Tyranny of Steel

After dining with his in-laws, Berengar took a bath before entering the room he was provided. It was down the hall from Adela's and Ava's. However, he had no intention to visit either of them in the night. Adela was too young for his interest, and Ava, well, he did not desire her, though he was wary that the woman might pull something in his sleep; as such, he made sure to latch the doors and windows to his room thoroughly. One could never be too careful. If Berengar were in the modern era, he would probably search his room for bugs before resting, but this was the medieval world; such sophisticated technology did not exist at this time. As such, he was able to sleep the night away without concern. 

By the time Dawn rose, Berengar had naturally awakened, after all his body was used to waking up at such an hour; despite this, he was left with nothing to do as he had no major work concerns while he was in Graz, and most of his exercise equipment was at home. As such, he decided to do a small workout, where he did his usual routine of pushups, situps, and squats. As for his pullups, he would not be able to do such a thing as he lacked a proper pullup bar. As such, he skipped it for the day and went on a run around the city, though he dressed as a peasant to avoid any trickery that might occur on his journey. 

After his journey was over, he returned to the castle where he intended to take a bath, however the moment he opened the door to the bathroom; he noticed that there was a figure already inside the tub, her massive chest was on full display as she scrubbed herself with soap, her long blonde hair was wet, and slung over her delicate shoulders that appeared as if they were sculpted out of jade. Berengar immediately recognized the chest before him to be Ava's, and he stared at it for several seconds before coming to his senses. By the time he came back to reality, he saw that Ava's pretty face was flushed with embarrassment and her mouth agape; she looked like she was about to scream, and as such, Berengar quickly shut the door and hid behind it. 

Ava immediately sunk into her tub with embarrassment after Berengar shut the door; she had utterly forgotten to scream, and she did not realize that she had forgotten to latch the door. As such, she was struggling to cope with what had just happened. Berengar, on the other hand, briskly walked away as if nothing had happened, with a smile on his face. As he was doing so, he thought to himself.

'That one is being saved to the memory banks...'

Afterward, he arrived in his room and waited until a time where he felt as if Ava would have left the tub, which was a safe thirty minutes. After waiting, he returned to the bath where he knocked on the door; when there was no sound, he entered, stripped, and began his bath. It was an exceptionally long bath as he vividly thought about the scene he had witnessed not long before; in times like this, he was glad he had a photographic memory. 

After getting out of the tub, Berengar returned to his room, where Ava was waiting for him, sitting on his bed, fully clothed and embarrassed. Berengar had no desire to do anything to her, and as such, he merely sat down in the chair across the room from her. He left the door open in case she tried anything. After sitting in the chair, Ava squirmed around for a few moments before she asked the question on his mind.

"How much did you see?"

Berengar played the part of an idiot and tried to dodge the awkward situation that presented itself.

"Not much; the steam blocked my sight. I suppose that's a good thing..."

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Berengar's words stung Ava's pride as a woman, the way he communicated his last sentence made it sound as if he was not the least bit interested in her. As such, she began to pout before expressing her thoughts.

"Why am I not good enough for you?"

Berengar laughed when he heard this statement and made it clear where he stood on the issue.

"You are my fiancee's sister and are already married with three kids. Sorry Cousin, but I have no interest in your body. Maybe if you were a few years younger and still pure, but that ship sailed a long time ago. This awkward situation is entirely on you for not locking the door while you were bathing."

Hearing Berengar's harsh words, Ava began to grind her teeth; Berengar had outright admitted she was used goods, and he had no interest in such a thing. Not only had he walked in on her bathing, but he also had the nerve to insult her afterward. She quickly realized that he was the worst kind of person. As such, she got up from her chair and walked towards the door before asking one more time.

"You really did not see anything?"

Berengar nodded his head with a blank expression; by now, he was a master at lying to women, and as such, Ava snubbed him before walking out the door leaving behind the words. 

"Your loss..."

Berengar, of course, laughed the moment she was out of earshot; he had to admit Ava did have a great chest, but Linde's was better, size was not everything when it came to judging such a topic; as such, he released a sigh and voiced his thoughts aloud.

"I just dodged a bullet with that one..."

The last thing Berengar needed was to be entangled with another man's wife. Especially if she already had children, he may be susceptible to beautiful women, but he was not entirely brainless. As such, after calming himself down, he left his room and headed to the dining table, where he joined up with the others for breakfast. 

Sitting at the breakfast table was Count Otto, his wife Wanda, Ava, her husband, and her three children, as well as the remainder of Adela's siblings. Adela was also present and saved a seat for Berengar, which Berengar was more than happy to take advantage of. After sitting next to his little fiancee, Berengar tussled her hair as he greeted her.

"How did you sleep last night?"

Seeing the charming look on Berengar's face, Adela smiled and responded to his question.

"I slept well enough."

Berengar nodded his head in approval. It was only after he had said his greetings to Adela that he noticed Ava staring at him with a sense of overwhelming fury, which did not go unnoticed by the other people seated at the table. However, they chalked it up to Ava being pissy about how he snubbed her the day before; after all, she was pretty well known for being petty.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Ava was exceptionally so, not only did Berengar catch a glimpse of her naked body, which if she was honest with herself did not bother her so much when compared to to the fact that Berengar once more treated her liked her value as a woman was worthless. As such, she was furious with Berengar; she could not understand why he would react in such a way to her curvaceous body. As such, the atmosphere at the table was quite tense as Ava continued to stare at Berengar as if she wanted to set him ablaze with her mind. 

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Berengar, on the other hand, was quite entertained by this, but he genuinely had no interest in Ava; as such, he spent his time at the dinner table pandering to Adela, which only further increased the wrath in Ava's heart. Berengar was talking to Adela and noticed she was wearing the colors of his house, with the jewelry he had provided to her for her birthday.

"You look good in those colors, Adela!"

Though he was complimenting her, there was also a political statement behind his intent. However, Ava merely pouted, though she had been able to get her hands on some of Berengar's fashions designs, it was never as good as what Adela was able to get her hands on. The reason for this was simple. Berengar reserved the best clothing designs, made from the finest materials for his two women; everyone else had to get their hands on clothing and accessories that were still better than anything else on the market, but not quite the quality Berengar gifted to his women. As such, Ava continued to behave like a jaded lover to Berengar, and he ignored her. Wolfgang eventually caught on to the looks which she was giving Berengar and began to chastise his wife in a low enough voice that it could not be overheard by the others present at the table.

"Quit glaring at him like that! You look as if he has stolen your innocence!"

Wolfgang knew that such a thing had never occurred, but it was still infuriating to see his wife gaze at another man with such passion, even if it was mostly fury. The only people who seemed to sense that something had happened between the two were the Count and Countess; who quickly made a mental note to find out just what had happened between Berengar and their eldest daughter. They may be willing to sell Adela to Berengar for a political alliance that benefitted them. However, they would be damned if they would allow the young Count to do to Ava what he did to Linde; of course, they had no idea that the reason Ava was so furious was that Berengar had rejected her advances. As such, the breakfast continued with a great deal of drama at the table, which Berengar would only be able to relieve himself from when it was finally finished. As for the meeting with Count Otto that would come later in the day.