Tyranny of Steel

While Berengar was off at lunch with Honoria, Linde had been left behind. The beautiful young lover of the Duke was sitting in the middle of the dining hall in her seat gazing at Berengar's empty spot with a downcast expression. Her doll-like face was resting in her dainty hands as she blew out her mouth, trying to lift her bangs with her breath.

She was dreadfully bored and did not know what was taking Berengar so long. For the past few months, Berengar and Linde had synced their lunch schedules so that they could enjoy a meal together every day as a couple. Yet, for whatever reason, the man which her heart yearned for was not present. 

There was nothing Linde could do about this, and thus she waited patiently like a loyal dog. After well over an hour, the doors to the Castle opened, and Berengar entered the scene. Though he had no intent to go to the Dining Room, Linde quickly found her way to the entrance.

When she noticed that Berengar was holding hands with another woman other than Adela, she instantly began to frown. She gave Berengar the chilling stare of someone about to commit murder. The moment Bernegar witnessed this perilous gaze, chills were sent down his spine, and he instantly reacted by ripping his hand away from Honoria..

This caused the teenage Princess to pout. No matter what, she could not seem to get one over on Linde. The two young women glared at each other with vicious intent for several moments before Bernegar broke the silence.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing waiting around at this hour? Should you not be at work?"

The moment Linde heard this, her attention snapped from Honoria to Berengar, and she immediately began to pout; in doing so, she turned her head to the side, not even dignifying her lover with a glance. At this moment, Berengar knew that Linde was truly angry with him, and thus he began to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Valeria approached me first and asked me to accompany her; you understand, don't you?"

With this, Linde still did not look in his eye; she was genuinely furious at her lover at this point. Though she was aware Berengar intended to make the girl a concubine or another wife, she honestly did not care.

She was most upset that Berengar was willing to enact Polygamy because this little vixen was quite possibly a princess and not because he loved herself enough to make her a proper bride. Berengar was not wise enough to notice the underlying reason for Linde's fury, and thus Linde did not accept his apology.

Honoria saw this as an opportunity to take Berengar for herself, and she ran up to Berengar and grabbed ahold of his arm, burrowing it deep within her cleavage, in doing so intended to make Berengar aware that she too was well developed.

The sight of this nearly made Linde's eyes pop out, and she instantly began to frown. However, before she could discuss her dissatisfaction, Honoria began to insult her.

"Linde, you are rather unfair to Berengar; all he did was listen to a small request of mine; I mean, it is not like you had lunch plans already. For all you know, we were merely discussing business. There is no reason to be so jealous!"

The moment Linde heard herself be called Jealous, she wanted to grab ahold of Honoria and strangle her; this little brat was taking things too far. However, she managed to contain her fury and instead approached Honoria and questioned her story.

"Were you discussing Business?"

Berengar tried to interrupt, but Linde merely lifted her hand and shooshed him. In response, Honoria put on a pretty smile and spoke the words that she knew targetted Linde's insecurities.

"Of course not! We were discussing our wedding plans!"

Upon hearing this, Linde nearly started swinging. Meanwhile, Honoria stuck out her tongue at the already outraged Linde while Berengar tried to soothe her. By the time he turned his head around, Honoria had begun the act of innocence. 

Though Berengar had not seen the act, judging by Linde's sour expression, Honoria had done yet another thing to provoke his lover. As such, he began to become slightly perturbed by the girl's childish behavior and began to raise his voice as he addressed her.

"That's enough, Valeria; you are taking this joke too far!"

Hearing this, Valeria was shocked she had never been scolded before in such a way and felt heartbroken; it was only a small joke, but Berengar had raised his voice, the authoritative voice of a male who had been scorned was not something a sheltered princess-like Honoria had ever witnessed before, and thus she slowly began to break out into tears.

Before the waterworks could fully erupt, she ran off to her room like a spoiled child. When she was finally out of earshot, Linde merely crossed her arms and looked away from Berengar while pouting. While doing so, she muttered under her breath.

"Shouldn't you go check up on her? A spoiled brat like her has probably never had a man raise his voice to her before."

Seeing the way Linde was looking at him broke Berengar's heart, and instead, he grabbed ahold of her hands and gave his command to Linde.

"Look at me!"

Linde was startled, but she refused to break to Berengar's command; when Berengar saw this, he raised his voice to Linde just like he had done to Honoria. While doing so, he yanked her into his embrace and grabbed ahold of her pouting cheeks.

"Linde, I said, look at me!"

Hearing this, Linde's training was triggered, and she obediently looked at Berengar, who had an affectionate smile on his face. Rather than being angry, the gaze in his eyes was filled with love, as such stuffed her head into his chest and gently stroked her silky strawberry-blond hair while whispering in her ear.

"I think I understand why you are angry... You are mad because I said I intend to enact Polygamy to marry her and create an alliance with the Byzantine Empire, aren't you? My silly girl, do you think that I would ever leave you out of such a thing?

Of course, I intend to Marry you first. I have had this idea for quite some time; you deserve a proper wedding and the title of my wife; even if you aren't the Empress of the Empire that I will one day forge, you will still be my wife!"

Hearing this, tears began to stream down Linde's exquisite face; she was significantly wounded when Berengar said he intended to marry Honoria and had failed to mention her fate. For too long, she had desired to be with Berengar more than as just a lover, but due to Berengar's affection towards Adela, she knew she could never fulfill such a place in his life.

When he had stated he might one day enact Polygamy, she was ecstatic but worried at the same time since Berengar did not explicitly state that he would marry her as well; instead, he mentioned Honoria as a potential candidate for a second wife. 

Hearing this Berengar express his intent to marry Linde made her happier than anything else Berengar could have stated at this moment. After tugging on Berengar's collar with an embarrassed expression, Linde whispered to him in a voice so low he almost couldn't hear it.

"I love you!"

Before Berengar could respond, she violated his tongue with her own and pressed him against the wall. Berengar was shocked at first but immediately took control of the situation while reversing their positions. 

The two began to fondle each other in the middle of the hallway until Linde sighed heavily and pushed Berengar away. This act immensely confused the man. As such, he expressed his doubt towards Linde's actions.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong?"

Linde sighed again before expressing the thoughts on her mind.

"No, it's not that. As much as I want this, I know that little girl is crying up a storm in her room, and I think it would be best that you talk to her before she becomes entrenched in depression. We can always have our fun later tonight."

At this, Berengar began to chuckle lightly, and Linde shot him a glare.

"What is so funny?"

Berengar wiped a small tear from his eye before shaking his head and speaking his mind.

"To think you cared so much about the Princess that you would give up sex so that I can comfort her when she is dejected. It is funny; it is!"

This greatly outraged Linde, and she began to blush once more before pushing Berengar in the direction of Honoria's room.

"If you don't leave now, I really will have you here and now! Go!"

Berengar merely laughed his way down the hall, which made Linde even more furious; once he was out of earshot, Linde sighed once more before a beautiful smile spread across her face. 

"Why did I have to fall in love with such a playboy?"

Berengar, on the other hand, walked towards Honoria's quarters and knocked on her door; after a few moments, all he could hear was sobbing, and thus he knocked once more. After doing so a second time, a meek voice could be heard from the other side.

"Come in..."