Tyranny of Steel

Honoria quickly returned to the Castle with a desire to show off her new dress to Berengar. However, she was not familiar with the layout and promptly got lost. By sheer chance, she ended up at Berengar's study, where he was currently working on approving Naval expenses and drafting new ship designs. A powerful Navy was a versatile Navy, and while Berengar's shipyards were being constructed, he would draw many different blueprints for future vessels.

Berengar was drafting a 20 gun Sloop of War based upon the USS Boston, which was commissioned in 1825 during his previous life. It was a fast, and agile single-deck ship armed with twenty 24 lb cannons.

While drafting the blueprints, Berengar heard a knock on the door and assumed it was Linde as she was usually the one who visited him during the day. As such, he said with a smile on his face.

"Babe, you know it's open. Do you need to knock?"

Upon hearing this, Honoria began to flush as she slowly opened the door and revealed her gorgeous figure in her new dazzling dress. Berengar was quite shocked when he saw this and scratched his head with an awkward expression when he saw it was not Linde in his doorway.

"Lady Valeria, I am sorry I mistook you for someone else. Is there something I can help you with?"

Honoria meekly entered the room as she responded to Berengar's comment.

"Not really, I was just curious, is all; I haven't seen your face in a few days and wanted to know what you were up to..."

After doing so, the princess twirled around in her new dress, giving Berengar the hint to comment on it. Berengar had to admit she did look perfect in the dress, but he had a nagging suspicion that he would be the one ending up paying for it. So instead of complimenting her as she wanted, he merely asked the question on his mind.

"How much did that dress cost me?"

Hearing this, Honoria began to pout; she had not gotten the response that she desired and quietly muttered under her breath.

"I don't know."

Berengar found this to be adorable, and as such, he smiled before giving the girl what she wanted.

"Well, whatever it cost, it was worth it. It looks perfect on you."

After hearing this, Honoria blushed and smiled before she began to sit down in the chair in front of Berengar's desk. As she did so Berengar placed his quill down before covering the ship blueprints with his Naval expense reports. He did not want such sensitive information being leaked, and as such, he began informing the girl of his more boring actions these past few days so that she would lose interest.

"As for what I am up to, I am merely attending to matters of the State; as a Duke, I have a lot of work cut out for me; for the most part, it is rather boring."

Honoria merely nodded her head, disinterested as she heard this. However, she read the bold words at the top of Berengar's paper; her understanding of the German language was rudimentary, but she could still read the word "Naval"; as someone deeply fascinated with sailing, she was curious about this and thus asked.

"Naval expenses? Am I reading that right? I didn't know that Austria had a Navy..."

Hearing this, Berengar's pleasant smile turned sour as he tried to conceal what he was up to. The building of a Grand Austrian Navy was crucial to his plans, and at the moment, he was trying to hide his dreams for as long as possible.

As such, he tried to dissuade the girl in front of him from prying into his business.

"Lady Valeria, I know you are naturally curious, but it is not polite to pry into the business of someone else's territory. I will forgive you for the moment, but I hope you do not try to entangle yourself with my affairs any further."

Hearing this, Honoria began to pout as she responded to Berengar's words.

"I am sorry, I am just interested in sailing, is all; I got excited when I saw the word Naval. I promise I won't look at your documents in the future."

Hearing this, Berengar was curious and thus asked Honoria the question on his mind.

"You are interested in sailing, huh? Is that your dream? To sail across the Mediterranean as free as an eagle with nothing but the salty wind of the sea to keep you company?"

Honoria began to contemplate Berengar's words for a few moments, before responding honestly.

"Truthfully, I do not know; I have never had the luxury to think about what my dreams for the future are. I suppose you could say I am still finding that out..."

Hearing this Berengar began to feel pity for the girl, however, the next question she asked him shocked him.

"What about you? What are your dreams?"

This was a question Berengar commonly thought about, and as such, he put on a pleasant smile as he informed Honoria about his ambitions for life.

"At first, I wanted nothing more than to inherit my family's lands and spend a good thirty years or so bettering the lives of my people, and by extension my family and myself, before retiring to some villa near a lake to live the rest of my days in peace."

Hearing this, Honoria was curious; it seemed like a noble goal. However, she noticed he prefaced the statement with the term at first, and as such, she was curious about what he thought; as such, she inquired further about it.

"And now?"

Berengar sighed before his expression turned solemn; as it did so, he revealed the heights of his ambitions.

"The world is a cruel and unforgiving place; I learned that pretty early on in life. If I can do a little evil to achieve great things, then I will do so. I yearn for the unification of my people, and I don't simply mean the Austrians, but all Germans.

Those who speak the German language and have some form of German culture should be united in a single Empire to thrive and determine their destiny free of foreign interference. Everybody else contending for the title of "King of Germany" is doing so in pursuit of their vain glory.

I know I can do better, and in doing so, I can better the lives of all German people, even if it comes at the expense of other cultures and ethnic groups. Thus I will fight trying to achieve this and even die in pursuit of my dream if necessary.

A dream is something you should pursue even if everyone else says it is impossible, something you are willing to kill and die to achieve. When you finally feel such overwhelming passion for something, you know that you have found your purpose in life, or so it is my belief.

History will either remember me as the world's greatest villain or Germany's greatest hero. Either way, I do not care, so long as I can accomplish my dream."

Hearing Berengar speaks so passionately about his dreams inspired Honoria to find what she cared about so deeply. As such, she asked Berengar for guidance on the issue.

"What do you think my purpose is?"

Berengar sighed heavily and shook his head before responding.

"That is for you to find out, but if you are fascinated by sailing, it might be a good place to start. For now, I can hire a few sailors to teach you how to sail a riverboat; if you end up falling in love with it, I can always send you to Istria in the future, where I am establishing a Naval Academy."

Honoria was touched when she heard this and instantly placed her hands on her heart as she listened to Berengar's kind words. She quickly followed up by asking Berengar the thoughts on her mind.

"You would do this for me?"

Berengar smiled and nodded as he said so.

"Sure, why not? You are here under my protection for the time being. You might as well learn a thing or two while you can."

Tears began to form in Honoria's mint eyes, and she could no longer control her overwhelming emotions; she knew it would be no small cost for Berengar to hire sailors to teach her how to sail, and yet despite barely knowing her, he was willing to go so far to help her find out her dreams in life.

She could barely contain her happiness, and as such, she quickly latched onto Berengar and hugged him tightly while whimpering in his chest.

"Thank you!"

Berengar did not know what exactly this girl had been through to be so happy over what to him was such a little favor. However, he decided to let the girl cry herself out into his doublet and merely patted her head as she did so.

Of course, the moment Honoria latched onto him, Berengar could see the sky blue eyes of Linde staring at him with a murderous glare in the doorway. This sight immediately sent shivers down Berengar's spine, and though he tried to jump up from his seat, he was held down by the whimpering princess.

Linde did not bother entering the room, Berengar had already seen her displeased appearance in the doorway, and that alone was enough to send a message to him. When she finally left, Berengar sighed deeply before thinking in his mind.

'I am going to pay for this later...'