Chapter 29: Five Years Later
By the summer of 1793, the Kingdom of Aragon had become something entirely new. Not just in substance, but in soul. What began as sketches in a prince’s study had become the beating heart of a nation—thundering with piston, spark, and steel.
Beyond the city limits, iron rails crisscrossed the countryside. Steel bridges spanned rivers where only ferries had once dared. Telegraph poles marched like sentinels across the land, humming with messages about harvests, trade, and innovations. In workshops across Toledo, Zaragoza, and Segovia, belts turned, gears clicked, and hammers rang—not in isolation, but in harmony. The kingdom had become a machine, and every citizen, willingly or not, was now part of its rhythm.
Even the nobility had changed.
The same lords who once whispered rebellion behind mahogany doors, whose powdered wigs curled in disdain at the scent of coal smoke, had transformed. Faced with Lancelot’s unshakable resolve and the dazzling returns of industrial production, they’d adapted—not from loyalty, but from necessity.
Marquis Altamira of Valencia, once the loudest opponent of the reforms, now operated the largest textile mill in the eastern provinces, powered entirely by Mirena’s high-efficiency rotary engines. Count Ferrán of Burgos, who once warned of "machines stealing men’s souls," oversaw foundries producing railway spikes and bridge trusses for the Crown—at a tidy profit. Even Duchess Leona of Segovia, whose family had declared the electric telegraph "witchcraft," now bragged of having the first electrically illuminated ballroom in the kingdom.
Lancelot allowed their pride. So long as they paid their taxes and expanded his vision, he didn’t mind their newfound enthusiasm. Let them call themselves industrialists—titles mattered less than results.
But tonight... tonight was different.
Tonight, the capital would bear witness to a promise made real. Tonight, Madrid would become the first city in Europe—not just Aragon—to be illuminated entirely by electricity.
The anticipation had built for weeks.