngsters had been tense with nerves at the thought of being sent to a foreign nation. But the encouraging words gifted to them by His Excellency’s beautiful wife gave them a measure of relief.
“The most important thing is that you all return safely.” In the future, those words would bolster them and give them strength to continue their studies in the Monarchy whenever they found themselves feeling discouraged.
✦ ✦ ✦
IN the years after they married, Bertine and Cecilio were blessed with three sons. They lived in their own residence in the capital of Ybit. The large estate consisted of a normal brick house and a large oval-shaped bungalow with a thatched roof standing side by side. The eccentric house became a popular tourist attraction for countryside visitors in the capital. Evance, the architect of the oval structure, was now famous not only in the Federation but also in the Empire and Azdal Monarchy.
Bertine and Cecilio raised their children mainly in the whimsical house. The three energetic boys resembled Cecilio closely, both in face and large build. According to Cecilio, their antics made them rapscallions of the highest order, leagues worse than him as a child. “They may look like me on the outside, but their personalities are practically you, Bertine,” he would often remark.
The engines the Federation purchased wholesale from Azdal were installed one after another in its riverboats. As a result, the Saran River, its largest river cutting through much of the country, became a vital transportation route. Today, many boats, large and small, come and go on the river at a speed unmatched in the days of sails.
Bertine and the children always dragged the busy Cecilio away from his work to journey down to the Callisto district on the Karina. Ever since her riverboat had been outfitted with an engine as well, the Karina made even more speedy journeys. Delio and Emilio couldn’t be more delighted to see the boys so often. The children loved Callisto’s blue, blue ocean as well.
Dorothée became the housekeeper and managed their household. She hired all the new servants because she hadn’t intended to employ Cecilio’s staff at his previous official residence. They had declined as well when Bertine tried to keep them on, saying they appreciated her forgiveness but didn’t have the right to stay on.
“My lady, Lady Dalila is visiting today, isn’t she?” Dorothée asked.
“Indeed she is. I’m so happy to see her so much lately. I wonder which hotel she’s staying at this time.”
“I believe the one on the western shore.”
“Hmmm, that would be the one resembling an enormous boulder?”
“No, it’s the one with the three-tiered thatched roof.”
“Oh, yes. Quite popular too, if I recall.”
“Very much so. Lord Evance remains ever in demand as an architect.”
“Heh. I suddenly find myself thinking back to the day I met him. I can hardly believe he’s the same man, hungry and robbed. How nostalgic.”
Bertine and Dorothée both recalled the day they brushed off their despair and started running toward the future.
“Lady Bertine, you have always been and continue to be someone I’m proud to work for.”
“Well, I appreciate the thought, as sudden as it is. And I thank you for everything you always do, too, Dorothée. I’m so grateful and blessed to have you by my side. I wouldn’t be here without you, you know.”
Her voice wavered just a bit, the tip of her nose and eyes turned red. From outside the room in which they conversed came the sounds of the boys romping about with Cecilio. He often minded the children and acted as their play companion. Bertine had been pleasantly surprised to discover this side of him. He had a calm, relaxed way of raising them. When she’d commented on it one time, he had responded with a smile.
“I became a father well past my prime, so I want to take my time enjoying fatherhood.”
She heard her sons’ delighted shrieks. Then Cecilio’s mature voice, giving away his location. This is where I belong, Bertine thought to herself as she listened to them.
“Dorothée, I really am glad I decided not to give up on life back then.”
A gentle smile accompanied her words.