Steel Empire
A Hard Woman

Lambert lay in his bed, bound, and prostrated on the floor of his fiancee's bedroom. The matchless beauty with her heart-shaped perfect face and the smooth strawberry blonde hair flowing down her shoulders stared coldly at her stupid fiance with her sky blue eyes. He is currently in the process of punishing. His feet pressed his head against the cold stone floor while his left hand carried a curved whip.His heavenly fruit lifted as he sighed in disappointment at the news of the failure Lambert brought to him.

Linde von Habsburg was the eldest daughter of Count Lothar von Habsburg, head of House von Habsburg-Innsbruck which was a cadet branch of House von Habsburg whose main branch was the rulers of the Duchy of Austria. She was sixteen this year and was famous throughout the duchy as one of the three heavenly beauties of Austria.

However, appearances are often deceiving; in terms of personality, Linde is secretly a woman****** sadistic known among a select few as a young woman who corrupts her toys easily. Yeah, his toy, that's how he refers to his suitors, he said, many of them have come and gone over the years because they cannot stand the physical and mental torment he gladly gives them. Lambert was just a newcomer, and although his father had supported his proposal, he did not personally recognize it.

An intense gaze stared down at the teenage boy who was lying prostrate in front of him as he lifted his whip and hit his back; a huge wound appeared while making contact with his flesh. Lambert desperately tried not to let the painful cry out of his lips; however, he could not help but scream in pain after two more lashes. Which only further enraged the dominatrix, who pressed her head further against the cold stone floor with the heel of her foot.

If Lambert looked up, he would be able to clearly see the beautiful girl's embroidered white silk shorts located under her sinful blue nightgown, which was deliberately designed to show off the curves of the young girl's body. However, it would only further provoke his fiancee if she did, something she would do her best to avoid.

After venting his frustration on the young man's body, he sighed heavily and lowered his whip before lifting Lambert's face to face his own ferocious gaze. Tears flowed from the boy's eyes as he punished him for his weakness.

"It seems like weakness is happening in your family; how pathetic..."

The girl got up from the bed and kicked Lambert back to the ground as he sat on his back, using him as a stool for her to rest.

"You're useless; you know that?"

After hearing about Lambert's efforts on his brother's spectacularly failed life, he was in a very bad mood. How difficult is m*poison* sickly and frail to mat*? Somehow Lambert's efforts not only failed, but also inspired Berengar to act together and begin the process of becoming healthy. Now, the young master has overcome his childhood weaknesses, thus ruining him and his father's plans.

The news was even worse when they learned that Prince Steiermark had engaged his third and youngest daughter to Berengar, thus giving them a larger stake in Kufstein's wealthy iron reserves. If they could not get rid of Berengar in the next few years and put Lambert as the sole heir to the Barony, then this engagement was completely useless to the Counts of Tyrol.

Lambert struggled to hold the weight of his fiancee, who was sitting on his back. Nevertheless, he succeeded as he continued to scold her. Although at the moment, he was talking to himself more than anything else.

"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself ..."

The heavenly beauty saw her toy looking at her and looked at her with disdain. He grabbed the handle of his whip and stuffed it into the boy's mouth, forcing his head away with a loud push.

"Don't point your dirty eyes at me, asshole! You don't get that right!"

Lambert shifted his gaze as he forced himself to ask the question in his mind.

"Sorry, madam, I'm just curious about what you said. What exactly is your plan?"

A sinister grin appeared on her sinisterly beautiful face as she stared at her favorite toy, giving her spine goosebumps.

“Isn't it clear? I will return to your house and seduce your sister; then, after she kneels begging, I will end her life. Obviously, you can't be trusted to do this simple task yourself."

Lambert felt conflicted after hearing such words; his fiance would seduce his brother? Even after enduring all this abuse, Lambert couldn't even**with him! The nafs*-infested teenage boy was extremely envious of his current elder brother, but when he thought about the pain he was in right now, his mind instead turned to excitement. If he was like this with his fiancee, how cruel would he be to Berengar when he finally made her kneel?

Without waiting for her fiance's approval, Linde called out in an authoritative tone.

"Hanz!"

Immediately the bedroom door opened, and a young knight wearing a plated armor full of swords slung around his waist entered the room and knelt in front of Young Miss, the young lady, clearly he was already used to the scene before him, not a hint of surprise could be seen from his expression.

"Yes, woman?"

Linde sat on Lambert's back with her hands crossed and an indifferent expression. He did not care about someone as low as a knight. As the privileged daughter of a Count, she even considered the Baron to be nothing more than an exalted trash, let alone an ordinary knight.

"Guard my things; I'm going to Kufstein."

Hanz would never break the orders of the young lady. He did not want to end up in Lambert's current position. Therefore, he obeyed his orders, even though it was an inappropriate menial task for a knight. He was well aware that a servant was a servant in the eyes of a cruel mistress, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Your will is my command!"

after which, the knight quickly left the room and went to arrange the task that was before him. It would be a matter of hours before he set off on the road to Kufstein with a troupe of knights to protect him and his son's current toys behind him.

...

Meanwhile, in Kufstein, Berengar had just finished his daily breakfast and started the task of starting to build his enviroment system, which was based on a system used in his previous life commonly called wheel line irrigation. In earlier life, this irrigation system provided water for vast fields throughout the United States. With this system, the Barony of Kufstein will efficiently water many of their crops without the need for some farmers to water them by hand. Eventually, this will allow fewer farmers while utilizing larger land plots to grow crops.

When Berengar entered the industrial estate, he saw his friend and partner in the steel industry, Ludwig, currently supervising steel production. When the old man noticed the young master approaching, he bowed respectfully.

"My Lord, it's a pleasure to see you; I've been waiting for your instructions on what to do with all this fine steel we've collected!"

