Steel Empire
Building the Navy

Right now, Berengar was sitting in his study, watching the report on his desk. There were some important notes he had to pass. Much of this was focused on procuring resources for his ship.

To achieve this, Berengar had sent trade representatives to the Kalmar Union in Scandinavia in an attempt to gather a sufficient supply of oak. The reason for this is simple, Norway will be a huge stockpile of such materials, and there is currently little demand for it. Thus he could obtain the materials of his shipbuilding at a low cost.

As for the procurement of hemp to be used for its screen, and the Berengar rope has begun to develop products with hemp for some time. Thus, he did not need to spend too much money to obtain the amount he lost from his current inventory.

Berengar needed a powerful fleet of at least three ships if he was to send an expedition to the new world. These ships would require thousands of sailors, and he could not afford so much labor.

Instead, she is currently officially signed into law the formation of the Austrian Navy and has decided to purchase several carriages from Venice to act as a training ship. They will dock in Trieste, where he will funnel recruits to the region to be trained as sailors.

He was very short of sailors for his territory. The Duchy of Austria, despite having a coastline at the southern end of Carinthia, an area that once belonged to Slovenia and Croatia in its past life, never bothered to develop a Navy. Instead, they only had merchant ships and fishing vessels. 

So Berengar wanted to hire a few professionals, and in doing so, looked towards the veterans of the Venetian Navy to act as instructors for his new sailors. Spending on the construction of his Navy increased by the day, but it had to be done. Without a strong Navy, the future German Empire would never have been able to maintain control of its colonies which would have been vital to the success of its Dynasty. 

On top of all this, Berengar had to design a basic training program for the Navy; fortunately, he had little knowledge of the U. S. Navy's basic training program from his previous life; after all, he had little knowledge of the U. S. Navy's basic training program; after all, he had an acquaintance who was an officer in the Navy, and they usually chatted about the difference between the lives of the Army and Navy. 

Hours passed, and finally, Berengar had completed all the tasks necessary to begin the establishment of the Austrian Navy. After the final blow of his quill pen was signed, he sighed heavily and leaned back on his leather chair while stretching his muscles before expressing his thoughts aloud.

"The work of a Duke is never finished."

After finishing his work for the day, Berengar leaves his study and enters the dining room, where he finds Linde and Conrad in another conflict. The sight immediately brought fatigue to Berengar. He couldn't wait for this brat to end up hoarse, but it couldn't be too sudden. Otherwise, the blame would surely fall on his shoulders, and the other Austrian nobles would take up arms against him. 

Linde was very angry. Conrad had said something that seemed to upset him, and he quickly slapped Conrad's face once more before yelling at him.

"You bad boy! Who do you think you are? How dare you call me that!"

Conrad's explosions become more frequent, and Linde is usually the one who has to put up with his nonsense. However, the following words that came out of his mouth sparked the anger of Linde and Berengar.

"You fucking whore! Just because you slept with Berengar doesn't mean you can touch me!"

Conrad's fist curved as if he was ready to attack, and the guards once again moved into position to separate the two; however, when they saw Berengar's slow approach with a murderous look in one of his good eyes, they immediately retreated. The Count wants to handle this himself.

Just as Conrad was about to pounce on Linde, he felt an arm circling his small neck, and as that happened, it quickly began to cut off the oxygen supply to his brain. Berengar had strangled the 12-year-old so tightly that within seconds, the child fainted. As he did so, Berengar slowly let the child fall to the ground before releasing the chokehold. 

Linde looked at Berengar with a cruel smile on her beautiful lips; she loved it when her husband took over the situation and blocked those who insulted her or hurt her. This was not the first time he had taken action to protect her from such a cruel man. He instantly got a flashback when Berengar beat up his younger brother for his actions. 

It only took a few seconds for Conrad to regain consciousness, and when he regained consciousness, he woke up in fear; he had no idea where he was or what had happened; he had no idea; as his mind finally adjusted to his surroundings, he saw Berengar and Linde kissing passionately in front of him. Conrad had no idea that Berengar had just strangled him and instead glared at Linde who was the initial target of his anger.

Upon seeing the boy's gaze, Berengar stopped his affectionate expression in public and put on a frightening expression as he glared at Conrad. Berengar slowly knelt down in front of the child and clasped his neck with his hands, squeezing it tightly, but not strong enough to strangle the child. After which, he coldly declared a bold threat.

"If I hear you insulting my woman or see you're being violent with her again. I'll finish you off..."

"Is that a threat?"

Berengar, however coldly shook his head before answering 

"That's a promise!"

With that, Berengar stood back up and walked over to the guards in the room who were watching the entire look; he patted the shoulder of the man who was about to help Linde before his interruption and said with a smile on his face.

"Duke is tired; take him to his room so he can get some much-needed rest ..."

Hearing this, a pair of guards lined up to Conrad and lifted him off the floor, where they then responded with that term. 

"Your Majesty." before escorting the boy to his room. Meanwhile, Conrad rampaged.

"Take me off! I command! I'm not tired; fuck!"

After she was no longer visible and her screams were no longer heard, Linde giggled slightly before blurting out a snide comment.

"Duke's tired? Did ya? That's your best excuse?"

Berengar laughed with his lover as he hugged her and dragged her into his arms.

"It worked, didn't it?"

After saying that, the couple again showed their affection for a while; they became increasingly close to engaging in worldly relationships in the middle of the dining room, of course, until Berengar saw Henrietta sitting in her place at the dinner table with a timid expression on her face.

The whole time he sat quietly in his place observing the situation, and now Berengar was so passionately kissing Linde's breasts, he didn't know how to react that way, she said, Berengar froze in place before awkwardly greeting his little sister.

"Oh, Henrietta. I didn't see you there."

hearing this, Linde immediately began to blush; she completely forgot Henrietta was present and lost herself at the time. Therefore, she quietly pulled her dress which slightly slid down her body as Berengar toyed with her.

After doing so, he quickly recovered and sat down in his chair. Henrietta froze on the spot as if she had just seen a ghost. He did not know how to react to the scene in front of him, and thus he began to stare at his plate awkwardly.

Fortunately not long after, the servants came, and with them, food was prepared for Berengar and his family. This scene broke the awkward silence that pervaded the air—allowed Berengar and Linde to recover from their humiliating performance moments before. 

So Berengar enjoyed a wonderful meal with his family, dreaming of a day where he could finally eat delicious potato pancakes, as well as consume Bauernfruhstuck for breakfast. Both of these things require potatoes that can only be obtained from the new world. If not for the risks involved in hiring foreign sailors to explore the region, he would be happy to do so now. 

However, the new world and its discoveries had vital strategic importance for the Empire of its future. Therefore, he would never let it unfold until he started seizing the most resource-rich land. This was the thought that flowed in Berengar's mind as he ate in silence with his family.