Tyranny of Steel

Within the royal palace of Austria, Berengar sat upon his throne. Standing before him was none other than Ludecke von Dürnstein, his Ambassador to France, and the man tasked with the efforts of Austrian Royal Intelligence to interfere with the Hundred Years' War.

At the moment, Austria sought to supply the French Crown with arms against their rivals publically. This would further drag the de Valois dynasty's name into the mud. Associating with Berengar and his heretical Kingdom had become a strict taboo ever since the Crusade was declared. To the Catholic population of France, accepting arms from a heretic would never be acceptable, thus allowing Berengar's agents to foster dissent against the Crown.

Ludecke had returned from his journey to the Kingdom of France with the intent to inform Berengar of the progress he had made. As such, he knelt before his King with a solemn gaze as he announced the slow progress he was making.

"Your majesty, King Gilles de Valois appeared to be hesitant to accept your gifts. He likely will not make use of such weapons unless he becomes desperate enough to do so."

Berengar frowned when he heard this, where he then shifted his attention to Linde, who was sitting obediently in his lap, with her head resting against his chest. He began to stroke her silky strawberry blonde hair as he pressed her for an answer.

"What is the progress that the Iberians are making in reverse-engineering the captured Arkebuses?"

Linde instantly gazed up at Berengar with her sky blue eyes while prodding his chest with her fingers; she began to whisper in his ears the secrets that her agents in Catholic Iberia had uncovered.

"It is slow but steady; they have been dedicating all their resources to reproducing it. They should soon have a functional prototype; though it will be crude and made of cast iron, it will be the basis for future developments in firearms technology."

Berengar nodded his head with a smile on his face; after doing so, he asked her another question regarding his enemy's progress on reverse-engineering his technology.

"What about the Catholic Church? The Italians seized some of my army's flintlock rifles. Is there any progress in that regard?"

Linde immediately shook her head as she heard this before responding to the question.

"It is too advanced; the spring steel required to create the action is beyond Italy or the Papacy's ability to recreate. It will be decades before they make any form of progress on reverse engineering your rifled muskets."

Berengar smiled even more fiercely as he heard this report and petted Linde's head in response, which caused her to close her eyes in joy and enjoy the warmth of her husband as she clung to him. After hearing this report, Berengar made a decree.

"When the Iberians have begun to produce the arkebuse in considerable numbers, I want you and your agents to supply the enemies of the French Crown with similar designs. Pretend that you are agents of the Iberian Kingdoms, giving aid to the English, Aquitaine, and Burgundian forces.

When the enemies of France have begun to utilize firearms on the field of battle, King Gilles will beg me for assistance, and when he does, he will become a known collaborator with a heretic. Causing the French people to mistrust his dynasty greatly."

Ludecke bowed in response to Berengar's orders in the affirmative.

"It will be done, your Majesty!"

After saying this, Berengar eyed the man with curiosity; there seemed to be a complicated expression on his face. As if he had something to say but was afraid it might offend him. As such, Berengar pressed the man for the truth.

"Is there something else you wish to tell me, Ludecke?"

Upon hearing this, Ludecke's bones practically jumped out of his skin. However, he managed to calm his nerves before responding to Berengar's line of questioning.

"It is nothing important, your majesty; it is just that the Crown Prince of France informed me to give you a message on his behalf..."

Berengar instinctively chuckled when he heard this; he could not get over the fact that the Joan of Arc of this timeline was a slutty trap who just so happened to be the Prince of France. As such, he was immediately curious about what that boy could have to say to him.

"I'm listening..."

Ludecke instantly shifted his gaze to his surroundings to make sure that Princess Honoria was nowhere to be found; it was only after he had confirmed her absence that he dared to repeat the words that Aubry had spoken to him.

"Prince Aubry de Valois has requested that I tell you the following. In his exact words, he has said that if you ever grow tired of the foolish princess, he would be more than happy to entertain you..."

When Berengar and Linde heard these words, they were shocked, especially Berengar. He had never even met this Prince, and yet the boy was already trying to seduce him. Just what crazy level of pervert was he?

It took a few moments for Berengar to realize precisely what the French Prince was trying to tell him; the more he came to a proper understanding, the more his expression began to shift from confused to disgust, ultimately resulting in a state that expressed the horror he felt deep inside. Linde immediately found his expression to be cute, and as such, she began to tease him with a vindictive smile on her face.

"Well, aren't you popular? Not only have you managed to charm a princess into your bed, but even a prince is lining up for a chance to satisfy you..."

The moment Berengar heard his wife tease him in such a manner, he felt like he was going to throw up. The very idea of sleeping with the French Prince filled him with an overwhelming sense of revulsion. As such, it took him a moment to regain the dignity a monarch should have. After settling his stomach, Berengar gazed sternly upon his ambassador before questioning him further.

"Is that all?"

Having seen the complicated series of expressions on Berengar's face when he heard this news, Ludecke decided it would be unwise to discuss the interest that Princess Sibilla had shown towards meeting him and nodded his head in silence.

Seeing that there was nothing left to report, Berengar dismissed Ludecke; it was only after the man had disappeared from his great hall that Berengar began to relax; after taking a moment to himself, Berengar flicked Linde on the nose before chastising her.

"That was not funny! You made my stomach churn with your naughty thoughts!"

Linde did not pout. Instead, she wore a sultry smile as she began to kiss him on the neck; in doing so, she whispered into his ear with a seductive voice.

"Allow me to make it up to you!"

However, Berengar was dreadfully busy and did not have the time to play with his wife; as such, he pressed the palm of his hand against his wife's face while slowly pushing her away. As he did so, he began to scold her once more.

"Linde, be a good girl, I have a lot of work to do, and your enticement is getting in the way of that. I will satisfy you later in the evening."

This remark instantly caused Linde to pout as she stood up from Berengar's lap and began to walk away. Eventually, she looked back at her husband and stuck out her tongue before getting back to work herself.

As for Berengar, He sat upon this throne in contemplation; his plans for France would last decades and could not be rushed; he had only begun his preparations to fracture the unified Kingdom. As for his other business, things were progressing slowly but steadily as he industrialized Austria.

As for what the young King did next, he had to draft more plans for new technology critical to his growing infrastructure. His primitive factories were already introducing steam power and advanced machine tooling.

However, the process was slower than he desired it to be. As such, he began to draft copies of his plans for steam engines and the advanced machinery currently being implemented throughout Kufstein's industrial sector.

He intended to send these blueprints with armed convoys to the cities across Austria such as Innsbruck, Vienna, Graz, and Trieste that were primarily responsible for his current industrial output, where he would empower local nobles and wealthy merchants to invest in factories of their own that utilize such technology to rapidly produce the goods that his society had begun to rely upon.

Austria was on the verge of becoming an Industrial Power, and despite its vast wealth, it was not good for long-term stability if all of the major industries were controlled by the government. By sending the blueprints to trusted noblemen and merchants, Berengar would create private enterprises resulting in competition between Austrian companies, thus fostering innovation in his market.

It was about time that the people of Austria began using the education that Berengar had been giving them for something other than being cogs in the machine. Berengar hoped that by aiding in the development of private companies, he could gain some unrecognized talent, capable of leading Austria into its future beneath his rule.