King of the Sea

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

"Eckhard, he is an anointed knight and a veteran of many battles. He has quite the mind for strategy and tactics, and I'm certain he can quickly adapt to the role of Law Enforcement. He's the second command of my militia and was instrumental in the defeat of Ulrich's forces at Mining Town."

A wide smile spread across Sieghard's face; it turned out his son had already found a capable Marshal who was loyal to him; this was good news for the realm's future. As he thought about it, he began to smile more; this essentially meant that Berengar's militia could be incorporated into the Town Guard and act as a military force, with police duties among the civilians. In Berengar's previous world, such a force would be referred to as Gendarmerie. It would be quite the efficient force in defending his family's territory when he was off at war. As such, he immediately accepted Berengar's suggestion.

"Very well, I will name Eckhard Marshal of the Realm after Friedhelm's funeral. We will incorporate your militia into the town guard, and it will act as the defensive force of the Barony and as its law enforcement."

Berengar was extremely delighted by this news; by eliminating Friedhelm, he had guaranteed that a unit of his forces would be stationed in the Castle and loyal to him. If Lambert attempted to cause trouble upon the start of his Regency it would not end well for his little brother. With a single assassination, Berengar had greatly weakened Lambert and his allies' ability to harm him. Slowly but surely, the tides were turning in his favor. Soon he would be able to finish this war of intrigue and secure his reign. With Eckhard's appointment as Marshal, he could root out any supporters of Lambert within the ranks of the town guard and have them expelled from its forces under false charges. Thus ensuring the only armed force within the Barony of Kufstein after Sieghard's departure was loyal only to Berengar.

This also would mean that Berengar would now have the authority to raise cavalry forces and add them to his ranks, albeit in small numbers. He believed he would start with a unit of demi-lancers—a type of cavalry that would one day replace the heavily armored knights of this era. The establishment of such a force would have to wait until after Eckhard's appointment to Marshal, which would take at most a month and a minimum of a fortnight. Nevertheless, things were looking bright for Berengar's future as his path to power was slowly beginning to come together.

After conversing with his father about the details of the appointment for some time, Berengar returned to his room, where he began drafting the plans for the establishment of a Demi-Lancer company, which would be outfitted with Three-Quarter's munitions grade plate armor and lances. After a while, he heard a knock on his door, and when he opened it, he saw Adela standing before him in a beautiful dress in the colors of black, white, and gold, which were the colors of his house. She looked ravishing in such attire; in her hands was a tray full of cookies and milk. The young girl had quite the sweet tooth.

"May I enter?"

Berengar would not deny his future wife entry into his room; as such, he made way for her approach, and the two sat down next to each other while snacking on the treats. Though Berengar enjoyed them, he did not enjoy the sweet deserts quite as much as Adela did. Still, he could not prevent his mind from thinking about chocolate. Unfortunately, it would be a long time before he could send an expeditionary force to the Americas to claim potatoes and cocoa. Nevertheless, it was one of his greatest goals in this life. The establishment of a colonial Empire in his mind was a necessity. However, the reasoning was more for the wide variety of crops and spices it could bring back and less for the territorial expansion. Nevertheless, when he was able to do so, he fully intended to take advantage of the European powers' lack of knowledge of the rest of the world and lay claim to territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. With the power his armies would wield by then, nobody could stop him.

To achieve this, he would first need to unite Germany and gain some coastal territories; he wanted major Naval bases in the Baltic, North, and Adriatic Seas. Then he would need to build a mighty Navy to maintain colonial power. Either way, it was many years, if not decades, away from where he currently stood. Nevertheless, he would do everything he could to establish his Empire as the world's preeminent power. Needless to say, there was a lot of work ahead of the ambitious young lord. For now, he relaxed by his young fiancee and dined on cookies while dreaming of conquering the world.

: Expanding Influence

: Expanding Influence

: Expanding Influence

While Berengar was conversing with Adela and going over his drafts for establishing a Demi-Lancer Company, Linde was hard at work as the master of Berengar's intricate spy network. What started as a small group of peasants watching and listening to potential threats and reporting them to Berengar turned into a massive spiderweb that infiltrated every noble house within the Barony of Kufstein under Linde's management. Say what you want against Berengar's lover, but she had a brain for intrigue and had been crucial in the war against Lambert and his allies.

