Chamberlain Ishmael:
As your highness did once, there are many groups who are planning to take over this castle outside right now. So if you want to remain as the lord of this castle, you have to take care of them wisely.
Once you take over the castle, you have to adjust the tax so that there is enough money to maintain the castle which is destroyed during the war. And once you have enough money you have to repair the inner and outer gate thus strengthening the integrity of castle. And you'd better hire mercenaries so that the enemies can't come near you.
You can always refuse the war request for 6 days after taking over the castle and focus on the strengthening the castle. But once this period is over, it's not an honorable act as a supreme lord to refuse the challenge. So you must accept their challenge.
But you don't have to accept the war from the cowardly group who is already hiding more than 10 members inside the castle. Do as you please in such a case.
Once the war starts, it's better to block their entrance into the outer castle. The outer gate is very strong and the archers will defend the gate. But since you can't always leave the outer gate closed, you must not assume that they will always come from the outside. To deal with this case, there is an another protection which is the inner gate even though it's not so sturdy as the outer gate.
Furthermore, no one can make sure that they won't infiltrate into the inner castle. So please my lord, always take enough mercenaries with you as bodyguards.
Now the most important condition to lose your castle is, well... meeting an unfortunate demise by the hands of enemies of course. But that's not the only way to lose the castle. If the enemy prince takes over your throne, you will lose also.
If I say so, the loser's fate is unthinkable my lord. Please be wise when dealing with war affairs.