The Matter of How Only a Political Rival Duke, Not My Own Family, Recognized My Worth After I Was Disowned ~When I Turned a Remote Frontier Territory Into the World’s Greatest City, the Noble Lady Assigned to Supervise Me Became the Best Fiancée~ - Episode 29: The Capital’s Command Tower and the Gears of Revolution

Episode 29: The Capital’s Command Tower and the Gears of Revolution

When the first winds announcing spring blew across the Alma Wastelands. 

In a room of the Valenstein Ducal Family’s villa far away in the royal capital of Asteria, 

Isabella was reading a letter.

The sender was Noah von Silford.

It was the first message in months from him — the man who had survived the northern winter.

Written within were records of the harsh battles he had fought through the cold season, and the astonishing technological innovations he had achieved beyond them.

And the most shocking of all was that he had captured a beastkin assassin sent by the Silford family — and was now attempting to recruit her.

“…Truly, that man always goes far beyond my imagination…”

Isabella let out a deep sigh. It was a mix of exasperation, admiration, and an affection she could not hide.

The letter ended with these words:

‘We are ready to begin our new business in spring. Please push our next product in the capital as planned.’

“Of course. The perfect stage has already been prepared,” 

Isabella murmured softly. She then rose to her feet.

The field overseer had completed his task to perfection — now, it was the commander’s turn to act.

◇

A few days later.

At the dwarven craftsman Gran’s workshop in the artisans’ quarter of the royal capital. The heads of the city’s major merchant guilds and master craftsmen had been summoned. They were unsure of what was to come.

The host was none other than Lady Isabella Valenstein.

The invitation contained only one line:

‘You are cordially invited to witness a new possibility of steel that will change the future of the kingdom.’

“What business could the Valenstein lady have with us?”

“It’s probably some noble’s hobby.”

Amid skeptical murmurs, Isabella appeared gracefully from the back of the workshop.

“Gentlemen, I thank you for gathering here today,” 

She began. Her clear voice silenced the room.

“Now then — what do you believe gives ‘steel’ its value?

To take life? To defend one’s own? Surely, you don’t think that’s all it’s for.”

At her signal, an attendant brought out two hoes.

One was the crude, heavy kind commonly found in the capital.

The other was a sleek, black-lustrous hoe forged by Gran from Alma Steel.

Without ceremony, Isabella picked up the Alma Steel hoe and brought it down upon a hard stone on the floor.

A sharp, dull clang — the stone shattered cleanly. The blade, however, bore not a single chip.

“What…!?”

“Impossible — it broke stone without even a dent!?”

The merchants’ eyes widened.

“This is the new steel produced in the Grindle County and the Alma frontier — ‘Alma Steel.’ It’s thirty percent lighter and over twice as strong as conventional iron. With tools like this, the kingdom’s food production could double within years. This is the steel of abundance — steel that will save our people from hunger.”

But Isabella’s presentation was far from over.

Next, she displayed a model of a wagon wheel — and a small, palm-sized metal ring.

“And this, 

is the gear that will revolutionize all logistics.”

She fitted the small, precisely crafted metal ring — a steel bearing — into the wheel’s axle.

Then, with a flick of her finger, she set it spinning.

The model using the old-style axle stopped almost immediately.

But the one with the bearing turned smoothly, quietly, and seemingly endlessly — as if alive.

“What… is that…?”

“Magic…?”

“No,” 

Isabella replied. 

“Not magic — technology. By using this in wagon axles, goods can move faster, farther, and with far less effort. Transportation costs will plummet. People and supplies will flow unhindered to every corner of the kingdom.”

The gathered merchants and craftsmen were speechless.

Until now, they had only seen steel as a weapon.

But Isabella had shown them a vision — a future where agriculture, logistics, and industry itself would be transformed at their roots.

“P-Please! Sell these tools to our company!”

“I’ll pay any price for those ‘bearings’!”

The hall erupted in fervor.

In the center of that feverish excitement, Isabella noticed the Silford-aligned merchants paling. They realized that their monopoly had just become obsolete before their eyes.

Then, with the poise and authority of a queen, Isabella declared:

“Rest assured, gentlemen. These products will soon be officially distributed to the market through a joint enterprise between House Grindle and House Valenstein.”

And she smiled.

“The old common sense ends here — today, in this very place.”

Far in the northern frontier, Noah’s technological revolution had begun.

And now, under the hand of his commander, Isabella, the first explosion of that revolution detonated in the very heart of the royal capital.