After morning exercise, the master and his servant headed to the dining hall to enjoy breakfast.
Sunlight streamed through the stained glass windows, casting colorful patterns on the long table, creating a peaceful atmosphere.
The old butler, Jean Leclerc, stood aside, watching the two lift their cups of milk with a satisfied smile in his eyes.
The young master’s change, Marianne’s gradually emerging smile—all made him feel that this household finally had hope.
From Allen’s butler, he had learned today’s important news:
This morning, the Border Count led the successful eradication of sea raiders plaguing the Kingdom’s coast, rescuing surviving villagers without a single casualty and achieving a decisive victory.
His daughter, Livia von Stern, had fought valiantly, earning astonishing feats, and nobles were fervently discussing whether she would be awarded a noble title by the Royal Family.
Of course, the royal conferment of noble titles nowadays was purely honorary; the Kingdom hadn’t granted any hereditary land-bearing titles in over a century.
The news spread this quickly?
Allen pondered for a moment and realized the speed of information dissemination perfectly matched the original setting—
This era already had an official Herald System serving the monarchy, with royal messengers operating throughout the Kingdom, constantly gathering firsthand information.
At the same time, the Kingdom had a developed Courier Network, ensuring highly efficient transmission of news.
Such great news of the Kingdom’s victory naturally spread rapidly throughout the Capital Lucien.
So that’s why Livia went to war…no wonder she hadn’t come to visit these past few days.
The thought of Livia returning to the Capital with military honors made Allen a bit restless.
The Royal Family would undoubtedly hold a triumphal ceremony, and the victorious Stern family’s momentum would completely overshadow the Laval family.
Allen had originally planned to have his father demand an exorbitant dowry to discourage Livia.
But Allen was well aware that with Livia’s stubborn and ruthless nature, even if his father asked for a dowry of a hundred thousand livre, she would grit her teeth and agree.
If that happened, when Livia and Allen met, it would be a fight to the death…
Wait, why do I suddenly have such a bad feeling?
Father wouldn’t seriously make such an outrageous demand to the Border Count, would he?
No, I have to ask him when he gets back.
The engagement between Allen de Laval and Livia von Stern was less a contract and more a “three seconds after meeting, battle begins” challenge letter.
The closer their meeting, the nearer Allen’s death ending!
He had to act quickly!
Allen sipped fresh milk, reflecting on how underdeveloped the entertainment industry was in this era.
Just a little gossip in the morning was enough to fuel a day of salon talks among the nobles.
If only he could read a newspaper every morning to check the Capital’s daily news, maybe he could even spot some business opportunities.
Wait…
Newspapers?
Allen, a detail-oriented maniac, suddenly realized something crucial—
The Capital only had official mansion bulletins, no newspapers aimed at the general public!
Mass media hadn’t started in this world yet!
His eyes lit up as he suddenly found a way to break the deadlock!
The Capital’s economy supported an advanced public education system, and Lucien’s literacy rate was among the highest of this era.
Citizens lived in an urban environment with limited leisure options, and the entertainment industry was utterly incapable of satisfying their cultural and spiritual needs.
Spiritually empty, the people led listless, decadent lives—either drinking and fighting or frequenting “public bathhouses.”
If humanity was to step into the interstellar era, improving “hardware” alone wouldn’t be enough; the corresponding “software” had to be elevated to a modern level too.
People of this era needed their spirits civilized and their bodies hardened.
The literary themes on the market repeated endlessly, but Allen could start various publications and print books, using his knowledge far beyond the times to deliver a dimensional blow to this era’s lack of cultural industry!
A time traveler who merely copied texts was no real time traveler!
Every literate citizen was a potential customer for Allen!
How to improve the “software”?
The answer was right before his eyes.
Allen could subtly change people’s minds with his publications and printed books.
He would use humanism to shake the immovable feudal mindset, and use fantasy literature to alter people’s perceptions of the world and enhance their imagination.
Homo sapiens could build a prosperous civilization precisely because of their capacity for imagination.
Humans imagined the first submarine long before they built one!
Every invention passes through imagination, theory, and then practice.
Though the “Observers” erased human technology, there was nothing to fear!
Imagination was the starting point of scientific inquiry; Allen never intended to climb the technology tree alone.
He wanted to paint a blueprint of a future utopian society for this era’s people, enabling them to envision what the future world could look like.
This yearning for a better life would bring a dawn to this bleak era, leading people to ultimately embark on a path to seek the truth.
Toppling the “Observers’” chessboard and popularizing modern thought and scientific spirit was the first step!
The benefits of developing the cultural industry didn’t stop there; it would also rapidly drive economic growth!
This era had a developed papermaking industry but only primitive printing technology; most books were still handwritten.
Allen knew the principles of Gutenberg’s movable type printing press and could promote a printing revolution on his own without church assistance.
A massive consumption of newspapers and books would create a terrifying demand for paper, spawning many jobs and driving the entire downstream industrial chain forward.
Allen didn’t plan to monopolize the entire industry; he just wanted to grow the pie, stimulate economic development, and turn more people into potential allies.
As long as his cultural empire grew large enough and generated sufficient tax revenue for the Royal Family, the Laval family would become too big to fail!
Allen’s vision of developing the cultural industry not only solved the Laval family’s debt crisis but also pushed human society toward significant progress.
Truly worthy of me!
I, Allen de Laval, am undeniably a historically genius great villain!
Allen planned to discuss his business grand plan with his father when he returned.
The only problem was how to buy time for the Laval family’s growth.
Just then, the dining hall door was flung open, and the food-loving nun Anna strode in, dragging someone behind her.
“Wow!”
Anna’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the exquisite bread the master and servant were eating.
“Looks better than the canteen bread! Can I have some?”
Marianne, Chief Maid of Laval House, was Allen’s personal maid and sat at the same table with him—no problem there.
As for a “regular maid” like Anna, she had to eat in the canteen, with far worse treatment.
No way!
She managed to bankrupt the Laval family just by eating at the cheap canteen.
Could she really be given expensive noble meals every day?
Anna didn’t care about this inequality at all; as long as she was full, she was happy.
The Inquisition didn’t refuse to feed Anna, but she knew deep down her terrifying appetite was abnormal.
If she indulged daily, wouldn’t she be committing the sin of gluttony?
To avoid being judged by her Inquisition colleagues, she forced herself to live in hunger every day.
Now, her hard days were finally over.
The young master Allen de Laval not only didn’t see her as a gluttonous monster but allowed her to eat freely in his household!
Allen must be a super kind-hearted guy!
An angel sent by the Lord to save her!
How could such a great man be a heretic?
Would the Inquisition feed her so well if she really were one?
If the Inquisition knew their pure nun was bought off by Allen with long-term food rations, they’d probably be so mad they’d spit blood.
At this moment, Allen was more concerned about the man Anna dragged in, whose face looked utterly hopeless.
He wore simple commoner clothes, making him especially suspicious in the noble-heavy Upper District.
The old butler quietly asked, “Young master, shall we notify the Inquisition or the guards?”
“No need, no need.”
Allen smiled, waving his hand.
“Anna, what’s going on?”
Anna casually lifted the adult over her head like a toy and said, “I saw him skulking around this morning while I was taking out the trash. He smelled suspicious, so I brought him here.”
She looked at Allen expectantly, eyes flicking to the bread, like a golden retriever wanting praise.