There had been little time for her to rest in recent years. It was not that she particularly needed the rest now, rather that she had put enough in motion. Her efforts would be wasted on pedantic details and so she sought to collect herself.

The where, then, was Bavaria, a quaint place owned by the marquess and which had a certain proximity to a certain count. While she busied herself with reading and simple enjoyment of the view from the lounge's warmth, her husband went off to ride and hunt. In the evenings, they would play at newly-weds, in spite of their situation still a certain enjoyment of the other's company.

At least, that leisure had been how the first week passed.

"Lord Roth, it is a pleasure to have such company," she said, her smile warm.

He was at this time his father's heir and using the barony title as a courtesy, one day would be her equal as a count. Still, that did not make him a particularly young man, nor too much older than her, comfortably in his thirties.

A different kind of man than her husband. Rather than a military academy of sorts, he had gone through the University of Paris and with a certain acclaim no less. While he would hardly take the vows, his understanding of theology went beyond what was necessary for his education, perhaps a contributor to where his focus had gone since.

As for the man himself, he gave her something of a short look and then turned to her husband. "Your Royal Highness," he said with a bow, hand over his chest.

For his part, Friedrich chuckled.

For her part, she tilted her head, eyes narrowed. "Is My Lord under the impression he is here for my husband?" she asked in a voice that, while not cold, certainly lacked the warmth of her earlier smile.

He straightened up and held his chin that bit higher. "Am I not?" he asked.

So she turned to her husband. "Does dear have any plans to build so much as an outhouse?" she asked lightly.

He thought it over, eyes narrowed and mouth thin, until finally he said, "I think an outhouse would be too grand of an expense for my estate at this time."

While a lord would certainly not be so crass as to huff, Roth certainly did pout. "Prince or not, this is hardly how a guest should be treated," he said.

"Nor is this how a host should be treated. Marquess Bavaria is the one who brokered this meeting and I know well the letter he passed to My Lord is signed, not by my husband, but myself. I would think better of My Lord than for him to miss such a detail."

Her words, as usual, carried little emotion and a clear reasoning. The kind of remarks that both angered the hearer and made the hearer unwilling to show that anger. At least, that was how he felt.

"Which wife does not write letters on her husband's behalf?" he said, a forced levity in his tone.

"This wife. If my husband wishes to dictate letters, he may hire someone else, my time rather precious," she said, matching his levity.

He glanced at the prince only to see amusement. A wife speaking in such a way, it went beyond absurd. If she had a grander title, then it could be understood, yet she was inferior on this count too.

At the same time, he felt keenly the unspoken reminder—that, in terms of title, the one most inferior here was him. Even if his father passed this moment, he would merely be her equal.

Her time rather precious indeed.

"Speaking of which," she said, "if My Lord has no interest in making my acquaintance, I suppose he should leave. It is not often I have time to rest."

Some pieces coming together, he put on a smile. "How could I lack interest? Augstadt's cathedral is renowned for its beauty," he said.

Her own smile quirked. "My Lord speaks true, and it is true he has done good work on Prague's cathedral."

"My Lady's praise is too much. My renovations merely helped bring back the original beauty," he said, the warmth more natural when speaking of this topic.

"If to bring back beauty is such an easy task, then they would not have asked such a talented individual to oversee the work. Humility is good, but it must surely be a sin to deny the talents God has given us," she said.

He politely chuckled, knowing better than to quibble with her. "I must confess, I have not heard of any damage—has something recent happened to the cathedral?"

"No, our cathedral is perfectly fine."

His confusion grew. "Is My Lady interested in making improvements to it, then?"

"Not particularly, no," she said, her polite smile now with an air of amusement—mockery.

"Then, pray tell, why would My Lady wish to be acquainted with myself?" Whatever attempt he'd made to hide his frustration from his voice did little good in keeping it out of his words.

She did not reply right away. No, she tilted her head to the side, fixed him with a stare. "Is that all My Lord is capable of, work on cathedrals?"

Her expression, her tone—it left him hesitant. As provocative as it sounded at first, the longer it had to settle, the more honest it felt. A genuine question. Or perhaps it was a provocation all along, an accusation of denying his God-given talent.

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She did not argue like those practitioners of rhetoric at university—which included himself—that much was clear.

"What other work would My Lady have?" he asked.

Rather than answer, she tittered, a hand over her mouth and eyes rather clear that she wore a broad smile. "So My Lord would be interested in working for This Lady?"

No, she argued in the more casual sense. His smile strained, he said, "That would depend on the particular work. There are others interested in my… talent."

"Well then, I suppose My Lord has no need of my work," she said, her tone disinterested. "My apologies for wasting My Lord's time."

He fought the urge to rub his face, a long breath slowly let out through his nose. "Since I am here, I could hear out My Lady, perhaps something that would interest me."

Without hurry, she brought her gaze back upon him. He found it harder to meet that gaze this time. Not humbled, humiliated, practically begging her after he had been the one to spurn her first.

Yes, she argued in the more casual sense and she argued well.

"Perhaps, perhaps not," she said, her hand gesturing along with a roll of her wrist. "I would like to construct a pair of academies. One would be larger for boys, one smaller for girls, and this would be for children… of good parentage. Local instruction, so no dormitories as such at this time. I have a suitable and vast piece of land that is being prepared as we speak."

