Her breath hovered in the spring air. Despite the early hour, that breath was not alone. Countless heavy breaths rose from the vast space before her and steam rose from the horses as if burning charcoal.

This was not a place near Augstadt—nor was it far. Rather, it lay precisely where it ought to, just far enough that the journey could be comfortably made twice a day without rush. Far enough from the major road that it had simply been wooded before, which meant that a town could be founded at that road for all the workers without infringing on the property itself. A town that, eventually, would thrive into the county's second capital.

For now, that town was mostly warehouses made from the very wood cut down to clear space. In that space stood a remarkable building.

Her architect had a vision, she gave him that. Of course, she had been privy to every sketch he'd made for this project, every revision her other architect had suggested. Nor was this the first time she had seen it, such a project necessary to personally visit if only to impress upon those working on it its personal importance to her.

She had thought he might struggle with brick and concrete. That, with his love of churches and cathedrals, he would try to use her materials as if stone and find the chiselled bricks crumbling. It turned out to be a needless worry. He had not only embraced these materials, but the sheer scale of her ambitions too.

The central building of the academy was already an impressive size, some fifty strides across and over ten along; the inside, then, was made up of a grand hall and a pair of smaller halls either side, one of which was where students would be received in the morning and sent from at the end of the day, the other where they would dine.

The teaching rooms occupied three of four wings that sprang from this central building to make a shape between a H and X; each left the centre at an angle and curved to be straight at their respective ends. The last wing consisted of storage rooms and the kitchens.

However, that was not the end of it. Those halls of the central building only made up the ground floor, that above was another storey for the staff and then a tower, complete with a bell to strike on the hour. Fortunate with the timing in the grand scheme of things, it had been designed for a pendulum mechanism rather than adapted to one after the fact. So of course he had one side of the tower made with tall, narrow windows to show off this new technology.

Altogether, something similar to a cathedral, and yet markedly different. Unique. Beautiful and intimidating and rich with care, both from him and from her other architect, as if both still worked to prove that they should be entrusted with any and every project.

She softly smiled.

The building only made up part of the property, that there still needed much gardening to be done, difficult to grow a tree in a year regardless of how many people stared at it. There were plans to dig out a pond too. Stables would be important too, both for the students and for their travel.

Not her plans, though, that the academy had already left her hands. There was to be a council which would arrange these matters going forwards, whether that was matters of funding or choosing a headmaster. The charter which dictated all that was all the influence she needed.

Of course, if she did happen to have a good idea, she had confidence that those who made up this council would also see the merits.

The other side of all this was that this was only the academy for boys. Although there hadn't been as much enthusiasm for an academy for girls, she had insisted upon this being a joint project.

Still, that academy hadn't needed quite the same funding, nor quite the same prestige, relegated to a place practically within the city's limits. It also bore a certain resemblance both to her other architect's compact housing design, albeit enlarged so the rooms were suitable for teaching, as well as a resemblance to convents—which was intentional. Altogether, it made for a place that nobility could feel comfortable sending their daughters to. That they would also have a strong measure of control over the academy through the council further settled them.

Even with that academy costing less to build, that did not make it, nor the land it required, cheap. That only a fraction of this cost had been personally covered by herself did not make it any cheaper either. After all, her plan a year ago had been for the city to cover this, that raising funds now would be bolstered by this proof of success. While she could have "told" the mayor to follow this plan, that posed a risk over something as inconsequential as money.

The bank had always been there for such an occasion. That she had waited so long simply reflected that it would succeed or die on her reputation. At least, whether it would meet her expectations depended upon her reputation. Regardless of how it played out, she knew the city's accounts would only continue to grow, that her judgement of the mayor was not infallible, nor was he infallible in his own judgement of those in his confidence.

However, the bank didn't need to exist due to a lack of trust. She simply wished for people to do the work they excelled at. When they did this, when they realised that those they worked alongside with also excelled in their work, everything came together well.

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Footsteps sounded out behind her, came to a stop at her side. A sigh emerged into the air where it lingered alongside her rising breaths. "My Lady, as much as it pains me to admit it, I could not have accomplished this without Master Haartsen."

"Nor could Master Haartsen have accomplished this without My Lord," she replied.

He gave a chuckle. "Truly, he is incredible. A bit clumsy when speaking, yet one cannot fault his planning," he said, his good mood clear in his voice. "It is as if he personally counted how many bricks we needed and knew how many would break."

"It would not surprise me if they did, that there is a beauty in bricks for which we know their size so precisely and how much mortar is needed between them. Their work on other projects has certainly given them an intuition on breakages too."

