King of the Sea

Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, Berengar was tasked with incorporating Kitzbühel into his family's domain and going through the necessary procedures to declare his father Sieghard as the Viscount of Kufstein. Word quickly spread of Berengar's rapid conquest of the neighboring Barony, and the other feudal lords were left scratching their heads wondering how Berengar had managed to effectively force the Baron of Kitzbühel to surrender in under a week. Of course, as per the terms of surrender, Baron Guntrum and his surviving men were incapable of leaking information regarding Berengar's advanced weapons and tactics to anyone. As such, numerous theories came to be on how Berengar had achieved such a feat.

Count Lothar, who was Berengar's liege, was unhappy with the news; with Berengar's conquest, he had lost a direct Vassal. However, there was not much he could do about the situation as he was aware of his daughter's relationship with the young Viscount and had no way to punish him without gaining her disapproval. As a man tightly controlled by his desires to please his daughters, he dreaded such an outcome. As such, Count Lothar quickly recognized the results of the war and recognized Sieghard as the Viscount of Kufstein, even if he was currently still officially secluded in penance.

Berengar was swamped with work; not only did he have to provide proper compensation to the families who were affected by his men's war crimes, but he also had to incorporate many of his agricultural technologies into the new land. On top of this, he was spreading his p********a to the people of Kitzbühel who already had a fairly positive image of him after he executed the criminals in his ranks.

While Berengar was managing the affairs of two whole Baronies now, Linde was hard at work expanding the spy network. She did not idly laze about while Berengar was off at war; she had made quite some progress in establishing new cells throughout the nearby Counties. She refused to be a pretty face for her man to make love to and instead supported Berengar in the best way she could.

Currently, she was at the tea shop where she normally conducted business with the local speaker, who just so happened to be Ludolf, the Deacon of the local Church. The man was close to becoming a fully ordained priest and was beginning his path to the reformation of the church.

"So, how is the sovereign?"

Linde drank from the tea in her cup as she entertained her subordinate's small talk.

"He's doing quite well. However, he is currently swamped overseeing the incorporation of the new territory, and as such, I have been rather lonesome."

Though Ludolf suspected Berengar and Linde's relationship, he really did not inquire about it, as he did not wish to know the personal life of Berengar, who he viewed as a complicated man, one who was blessed by God and destined to lead the German people to a bright future but had a fair share of vices that he felt uncomfortable with. One thing was certain, Berengar was no saint.

Ludolf passed over a letter on the table he had copied from the head Priest's files before speaking in a hushed tone.

"The Church is officially condemning Berengar's actions to invade and annex Kitzbühel. They are calling upon the local lords to form a defensive pact; if he makes another move, he will be beset upon from all sides by his enemies."

Linde scoffed as she placed down her teacup and looked at the letter in his hands. After reading it, she placed it down with disgust. The Church truly wanted to make things difficult for Berengar. In this letter, the Church openly demanded that the assets seized by Guntrum be handed over to the Church as they had already been promised as such by Guntrum, and as far as they were concerned, legally seized.

This created an area of conflict with Berengar's trade routes, as they were encouraging other regions to do the same; it is not as if Berengar had the power to go to war with every region that stole the product of his people's labor. Linde sighed heavily as she came to an unwanted conclusion about how to resolve these troublesome matters.

"I suppose I will have to contact that little girl..."

Ludolf looked at Linde with a gaze of confusion as he heard the irritation in her voice. Though he felt like he should not pry into her business, his curiosity got the better of him.

"What little girl?"

Linde snorted in displeasure; she felt uneasy just thinking about it, but now that the Church was instigating theft of Berengar's supplies, she had no option but to get her father and the father of her rival to work together to counteract the church's influence.

"Berengar's adorable little fiancee... If I can get Adela to convince her father to condemn the church's actions, two Counts will publicly oppose the Vatican and their open endorsement of theft. The threat of the armies of two counts will be more than enough to dissuade anyone foolish enough to try to seize Berengar's resources."

