“Cable cart?” Miller asked, his eyes darting from the ropes to the book-covered structure.
“You see, gravity naturally pushes downward, but it can work diagonally too,” Francesca explained with a chuckle. She carefully hooked two small wicker baskets onto the ropes, locking the pulleys in place to keep them steady.
Miller leaned in, watching her closely. “So... this will function like the service lifts?”
“Just watch,” Francesca said.
With both baskets locked, one resting at the bottom on the floor and one hanging at the top near the book peak, she placed several heavy stones into the top basket. Then, she released the safety latch.
“See how the weight of the top basket pulls the rope, bringing the basket at the bottom up.”
In a flash, the heavy top basket slid smoothly down the diagonal incline, rolling the rope over the pulley mechanism and causing the empty basket at the bottom to rise effortlessly to the top.
Tak.
Francesca locked the pulley at the end of the line and smiled triumphantly. “Now, imagine this exact mechanism working on a much larger, territorial scale... Come on, take the rocks out of that one.”
Miller, fully understanding what she was getting at, reached down to remove the stones from the now-lowered basket. A look of profound awe crossed his features. “We might not be able to safely transport people over those steep drops just yet, but... transporting raw goods can absolutely be done this way.”
“It will be exponentially cheaper than building a road, as well,” Francesca added, walking over to stand right beside him. “There is a massive surplus of heavy iron chains lying around in the military storehouses, and we can easily repurpose broken, retired carriages to act as the cargo carts that will travel up and down the mountain face.”
“We just need to deploy a capable batch of mercenaries to set up the anchor chains at the base of the mountain...” Miller mused, deep in tactical thought. He reached out, gently holding her hand. “This is truly genius, Francesca. With this system, the council can’t complain about violating the old 'one-road policy' or ruining our defense, because it isn’t actually a road.”
“So, I am a certified genius, huh...?” Francesca teased, a playful smirk dancing on her lips.
Miller smiled back warmly. “Don’t get your ego too inflated just yet. Overconfidence is the absolute easiest way to get yourself killed on a battlefield.”
She interlocked her arm with his, leaning slightly against his side as her smile brightened. “Then it’s a wonderful thing that I will never have to step foot on one, right?”
Miller's gaze softened completely. “Of course. I would never let anything like that happen to my wife.”
He turned back to look at the entire mock cable cart system they had constructed as a test. “Let’s keep this project a complete secret from the council. We will reveal the design only after we have successfully built and functionalized a secret line straight down the mountain.”
“Hmm...” Francesca tilted her head up to look at him, her smirk widening with profound satisfaction. “My, my... look at you. You really are learning how to play the game of politics, aren’t you?”
She mused “The council already completely lost public trust after three of its prominent vassals were caught red-handed in Miss Maria's embezzlement scandal,” Francesca continued to chuckle, laying out the chess board of what Miller was thinking now. “And they are constantly pushing back every single one of your infrastructure ideas... If you were to suddenly present a flawless solution to a decades-long trade and starvation problem for the Viscounty on your own...”
Miller smiled, a sharp, authoritative glint in his crimson eyes. “I will have the perfect, unshakeable justification to prove to the populace that the council of vassals is no longer effective, and rightfully dissolve the entire institution.”
“And remember, it's not 'if I were to come up with a solution,' it's if we were to,” Miller added gently. He suddenly leaned down and swept her up into his arms, carrying her easily. “We both worked out this idea together tonight. If anything, you came up with the vast majority of it anyway. I wouldn't dream of burying your brilliance.”
Francesca’s face instantly flashed a bright, burning red at his sudden declaration. Holding onto his shoulders as they left the study behind and made their way toward the bedroom, she stayed quiet. Outside the castle windows, the quiet night’s moon still hung deeply in the dark northern sky, watching over a silent revolution.
When the crisp morning arrived, Miller had already left her bedside. With a deep yawn, Francesca woke up, blinking against the new light and stretching her arms wide.
“He is like a rooster... always waking up right on time,” she muttered with a sleepy sigh, absentmindedly patting the empty space next to her where he had been sleeping just hours before.
“Because if we didn’t, the enemy army would have been at our necks on the battlefield,” a voice suddenly cut through Francesca’s morning daze.
Francesca hastily snatched her hand back from the mattress, her heart jumping. At the door stood Stella, leaning against the frame and waiting for her to wake up. Francesca’s face slowly burned a deeper shade of red as she struggled to meet her maid's gaze. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she blurted out, “Ahem... how can you just enter your Lady’s room unannounced, Stella?”
“Lord Miller gave me permission. He specifically asked me to make sure I was here the moment you woke up, since you didn’t sleep properly last night,” Stella replied. A knowing smirk played on her lips, her hand half-hiding her mouth as if to imply she knew exactly why a newly wedded wife wouldn’t have had a restful night with her husband in bed.
“No! We did absolutely nothing like that!” Francesca instantly shot back, desperate to kill Stella’s wild misunderstanding. “We haven’t even had a proper kiss yet! We were literally just talking and playing strategy games all night!”
Stella suddenly let out a massive, profoundly disappointed sigh. She walked over to the bedside, helping Francesca out from under the sheets, stabilizing her weight, and handing over her polished cane. “How can that be, my Lady? You two have been married for nearly half a year now... I cannot believe how completely prudish the both of you are being.”
“W-what? Are you really saying that to me?” Francesca stammered, turning around to face her. “It’s not like I would refuse to spend a night with him if he actually made a move...! He is my husband, and I also...”
“So, why haven’t you made a move then?” Stella shut her down instantly, smoothly picking out a fresh daytime dress before walking toward the adjoining bathroom and throwing the door open. “It’s not like the burden falls entirely on his shoulders, right? Besides, isn't it usually the woman who seduces the man into her bed?”
“Stella!” Francesca pouted heavily, trying to salvage whatever dignity she had left despite her complete lack of real-world romance and intimacy experience. “What would you even know? You aren’t even married yet!”
Stella chuckled, guiding her toward the steaming bath. “That might be true by legal standards, but regarding everything else?”
“Wait... Stella, does that mean you and Kenny...”
Cutting her short by gently nudging her into the warm bathroom, Stella replied with complete nonchalance, “What’s the big deal? Of course we have slept together. We love each other deeply, and we’ve been in a committed relationship for a very long time.”
As she began scrubbing Francesca's back, Stella shook her head with an amused sigh. “You two are the absolute odd ones out, being far too shy to do anything when you are already legally married and clearly harbor profound affection for one another.”
Finishing up, she suddenly leaned down and whispered playfully right into Francesca’s ear, “So, hurry up, get on with it, and give me a godchild soon...”
“What?!”
Water splashed everywhere as Francesca reacted wildly to the teasing comment, sending Stella into a fit of giggles.
Knock, knock.
The sudden sound of a knuckle rapping against the heavy wooden outer door broke the playful atmosphere. “My Lady, a formal courier has just arrived. There is a letter addressed to you, sent directly from the LeonCraft Duchy,” a servant's voice announced from the corridor.
In an instant, the lighthearted, teasing mood in the bathroom evaporated. Francesca and Stella exchanged a grim, heavy look.
Stella’s expression hardened as she muttered under her breath, “What a thoroughly distasteful piece of timing.”