Steel Empire
Conrad's

After being slapped by Linde, and strangled by Berengar. Conrad was forced to return to his room, where he was confined inside for the rest of the night. Finally, she fell asleep, but by the time morning came and she was released from her room, she was still angry because of the events that had happened the night before.

Conrad did not say how his Duchy was run, Berengar did not tell him about the important things that the man was constantly working on, and therefore, Conrad had a lot of free time. However, he was locked up in Kufstein Castle with no ability to escape. After all, Berengar did not want the boy to cause trouble.

So without authority and no way to console himself, the boy became increasingly bitter. As time went on, he eventually found himself bored and began to behave childishly. However, the boyish antics were always greeted with a loud slap by Linde. Eventually, that childish antics turned into thoughts about evil actions.

Right now, Conrad was walking through the Courtyard, trying to think of a way to take revenge on Linde for how he had always treated her. Finally, he found a strange sight. Linde was currently taking out several dishes filled with milk, and there were a total of three cats that came rushing to greet her. 

The beautiful young lady had a beautiful smile as she happily caressed the cats before allowing them to drink milk. Linde is very fond of cats and has recently kept a few stray cats. He made sure that they were fed fresh milk from the farm every day.

Berengar allowed this for three reasons, first it made Linde happy, and seeing her happy made her happy. Secondly, she is a cat lover, and therefore, she also enjoys being with them. Third, Cats are excellent at hunting pests, and castles have more than enough roaming rats that need to be cared for. 

After feeding the Cat, Linde bids farewell and soon returns to her job as a spymaster; she will return later tonight to feed the cute little creatures more milk. Seeing the friendly smile on Linde's face as she is around her new pet brings a wicked idea to Conrad's mind.

He might not be able to hurt Linde; after all, the guards protected Berengar and his loved ones the entire time, but he could hurt what he cared about. So, the crafty little girl swore that later on when the patrol started to change shifts, she would sneak into the Courtyard and kill the three cats. Such a thing would definitely anger the young lady who had stirred up her anger thoroughly.

After hatching such a cruel plot, Conrad returns to his room, where he begins to make preparations. First, he needed a knife, and because of that, he headed for the kitchen where he planned to pick it up. 

So when Conrad entered the kitchen, he immediately began to behave suspiciously; all the kitchen staff began to question him with their gazes until finally, the boy asked for access to what he wanted.

"I need a knife!"

The kitchen staff looked at each other for a while before the head chef asked why.

"Why do you need a knife?"

The kitchen staff who asked questions immediately caught Conrad off guard; seeing how he never had a waiter question his orders, he instantly became angry and started reprimanding the chef.

"Because I am the Duke, and I order you to give me one! Now surrender!"

The head chef had an expression of worry in his eyes as he struggled with the decision. On the one hand, he knew the boy was up to something, and if Conrad did something terrible with the knife he gave him, he would take responsibility.

On the other hand, the boy was right, he was technically a Duke, and even though he had no real authority, as an ordinary person, he was unable to reject the Duke's orders well, he was unable to resist the Duke's orders, otherwise, it would have exposed Berengar's charade. Considering the two options, the chef thought that it was impossible for Conrad to do anything too heinous and thus gave him a kitchen knife before warning the boy.

Conrad instantly ignored the chef's comments and didn't even bother thanking the man. Instead, she immediately returned to her room, where she played with a knife; she could already imagine Linde's facial expression after she slit her cat's throat. He wanted to see the woman wailing with tears in her eyes like the woman***** hysterical. 

It was this evil thought that kept him entertained until the time came. After he realized the patrol was about to change shifts and that the window of opportunity was near, Conrad quietly slipped out of his room and rushed through the hallway as he tried to behave normally. Although the more he did, the more suspicious he appeared. 

While walking through the hallway, Conrad hid the knife under his tunic as he carefully pressed forward. Finally, he bumped into a servant girl and dropped her. Instead of helping her up, she glared at him threateningly, and the girl quickly ran away in fear. Damn for him, this was right in front of the Courtyard, where the cats were placed. 

However, the boy is not smart enough to realize that he has just made a witness who can testify that he is around him, and thus he proceeded to the building that was built to act as a home for cats. As he approached, the little feather balls immediately walked out of their house and greeted him with a snore. Everyone in the Castle treated them very carefully, knowing that they were Linde's pets, and thus they were used to all good people.

The naive little cats had not the slightest clue about the evil intentions Conrad had. So when the three cats came closer to sniff him, he took off his sword and slit their throats, killing them instantly. Their blood spilled onto the cold stone floor of the Courtyard and onto his tunic. However, he did not notice this.

In his evil mind, just cutting their necks was not enough to bother Linde; therefore, just cutting their necks was not enough to bother Linde, he quickly proceeded to decapitate the creature's head and let their heads cling to a stick outside their home, with their bodies crushed below. After he completes this brutal and cruel act against a trio of innocent cats, the boy flees back to his room with a knife in hand. Not at all aware that he left a trail of blood behind him. 

Conrad is by no means a criminal mastermind, and despite believing that he easily got away with such an act, he has left a lot of evidence behind him, and despite believing that he has easily gotten away with it, even a witness saw it shortly before the action took place. Fortunately no one saw him on his way back to his room, or he could have been frightened and killed one of Berengar's servants. 

Not long after Conrad returned to his room, a terrible scream echoed throughout the Castle; it was so loud that Berengar even heard it in his study. He instantly recognized that the voice belonged to Linde, so Berengar quickly rushed to the scene with a sword in hand. However, before he arrived, his bodyguards had beaten him to the area and started securing the scene.

By the time Berengar entered the Courtyard to see what had happened, the House guards were guarding the scene, and Linde sobbed like a mother who had just witnessed the death of her children. No one dared to approach him when he was in an unstable condition. Well, there's no one else but Berengar. As she saw her lover sobbing in such a way, she dropped her sword and rushed towards him, holding the crying beauty in his arms in an attempt to comfort him. 

Gazing at the brutal scene before him, Berengar did not believe this to be an attack on Linde but an attack on himself. To him, it was clear that this was a veiled threat from one of his political opponents. Say, "If I can get your pet, then I can get your loved one." So when Berengar tried to comfort Linde, he started shouting orders to the nearest guards.

"Lock Castle, no one's in or out until we find who's responsible for this! As for all of you, immediately begin this investigation; I wonder who dares to engage in the barbaric show in my territory. !"

The guards immediately responded to Berengar's orders by hitting their chests to salute and shouting with all their might.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

With that said, people quickly got the job and started locking up the castle, quarantining the area, and searching for potential clues. While Berengar held onto his crying lover, comforting him to the best of his ability, in doing so, he swore solemnly.

"When I find whoever is responsible for this, I will make sure they pay with their blood!"