Chapter 113: The Duchess of Swabia
"Eh?" Lady Katarina broke the silence of the courtyard, her head tilting slightly to the side.
After hearing such words, the future Duchess of Swabia didn’t bow.
She didn’t drop into a curtsy, nor did she avert her eyes from the supposed royal blood standing.
Instead, she simply crossed her arms over her gown.
"Margarita de Austria?" Katarina repeated. "That is impossible. The continent knows the Emperor’s family tree. Charles V is a young man, barely twenty-six years old. He does not have a grown daughter with that name. And if you are claiming to be his royal aunt, the Governor of the Netherlands... well, the math of your face fails you."
Katarina took a slow step forward.
"A person of such royal blood should be known across the lands," Katarina continued. "But no one knows you. Clearly, something is wrong here. You are either a very bold liar, or you are playing a dangerous game with a name that will get your head chopped off."
Konrad didn’t take his hand off his wheellock pistol.
The math simply didn’t add up... the Emperor was too young to have a daughter standing here in her late twenties, commanding a private army and wielding Fugger silver.
If she wasn’t a legitimate daughter, and she wasn’t the aging aunt... there was only one loophole in the noble ledgers.
"Are you a bastard, then?" Konrad asked bluntly.
The crowd of Swabian peasants gasped, terrified by their Lord’s blatant disrespect.
Up on the high stone balcony, Duke Wilhelm choked on his own spit, staring down at the courtyard in pure horror.
You didn’t just ask a woman wearing imperial colors if she was a bastard...
Even so, Konrad ignored the shocked audience. "Did the old Emperor Maximilian leave a hidden bastard daughter off the official records? Or are you the Emperor’s own bastard sister, quietly funded by the royal treasury but kept in the shadows? Is that why you are hiding behind a metal mask and playing dress-up with an exiled Duke’s banners? Because you don’t actually exist on paper?"
The twelve heavily armored guards tensed, their grips tightening on their longswords.
To insult their lady’s bloodline was a direct invitation for a bloodbath.
Marshal Eckhard and Captain Ragnar instantly stepped up beside Konrad, their broadswords drawn halfway from their scabbards.
The distinct click of fifty wheellock rifles being cocked by the Reiters on the walls echoed sharply across the courtyard.
However, the woman did not look insulted.
She raised her hand, giving her guards a signal to stand down.
"...no more questions about my bloodline, Viscount." she commanded.
Her bright eyes locked onto Konrad with an intensity that mirrored his own nature.
"My lineage is exactly what I say it is. And I did not ride through the mud for a week just to debate my family tree with your sharp-tongued future wife."
She took a step toward Konrad. "I came here for a very specific reason," Margarita stated. "I want you, Konrad."
"Excuse me?" Katarina snapped, her eyes narrowing into lethal slits.
The Bavarian princess took another step forward, placing herself in the line of sight between the Swabian warlord and the masked woman.
Margarita simply laughed. "Oh, do not look so fiercely territorial, Lady Katarina," Margarita teased smoothly, her blue eyes flashing with amusement.
"I am not here to steal him from your marriage bed. I have no interest in playing the role of a domestic Duchess."
She turned her attention back to Konrad, ignoring the furious Bavarian noblewoman standing right next to him.
"I came here and explicitly revealed my true name in front of your wife for a reason," Margarita explained. "I wanted her to hear it. I wanted all of your loyal dogs to hear it. I wanted you to know that I am speaking the truth. I don’t hide in the shadows when I find something I actually want. And what I want is the man who can build fire-breathing wagons and slaughter seven thousand mercenaries before breakfast."
Though her words were flattering to his industrial ego, Konrad’s expression remained an immovable mask of iron.
He had just spent a week fighting off greedy lords, arrogant papal envoys, and heavily armored blockades.
He was out of patience for noble schemes, even if they came packaged in customized silver armor.
"You bought five thousand of my wheellocks," Konrad stated flatly. "You paid the silver. The transaction is finished. If you want more weapons, you can send your quartermasters to negotiate with my merchants at the border like everyone else. You don’t get to just waltz into my fortress and demand my personal attention."
"I don’t want to buy more simple rifles," Margarita replied, taking one final step closer.
She looked up into his eyes. "I want the blueprints to those volley guns. I want the exact chemical mixture you use in your powder pans. The Holy Roman Empire is focused on France and the Ottomans right now. They are distracted. But I am not."
She reached out with her steel gauntlet, tapping the center of Konrad’s blackened breastplate.
"You are surrounded by enemies who want to burn your forges to the ground. Duke Wilhelm will eventually betray you. The Pope will try to excommunicate you. You need a royal shield that is entirely bulletproof. You need me."
Konrad stared down at the young woman.
She was arrogant. She was insane to walk into a heavily armed fortress and demand a monopoly on his life’s work.
But his mind could not deny the logic of her offer.
If she truly possessed the royal backing of the Habsburg name she could provide the cover his revolution desperately needed to survive the coming years.
"...are you going to invite me into your study to discuss our new contract, or are we going to stand here all morning?" Margarita smiled sharply.
"Konrad," Katarina warned quietly. "If you let her into your forges, you are inviting the Emperor’s shadow right into our home. It is a massive risk."
"I know," Konrad replied without looking away from Margarita’s piercing eyes.
He had just stolen fourteen thousand silver florins from a sovereign Duchy and lied to the Vatican.
Risk was simply the price of doing business...
Konrad finally moved his hand away from the grip of his pistol. He let his arm drop to his side.
"Fine," Konrad stated. "You have my attention, bastard or not. But before I even think about letting you see my blueprints, you are going to answer one simple question for me."
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