Tyranny of Steel

Berengar was sitting upon his leather recliner within the sanctity of his study. Within these walls, he was relatively free from all of the stresses of the outside world, even if he was surrounded by piles of paperwork that never seemed to end.

As much as Berengar hated doing paperwork, it had become such a common routine throughout his tenure as a ruler that it was one of the few ways he could relax nowadays. As the days passed since his wedding to Linde, Honoria had grown rather impatient for her own ceremony that was on the horizon.

Quite honestly, Berengar did not know what to make of it, the girl had begun to throw some childish tirades over the simplest things, the brief moment of sisterhood that existed between Berengar's harem was unraveling at the seams, and with it, his peaceful days were coming to an end.

These girls were roughly a month pregnant, maybe less, and they were already driving him insane. As the days passed, he spent more and more time in his study, burning off his stress by overindulging in the endless horde of paperwork that continuously found itself lying upon his desk.

At the moment, he was overlooking Eckhard's report on the current political situation within the Kingdom of Bohemia. After years of bloodshed at the hands of the Hussites, corruption at the hands of the previous monarch, and the ongoing misconduct of the Catholic Church; the Bohemian people were fed up with all factions present within the realm, and many, especially the ethnic Germans of the Sudetenland had begun to embrace Berengar and his Regime.

As such, the Hussite Radicals, Moderates, and the remaining Catholic Loyalists had all lost any form of support from the common people. These men and their factions had been neutered without the people backing them. Any form of resistance that sprang up following Berengar's seizure of the Crown was quickly put down by Eckhard and the army of battle-hardened Austrian veterans who accompanied him.

Under the provisional government established by Berengar in the wake of his ascension to the position of King of Bohemia, agricultural reforms had begun to be implemented across the realm. Though it would take many months, perhaps even years, to see the effects of such measures, undoubtedly, food would soon enough no longer be an issue for the average Bohemian.

On top of this, tens of thousands of young German men from Austria poured into the realm, claiming Bohemian wives and beginning work on reconstructing the infrastructure of the war-torn kingdom. Things were starting to get back to normal; however, there was one serious issue that Berengar needed to address.

He could not reasonably station his Austrian troops within the Kingdom for an extending period of time without his rule being seen as a foreign occupation. After all, Bohemia had not been annexed by the Kingdom of Austria. Instead, it remained a part of the Holy Roman Empire for the time being.

Interestingly enough, this meant that Berengar, as King of Bohemia, was now a Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, making him have a significant degree of influence over who the next Holy Roman Emperor would be, assuming the Empire still existed by the time of Balsamo Corsini's death.

With this in mind, Berengar needed to establish a local force capable of defending its borders but loyal to himself. Berengar began to draft a Royal Decree as King of Bohemia. Much like what had been done in Austria, Berengar would soon declare the right to levy troops by individual noblemen revoked. In its place, a national and professional Army would form.

Knights and Noblemen were free to enlist, and upon graduating from the same Officer Training Program that existed in Austria for the time being, they would be granted a commission. As for what arms this Bohemian Royal Army would be equipped with. Berengar had a solution to this problem.

Warehouses were filled with muskets, and 12 lb field guns, that were beginning to be replaced in service by the newer Needle Rifles and Breech Loading Cannons. With each passing day, Berengar's stockpile of arms grew, and though he had sold some of these weapons to his allies, such as the Granadan Royal Guard and the Byzantine Balkan Army, there were still tens of thousands of muskets stockpiled, and dozens of cannons.

Most of his cannons had not even been replaced yet; with each passing week, more and more field guns were being replaced and added to the stockpile. As for the Schmidt Guns? They were already retired from service within the Austrian Royal Army in its entirety, Berengar had a proper replacement in mind for these weapons, but with the rate of fire and practical range of his needle rifles, the Schmidt gun was now dreadfully obsolete.

There was quite the stockpile of now obsolete weapons that Berengar could field among his Bohemian Army. The guns and the armor issued to Austrian troops in the past were lying around, gathering dust. Until a point where Berengar could fully annex Bohemia as part of his growing realm, it would have to remain a separate entity, with a different military under his command.

After signing the documents formally establishing the Bohemian Royal Army, Berengar sat back within his seat and began to rest his weary eye. At this point, he noticed a knock on his door, and he immediately froze in his spot.

