Steel Empire
The Awkward Family Reunion

The light of dawn shines on the burgeoning city of Kufstein; the star-shaped wall that protects the city and its inhabitants splits in the middle as the Inn river flows through the center of the City. A large castle towers over many tenement houses built in the half-timbered style commonly found in German-speaking regions. Although Berengar had plans to move to a more modern palace, nowadays, Castel in Kufstein acts as the main residence for Berengar and his family.

Inside the Dining Room, Linde sat at the head of the table on the left side, which was the place reserved for Viscountess; of course, at present, there had been no Viscountess of Kufstein since Berengar had not been married, although engaged to Adela. However, since Berengar's parents abdicated and retired to the countryside, Berengar allowed Linde to use the chair. Today is a rare occasion for the Castle in Kufstein, as the castle holds quite a festive meeting. Just this morning, his brothers arrived from Innsbruck, where they had been transported to Kufstein under the guise of "protection Berengar" in fact, they were under house arrest, and Linde was watching them.

Aside from Linde and her siblings, Henrietta sits at a table and is very uncomfortable with the whole situation. Liutbert sat in the usual place Berengar occupied before his reign, the closest to the seat reserved for the Viscount, which was currently vacant. He could not help but stare at Linde in confusion. This was not the sister who grew up with him; there was no coldness or contempt in his eyes for everything around him. Instead, he smiled gently and looked at his family with sincere affection. It had been months since the last time she saw her siblings, and although Linde's relationship with her father was strained, to say the least, she was willing to try to get closer to her siblings.

Eventually, Liutbert had to express his doubts over Linde's character change.

"Who are you, and what are you doing with my sister?"

In the past, such rude comments would have made Linde angry, but now she just laughed at him, as she realized that her personality had changed a lot in the past year. Instead, he answered Liutbert by asking about his food.

"How do you enjoy your meal, Liutbert? Surely breakfast here in Kufstein is better than anything you've ever eaten in Innsbruck!"

Liutbert fell in love with magic and quickly took a bite out of the breakfast sandwich the kitchen staff had prepared before responding to his younger sister.

"Excellent; I didn't know there was such a delicious cuisine!"

Linde chuckles at her remarks and mocks her for being inexperienced with Kufstein's culinary arts.

"If you think this is good, wait until you have dinner! You'll never want to leave this place."

As Liutbert and Linde discuss the food that Adelheid is glaring at Linde, she can't believe the change in her sister's precious personality over the past year. It was too dramatic, what magic did Berengar to make his once proud and domineering older sister turn into a miserable state. However, he did not want to make a fuss and, therefore, kept his thoughts to himself.

"I can't believe you betrayed our father! All for traitor Berengar, who as we speak is currently vandalizing our family's land in an attempt to steal the title of rightful father!"

Herman was roughly Adela's age; she had just entered her teenage years and was filled with intense anger whenever she thought about the surrender of her older brother in Innsbruck and the direct betrayal of her older sister. After all, Linde not only slept with the traitor Berengar but also actively conspired against their family to support Berengar's ambitions; to her, her sister's actions were completely unforgivable.

Linde glared at Herman threateningly; the boy clearly did not understand how furious Berengar was; fortunately for him and his brothers, they were all allowed to live peacefully in Kufstein under house arrest, where they can eat the best food and live in absolute luxury while the war goes on.

Seeing the anger of her older sister, whom she was very familiar with, cold sweat appeared on Herman's forehead as she shivered at the thought of what Linde might do to her for speaking ill of her lover. He immediately turned his gaze back to the plate where he ate the omelet in front of him. Linde, however, will not allow such accusations to pass, and as such, she responded to Herman's remarks.

"Why would I support father and his cursed obsession to become Duke? Since when has father ever paid the slightest attention to us kids! Throughout our lives, he has neglected us to pursue his dream of becoming Duke of Austria, all because he has a low sense of self about being part of a branch family and not the main line of the Habsburgs. If you ask me, she deserves to lose her mind because of her act of betrayal. Berengar's not a traitor. Instead, he was the only main follower of the Father's family who had enough conscience to act against the father's illegitimate rebellion!"

Although Linde's words were harsh, it was also true, at least regarding the parts about her father. Count Lothar considered all his children to be disposable pawns whose sole purpose was to advance his ambitions. She was never a fatherly figure to her children, which is one of the reasons why Linde got so bad before she met Berengar. Although Linde was spoiled while growing up, it was only a way for Lothar to force her to act in her treasonous plot. The reason Count Lothar was so angry about Berengar and Linde's affair was twofold, first the man saw Berengar as nothing more than an unworthy lowly noble mixed with the prestigious blood of his family. Second, Berengar not only took the chastity of his daughter but also impregnated her,

Although Herman wanted to defend his father's actions, he was completely unable to find the words to do so. Instead, he sat quietly like a child his mother had just caught with her hands in a cake jar. There was a rift between the Linde family at the moment; this was due to the result of his actions and their father. Therefore, they continued their leftovers in silence; this little family reunion turned out to be more awkward than they realized. While Berengar was away at war, Linde was now tasked with not only taking care of royal affairs but also overseeing his family, ultimately the only member of his family who was fully by his side as his half-sister. Adelheid.

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