Chapter 320: Cultural Reforms

Within the heart of the City of Kufstein lies a grand castle which was the home to the von Kufstein family. Inside its cold stone halls, there was a small stage set up, where over a hundred patrons had gathered to watch the display. Adela gazed upon the audience from behind the curtains with an overwhelming sense of excitement and anxiety within her beating heart. 

For years now, Adela had been surprised with every visit to Kufstein; the first time she had entered the region, it was nothing more than a small agricultural town. Yet now, it had grown into a massive city and was expanding with each day.

However, despite the city's massive growth, it was lacking in several areas, at least in Adela's honest opinion. Though Berengar had long since begun sponsoring artists, actors, and musicians for the sake of funding some culture within Austria, the capital city of the Kingdom was severely lacking in venues for these creative types to display their talent. 

With this in mind, the fifteen-year-old girl sat down at the seat, in the center of the stage that had been set up within Castle Kufstein. She had decided that while her fiance was away fighting a war for her Nation's independence, that she would begin the process of advancing culture within the City of Kufstein, hoping for it to spread to Austria as a whole. 

The crowd gathered before her was filled with over a hundred men and women, primarily from among the ranks of the local nobility. They gazed in silence at the beautiful young girl as she began to play a song she had created to express the difficulties surrounding her relationship with the man she loved. 

In particular, this song revolved around the sorrow she felt while he was away at war, leaving her behind to wait for his safe return. The sad song echoed in the venue's air, filling the noblemen and women with complicated emotions as they listened to the young girl pluck away at the strings of her instrument like an angel who wept from the heavens.

While Adela was playing the harp with masterful talent, a pretty young woman stood beside her and sang the lyrics that Adela had written. This woman was a talented singer from the common populace who was among the many musicians Berengar had sponsored during these past few years; her exquisite alto voice flowed perfectly with Adela's instrumentals as she pronounced each word without fault. 

Her tone of voice perfectly expressed the lonesome lyrics that Adela had written, filling the audience with the same sense of abandonment that the girl felt every time she thought of Berengar and how far away he was from her embrace. 

Before long, the song came to an end, and silence prevailed amongst the audience before they broke out in thunderous applause. Several more eager crowd members cheered for the artists who had performed such a beautiful and touching song. 

After the small concert was over, Adela and the singer began to speak to the gathered crowd. They entertained their guests for some time with graceful smiles before they had all departed, leaving Adela and the singer by themselves gazing upon the stage reluctantly. 

One could say that this small concert was a resounding success, and neither Adela nor the singer desired to let it go so quickly. Despite this, the two women eventually looked each other in the eyes with a similar sense of excitement. The singer soon approached Adela and hugged her tightly before thanking her. 

"Thank you for this opportunity! You have no idea how much it means to me! With this, I might finally be able to make a living off of my music and no longer mooch off of your fiance's generosity!"

Adela put on a pretty smile as she nodded her head before responding to the woman's praise.

"With your talent, that won't be an issue; the problem is that there simply isn't much in terms of venues for musicians such as yourself; I will speak to my father about this and see if we can construct a grand concert hall so that all musicians within Kufstein can make an appropriate living, and share their work with the people!"

After hearing this, the young woman nodded her head and smiled before responding to Adela's claim.

"That would be wonderful; if your father doesn't want to approve of it, we can only wait until King Berengar returns; I am certain he will listen to your advice on the matter! Thank you for doing this for us; though the King has provided living expenses for all of the artists, actors, and musicians within the city, it would be great if we could survive on our own..."

When Adela heard this, she nodded in silence; she too was a talented musician; however, unlike the ones who Berengar's supported, she was a noblewoman of the highest caliber and was destined to marry the King of Austria. As such, she could not make a professional career out of playing her harp. 

Eventually, the singer noticed the time on the clock and realized that she had to return home; as such, she hugged Adela and expressed her thanks one more time before departing from the venue.

"Thanks again! I appreciate the opportunity!"

After saying this, the young woman left Adela by her lonesome, where the adolescent girl stared once more at the stage with a bitter smile; she hoped one day all major cities in Austria would have a venue for artists to display their talent. 

With this in mind, the young beauty left the venue and departed towards Berengar's study, where her father was surely hard at work. It would be best to discuss her ideas with the Chancellor of Austria as soon as possible.

As such, when she arrived at the door, Adela steeled her resolve before knocking on the door thrice. Immediately after she did so, Adela heard the familiar voice of her father from behind the door, calling out to her. 

"You may enter."

Upon hearing this, Adela opened the door where her father Otto gazed upon her fondly. His little girl had grown up so fast, just a few years ago, she was merely a small child, but now she was a beautiful young woman. Soon enough, she would be married to Berengar and become the Queen of Austria. With this in mind, he asked Adela for the reason she had intruded upon his work.

"What can I help you with, baby girl?"

Adela took a deep breath before exhaling, calming the nerves in her heart as she expressed her desire to begin a cultural shift within the Kingdom of Austria to her father, the Chancellor. 

"I have come to you to make a request, not just on my behalf, but for all of the people of Kufstein. I think it would be best if we began construction on some locations for the artists, actors, and musicians that Berengar has sponsored over the years to display their talent in exchange for compensation.

I was considering constructing a series of grand venues, such as a concert hall, a theater, and an art gallery. I think it would be suitable for the people of Kufstein to spend some of their hard-earned money on entertainment and culture. We could even aid the local chefs by having them provide some form of food and drink for the guests, for a small fee, of course." 

When Otto heard this, he was pretty shocked. He had not even thought of this as a possibility, nor had Berengar expressed his long-term plans for financially supporting the artists, actors, and musicians within Austria. After all, a fair degree of expense was going towards paying these creative types a living wage so that they can continue to develop their skills. 

Otto thought about it for a few moments before a warm smile broke out on his face; the benefits of such venues were numerous. Not only could it act as a means of entertainment to appease the masses, but it could also be used as a way to spread Austrian propaganda to the people of the Nation.

On top of these two things, it would create another form of revenue to stimulate the economy. Thus the Chancellor was entirely on board with his daughter's ideas. As such, Otto nodded his head and agreed to Adela's terms.

"That is a splendid idea! I will begin drafting the plans immediately; tomorrow, I will meet with the architects to discuss the feasibility of building such structures. When Berengar returns from the war, he will be extremely pleased with the results, and more importantly, he will be grateful for your contributions."

Adela smiled when she heard this; for too long now, she had done very little to support her man, after all this time she finally discovered a way to do so. Adela desired to become the face of Austria's cultural reforms and become the architect behind them. With this in mind, she bowed gracefully to her father before departing.

"Thank you, father; if there is nothing else to discuss, I will return to my quarters for now."

After hearing this, Otto appropriately dismissed his youngest daughter. Afterward, he immediately began to draft up the necessary paperwork to fund the aforementioned cultural exhibits. With the influx of Italian silver and gold transported to the Royal Austrian Treasury, there was no need to worry about the expenses for such things. 

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