He shifted on the spot, his hands together as he rubbed some warmth into them. "A queer fellow. Oh how he dotes on his sister, so proud of his work that he often pushes her around here in that wheeled chair of hers. I wanted to have stairs leading up to the entrance at first, but, seeing how awkward it was for him and the maid to carry her up the step, I decided on the slope instead. With concrete, it is no less sturdy."

She gave no comment on that, knowing him well, that he often liked to boast and otherwise hear the sound of his own voice.

Still, she was rather aware that he would only lower himself to praising "Master Haartsen". In all likelihood, he did not know Holzer who managed the builders, nor Meyer who advised, having read through what scraps of ancient knowledge on concrete lingered. Nor would he lower himself to praise her, that those reliable bricks he now used came from her calculations, the concrete mixed with trass she imported for its likeness to the pozzolana which Ancient Romans had used for their long-lasting concrete, not to mention the roads upon which all these materials had been delivered.

No, this kind of man only wished to conquer, to leave his mark upon the world—and his mark alone. If particularly beloved, a general may be graced with an honourable mention, perhaps a bodyguard noted for a particular service, yet the thousands of soldiers, the tens of thousands of farmers, the hundreds of armourers and weaponsmiths, none of them mattered. It was their own good fortune to be ruled by him, their reward to be witness to his greatness.

She knew, though. She knew all their contributions. It was precisely because she did that she—not he—had been able to achieve this. That, in reality, the only person in this entire project who could not have been replaced was herself. That some other man could have stood at her side before an entirely different building, that it could have been completed a few months later, that countless other parts might have changed.

However, without her, there would be nothing here.

Just as important, what was here meant nothing without her. She gave it meaning. This academy for children of the nobility, as she had promised the new Lord Schwanstein, was a seed only she could nurture into something greater.

"I am curious what exactly this academy should teach?" he half-asked, half-said, as if still unwilling to request anything from her.

"That those boys of good birth shall be taught here, who would one day become officers and even rulers of their own fiefs, I would think poetry, fine art, and music, among other less important things," she said, her voice perfectly level.

Yet he laughed, a short one that made clear his thoughts. "Is there such a need? Boys these days are already too soft," he said lightly.

"It is precisely that those who lead men into battle should understand the beauty of which they fight to protect, and it precisely those who produce and patronise such works of beauty that should understand the sacrifices others make to enable them. God gave us these talents that we may share them with each other, as we share His bread, as we share His love."

She knew he would not concede the point, but sidestep it; sure enough, after a suitable pause, he asked, "Is His Royal Highness out on business?"

"Alas, Sir is, that he has sought to train some promising few of the militia and taken them to Austria for that purpose." She then turned to the other side with a small smile. "I hope Sir Ludwig enjoyed his time off, that I worry my husband shall be busy playing soldier for some time to come."

Her knight chuckled and gave no more reply than that.

With her gaze that way already, it naturally fell upon the further area being cleared. Even though the funds had yet to be raised, this part required little money, simply axes and shovels for peasants to use and food for them to eat. A large, flat area would be required, and a long, level road to join with the major road. In the winter, there would be need for much firewood, that sprouting town hardly made of thick, stone houses, and workers would need to warm up after a long day in the cold.

The kinds of thoughts that made her irreplaceable.

Her gaze then turned back. While she knew that the academy could have been designed by anyone, of course she had sought him out with a purpose. That she had sought out a few others of similar acclaim with a similar purpose and he happened to be the one who had proven amenable. His work with cathedrals had certainly prepared him to work on something of this scale, the academy proof that he could produce something original instead of merely continuing that which already existed.

"I have indirectly said as much already; however, I would take this moment to congratulate My Lord on a most splendid work. Those curious ones who have visited have been full of praise and I have no doubt My Lord will find no shortage of willing hosts in Augstadt for years to come."

He did not laugh, such praise, to him, something natural and expected. She had been sure to pay him generously in these compliments. Her parents had been right to emphasise the importance of understanding motivations, that it then followed one should make use of this understanding.

"My Lady is too kind. Of course, it is my privilege to be entrusted with such a project, my reward to see it come to fruition," he said, chin held high.

"Is that so? Then I shall put the last of My Lord's pay towards a feast for all the workers," she said, her hands coming together in a clap to punctuate her sentence.

He stilled, a moment later that he then said, "Let us not go that far."

"Truly? Those workers shall also be contributing to the library, so I would think it wise to keep them in good spirits. If My Lord is unwilling, though, it is hardly an expense I cannot cover," she said and then turned around.

He could not keep himself from wincing, reminded that such praise from her was hardly natural. "I did not disagree as such…."

Too subtle for any to notice, her lips curled.

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