Tyranny of Steel

Unfortunately, the romantic moment between Adela and Berengar did not last long. Soon after it began, Ava came rushing into the room; she was practically steaming from the fury within her heart. If looks could kill then, Berengar would be a dead man.

Seeing the deadly glare in her eyes, Berengar immediately began to smirk in the same condescending manner he had done to Wolfgang shortly before breaking his wrist. The young woman quickly ran up to Berengar and placed her finger in his chest before scolding him like a child who had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"You! What did you do!?! Why did you break my husband's wrist!?!"

Berengar merely laughed at Ava while Adela gazed in confusion at the two; after taking his time to enjoy the moment, Berengar finally responded to Ava with a question of his own.

"What exactly did you tell your husband that would make him so enraged to the point where he deliberately searched for me so that he could assault me?"

Ava quickly realized what had transpired. She exaggerated the events from earlier in the morning to her husband, going so far as to accuse Berengar of picking the lock to her bath so that he could peep on her. Afterward, Wolfgang was thoroughly outraged by Berengar's alleged behavior and sought vengeance on behalf of his wife, which resulted in the current situation. However, before Ava could spin this event further in her favor, Berengar broke the silence and added a statement to his question.

"Next time, you should pick a better attack dog; your husband is a worthless fool."

Berengar grabbed ahold of Adela's hand and began to lead her into the corridor when Ava shouted out from a distance.

"You think you can peep on me in the bath, and there won't be consequences? I wonder what your fiancee thinks of your actions!"

Adela was quite startled by these accusations and looked at Berengar with cautious eyes; though she wanted to believe he would not do such a thing, he had cheated on her with Linde in the past. She knew that her sister was an attractive young woman and could easily catch Berengar's glimpse.

Seeing Adela staring at him in such a manner, Berengar's ire was thoroughly provoked by Ava; rather than tolerate her words, and try to explain his actions civilly, he walked up to the woman and backhanded her across the face before responding to her accusations.

"Harlot! First, you try to seduce me, then when I reject your offer, you sick your hound on me! Now you slander my reputation! Because you are my cousin, I will be lenient, but this is your final warning, come at me again, and I will make sure that you and your husband share the same unmarked grave, now get out of my sight!"

Ava was furious, not only at Berengar but also at Adela, who stared at her with a look of pity; after hearing Berengar's words, Adela was smart enough to piece together what happened; after all, she knew enough about both Berengar's and Ava's character to accurately guess what had transpired to cause all of this drama. She would not be surprised if her sister Ava had purposely left her bath unlocked so that Berengar might stumble into it.

Ava was rubbing her cheek, which was now red from the strike she had received from Berengar, she had never been treated in such a manner before, and as such, she did not know how to react. On the one hand, she wanted to skin Berengar alive. However, the more rational part of her brain told her that was simply impossible; her husband was neither clever enough nor powerful enough to harm the young Count of Tyrol.

Thus her actions revolved around fleeing the scene with tears in her eyes and complaining to her father. However, Ava was utterly unaware that her father was already mindful of her attempts to cook up drama needlessly, and as such, was already intending to give her a thorough scolding.

After Ava fled the scene, Adela began to pout at Berengar, and when he turned around to look at her, he noticed he was not entirely off the hook yet. Before he could protest his innocence, Adela caught him off guard with a question.

"Peeping on my sister while she is in the bath, huh?"

Berengar instantly felt awkward from the accusation and attempted to defend himself.

"In my defense, she left the door unlocked; I merely entered the bath after realizing it was unlocked; how was I supposed to know she was bathing inside."

On the other hand, Adela was more curious about how much he had seen and thus inquired about it.

"How much did you see...

Berengar decided the best course of action was to tell a half-truth. Obviously, he could not allow the girl to know that he found her sister attractive, but if she later found out that he lied to her about seeing her half-naked, she would surely be outraged.

"Only her bare chest... However, it was not nearly as magnificent as Linde's, and as such, I was not tempted by it!"

Adela reacted in a way that Berengar had not expected; the young girl was trembling with anger when she realized that Berengar's first instinct was to compare her sister's chest with Linde's. Not only that, but he had the nerve to brag about Linde's chest being superior. Did that not mean that when Adela herself finally grew into her full figure that she too would not be as good as Linde?