The beautiful young woman divided the network into various cells located in every major inhabited region of the Barony. Through combined use of couriers, carrier pigeons, direct interaction, smoke signals, and other methods of communication, Linde was able to understand everything that was transpiring within the region of Kufstein. A complex hierarchy was established to allow the freedom of local cells to engage in espionage, p********a, and assassination at will, without it ever being traced back to Berengar's doorstep.

The Hierarchy was as follows, at the top of the organization was Berengar; he was referred to by those who knew of his existence as the Sovereign. Beneath the Sovereign was the Listener, this was Linde's job. She would listen to Berengar's orders, if he had any, and relay them to the Speakers, who were the leaders of every cell. The Speakers would then relay these jobs to the Eyes, Ears, Mouths, and Hands. Each was tasked with a different specialty in Intrigue. Eyes and Ears were generally used for Espionage and gathering intelligence. Mouths were used to disseminate misinformation and engage in p********a efforts, and the Hands were used for practical jobs, primarily being assassination and sabotage. Below all of these were Associates. They were not official members of the organization but were essentially pawns who unwittingly aided Berengar's spy network. The only members who knew that Berengar was the sovereign were the Listener and the Speakers. The rest were merely led to believe they were acting in the interest of the realm, and as such, if caught and interrogated, could not pin the blame on Berengar.

Currently, Linde was expanding the network throughout the entirety of Tyrol, starting with establishing a cell within Innsbruck. She knew just the person to fill the speaker's position, someone who could be trusted and was completely loyal to her. When she wrote the letter to her personal maid informing her of the duties she would be responsible for, the young woman took extra precaution and wrote the letter in a code that only the two would understand. Linde's maid was actually her little half-sister, a bastard of the family, and her name was Adelheid. If anything, Adelheid was the closest thing Linde had to a friend growing up; after all, Linde's cold, s******c, and domineering attitude had kept many people away from her. Those who stuck around were generally guys entranced by her physical beauty, like Lambert. Unfortunately for them, they were never able to win her favor.

Thus Linde wrote the letter honestly to Adelheid, informing her of everything she had been through in Kufstein and her change in character. The only reason she risked doing so is that she knew Adelheid would support her no matter what she did or who she became. The letter contained some deeply personal information, including that she was currently pregnant with Berengar's child and had framed Lambert into being perceived as the father. After writing about past events, she concluded the letter asking for Adelheid's help forming a spy network throughout Innsbruck. There was sufficient pay offered, which was obviously kept off the ledgers, but more importantly, it was a personal request from Adelheid's big sister and best friend.

After sending the letter with a confidant to her in Innsbruck, Linde sat back and sighed as she drank from a glass of purified water in which Berengar had made sure to make plenty of for her consumption. After all, she could not drink alcohol during her pregnancy, and Berengar would never allow her to drink unfiltered water. Linde rubbed her belly as she thought about the child growing inside of her. Every day she prayed it was a son so that he could Inherit Berengar's position one day. Having full confidence that he would become a King, she wanted her son to be legitimized and succeed his father more than anything. Of course, if she knew that Berengar had already planned a wide degree of political reforms for the future, one of which was critical to succession laws, then she would not care so much about whether or not her first child is a boy.

She figured that Berengar was in his room eating snacks with Adela and talking about his plans right now. She scoffed at the little girl's sweet tooth and figured that one day it would come back to bite her. Nevertheless, she wished it was her with Berengar right now. However, she could not very well intrude on their private time; after all, she would have plenty of it for herself later, and though she was competing with Adela for Berengar's affection, she had no plans to monopolize him for herself. She had become quite accepting of her role as his lover.

In the meantime, she was trying on dresses that Berengar had made for her; they were all in the colors of his house, which she took as a sign that he truly thought of her as family. If anyone asked where she acquired them from, she would say she purchased them from Berengar. Nobody needed to know that the Baron's son and heir showered her with gifts, everything from fine jewelry to exquisite dresses and shoes. Berengar made sure that both his girls were basking the most luxurious of clothing and accessories available.

She looked in the mirror gauging her appearance and knew that Berengar would be delighted by her stunning beauty. She could not wait to show him how she appeared in the attire he had made for her. However, that would have to wait. For now, she passed the time mixing and matching her outfits and accessories until she found the perfect looks for each of them.

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