Chapter 217: Preparation is the Key to Survival (1/2)

Down on the ground below Conrad's room was the shattered body of a young boy; this boy was the Duke of Austria, that is until moments prior. The servants of the Castle of Kufstein quickly gathered around the corpse and gazed with horror. Though they were aware that this boy was a puppet of Berengar, they could not imagine what events had led to his death.

Quickly the guards gathered and began to secure the scene. Berengar, of course, was long out of sight; he had murdered the boy by defenestrating him, and in doing so, covered his tracks quite well. Not a single soul had seen Berengar in the window with Conrad, and only his most loyal men knew that he had visited the boy during the hour of his death.

Thus while the guards secured the scene, Berengar was sitting on his seat of power, staring off into space. He had a momentary lapse in judgment after hearing that Conrad had murdered Linde's pets specifically to cause the young woman mental anguish and had thrown the boy out of the window and to his untimely demise.

However, by now, Berengar's clarity had returned, and he realized his actions were not only rash but also foolish. With Conrad's death, he had to move up his plans for usurpation by several years. The boy was supposed to die a slow poisoned death that appeared to be a natural illness. Yet now he lies splattered on the stone floor of his Castle courtyard.

This would undoubtedly cause the Nobles of Austria to view Berengar with suspicion, and that was the best-case scenario. The moment Berengar revealed Conrad's death to the rest of the realm, he would potentially face open rebellion. He could undoubtedly manage with his current armies but the results of such a conflict would certainly delay his reforms by a large degree.

Austria still had yet to recover from the war with the Bavarians, and now a few months later, they were once more on the brink of war. Though rebellion against his rule by the higher nobility was a certainty, he had yet to fully prepare for a quick and thorough war with the other nobles. Berengar deeply pondered his next step.

Considering only the people in the Castle of Kufstein knew of Conrad's death, Berengar would try to conceal such a thing as long as he possibly could. At most, he could buy himself a few weeks. How he utilized this brief period would be of critical importance in securing his authority over Austria. However, before he could do anything related to that, he needed an excuse for Conrad's death.

While he was thinking about such an Outcome, Linde arrived in front of him; her eyes were red and puffy from a long night of crying. Despite this, she had a stern look on her face, she knew that by now, Berengar should have some idea who the culprit was behind the death of her beloved pets, and thus she quickly asked him the thought on her mind.

”Did you find the culprit?”

Berengar, who until now was in deep thought reflecting on his actions and the future events that they had spurred, suddenly noticed his beautiful lover standing before him and nodded his head in silence.

Linde bit her lips as she was afraid to ask the perpetrator's identity, but ultimately she felt she needed to know who was responsible for such a heinous act if she were to gain closure; thus, she steeled her resolved and asked the question.

”Who was it?”

Berengar sighed heavily before revealing the identity of the criminal.

”Conrad...”

Hearing this news, a look of disgust and hatred combined itself upon Linde's immaculate heart-shaped face before she finally snapped.

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

However, Berengar's following words shocked her completely

”Dead...”

A series of complex emotions overwhelmed the heavenly beauty at this moment; she had no idea how to react to this news. On the one hand, she was glad that justice had been dealt to the sadistic brat for his vile actions.