Humiliated he may have felt before, but this made him feel the fool. That, more than anything else, truly doused his frustration. "Academies? I think there is no particular need for my talent to draw up such a thing," he said, his disinterest plain to hear.

"If My Lord would take the commission, though, he would also be the one to design the library," she said.

He would have laughed if he hadn't already lost all energy for this conversation; instead, a smile tugged at his mouth. "How large would this library be?"

"Let us say… over a hundred strides across and a hundred along. The exact dimensions would of course depend on the particular shape."

For a moment, his heart forgot to beat, then his mind caught up and, this time, he did let out a laugh. "Does My Lady understand how vast such a distance is?" he asked lightly.

"It would be as if your very own cathedral."

This time, he did not laugh.

Silence fell as he began to comprehend the scale of this proposed work. "Are there even that many books?" he asked, a rhetorical question that lingered as a smile.

However, she answered it. "If not yet, then there eventually shall be," she said, no hint of hesitation in her voice.

"Still, I have to ask again, does My Lady truly understand this scale? To spend on a library of all things?" he asked quietly. Broken.

"I assure My Lord, this is far from the first construction I have personally requested. As for the scale, I believe My Lord will find it more reasonable than he thinks once he corresponds with Master Haartsen," she said.

He frowned at that and bluntly asked, "Master Haartsen?"

"They are in charge of overseeing all public and large constructions in my fief."

His frown deepened, a second wind coming to him. "Surely I am not being asked to serve under some… craftsman," he said, that last word sounding like a slur out of his mouth.

"Allow me to clarify. Master Haartsen is familiar with the materials and labour available in my fief and has gained much experience with how to use both of these well. As such, they would oversee constructions to see that we are using our funds well. You wonder if such a library is reasonable, well, Master Haartsen is your tool to make it reasonable. They will ensure the bulk of the work is efficient so that you may spend generously on the particular details."

He listened closely and yet that left him with a particular question, his mouth curved into a wry smile. "If this master is so talented, why is he not designing this library then?" he asked, his hand gesturing to the side as he did.

"To be frank, it is precisely because they are a commoner. One part is that it is expected for such a prestigious building to be designed by an equally prestigious person and I worry it will be diminished if others judge it for being designed by a commoner. More importantly, though, Master Haartsen has grown up as a commoner who detests frivolity and wastefulness, that they do not quite understand and appreciate the importance of beauty for such a prestigious construction.

"If this was merely a building meant for commoners, I would have left this in their hands. However, it is not, it is a building that I wish for many good people from all over to come visit. As such, it needs to be a building worth visiting and I know well that you understand what makes such a building."

She was not at all subtle, but he couldn't think of a moment she had been, instead aggressive from the very start. And why shouldn't she? Clearly, she knew well the worth of what she dangled in front of him. He knew well any of his peers would grovel at her feet for this project.

For all his posturing, even if this was to simply sign his name on some commoner's work, it would be worth it. As long as the building was completed and was as grand as she claimed, it could look like anything and still be famous and adored. After all, it wouldn't make sense for someone to put so much effort into making something ugly: the sheer scale made it beautiful.

A cathedral, above all else, was beautiful for how it reached out to God, desperate to be that little closer to Him. He understood that well. Whenever a church or cathedral had a wealthy patron, it was always another spire, a bigger tower.

The only question left was how wealthy of a patron he thought her.

"If I may be frank with My Lady, I would still question if there really are the funds, even with this… master's experience," he said, distrust tempered with desire.

She turned over a hand, her face showing no particular reaction to his pointed question. "It is fair to ask. That is, I do believe My Lord still does not comprehend the value of Master Haartsen. I know how expensive cathedrals are. Rather, I know how expensive it is to employ so many people for such a length of time.

"Nothing I could say would adequately convince My Lord. If he is willing to indulge me, then the construction of the academies would show how efficient Master Haartsen is, as well as the companies I have fostered in my domain. It is also the case that, once the academies are constructed, I would then leverage their appeal into procuring… contributions to the library.

"On the other hand, I intend to bring in outside contributions for the library too. I do not intend to run it for profit-making like some merchant, yet I believe others shall appreciate my ambition and seek to have their name attached, no?"

As evenly as she spoke, that last word came out like a joke. Rather, not a joke, but an acknowledgement.

This was not a project, it was a dream. And what a beautiful dream it could be.

She did not argue like those practitioners of rhetoric, why would she? It had not been her goal to convince him of any truth from the start. No, she wanted to blind him with lofty dreams. A beautiful dream, yet he knew now its purpose, just one step after designing her little academies. He only needed to do this one thing for her, then the library awaited him. A dream needed not be reasonable, needed no funding, this master almost certainly something she came up with to keep it from sounding too good to be true.

Still, she sounded so believable. A lie with such substance as to be a truth of its own. Did she really desire his prestige this much?

If she did, though, why did she not have the prince ask him?

"I understand this is not an easy project to accept so suddenly. Still, if My Lord declines, I fear whoever else I find would be… lacking," she said, ending in a sigh.

How well she had known him from the very beginning.

"I accept."

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