Tyranny of Steel

It took only a matter of minutes before Berengar was informed about the Massacre of Madrid. Currently, he was sitting back in his office chair with a glass of whiskey in one hand and a hemp cigarette in the other. Linde sat across from him with a pile of documents and a proud smile on her pretty face as she described in detail the ongoing reports from the Iberian Peninsula.

"You requested a Status Report about the war in Iberia? Here is everything we know so far. Approximately seventy-two hours ago, our agents successfully infiltrated the city of Madrid, where they conducted a covert operation to assassinate the mayor. After doing so, they planted substantial evidence, framing the Iberian Catholic League for the attack before absconding silently into the night. 

Less than twelve hours later, our Propaganda network spun this as a prelude to a greater assault on the Moorish community within the city. We then used this incident to evacuate the Moorish Residents and the remainder of the local government from Madrid.

As expected, the Iberian Catholic League was more than happy to take credit for the assassination. The moment after we withdrew our people, the rebels seized Madrid and proclaimed it a Free City under the direct rule of the Papacy. At the same time, they expressed this as the first step in a new Reconquista.

While they were celebrating their perceived victory, Heimerich and the Reichsgarde unleashed a barrage of chemical shells which gassed the city's inhabitants to extinction. In doing so, they depleted our current stockpile of chemical weapons. As we speak, the Reichsgarde are now cleaning up the city and disposing of the corpses into a mass grave outside the city limits. 

  As far as the Pope is concerned, he has yet to respond to these attacks. We are making use of this time to direct Propaganda efforts in an attempt to inform the moderates of Iberia that this attack was in direct response to Catholic extremism, and the terrorists who fight for the Papacy. The specific use of child soldiers by the Catholic Extremists is being emphasized as a means to justify our extermination policy. 

Shortly after the attack, Adelbrand issued a speech where he condemned the Catholic Church for their actions in this rebellion and specified that we will no longer show mercy to towns and cities that harbor terrorists.

Adelbrand has also seen fit to post a reward for anyone who gives the Government actionable intelligence about these terrorists that aids in their arrest. We believe that the incentive of a reward, combined with the fear of being held responsible for the terrorists' actions, will compel the people of Iberia to turn against the rebels. "

Berengar nodded his head with a pleased smile on his lips as he heard this. It was time for the war in Iberia to come to an end. He had been involved in the region since before he was even a monarch. Years had passed, thousands of lives had been spent, and countless resources were exhausted, all in an attempt to end the centuries long conflict of Reconquista in the favor of the Moors. Thus, he gave Linde her new orders with a satisfied smile on his face.

"You have done a good job, Linde... Everything is progressing as planned. Since that is the case, you can inform your agents in the field to continue their efforts to uproot the rebels and eliminate them. Use whatever methods you feel are necessary to accomplish this objective in the quickest manner possible."

Linde smiled and nodded her head in silence. She enjoyed being praised by her master. When Berengar saw how pleased she was with herself, he decided to put her in her place by discussing another topic of importance. Now that he had Linde alone, he intended to interrogate her about the incident between Hans and Veronika. He started this by initially wearing a calm smile, before shifting his gaze to an icy glare. 

"As you may already be aware, it appears that Veronika has forgiven Hans. That is good. Their relationship is of critical importance to our dynasty's control over the Kingdom of Bohemia. However, there is something I wanted to speak to you about regarding the boy and his Hungarian girlfriend..."

Linde felt chills down her spine as she gazed at the cold look in her husband's eye. There were not many things in this world that she was afraid of. After all, she commanded the world's greatest assassins at the tip of her fingers. However, getting on Berengar's bad side was definitely chief among Linde's worst nightmares.

Not only because she loved him with a burning passion, and couldn't stand the idea that he was upset with her. But also because her husband was a terrifying man when he was angry. She instantly lowered her head in submission as she questioned why he was so displeased with her.

"I'm sorry, master, but this lowly slave doesn't know what she did wrong. Could you please enlighten me?"

Berengar chuckled as he heard this, but it was not a friendly laugh, instead it was more like that which belonged to someone who was on the brink of lashing out. 

"You told our son that he can't see that Hungarian girl anymore. Her name is Noemi, I believe. Do you mind explaining to me your reasoning behind that?

It surprised Linde to see that this was the reason that Berengar was angry with her, and she quickly apologized for her actions.

"I'm sorry, I was out of line... I simply didn't want my baby boy falling into the clutches of another woman so soon..."

In response to this, Berengar scoffed as he got up from his seat and walked over to the woman. In that moment, he corrected her previous statement with a sinister tone in his voice. 

"You mean to say that you didn't want Hans to fall into the clutches of another woman whom you can't control, is that it? What's done is done... If I were to reverse your decision now, it would only make the boy view your authority with contempt, and lord knows I need you to keep the scheming little brat in line. However, might I make a suggestion?"

Linde gazed up at Berengar with her big blue eyes and gulped before responding. She could tell that he was greatly angered by what she had done. She just didn't know the full reason behind it. It was abnormal for Berengar to behave so coldly to her.

Normally, when the two of them were alone, he was nothing but loving. However, now, as she gazed into his one good eye, she got the feeling that he wanted to strangle her, and not in the way she would enjoy. Thus, she responded with pure obedience.

"Certainly..."

Berengar's gaze was icy, while his face was expressionless. The most frightening part of Berengar's personality was not that he was prone to violent outbursts like a petulant child, but it was the pure machine like logic with how his brain processed things.

So much so that his regard for human life was minimal, if not nonexistent. It was this emotionless gaze that was utterly devoid of humanity which terrified Linde. In large part because he had never stared at her in such a cruel manner before. His tone was equally sinister and condescending as he lectured the woman on her actions. 

"The next time you get the brilliant idea in your pretty little head to go restricting access to the potential wives of my heirs, I want you to speak to me about the situation beforehand. I had grand plans for Hungary that I intended to put into place after the papacy has breathed its last breath, and you may have just ruined them for me..."

Linde, in that moment, realized that while acting on her emotions, she had intruded upon her husband's ambitions, and may have potentially caused him some grief. She was instantly ashamed of herself, not only for acting without thinking, which was uncharacteristic of her, but because she knew now the extent of the trouble she had caused the man she loved so dearly. She could only bow her head in submission and apologize. 

"I'm sorry... I didn't know."

In response to this, Berengar grabbed hold of Linde's dainty chin and kissed her on her forehead before whispering something in her ears.

"I love you, Linde, more than anything in this world, but you can't let your petty emotions get the better of your brilliant mind. You need to think about the consequences of your actions before you go through with them. I'm honestly surprised that you failed to take into account my plans for Hungary before prohibiting our son from interacting with a critical pawn.

I trust this misjudgement of yours was simply because of your maternal instincts, and therefore I will let it slide this time. After all, the overwhelming love you show towards your family is one of the things I admire most about you. Now run along, and be the loving mother that our children need. I have to work hard to clean up your mess..."

Linde exhaled heavily as she stood up from her seat and headed towards the door. When she was just about to leave the room, Berengar spoke up one more time while he sat back down at his desk.

"Oh, and Linde? Don't disappoint me again!"

With this said, the woman absconded from the Kaiser's office with a newfound resolve to work harder as a wife, a mother, and as the Director of Imperial Intelligence. Though she knew Berengar had forgiven her for her blunder, she would not easily forgive herself.