Weeks had passed since the Bavarians first invaded Austria, and though their advance into Tyrol was halted at its borders, the war continued to spread to the rest of Austria. From Salzburg to Karnten, and even into Upper and Lower Austria, the fires of war consumed the Duchy of Austria. At the moment, only Tyrol and its western neighbor Vorarlberg were primarily left untouched by the conflict. The only reason Vorarlberg had not fallen yet, was because Berengar had sent troops to their aid; he could not allow himself to be cut off from the rest of the world, and as such, had spent some effort repelling Bavarian troops from Vorarlberg.
Tyrol was utterly cut off from the eastern half of Austria. If Berengar wanted to aid the Count of Steiermark, his uncle, and ally, his army would need to advance through Bavarian-occupied territory. It would indeed be a difficult task, but Berengar would have no choice but to do so if the city of Graz were indeed in danger. After all, he would never allow harm to come to Adela. There was an even more significant concern that had reached Berengar's attention. The Bavarians had largely isolated Tyrol. Because of that, Berengar could only trade with his partners in Italy, and by extension, the trade routes from the Italian Peninsula into the near east. As far as his German trade routes were concerned, they were utterly blocked by the Bavarian invasion of Austria.
While Berengar was still making a significant profit from his trade with Italy, and the Byzantine Empire, many of his customers no longer had access to his products. As such, he saw his earnings decrease significantly. At the moment, the young Count was thinking of establishing trade with the remainder of Germany. Spread out in front of him was a large map of Europe; if Berengar wished to continue supplying the other German regions with steel and textiles, then he needed to maintain security in Tyrol and the county of Vorarlberg, which sat on his western border.
After observing the map for some time, Berengar realized the only way to re-establish trade with Northern Germany was to bring his supplies westward through Vorarlberg and the Swiss Confederacy, where they would travel north into Wurttemberg. From there, his products could once more spread across Germany. Due to the ongoing conflict within the German-speaking regions, Berengar would need to safeguard his trade caravans with armed forces.
After coming up with this new trade route, Berengar set the task into motion and dispatched his orders to the necessary units who would conduct the trade operation. Now that he had concluded that job, he sat back in his soft leather chair within his study and sighed heavily before taking a sip from the wine contained in his skull chalice. Shortly after that, Berengar heard a knock on his door, and he immediately responded.
"Come in"
with that, the large wooden door creaked open to reveal Linde's beautiful figure, who was holding the baby Hans in her arms. The tiny red-gold-haired infant had a curious expression on his face as he peered at his father with his deep sapphire eyes. Linde had been spending time with Hans whenever she had the opportunity; she was quite the doting mother. After Linde approached Berengar with their son in her arms, she began to speak to Berengar with a severe expression. She was here for business, and for whatever reason, had brought their infant child with her. The heavenly beauty quickly got to the point as she relayed the information she had received from Berengar's spy network.
"The Bavarians will be assaulting Vienna soon. The city will not be able to hold out for long. Judging by Duke Dietger's fearsome reputation, he will eliminate any potential rivals to his authority over Austria, which means that the late Duke Wilmar's children will most likely be executed after the Bavarians have taken the city."
Berengar contemplated Linde's words as he stared at her with his one good eye. Obviously, Linde did not just come here to inform him of this matter, and knowing his lover well enough, Berengar assumed she had come up with a plan to benefit the two of them; as such, he asked about it.
"So, what is your plan?"
s
A pretty smile spread across Linde's immaculate visage as she heard Berengar's words; the man honestly did know her too well. As such, she quickly got to the point.
"We have agents in the Castle of Vienna who are currently on standby; when the Castle falls, we will take advantage of the chaos to smuggle Duke Wilmar's youngest son, Conrad out, and into Kufstein. Where we will then coerce him into naming you Regent and creating a Government in exile where you can begin a reconquest of Austria after your forces are fully prepared."
Berengar was shocked by the plan Linde had presented him; it was unexpected and brilliant. Berengar had initially planned to sit back and gain Tyrol's independence through the conflict before invading Austria at a later date to claim the title of Duke for himself, but this was an even better plan for his ascension to power. Of course, there was only one question on his mind about the whole situation, which he was quick to inquire about.
"After we have retaken Austria, and I am declared Regent, what do we do with Conrad?"
A wicked grin spread across Linde's lips as she had already thought about this plan and had prepared accordingly.
"We let the boy act as a puppet for a few years while we solidify our gains, and then we begin poisoning him in small doses until he becomes gravely ill and passes from this world, leaving you the Regent of Austria with full authority to assume the mantle of Duke!"
Hearing Linde's devious plot brought tingles to Berengar's spine as an equally sinister smile spreads across his face. This was a vastly superior plan than the one he had come up with and was far more likely to quell any potential rebellion against his rule. After all, with this, he gained some form of legitimacy to his claim of the title Duke of Austria when he finally succeeded. Indeed Linde's mind was far better at scheming than Berengar's, which was one of the reasons she was such an effective spymaster. After hearing her devious plot, Berengar got up from his seat and embraced his lover and child before whispering in Linde's ear.
"You are a devious little vixen, did you know that?"
After hearing Berengar's words, Linde began to blush; those words were not intended as an insult but a compliment, and she was well aware of that fact. Having said those words, Berengar let go of Linde and walked away with his hands clasped behind his back.
"I approve of your plan. Make sure preparations are in place to evacuate Conrad the moment the opportunity presents itself!"
Linde obediently nodded before departing with Hans in hand.
s
"Of course, master, I will not fail you!"
Berengar smiled and sat down after Linde had left his study. He proceeded to pull out a flagon of wine and top off his skull chalice before taking a sip from it and staring out his window. Opportunities presented themselves when one least expected them. With Linde's plot, he would be able to secure the position of Duke of Austria more efficiently and though it might be a few years before he had the title; in practicality, it would only be a few months before he held the power of the position.
Despite the ruthless plan to seize power, Berengar did feel pity for Conrad, soon the boy would be the last living member of a powerful Dynasty from his previous life, and he would not live long enough to continue said Dynasty, it could be said that Berengar's interference in this world's timeline had brought the end of the Habsburg Dynasty before it even reached the zenith of its power. However, he was not deeply concerned about such a thing; after all, the Habsburgs in this world would become nothing more than a stepping stone on his own Dynasty's rise to power.
With Linde busy preparing for this grand scheme of hers, Berengar himself realized that he could no longer sit idly by; as such, he quickly began drafting orders for further conscription. By the time the Bavarians had conquered most of Austria, Berengar would need a much larger force to deal with them. Luckily it would take months before Austria finally yielded to Bavarian occupation, and that gave Berengar enough time to train another division.
Luckily for him, the population to provide such a large number of troops was not much of an issue; with the increase in refugees coming to Tyrol and the size of the native population, Berengar had more than enough men to draft into service, something which could only be achieved because of his agricultural reforms. Without such reforms, most men would have to be in the fields to produce food, yet now they could be drafted and trained to be soldiers. Such was the progress of civilization.