The church bells rang, and the landlords were escorted into the church by Spanish soldiers who had only just been armed. They were extremely unwilling to go.
Inside, the Austrian Empire's military and civil officials, along with the local priests, were quite welcoming. They had even prepared a banquet to welcome them.
Most of the landlords wore grim expressions and could barely eat a thing, but no one forced them to.
"Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to gather here. On behalf of His Majesty the Emperor, I offer you my highest respects."
An Austrian Empire official raised his glass. The Spanish landlords and gentry around him, however unwilling, had no choice but to raise theirs and say,
"Thank you. It is our honor."
But few responded, and even those who did sounded listless.
The Austrian officials showed no reaction, but the Catalan priests and bishops beside them had already begun wiping cold sweat from their brows.
Father Anthony rebuked them angrily.
"Do you understand? The decision you make today will affect the future of all Catalonia—even all of Spain!"
But some people clearly had no idea what was going on. One of them shot back,
"I've never even left my town in my whole life! Catalonia? Spain? Never heard of them!"
"Exactly! Why should we have to deal with other people's problems? There are so many disasters and wars that we can barely feed ourselves. Why should we care whether other people live or die?
"Father, why don't you ask God Almighty to show some mercy and stop the wars?"
"Exactly! Please, Father!"
For a moment, the whole place was filled with wails. These landlords and gentry were old hands at this; getting them to part with their money was a pipe dream.
Father