The odds were that this was one of his women, coming to complain about how the other two were treating her. Upon realizing this, Berengar regained his composure and immediately lept beneath his desk, hoping desperately that he would not be found.

Instead, much to his surprise, when the door crept open, the sound of light footsteps could be heard. Whoever these belonged to was far smaller than any of his women, and as such, a guess immediately filled his mind. Ultimately his estimation was confirmed when he heard a soft voice appear within earshot.

"King Berengar? Are you here?"

Berengar immediately popped up from his desk, slamming his head underneath it as he did so. When he finally regained his stature, he rubbed his cranium and winced in pain. Standing before him was little Veronika, who gazed at him with her mismatched eyes, filled with suspicion.

"King Berengar, why were you hiding under your desk?"

Berengar immediately laughed off the assertion that he, the mighty King of Austria, could be hiding beneath his desk and grabbed ahold of his pen with a broad smile on his face.

"I wasn't hiding; I merely dropped my pen and was retrieving it. Tell me, Veronika, why are you here in my study?"

Veronika was intelligent enough to realize that Berengar was full of shit despite his reasonable defense. Nevertheless, she did not come here to accuse him of hiding like a coward; she came here to ask Berengar a question that was on her mind. As such, she walked over to Berengar and gazed at him with her tiny, blue, and green eyes, and proceeded to inquire about the state of her home country.

"If you don't mind me asking, how is Bohemia faring? I've seen so many incredible things during my brief tenure here within Austria that I am concerned for the well-being of my people."

Berengar sighed as he once more sat down upon his leatherbound reclining chair. He poured himself a drink in his infamous skull chalice as he did so. He had long since delegated this cup explicitly for personal drinking within his study; after all, it was not exactly what one would call the most civilized piece of art. After taking a sip from the fortified wine, he placed the chalice upon his desk before revealing his thoughts on the matter.

"It is recovering, but the wounds of war take time to heal. Bohemia is in a rough state after years of bloodshed, and now I have to rebuild it. It may take years, but I promise you, one day within your lifetime, when you finally return to the land of your birth, it will be far grander than you remember."

Veronika smiled as she heard this, maybe it was because of the wealth and happiness she had witnessed throughout the ordinary people of Austria, but the little girl had faith that Berengar would be able to live up to his claims.

However, her next question came as a shock to Berengar; the girl had only been with him for a month max, and yet she seemed to be impatient.

"So, have you decided who my future husband will be?"

Berengar instantly choked on his wine as he heard this, to listen to a ten-year-old girl so blatantly speak about the prospect of marriage was something Berengar would never become accustomed to no matter how long he lived within this medieval world.

As such, he shook his head as he deflected the issue

"I'm sorry, Veronika, I've been much too busy to come to a proper conclusion on the matter. Besides, you're still young; you should enjoy your youth before thinking about such serious matters. It will probably be years before I find you a proper match, so enjoy your time here in Kufstein while you can."

Veronika began to pout as she heard this; truth be told, she was more worried about who Berengar might marry her off to than anything else regarding her personal life. The last thing she wanted was to be married to some old pervert. However, ultimately she nodded her head and ran up to Berengar, where she latched onto his side like a bit of lamprey, thanking him for the hospitality he had shown her thus far.

"Thank you, King Berengar, you have been most kind, and I look forward to the years where I shall live under your roof!"

Berengar had a bitter smile on his face; this girl was far too formal. Nevertheless, he quickly detached himself from her grasp and responded appropriately before shooing her from his study.

"You are most welcome, Princess Veronika, now. If you don't mind, I have some work to do, so please enjoy yourself. I'm sure Hans and Helga could use a proper playmate..."

In response to this, Veronika smiled and curtseyed as she had been taught to do by Henrietta during her stay in Kufstein; after doing so, she left Berengar in his study. Where he proceeded to fill his chalice once more, he sighed heavily as he partook of the fortified wine before expressing his thoughts aloud.

"In six years, I wonder what the relationship between her and Hans will be. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly, and I can marry her off to my son. After all, I wouldn't mind having a cute daughter-in-law like her..."

After saying this, Berengar quickly got back to work, for the Kingdom would not run itself.

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