King of the Sea

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

After having a few drinks like old times with Ludwig and talking about the past, present, and future, Berengar parted ways with his friend and returned to the Castle. Everything was progressing smoothly; now, all he needed was Linde's report from the spy network she was managing, and he could finally call it a night. The life of an ambitious man was never idle. Berengar bathed before returning to his room; before long, Linde approached as per usual, but before she could pounce into Berengar's embrace, he stopped her and asked her the question on his mind.

"So, how are things on your end?"

She instantly knew what Berengar was referring to and pouted before she sat down next to him. she exhaled deeply and gave him the latest report.

"Your network has penetrated the entirety of the Barony and the vassals beneath your father. If anything even remotely similar to a plot against you appears, I will know about it. I've contacted my half-sister in Innsbruck and instructed her to set up a cell in her area. Before long, we will know everything that transpires in the seat of power of Tyrol. As for Ludolf, he is close to becoming a priest, and when he does so, he has orders to do as you have asked. Aside from that, your mouths are currently producing p********a throughout the region about your exploits and inventions. They've come up with some interesting stories about how you are blessed by the divinity of Christ with knowledge of the future and will usher in a new era of peace and stability for the German people. I don't know who came up with that bullshit, but people are eating it up."

After reporting to Berengar about her activities, she leaned into his chest and whispered in his ear.

"Have I been a good girl?"

Berengar smiled and stroked her glossy strawberry-blonde hair before pushing her down upon the bed and whispered back to her.

"You have been a very good girl, and I think you deserve a reward."

After which, he spent the remainder of his waking hours with his lover's warm embrace. He wondered how long this peaceful and plentiful life could go on before the storm arrived. However, as of right now, that was not his concern. He needed to enjoy this time while it lasted, one thing was certain his future would be filled with bloodshed, and that was not something he could escape now that he had embarked on the path to power.

: Lamberts Birthday I

: Lamberts Birthday I

: Lambert's Birthday I

Lambert awoke bright and early on this wonderful morning in the middle of July. Today was July th, ; in other word's it was the teenage boy's th birthday. Today he would finally become a member of adulthood in this feudal world. His wedding to Linde would be held in a fortnight, and he was not very excited for that day. Currently, his relationship with Linde was cold, to say the least; she no longer punished him for his mistakes and barely took an interest in him as a person. She often walked right by him as if he did not even exist. On the other hand, she had become increasingly close to his elder brother and rival.

Ever since her father left the young beauty in charge of managing his transaction with Berengar, she had sought every opportunity to spend time with his brother instead of himself. Now Lambert may be considered quite dense when it comes to relationships with the opposite s*x, but even he was beginning to suspect Linde was having an affair with his elder brother. He even began to doubt the parentage of his so-called child. He had never once confronted his fiancee despite his worries as he was too fearful of the truth.

The more he thought about such things, the more he began to convince himself it was the truth. After all, during his last attempt on Berengar's life, somehow the information was leaked to Berengar's militia that the young lord was in trouble, and they marched in the dead of night to Wildsch?nau to save the bastard's life. To this day, he still had not caught the scoundrel who was responsible for leaking such information. Nevertheless, he could not bring himself to accuse Linde of such actions openly; after all, that would essentially be treason against the Count of Tyrol, who was her father. Lambert could not imagine Linde would betray her family for his brother, and thus his suspicions were kept in check.

Still, he did not keep such thoughts in his head for long; he quickly got dressed as he rose out of his bed and decided to give his fiancee an early surprise. As such, he visited her quarters at the c***k of dawn. However, when he knocked on her door, there was no response, which was quite worrisome. Thus he knocked louder and louder, but no matter how hard and loud he pounded on the woman's door, she did not respond. Lambert found that to be very strange; where could she have gone at such an hour. Truth be told, she enjoyed a very early morning bath with her lover, but Lambert had no way of knowing this. As such, he waited at her door until she responded. Eventually, he saw Linde appear wearing her nightgown from the previous night, while her hair was damp as if she had just been in the bath. Her porcelain skin glistened under the light of dawn as it shone through the windows. The heavenly beauty looked at Lambert with shock as he stood outside her door, waiting for her arrival. Just how long had he been there waiting?

Lambert was furious; where had she been at such an ungodly hour, and why was she wearing her nightgown?

"Where the hell have you been? I've been standing here pounding on your door for thirty minutes!"