Thus Adela instantly shouted at her fiance before storming off to her quarters.

"Berengar! You big dummy!"

It took Berengar a few moments to realize his mistake before he caught onto exactly what had angered the little girl. After it finally registered in his brain, he placed his palm on his forehead and sighed heavily as he spoke to himself alone in the room which contained the harp.

"I shot myself in the foot there, didn't I?"

...

While Adela was off pouting alone in her room, Ava complained to her father about Berengar's alleged misdeeds.

"Daddy, he peeped on me in the bath, and when my husband confronted him, the scoundrel had the nerve to break his wrist! Do something about this!"

Ultimately Ava felt like she could get what she wanted by exploiting the drama she had created, and that was to break Berengar's and Adela's betrothal. After all, she was incredibly jealous that her youngest sister was engaged to Berengar, considering he was so much more accomplished than her husband. It filled her with fury to know that Adela had snagged a better man than her.

However, Otto was not an idiot, he knew his children's personalities, and Ava was among the worst he had raised, a spoiled brat of low cunning who needlessly caused drama to entertain herself. Thus he stared at her with a stoic expression as he voiced his discontent.

"Cut the crap Ava, do you honestly expect me to believe Berengar is the one at fault here? Since you have returned to this Castle with that idiot husband of yours and your three children, you have done nothing but stir up trouble with Adela. I have permitted your childish tirades long enough; for Christ's sake, you are a Countess and a mother; think of your position before you go around trying to seduce your sister's fiance!"

Ava was stunned. Berengar had gotten to her father first and had told his side of the story, which was essentially the truth of the matter. She began to pout at her father and plead with him.

"Daddy, please! "

However, the Count shook his head before reprimanding his daughter once more.

"Do you have any idea who you decided to provoke? Berengar is a vicious and cruel man to those who seek to do him harm. Do you have the slightest clue about what happened to Lambert after the boy crossed him?"

Ava quickly crossed her arms and said in an undeserved smug voice

"He initially sent the boy to the Teutonic Order, where he returned with an army and was killed in battle!"

Otto stood up from his seat and crowded his daughter in the act of intimidation before telling her the truth of the matter.

"That is the official story; however, what you probably have not heard is that after Berengar personally killed his little brother in the heat of battle, he had Lambert's skull removed and turned into a golden chalice which he uses to drink from every day!"

A look of horror spread across Ava's face as she heard the message; the German people had not engaged in such barbarism since the Dark Ages. Yet, Berengar had resurrected such a savage tradition and with his brother as the victim. Only now did the young woman begin to comprehend the monster whose tail she had stepped on.

Seeing her daughter suddenly realizing his intent, Otto continued on his efforts to frighten her out of messing with Berengar in the future.

"Tell me, Ava, if the man is willing to engage in such savage cruelty to his brother, what do you think he will do to his cousin and her idiot of a husband? That man will one day be the Duke of Austria, is riling up your little sister worth making such a monumental enemy?"

Ava was instantly reminded of Berengar's parting threat and felt a shiver down her spine, forcing her to sit down in the chair next to her as she thoroughly contemplated her actions. It was only then she realized the end of her father's sentence.

"What do you mean he will be the Duke?"

Count Otto merely shook his head and informed his daughter slightly of the ongoing political battle in Austria.

"Duke Wilmar is dead, and so are his living heirs. Vienna has fallen, Berengar has already made a ploy to claim the title of Duke after he drives the Bavarians from our lands, and make no mistake, he has the power to do so! You should apologize to Berengar and your sister before an irreconcilable grudge is formed."

Realizing the grave mistake she had made, Ava quickly became covered in a cold sweat and silently made a vow in her heart that even if she had to sell her body to Berengar to repair their relationship, she would resolve this conflict no matter what the cost.

Of course, Berengar had no plans for such a thing; now that he had two loyal women by his side, he did not need a third. He had always said two women was the perfect number for a man to have. The only way he would entertain the idea for a third was if it meant forming a critical alliance with a powerful Nation. Instead, it would take some time for him to find a way to exploit Ava and her husband's apology in a way that benefitted his interests.