Plan

Austria, October 16th 1794

5:30 PM

Lukas and Herman were in the garden of the mansion dueling with wooden swords.

Unfortunately for Lukas, he was not able to land a hit on Herman in his first try... nor in his second... nor in his third...

And today was not different, once the session had ended, Herman immediately let Lukas know.

"Time's up," the bulky man suddenly said as they dueled.

Lukas stared at Herman for a few moments with his eyes widened before going mad. "Shit!" he yelled before throwing his wooden sword far away.

Herman just shook his head hopelessly at Lukas's action. 'Lukas being Lukas. Will this brat ever change?' he wondered.

After panting for a bit, Lukas turned to Herman. "I will land a hit on you next time!" he said with resolve in his eyes.

Herman just showed a smirk. "Just hope you don't toss your sword away when you're about to hit me,' he teased.

Lukas just showed Herman the finger as a response, which made the bulky man laugh.

After that, Lukas went to pick the sword he had thrown away.

'This brat doesn't even question the difficulty of the challenge I gave him. He only says "I will hit you next time!!!", that's quite a lot of confidence, but it may come to be his demise,' Herman thought.

Soon, Lukas walked back to Herman. "I'm going back home, then. Bye," he said as he waved his hand.

Herman raised his brow. 'Didn't take him long to calm down. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't even talk to me after this,' he thought.

-----

Austria, October 16th 1794

6:15 PM

Later in his room, Lukas was sitting at the desk of his bedroom with a lot of sheet of papers. 'I'll postpone today's study of foreign languages in order to think of a plan to hit Herman.'

Lukas leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes as he thought of all the duels he had had with the bulky man.

'That guy is fast, strong, sharp and stupidly skillful. Only with a great strategy will I be able to land a hit on him, and even so, I need a bit of luck,' the blonde boy thought.

Lukas sighed and started doodling on the sheets of the paper. It helped him to think. 'Surprise attacks in a one-on-one duel are pretty hard to pull off, but I guess it's possible,' the blonde boy thought.

After thinking for a lot of time, Lukas came to a conclusion. 'Okay, sounds like a plan. There's no guarantee that it'll work, but it's the best I got,' the blonde boy thought.

Lukas sighed. 'I can only carry out this plan in the winter, on a snowy day,' he thought. 'It's going to take a few months, but if it works, it'll be worth it,' the blonde boy concluded.

-----

Austria, October 17th 1794

3:28 PM

Herman had arrived to the garden at the usual time. When he got there, Lukas was already there for his surprise.

The bulky man showed a smirk. "Oh, seems like you are eager to go mad once again," he said.

Lukas sighed. "I'll defeat you today. Just let's go duel out of the garden. There's not enough space here," he said.

Herman narrowed his eyes. 'He's up to something,' he thought.

Lukas noticed Herman's reaction and raised his brow. 'He noticed. It doesn't matter though, if he doesn't how and when my plan will take place, I still can defeat him,' he thought.

"Why do you wanna go to outside of the garden? You never complained about the space," Herman said.

Lukas shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, but you never told me that I had to hit you in order to graduate," the blonde boy said.

Herman chuckled. "Good point. Well, I don't mind. Let's go to the garden," he said.

When it was time for the duel, the both of them went outside of the garden and the duel ended the same way; Lukas wasn't able to land a hit on Herman.

"Time's up," Herman said.

He looked at Lukas to see if he was going to get angry, but he just had a calm reaction to it. "Okay. I'll hit you next time," the blonde boy said.

Herman raised his brow. 'This brat really is up to something. Why doesn't he even bother to hide it?' he wondered.

Even though Lukas was showing an aloof expression, he was smirking inside. 'I will only be able to carry out my plan, at the very least, in December, so it's still going to take some time.

However, my plan started now. I'm going to make it obvious for Herman that I'm up to something, and he'll eventually go paranoid because he doesn't know when it'll happen. I can even hit him in this meantime because he'll not be fully focused, he'll be looking for a trap or something like that while we duel,' the blonde boy concluded.

Later, Lukas was laying on his bed as he stared at the ceiling. Finally, he let out a sigh.

'It's also good that I can think about each detail of the plan while I wait for the winter to come. I'm an impatient person, but this time, I'll have to wait. I need to grow more patient, anyway,' the blonde boy thought.

Lukas sighed. 'There isn't really much I can do until there. My plan of getting a new bride will only start once the war is over, I found the perfect girl, so I just hope that Austria wins the war,' he thought. 'Well, everything I need to do is waiting. I can always work a bit harder in my study of foreign languages. There are still quite a bit of languages I wanna learn,' the blonde boy concluded.

-----

Austria, October 20th 1794

5:34 PM

Lukas and Herman had just finished dueling. Herman was organizing his training material while Lukas was sitting on the grass.

Herman just looked at Lukas. The boy was showing an innocent face, but Herman knew that was nothing but a facade.