Linde frowned as she noticed the tone Lambert was taking with her, and she coldly snubbed her nose at him before trying to enter her door. However, Lambert grabbed ahold of his fiancee and shoved her against the wall, his eyes filled with rage as he pressed her head firmly against the cold stone doorway.

"I asked you a question!"

Linde returned his furious gaze with one of her own, however after a few moments, her murderous gaze faded and she began to smile, which confused Lambert. Until he felt Berengar's iron grip rip into his shoulder, almost as if he were going to tear out the boy's clavicle, Lambert turned his head around with a horrified expression as he saw Berengar staring at him with a freezing glare. When the teenage boy looked into the eyes of his older brother he could feel the cold gaze of death staring back at him. Thus he quickly released his grasp over Linde in fear.

Berengar was also noticeably damp; however, that was not uncommon at this hour as Berengar was known to wake up early and exercise heavily. He appeared to be in loose-fitting clothes he normally wore for such an occasion. Berengar still latched onto Lambert's shoulder and even dug his fingernails deeper into Lambert's doublet. Inflicting pain on the boy.

"What do you think you're doing? Is that any way to treat your fiancee?"

Berengar's eyes were cold and expressionless. Yet his voice was thunderous and full of fury. This noticeably enraged tone held a hint of natural authority behind it and reminded Lambert of a Tyrant sentencing a subject to death for an unforgivable crime. Berengar's eyes showed the indifference he felt towards Lambert's meaningless life, but his voice carried the weight of a thousand stars. At that moment, Lambert felt like kneeling and begging for forgiveness, but he quickly grabbed ahold of his resolve and talked back to Berengar; after all, one day soon, he would be Baron, and Berengar would be a corpse.

"She's my fiancee. I can do what I wish with her"

however, the moment he spoke those words, Berengar struck the boy with the back of his hand; it was such a violent blow that Lambert felt that he nearly lost a tooth from the impact. Berengar's icy gaze penetrated Lambert's soul, and the tone he now used was enough to awaken everyone who dwelled within this corridor.

"She is your fiancee, and you will treat her with respect!"

Before Lambert could make a proper retort, he was struck again by Berengar's hand, Lambert was outraged that he was treated in such a manner, yet he did not dare say another word at this point. Instead, Berengar looked over to Linde, his tyrannical expression softening as he did so.

"Linde, are you okay?"

Lambert noticed that Berengar was incredibly informal with his fiancee, which further ignited the fire within his heart. Yet, he stood there and did nothing. Linde, on the other hand, was flushed with excitement; she had never seen Berengar so angry over the way someone had treated her before. She wanted to jump into his arms at that moment but knew she could not do so for it would be inappropriate. As such, she merely nodded her head and bowed gracefully.

"I am fine; thank you for your assistance in this matter."

Berengar nodded and smiled at Linde before turning his attention back to Lambert, where he grabbed ahold of the boy's hair and shoved his face into the cold stone floor. He decided to give the boy a stern warning; after all, he would not tolerate any violence towards his women.

"If you so much as lay a hand on her again, I swear to our father in heaven that I will grind you up into sausage and feed you to the pigs! Do I make myself clear?"

Lambert tried to escape from his grasp but could not do so; Berengar had grown quite strong since he had been reincarnated into this world. Noticing Lambert's defiance, he slammed the boy's face into the stone floor once more and yelled at him.

"Do I make myself clear?"

Lambert nodded his head and hissed through his teeth in an absolute fit of rage.

"I understand..."

The ruckus in which this incident caused had awoken Henrietta, who, after exiting her room, witnessed her two brothers engaged in a b****y struggle and Linde standing in the corner sneering at Lambert's fate. If the little girl did not like Linde before, she despised her now. Thus she approached the scene and tried to coax her two brothers into settling their dispute peacefully.

"Big brothers... What's going on?"

Berengar did not notice Henrietta approaching until now, and after seeing the worried expression on the little loli's face, he let go of Lambert, dragged him to his feet and patted him off.

"Nothing much, just some friendly wrestling, right Lambert?"

Lambert immediately noticed the deathly glare Berengar was giving him and agreed to the ludicrous excuse Berengar had come up with on the spot.

"Absolutely..."

Though Henrietta was still worried about the overall situation, she noticed that they had decided to act civil in her presence. Thus she approached them further, immediately switching the subject from whatever had caused such a scuffle.

"Lambert, I want pancakes for breakfast! Can we have pancakes?"