Steel Empire
Preparation Is The Key To Survival

On the floor below Conrad's room was the crushed body of a boy; this boy was the Duke of Austria, until a while earlier. The servants of Kufstein Castle quickly gathered around the corpse and stared in horror. Although they were aware that this boy was a Berengar puppet, they could not imagine what event caused his death. 

Quickly the guards gathered and began to secure the scene. Berengar, of course, had been out of sight for a long time; he had killed the boy by defending him, and in doing so, he covered his tracks quite well. Not a single soul saw Berengar in the window with Conrad, and only his most loyal people knew that he had visited the boy at the time of his death.

So while the guards were securing the scene, Berengar was sitting in his seat of power, staring into space. He had a momentary pause in judgment after hearing that Conrad had killed Linde's pet specifically to cause the young woman mental anguish and had thrown the child out the window and her untimely death.

However, now, Berengar's clarity had returned, and he realized his actions were not only rash but also foolish. With Conrad dead, he must step up his plans to seize power for several years. The boy was supposed to die slowly from poisoning which seemed to be a natural disease. But now he lay scattered on the stone floor of his Palace courtyard. 

This would undoubtedly cause the Austrian nobility to look at Berengar with suspicion, and that was the best-case scenario. When Berengar reveals Conrad's death to the rest of the world, he could potentially face open rebellion. He could definitely manage with his current army but the outcome of such a conflict would definitely delay his reform significantly.

Austria was still recovering from the war with Bavaria, and now a few months later, they were once again on the brink of war. Although the rebellion against his rule by the higher nobles was a certainty, he had yet to fully prepare for a quick and thorough war with the other nobles. Berengar deeply pondered his next move. 

Given that only the people at Kufstein Castle knew of Conrad's death, Berengar would try to hide such a thing for as long as possible. At most, he could buy himself a few weeks. How he made the most of this brief period would be crucial in securing his authority over Austria. However, before he could do anything related to it, he needed a reason for Conrad's death.

While she was thinking of such a Result, Linde arrived in front of her; her eyes were red and swollen from all night crying. Despite this, she had a stern expression on her face, she knew that now, Berengar should know who was the culprit behind the death of his beloved pet, Berengar, and thus he quickly asked the thoughts he had in mind.

"Did you find the culprit?"

Berengar, who had hitherto been thinking hard to reflect on his actions and the future events they had been thrust upon, suddenly realized his beautiful lover was standing in front of him and nodded his head in silence. 

Linde bit her lip for fear of asking the identity of the perpetrator, but eventually she felt the need to know who was responsible for such a heinous act if she wanted to be shut down; thus, she felt the need to know who was responsible for such a heinous act if she wanted to be shut down; thus, he strengthened his resolve and asked questions.

"Who is that?"

Berengar let out a heavy sigh before revealing the identity of his criminal.

"Conrad..."

Hearing this news, expressions of disdain and hatred fused on Linde's heart-shaped face before she finally snapped.

"That bastard! Where is he now!?! I want to punish him severely!"

However, the following Berengar words really surprised him

"Dead..."

A complex series of emotions flooded the heavenly beauty at this moment; he did not know how to react to this news. On the one hand, he is happy that justice has been given to the sadistic boy for his vile acts.

"What are you doing?"

Berengar looked around his Great Hall for a while, checking to see if anyone was listening before he finally revealed what had happened just a moment ago.

“I don't know; It's all hazy. Originally, I intended to scold him, perhaps even beating him hard for his actions. However, when he told me that the reason for his evil deeds was for the sole purpose of causing you sadness, something had just come to my mind. The next thing I know, Conrad fell out of the window with his head first into the courtyard below."

Seeing the complicated expression on Berengar's face, Linde quickly approached him and knelt before him, grabbed his hand and carried it to his heart. He understands that his love for her and his overwhelming desire to protect her has caused him to lose control of his actions and kill the child.

He would also likely do such a thing if their roles were reversed. Instead of letting Berengar reflect on his actions and further stress about them, Linde turned the topic to something more productive. 

"What now?"

With this said, Berengar looked at his lover's sky blue eyes with a serious expression before revealing the intention he had thought of.

"We hid his death for as long as possible; during this time, we prepared for war and our troops were armed and ready to march on other Districts. I'd like you to gather intelligence, on the other Counts, from Voralberg to Kustenland. . I need to know who will challenge my usurpation of power and who will get to my knees. As for the cause of his death? We'd say it was suicide. Without proper investigation, no one will know what happened here today."

Linde quickly nodded; she still had a grim expression as she was still troubled by the death of her furry little pet, but she knew now was not the time to grieve; work needed to be done. They are in a very important period; one mistake and all their ambitions will collapse around them. So he had no time to mourn his precious pet. After thinking about it for a while, the woman revealed her thoughts.

"I'll finish it as soon as possible. By the time the news leaks out, we'll know who our enemies are and who our allies are!"

Seeing the woman he loved so much put his emotions aside for the greater good made Berengar smile bitterly as he stroked his lover's strawberry blonde hair before hugging her tightly.

"I promise that after all this is over, I will give you a reprieve period where you can deal with your loss well. I know how much you care about those cats. I swear I'll never let anything like this happen again."

Although Berengar could not see her face, he could see that the tears that Linde had worked so hard to hold her down started flooding her beautiful face; he quickly clung to Berengar and cried to his fullest extent for the next few minutes. After which, he wiped it from his eyes before thanking Berengar.

"Thank you, and I promise I'll have a full report on your desk by the end of the week!"

Berengar did not hold Linde back anymore; he also had a lot to watch out for in the coming days. For starters, he needs to write a series of official statements about Conrad's death and his usurpation of the boy's title. Of course, he would only let go once everything was ready for the transition of power in Austria. 

So Berengar and Linde quickly begin to prepare for an unknown future. Although it was highly likely that another Count would honor his ascension to power and bend his knees peacefully, Berengar was not one to believe such a thing was possible. For him, it was better to be prepared for the outcome of the war, even if it did not happen, than to wish him the best and leave himself vulnerable.

Berengar had an idea in his head about how this war would happen, but he needed to know for sure. So he had arranged for Linde to task to find out who his enemy was. However, Berengar was quite certain that Prince Otto, who ruled Steiermark, Prince Audeger, who ruled Vorarlberg, and Prince Adelbrand, who was under Berengar's direction, were, he had succeeded his brother Wolfgang because Prince Salzburg would ally with him. 

As for the counties of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Carinthia, Krain, and Custenland? Berengar had no idea how they would react to Conrad's death or with whom they would side. Therefore, he needed to prepare himself for the possibility of the Civil War.