The next day, early in the morning, André heard a knock at the door.
He did not need to look to know who it was: it was certainly Alicia, whom the night before he had needed his grandmother's help to convince to go to her own room.
Due to Alicia's sudden change, everyone in the mansion was surprised. They had not known that she would cling so tightly upon meeting her brother, and she would not even let go of him to eat.
"Good morning." Upon entering the dining room for breakfast, André greeted everyone, giving a kiss to Lucrecia and Amanda.
Sitting at the table, Alicia settled at his side without releasing his arm. If André tried to free himself, she put on the eyes of an abandoned puppy, leaving André with no choice but to resign himself.
Near midday, André took Alicia to the military camp for a demonstration of his army's might.
"Raúl, is the demonstration ready?" He had informed him about it the previous afternoon.
"Everything is ready, my lord." Raúl guided the pair toward the testing area.
The soldiers who were ready for the demonstration were surprised: their lord had come with a different girl from the usual one.
They were used to seeing the beautiful red-haired girl who always followed André. Rose was the dream lover of a large number of soldiers, but they quickly concentrated on their work.
"My lord, this morning another batch of cannons arrived and we thought of using them in the test," Raúl added from the side, and André only nodded, indicating that he should continue with the demonstration.
Soon a large number of iron armors were arranged in an open field. Then a platoon of riflemen stood at a distance of one hundred meters. At Raúl's order, they fired.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"
A large number of sounds resonated, startling Alicia, who pressed herself more tightly into André's embrace.
"It is done, my lord."
Then the group advanced toward the test site and inspected the armors.
Alicia was in shock upon seeing all the armors full of holes that went from one side to the other.
André smiled upon seeing her reaction and then said:
"Right now we can equip three thousand soldiers with these weapons. When my plan is carried out, we will have equipped at least ten thousand. So you do not have to worry about my safety."
Alicia remained silent, seeming to analyze André's words. After a while she said:
"I can accept your plan, but I have to be with you when you do it."
André only wanted to refuse, but upon seeing the determination on her face he accepted reluctantly.
Then came the demonstration of the cannons, which left Alicia stupefied, and she no longer had any doubts that everything would turn out well.
Soon Monday arrived: today the school would be inaugurated.
Standing in front of a large crowd to give the opening speech, André smiled very satisfied upon seeing the large four-story building, almost as large as the lord's mansion.
"Everyone, this day will remain in the history of the Solomon Viscounty. This will be the day on which all the people of the viscounty decided to advance toward a better future."
"Many will be thinking that studying is a waste of time, but here I tell you that you are wrong. Study will be your door toward a better quality of life."
"As many of you know, all those adult people who attend the school, whether they are farmers, artisans, blacksmiths, or members of the militia, will have an increase of ten copper coins."
"This is my ordinance for all the lords of the viscounty, so you do not have to worry: everyone will receive the benefit."
André was very detailed regarding that subject. It should be known that the majority of the people present were there because of the salary increase.
"One last thing: know that from now on the most valued people will be those who complete their studies."
"That will be all I have to say to you. Everyone work hard for a better future."
"Applause, applause, applause!"
A great applause came from the crowd and André left the podium with a big smile. The attendance rate was better than expected.
André was aware that the majority had enrolled because of the salary increase, but that was only the beginning.
When people saw that the neighbor who had studied had a good job and a good life, they would hurry to enroll their children in the school.
Once the ceremony was finished, classes immediately began and André returned to his busy work.
Mario managed to obtain twenty teachers: ten would give classes in the morning and ten at night. Rose was not included and would remain as André's assistant.
---
Baron Creus had always been very content with his life. Despite being a simple baron on the frontier of the Kingdom of Antares, he had been happy with his status.
Now he was sixty years old, in the twilight of his life, and he should be devoid of any ambition.
When the Solomon family was exiled to the frontier, Baron Creus was the one who received them very warmly. He had no plans to take advantage of the weakness in which they found themselves and, thanks to his help, they managed to establish themselves firmly in this territory.
Everything changed three years earlier. Suddenly a middle-aged woman stood in front of him. Next to her was a young man of about fifteen years saying that he was his son.
He clearly remembered the woman: she had worked in his mansion sixteen years earlier and he also remembered that he had had an affair with that woman at that time.
But she disappeared right after that. Baron Creus knew what had happened; his wife had told him on her deathbed.
According to her, that woman one day arrived at the mansion looking for him, telling him that she was pregnant. Then his wife gave her ten gold coins and told her that if she appeared again she would send her to the gallows.
In those times, the local lords practically held the lives of the villagers in their hands. They could easily condemn a common person to the gallows.
Then, three years earlier, after the death of his wife, the woman appeared in front of him, which saved him the work of searching for them.
During these three years he realized his son's ambition, so he decided to help him, since he was his only relative.
Baron Creus's plan was simple: marry his son to Alicia Solomon. But there were things that had to be resolved first.
For example, the male heir that there was in the Solomon family. Luckily he was not very clever and it was easy to plan his death, making it seem accidental.
But what he did not expect was that there was another male heir in the Solomon family, which ruined all the follow-up plans he had.
He could not do it again, because Lucrecia was not foolish: she already suspected that her grandson had not died accidentally.
---