Steel Empire
Adela's Birthday 3

After finishing the meal, the guests for Adela's birthday all sat around for a while and discussed with each other. To his surprise, the Duke of Austria had appeared on that occasion, along with some of his children. This greatly showed how beneficial Count Otto was in the Duke's eyes. Duke Wilmar von Habsburg was the current head of the Habsburg Dynasty and ruler of the entire Duchy of Austria; he was relatively young for a man by his position, in his mid-thirties, though, he already had several children in his teens.

One of her children who attended the ceremony was a boy named Conrad, who was slightly younger than Adela and had been friends with her since childhood, where he has a crush on her for a long period of time. Unfortunately, the girl had been sold to her cousin by her poor father for whatever reason. Therefore, he had to endure the humiliation of seeing the girl he wanted the most be handed over to another man. Someone he believed was inferior to himself. Conrad was completely unaware of Berengar's recent rise to power and his bold defiance of the Church. He never really followed the politics of the kingdom and instead enjoyed his time with levity.

Therefore, the boy decided it was time to approach the woman he wanted and see if he could win her over to his side. After all, who would want to marry a sickly fool like Berengar, I mean, there was clearly no one at the party that resembled the description of the young man, and that means the bastard didn't even bother coming to his fiance's birthday celebration. Obviously, it should be a point of contention for Adela, which Conrad can use to win her heart.

"Adela, it's been a long time since we last met! I have to admit you've been pretty ever since. I heard you were engaged to your pathetic and sickly cousin; surely you would disagree with such a decision? I mean, after all, that lowly Baron's son who didn't even have the guts to visit his fiancee on the eve of his thirteenth birthday is definitely no match for a woman of your caliber."

Berengar, on the other hand, watched the look of the boy who was defaming him peacefully as he sipped the wine contained in the golden goblet in his hand and narrowed his gaze at the little mouse who was trying to steal his bride from him. Anyone who wants what belongs to him and moves on it will definitely suffer his wrath, no matter what their position in life is. As such, he became extremely hostile towards the hyena that was trying to steal her female lion and approached the boy with her hands outstretched in "friendship" as she introduced herself.

"I Berengar, Viscount of Kufstein and Adela's fiance; who are you?"

Conrad was shocked when the tall and strong man in front of him introduced himself as Berengar and as Viscount. There must be some kind of mistake? Therefore, he looked to his father for support, who was just staring at his own son as if he was looking at a fool. Seeing that his father would not support him in this, Conrad decided to accept the words of this man who claimed to be Berengar and extend his hand to accept the gesture. As he did so, the boy felt as if there was a grip squeezing his hand; Conrad almost cried out in pain as Berengar kept a friendly expression on his face while sending a clear message to the little bastard who was trying to escape with the woman. Fortunately Conrad managed to hold back and responded politely to Berengar, hoping his background would save him from further pain.

"I am Conrad von Habsburg, son of Duke Wilmar von Habsburg, and an old friend of Adela"

However, the boy was very surprised, Berengar did not release his grip and continued to shake his hand for a few seconds before releasing it. The sheer courage to continue threatening the boy after he made clear his superior position was something he could not understand in his naive little brain. Fear instantly filled the boy's mind as he looked at the evil smile on Berengar's face and the dignified look in his eyes; despite being in a much lower position than himself, Berengar's, Berengar exuded an aura of dominance that did not go unnoticed by the other nobles, even Duke Wilmar stared curiously at the foolish look his son was making. It was as if with the simple fact that Conrad was his son, the boy could steal this man's fiancee.

The duke did not even consider Berengar's actions to be a sign of disrespect to himself, only that the young man was confident in his ability to protect what belonged to him. This was not an act of arrogance but an incredible conviction. The more he observed Berengar, the more he wanted him to be a member of his board; despite his young age, Berengar was clearly competent, to say the least.

Finally Berengar's small appearance of authority was broken by Adela who noticed that Conrad was trembling in fear and thus glared at Berengar while tugging at his sleeves and pleading with a sullen expression.

"Listen, he's just a boy, there's no reason to act this far to intimidate the boy!"

"I'm just teasing the kid; there's nothing to worry about, right Conrad?"

The boy clasped his own hand, which now hurt from Berengar's tight grip, and stuttered as he tried to regain consciousness.

"Y... Yeah, everything's fun! I have to go now Adela, see you later."

With that, the boy returned to his father to lick his wounds only after suffering a humiliating defeat in front of all the Steiermark nobles. When Conrad finally reached his father, he was punished for his behavior with a cold and monotonous voice that he was very familiar with.

"You're overreaching, Conrad, that guy's tough, and you're blatantly yearning for his future wife. You're lucky he showed respect for your position."

Conrad started throwing tantrums after being scolded by his father, who fortunately went unnoticed by the surrounding nobles who were too busy talking to Berengar and Adela.

"Showing respect for my position? He hurt my hand!"

Wilmar only drank from his cup with a stoic expression as he continued to lecture his mischievous son.

"The fact that he didn't break your hand after your pathetic attempt to steal his woman is more than enough respect."

With these words, Conrad was instantly silenced by his father and sat in a corner in silence, rubbing his aching hands and contemplating his actions. Not only was she slightly injured by Berengar, but the girl of her dreams ruthlessly rejected him, and her father had punished her for her actions. This was the most humbling day of his life.

As for Berengar and Adela they did not think twice about the events after being dealt with. Even if the Duke wanted to fight with him for teaching his son a valuable lesson, he would welcome him. Lucky for everyone, the Duke only felt respect for Berengar's actions; if the young Viscount humbled himself when Conrad mentioned that he was the Duke's son, his estimation of Berengar would really plummet.