Berengar smiled and mocked his friend jokingly

"Oh? I thought my dad visited you yesterday. Does the Baron have no plans for the resources of his realm?"

"Finally, I managed to convince him to allow you to manage the steel business. He was so shocked by the amount of steel that was in our stockpile that he didn't know what to do with all of it!"

Berengar chuckled; if he was in his father's position, he would be a little overwhelmed as well.

"Wise move, we will sell between 3-5 tons of it, I am sure that in these uncertain times, there must be a buyer for that much steel."

Ludwig scratched his beard while comforting the thought

"What about the rest?"

Berengar had an expression of excitement in his eyes as he stretched out a blueprint for his enviable system. Although it looks complicated at first glance, Ludwig quickly realizes the ingenious nature of his design.

"It's for watering the plants?"

The old man asked, barely believing that such a thing could exist. Berengar nodded confirming the statement and looked into the distant Kufstein field with a stern expression on his face.

"Imagine, all our fields are supplied with water through this system, no piece of land is unquenchable."

Ludwig looked at the fields, which were filled with farmers slowly watering their crops by hand. He could imagine the future quite well, but worries instantly entered his mind.

"Wouldn't that make a lot of farmers lose their jobs?"

Berengar smiled at Ludwig and held his shoulder

"Get out of the field and into the factory! Of course, they would be given decent compensation for their work."

After hearing the extent of Berengar's thought process, Ludwig inevitably felt the excitement generated by this blueprint. Berengar had a mind like no other. The fact that he used the word "factory" proved that the young masters' ambitions for the steel industry did not end with this factory they had just built. Ludwig slowly began to work out Berengar's concept of an industrial society. The more designs the young master showed him, the more his understanding of the world changed.

After chatting more about his plans, Berengar finally allowed Ludwig to work on an irrigation system. It took him a while to produce it, but he thought it could be done in a matter of months. At most, in half a year, Kufstein fields will be well irrigated, ushering in a new era of agriculture. At the time, he hoped to have some of his mechanical inventions in production, such as a combine harvester, seeder, as well as a steel plow.

Now that he had completed his plans for the day Berengar returned to the Castle, it was about time he began making preparations to befriend the local nobility. Therefore, he returned to his room and began to draw up invitations for nobles and minor knights under his father's followers, as well as their families. After all, she had her reasons for having a party, she had just become engaged to a good young woman, and it was time to hold an official celebration and let the world know of her intention to marry her.

Initially, he had doubts about the idea of marrying his cousin; after all, it was not a common thing in his previous life; in American society, it was completely banned in most countries. However, Adela proved beyond her expectations; to be honest she did not have much hope for the young girl. At the very least, he thought he would become a proud noble who would punish him for his hospitality with commoners. However, she proves to be a kind-hearted young girl who has so far cherished the culture she began to develop in Kufstein. Perhaps one day, he could share his vision for the future of his domain with her.

Even if something happened and the engagement didn't work out, she still needed a reason to gather her father's followers, and this was the best she could think of. By refusing to show, they would not insult him, but his father, the Baron. Something that the lower nobles could not afford under his rule.

As he was compiling the invitation letter, Berengar heard a knock on the door. Therefore, he placed his fur pen into the ink bottle and investigated the disturbance. After opening the door, she was surprised to see Adela with a tray full of snacks and two glasses of milk standing in the doorway. With reddened cheeks, the girl asked what was on her mind.

"Will you share a snack with me?"

Upon seeing the girl's cute expression, Berengar was unable to find it in good consciousness to reject her offer. So he parted from the doorway and took the girl to his desk, where he pulled another chair and placed it next to his desk. After putting the tray of Lebkuchen and Pfeffernuss pastries freshly baked by the castle chef for the young lady, Adela looked at the sports equipment in the corner of Berengar's room. Naturally, he asked about its use.

"What's that in the corner, back there?"

Berengar did not even need to look back to find out what he meant; therefore, he snacked on Lebkuchen cakes and reminisced about his mother's pastries from a previous life. After returning to reality, he answered the young girl's question.

"That's sports equipment; it helps build strength."

The girl had never seen such equipment before, but she instantly lost interest when she heard it was used for exercise. As long as he maintained his current figure and grew properly, he had no desire to do more exercise than necessary. His gemstone-like eyes quickly noticed the letters in which Berengar was in the process of drafting.

"What's that for?"

Berengar washed the cake he had just picked up with a mouthful of milk before returning to work on his letters.

"It was an invitation to our engagement ceremony. I thought I'd better invite the local nobility to the event. After all, I felt like they would be more inclined to talk to you by my side. Once they get to know really me, the evil rumors that have spread about me will begin to disappear or at least be replaced with less dangerous ones."

Adela looked at Berengar with a heart in her eyes. She's having a party to celebrate their engagement? It was completely unheard of and extremely romantic, at least in his eyes. Berengar realized that the traditional engagements of his previous life and the ceremonies that lasted for decades would still not be something. However, what he did not realize was how much influence this party had on his fiancee's opinion of him. The girl became very excited when she heard she was having a party and inviting many nobles; she couldn't wait to see such a beautiful opportunity.

"So when will this party take place?"

Berengar replied without delay while continuing to write the invitation letter.

"About about a month, I needed time to sell some of the steel I had saved to pay for the cost. It's not an easy affair."

As Berengar realized the expense this party would incur, he thought he might as well sell an extra ton or two to avoid making his father unneeded heartache. After all, the man likes to spend his money on luxury but always feels bad afterwards.

Therefore, the couple spent the rest of the afternoon together enjoying snacks while discussing the details of the upcoming party. Deeply unaware of the storm heading their way, it takes the form of a sadistic vixe.