Ludolf nodded in agreement; what she said made sense; he could tell by Linde's frustrations that she was not particularly fond of Adela, and as such, he felt that his suspicions were confirmed. Nevertheless, he decided to try to mediate their conflict and suggested an alternative option.

"Why not get Berengar to ask for assistance? That way, she is more likely to comply."

Linde shook her head as she expressed her concerns.

"Berengar will never ask Adela for help; he's too proud to ask for her father's assistance in the matter. This is something that I will have to do personally. I only hope she's willing to read my letter instead of burning it the moment she sees my family's seal upon it."

Ludolf decided to steer away from this conflict among maidens after all and merely drank from his tea; he could tell by that statement alone that the two girls would likely never see eye to eye. Of course, in his eyes, it was obviously Berengar's fault for being greedy and wanting two beautiful young women by his side. Nevertheless, he somewhat envied Berengar, but as a man dedicated to God, he quickly squashed such notions before getting up from his seat.

"I will leave the remainder of the task to you. I have to get back to the Church..."

With that, Ludolf disappeared into the crowd, leaving Linde by her lonesome as she contemplated the best words to plead for Adela's assistance.

: A Fitting Name

: A Fitting Name

: A Fitting Name

Berengar currently sat in the dining room; the only two people present for this morning's breakfast were Berengar and Linde; as usual, his family was still fractured after Lambert's conviction. Berengar had not seen his father's or his sister's face in some time. Though Sieghard was officially declared a Viscount, and his territory had doubled, he was officially in isolation for penance. The good news about this was that Berengar could openly flirt with Linde without getting the stink-eye from his fellow family members. As Berengar snacked on a breakfast sandwich, he noticed the blue eyes of his darling little sister peering out from the corner of the entryway.

Evidently, the little girl was spying on him and Linde; though Berengar wanted to go over and greet her, he feared she would fly back to her room the moment she noticed she was spotted, like a scared little rabbit. As such, he continued to have a civil conversation with Linde about managing the realm's affairs.

"Has your father guaranteed safe passage for my trade routes within the County of Tyrol?"

Linde was gracefully dining on an omelet while she nodded her head; she only began to speak after she had swallowed her bite.

"Of course, my father will do whatever I tell him to do; he dotes on his daughter's far too much."

Berengar smiled and decided to shift the conversation to something more personal. After a few moments of silence, he finally asked in an awkward manner.

"So... What should we name the Child?"

This line of questioning instantly piqued Henrietta's curiosity which was not so subtly listening in on the conversation. On the other hand, Linde wiped her mouth with her napkin before putting a gentle smile on her doll-like face.

"If it's a boy, I was thinking of naming him after his father..."

Berengar smiled sadistically as he responded to her idea while she took a drink from her goblet of water. He could not help but tease his lover when the two of them were alone; even if Henrietta was watching, he did not mind embarrassing the poor lass.

"Oh, so you plan on naming him, Lambert?"

Linde nearly spat out her drink as she heard those words; she struggled to contain the liquid as she swallowed it down. After doing so, her face shifted into a furious glare as she scolded Berengar for his behavior.

"Don't even joke like that! You know I meant to name him after you!"

This news was shocking to Henrietta as she listened to Linde admit that her child was Berengar's; this invoked the inner fury of Henrietta as she already blamed Linde for Lambert's exile. Considering she was so young, Henrietta was not told that Lambert had attempted to kill Berengar. Instead, she was told that he voluntarily chose to join the Teutonic Order after changing his heart about his marriage with Linde. She may be young, but Henrietta was no i***t, she suspected something was going on between Berengar and Linde for quite some time, and now that it was confirmed, she was furious at the two of them.

However, despite the little loli's inner fury, she continued to listen to the conversation between the scandalous couple. Berengar, of course, was not fond of any of his children being named after him. He did not want a Berengar II chipping away at the Legacy he envisioned himself building in this world. He wanted people in the future to know and revere the name Berengar and immediately associate it with himself, much like they did to the name Alexander which belonged to the world's greatest conqueror.

