Steel Empire
Handover Negotiation

At sunrise, the city of Innsbruck was entirely in Berengar's hands; the only part that had yet to fall was the Castle that contained the Count family. Berengar intended to capture them and surrender their fate to Linde; after all, they were his siblings. Nevertheless, when Liutbert, who was the son of Prince Lothar, and the Heir, as well as Linde's older brother, realized that the city was taken in one night, he could not believe his eyes.

In anger, the young man, who was several years older than Linde, attacked his adviser who was trapped inside the Castle wall beside him.

"How did this happen? How could the Cursed Berengar take the city in one night?"

Just like Linde Liutbert who had strawberry blonde hair and sky blue eyes. He is quite a manly figure and has a brilliant mind in itself. Unfortunately, he had long been betrayed by his own family and was completely unaware of this fact. Neither he nor his advisers knew how the Castle fell so quickly; when they heard the explosion last night, they thought it was just another bombing that took place. They were completely dumbfounded by the idea that their walls had failed to meet their goals.

One of Liutbert's advisers, a thin, rat-faced man, nervously expressed his opinion on the matter.

"My lord, we don't know how Berengar captured the city, but I guarantee he won't be able to enter the Castle so easily!"

Liutbert scoffed at the man's reason; if Berengar could easily seize the city without anyone realizing how he had achieved it, what would prevent him from using the same tactics to seize the Castle. As a result of his anger, Liutbert threw his trophy at the adviser who had spoken and punished the man.

"Sounds on our doorstep! It was only a matter of time before he took this Castle! What do you think his men will do to my sisters when they enter my ancestors' house!?!"

Liutbert was not a fool; he immediately realized his position and immediately took a decision, although he hated the idea if he wanted to save himself and his brothers, he had to negotiate a surrender. Since Berengar was a condemned heretic, Liutbert could not expect him to follow the general etiquette of the battlefield and allow him and his brothers to be ransomed. Therefore, he turned to his advisers and told them of his monumental decision, which his father would definitely not approve of.

"I will meet with Berengar and discuss my surrender terms, I don't care what to do but I will ensure the safety of my family!"

The advisers looked at Liutbert with shocked expressions, and therefore, expressed their concern.

"Count will never allow it! He would rather you and your brothers fight to the death against this rebel than hand over your family home to the enemy!"

Liutbert was being unwilling to argue with his advisers; therefore, he walked up to the man who had spoken such foolish words and struck him in the face with a backhand.

"I'm not my father, and if that liar would see his children slaughtered rather than live to fight another day, then he really isn't worthy of my loyalty!"

This statement was absolutely treasonous, but Liutbert would never have been placed in this position if his father had not planned to overthrow their relatives and become Duke of Austria. After demonstrating his authority through violence, the advisers quickly began work to demand peace with Berengar.

...

Berengar was currently camping outside the castle walls with his troops. They were in the process of loading the cannons; however, just before they could fire the first bombardment, a white flag was hoisted over the castle fortress, which forced Berengar to hold his hand. Berengar took his own white flag to symbolize that he and his troops were willing to negotiate peacefully. After the two flags were seen, the two sides met between the besieging army and the castle's defense.

Berengar wore an arrogant expression on his face as he stood in front of Liutbert, who was pouting disliked. The two men stood in front of each other with several guards to ensure their safety; berengar was slightly taller than Liutbert, which made the young Regent uneasy. Finally, Berengar broke the silence with an arrogant comment.

"Are you going to waste my time, or is there something you want to say?"

"I will leave Innsbruck to you and the Castle in it as long as you ensure the safety of myself and my brothers!"

Berengar stared at Liutbert's figure, trying to investigate any clues about the man's character before replying. After concluding, he asked about the details.

"Is there anything else?"

Liutbert quickly shook his head with a defeated expression before replying.

"I may not be the wisest person in the world, but I know I'm not in a position to sue. All I ask for is the safety of me and my family."

Berengar smiled and stuck out his hand in a friendly manner

"Well, on these terms, I accept your surrender, you will be ushered back to Kufstein where your sister is currently living, You will be kept as my guest until the moment your father surrenders or perishes on the battlefield. As for the title of Count of Tyrol, which will be decided by our noble, Duke Wilmar."

Liutbert frowned as he sighed in defeat he finally shook Berengar's hand. Berengar's bodyguards started escorting the defeated Regent; however, as he walked away, the strawberry-blonde youth quickly turned around and asked Berengar the question that had always been on his mind.

"I wonder if you can comfort my curiosity for a moment?"

Berengar, who was about to order his troops to storm the castle, turned around and looked at the man with a curious look before commenting.

"I don't understand why not?"

Berengar's troops carefully guarded Liutbert to make sure he didn't try anything stupid, noticing the restraint he was experiencing, Liutbert quickly asked his question.

"As long as I knew my sister Linde, she had never once obeyed any order given to her; in fact, the Ice Queen had humiliated many powerful young men for the sake of entertainment; how exactly did you make him obey your orders? ?"

Berengar laughed at Liutbert's comments; out of all the questions he could ask, it was about how he could tame Linde? To Berengar, this was quite amusing; after laughing for a while, Berengar smiled and spread his hands in the air before announcing in a voice that could be heard by all his troops.

"How do you tame any woman? By giving him a nice roll!"

The men under the command of Berengar immediately began to laugh at their commander's statement, and Liutbert was left blushing to hear Berengar's words. He never expected Berengar to answer his question so boldly; afterwards, Liutbert was escorted to a temporary holding cell by the Berengar people, who were not involved, where he and his brothers would stay until they could be safely transported to Kufstein.

By stepping aside, Berengar was now detaining Innsbruck and Schwaz, as for the rest of the territory in Tyrol County, they were currently suffering sabotage and murder on the left and right, respectively, and soon their regents would become so angry that they would march on Innsbruck to put an end to the so-called Berengar rebellion. By doing so, they would play right in the hands of the young Viscount. Count Lothar's army was on its way to Kufstein. They were only a few days away from reaching their goal, and when they did, they would wake up violently.