'What's he up to? He's never been this patient to carry out a plan!' he sighed. 'Calm down, Herman. You are much more experienced and talented than him when it comes to swordsmanship. You got this,' the bulky man thought.

"Hey, Herman, tell me something," Lukas asked.

Herman turned his head to the blonde boy as he raised his brow. "What is it?" he asked.

"How's the war between Austria and France going?" Lukas asked. "You know, I didn't feel that many things changed here," he said.

"Oh, but a lot of things changed. You just can't see it, but believe it, war changes everything," Herman said.

"Why didn't you go to war?" Lukas asked.

"I got a special authorization from the King to retire, however, I can go back whenever I want," Herman said.

Lukas raised his brow. 'Weird...' he thought.

"Anyway, you didn't answer me. How's the war between Austria and France going? Who's winning?" the blonde boy asked.

"Austria has practically won this war," Herman straightforwardly answered. "Besides, with the help of Prussia, they don't stand a chance. You don't have to worry about it," he said.

Lukas celebrated internally. 'Yes! That's what I needed! Okay, I just need to wait!' he thought.

Herman looked at Lukas as he finished organizing his material. "Why are so curious about that?" he asked.

Lukas shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it would be weird if I wasn't curious," he answered.

Herman shook his head. "You can't deceive me, Lukas. What are you up to?" he asked.

'It's not like I wanna deceive you anyway,' Lukas thought before sighing. "Well, it's the plan for me to get a bride. It depends on Austria's victory in this war," the blonde said.

Herman crossed his arms in confusion. "How?" he asked.

"Well, sit down because this plan is a bit complex," Lukas said.

Herman just sat down on the grass beside Lukas and listened to the blonde boy's plan.

When Lukas finished explaining, Herman was dumbfounded. "All that because of a new bride, Lukas?" the bulky man asked.

Lukas rolled his eyes. "It's not just a new bride, and you know that," he answered.

Herman sighed. "Yeah, I guess so," he laid on the grass. "Still, I wonder why she's still not betrothed even though she's from such a powerful noble house," the bulky man said.

Lukas shrugged his shoulders. "Well, all I can say is that I'm pretty lucky... and that I hope she doesn't get a fiancé till there," he said.

Herman chuckled. "That's a huge gamble, Lukas," he said.

Lukas just nodded his head in accordance.

Herman turned his head to Lukas. "But Violett will be hurt, won't she?" he asked.

Lukas sighed. "Don't even touch that subject. When she came to visit me last week, I felt guilty at each second that passed," he said.

Herman laughed. "Well, that's a small price to pay. Did you think that you could solve anything without any problem just because you are very smart or something like that?" he asked.

"Yep," Lukas answered straightforwardly as he nodded his head.

Herman chuckled. "Well, I'd think so too if I was in your shoes," he said as he sat up.

After a few moments of silence, Herman turned his head to Lukas once again. "Hey, boy, now be serious. Say what you're up to," he said.

Lukas turned his head to Herman with a deep frown. "Are you getting senile? I just told you my whole plan," he replied.

Herman sighed. "Don't play dumb, you brat! You know very well what I'm talking about," he said.

Lukas just kept looking at Herman's face as the he raised his brow, an act that pissed off Herman.

"Don't look at me like I've gone crazy! I know you have something planned to land a hit on me someday! Tell me!" Herman ordered.

"Even if I had one, I wouldn't tell you... but hey, you are smart, huh? If I were in your shoes I would have also thought that I had a plan," Lukas replied.

Herman sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "It's pointless, right?" he asked.

Lukas raised his brow once again. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Yes, it's pointless," Herman concluded as he nodded his head. "I'm leaving, okay?" the bulky man asked.

Lukas just nodded his head. "Okay, bye," he replied.

When Herman turned around and took a few steps towards his horse, he heard Lukas's words.

"I'm keeping it for a rainy day," Lukas said.

When Herman turned to him, he was showing a smirk. It was an easy clue. He was waiting to carry out his plan when it was raining in a training session.

Herman didn't answer Lukas. Instead, he quickly turned around once again and walked towards his horse.

When Herman was gone, Lukas showed an even wider smirk. 'I wonder if he believed it?' the blonde boy thought as he stood up and stretched himself.

As he opened his eyes after stretching, Lukas thought. 'Well, it's unlikely, but I can still land a blow on Herman with this plan I thought of in order to trick him.'

Lukas then walked to the mansion and closed the door behind him. 'Klara says she can smell when the rain is coming. She said it's probably going to rain tomorrow. Just hope it rains during the training session... no, it just needs to rain a few hours before it in order to execute my plan,' he thought.

Lukas then headed to his room and locked the door behind him. After that, he laid on his bed.

'This is just a decoy in order to make Herman think I'm out of plans. I'm still not sure if I should have hinted at the plan, but I had to make Herman anxious, or at least try it,' Lukas thought.

Lukas then rolled over and grunted in doubt. After that, he sighed. 'Well, what's done is done. I just have to wait for the "rainy day",' the blonde boy thought.