As such, he came up with an alternative, one which was very dear to him as a man who had lived two lives. It was his father's name from his past life; as such, Berengar looked at Linde with a tender expression and grabbed ahold of her hand as he tried to convince her to name the child after his father from his past life.

"If it is a boy, how about we name him Hans? That name once belonged to someone very dear to me..."

Though Linde did not know who Berengart was referring to, by the look on his face, it was a bittersweet memory at best, and as such, she did not pry for information. She did not dislike the name, and as such, quickly agreed.

"A fitting name! But what if it is a girl?"

Berengar did not even need to think about it; he would name it after his mother from his previous life if it were a girl.

"Then we will name her Helga."

both of these names were acceptable to Linde, and as such, she smiled and nodded her head as she accepted the terms.

"That sounds good to me."

After hearing these things, Henrietta finally revealed herself with a pouting expression; she did not like that Linde was getting all of the attention from Berengar and quickly jumped into his lap while staring down Linde with a furious gaze. Berengar was taken aback by this action as Henrietta had not done such a thing in many years. Thus he felt slightly uncomfortable as she looked up at him with a pitiful expression.

"Big Brother, you have not come to visit me in so long!"

Berengar did not know how to react to this; indeed, he did not visit her while she was hiding away in her room and opted to give the little girl some space. However, he was dreadfully busy over the past few weeks managing the entirety of the realm, and as such, had no means to do so. He felt that he had no option but to pet her head and show her some affection, which he did as he chastised the girl for her behavior.

"You know Adela left, right? She was quite sad that you did not bid your farewells!"

A distraught expression appeared on Henrietta's face as she realized she was too depressed to say farewell to her friend and began to slam her tiny fists into Berengar's chest as she threw a childish tantrum.

"Why didn't you tell me!"

Berengar chuckled lightly before restraining the girl,

"Don't worry, her birthday is coming up soon, and we will go pay her a visit!"

Henrietta finally calmed down when she heard those words and began to smile for the first time in a long time. Just like that, Berengar spent the rest of his breakfast time doting on his little sister, much to the ire of Linde who sat silently and ate her meal.

: Lamberts Decision

: Lamberts Decision

: Lambert's Decision

Lambert was currently in the courtyard of the Castle of Malbork, where he was currently undergoing the brutal training to which the initiates of the Teutonic Order must adhere. Currently, he was sparring with many of his fellow initiates; the young men wielded blunt steel swords against one another as they fearlessly tried to gain the upper hand against their fellow initiates.

Joining the Teutonic Order was not the honor it had been centuries ago, in the eyes of the public outside of the German-speaking regions, they were seen as warmongers, spreading the views of Catholicism to the neighboring Orthodox Kingdoms by the tip of the spear. An action that greatly strained the relations between the two pillars of Christianity.

Currently, the Teutonic Order was in a war with the Grand Duchy of Moscow and, by extension, the Golden Horde, who were the Muscovites feudal overlords. A war in which they were faring quite well, however the need for new troops was constant, and as such, the Teutonic Order had begun taken in criminals as an attempt to fuel their endless Crusades in the North.

As such, Lambert was engaged in a sparring session with another initiate; the young man was an orphan adopted by the Teutonic Order many years ago and had been training within the castle for quite some time. Though he was talented, Lambert was far superior in the art of swordsmanship and easily bested the man as he dropped him to the floor with a murder stroke. After knocking the man to the ground, Lambert looked upon him with disdain before barking orders.

"Get up!"

however, the moment he did so, he felt a thump on the back of his head from the master of arms of the Teutonic Order, who quickly chastised him.

"Initiate! You do not give orders to your brothers! Nor do you use such force against them in a mere sparring session! As punishment for your actions, you will be cleaning the latrines after your training is over!"

By now, Lambert knew better than to protest. Despite being a man of Noble birth; none of that truly mattered in the Teutonic Order. To every Knight within this castle, he was considered nothing more than a criminal and a meager initiate who had yet to earn the right to bear the black cross of the order. As such, Lambert merely nodded before getting back to sparring.