Tyranny of Steel

During the night that Eckhard had obliterated the Bavarian army tasked with assaulting the Northeast border, Berengar had gotten quite intoxicated conversing with Duke Otto and Liutbert, so much so that Adela was currently scowling at her father, blaming him for Berengar's current state. 

"Father, why are you such a poor influence on Berengar! He should not be drinking so much!"

Berengar was entertained by the fact that he was not scolded for his actions, but his future wife had laid the blame entirely on her father. It just showed that Count Otto must have had a habit of overdrinking. 

As for Liutbert, he was also being given the scornful look of a displeased young woman by his younger sister. She knew that Berengar was expecting an important guest to arrive, possibly within the next day. Thus, she was displeased by Berengar's actions; however, she held her brother responsible considering he too had drinking problems.

Berengar was usually a responsible drinker; he liked the taste of beer and had a high tolerance to alcohol. Thus he was rarely exceptionally drunk, nor was he often hungover. However, the three men were in terrible condition at the moment.

While Linde and Adela had an important conversation in the bath, these men had been drinking, and they had consumed no small amount from the way it appeared. Ultimately Linde voiced her concerns as well.

"Liutbert, as Chancellor, you should know better than to drink to such excess, especially taking into consideration that you roped Berengar into your mess!"

Berengar was enjoying the sight of the two men getting scolded; however, as Count, he had to protect the reputation of his subordinates. Thus he began to speak. However, the moment he did so, his words started to slur, despite himself not recognizing such a thing.

"Lin..dela... I'm erm... fine! I'm fine! I can still... drink!"

Seeing that Berengar could no longer complete a proper sentence, Linde simply walked over to him and grabbed ahold of his shoulder, helping him up from his chair. 

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"Darling, it is time to get some rest. There is an important guest who might be arriving tomorrow, and you need to be in proper shape!"

Though Berengar wanted to deny that he was drunk, the moment he stepped up, he began to wobble, and eventually, his legs gave out from under him, causing him to fall over onto Linde, dragging her onto the floor with him. 

The way that Berengar had landed was with his face pressed into Linde's substantial bust, which caused quite the scene. The two other drunk men began to cheer for Berengar, with Count Otto being the first to compliment him.

"That's my boy!"

The moment Adela heard her father say such an outrageous thing, she lashed out at him verbally.

"Father! Don't encourage such uncouth behavior!"

As for Liutbert, he began pouring another drink as he cheered for Berengar

"Show my sister who is boss!"

Hearing such words, Linde instantly became furious at her brother and gave him a chilling stare which immediately silenced the man. As for Berengar, he was in no condition to get up and merely nuzzled his head further into Linde's mighty cleavage. He was completely unaware of what he said next.

"So soft..."

Linde quickly realized that Berengar was attempting to use her breasts as a pillow and immediately began to blush in embarrassment.

"Darling, not in public..."

Seeing that Linde was starting to become excited from the humiliating display, Adela instantly became sickened by the inappropriate scene in front of her. She quickly stormed over to Berengar's side, where she proceeded to help him up and off of Linde. 

It was only after both women supported Berengar that he was dragged off and into his quarters. After reaching his room, the two girls helped him onto the bed, where Linde wiped the sweat from her brow; she was not used to such heavy lifting. 

"Thanks, Adela; I will take it from here!"

Realizing what the young woman was talking about, Adela instantly began to blush and nodded her head. Though she was curious, she knew it was inappropriate for her to stay any further, and thus she quickly fled the scene.

It was only after Adela shut the doors behind her that Linde began to lick her lips in excitement. She quickly stripped him of his clothes and then her own before climbing into bed with her lover, where she dragged his face over to her bare chest before stroking his hair lightly.

Berengar, who was barely conscious, instantly noticed the softness and once more used Linde's chest as a pillow; now that they were alone, Linde did not care how Berengar used her body; as such, she clutched her lover to her breast as if she was feeding her child and quickly fell asleep alongside him.

...

Hours passed, and the light of dawn rose in the sky, yet Berengar was still sleeping; it was unusual for him to slumber for such an extended period. However, after drinking to the excessive degree that he had done the night before, he managed to sleep in until noon. 

When he finally opened his eyes, he saw that he was being held tightly to Linde's chest, who was asleep next to him; unlike Berengar, Linde could sleep in as long as she desired, even while sober. Since she had no inclination to end this harmonious scene so early, she continued to rest alongside her lover. 

The beautiful young woman opened her eyes and taunted Berengar after he had finally forced himself out of her cleavage.

"You sure had fun last night!"

Berengar had no recollection of the night before. Instead, his head was pounding as if it was repeatedly slammed with a four-pound sledge. Thus he struggled to regain his clarity as he listened to Linde's provocation. After concluding the events that transpired the previous night, he ultimately decided to ask the woman.

"Ugh, what the hell did I do last night?"

Linde merely crossed her arms and sneered at him with pity

"You drank a lot, and then you continued to drink until finally, you could no longer stand. Adela and I had to drag you back to our room. If I had known that by leaving you alone with my idiot brother, and Adela's alcoholic father that you would drink to the point of passing out, I wouldn't have spent so long in the bath with Adela..."

Berengar's memories were starting to return to him, to the point where he remembered several embarrassing scenes from the night before. Eventually, he got out of his bed and put on his luxurious clothes, where Linde followed suit, the entire time, she had a mocking expression on her face. She could tell by the way he was behaving that he was in severe pain at the moment, and she felt it was well deserved for acting like an idiot. 

Eventually, Linde had to help Berengar get dressed because despite resting for a solid twelve hours, he still felt dizzy from the amount he had drunk the night prior. After some time, the couple made their way to the dining hall, where Count Otto and Liutbert were sitting with equally miserable expressions. Luckily they too were severely lacking in their mental faculties and could hardly remember how foolish they had acted the night before.

Berengar sat down at the table and immediately made a request to the staff who attended to his needs.

"Bring me a pitcher of milk!"

The servant looked at him with an odd expression before confirming

"A whole pitcher? Are you sure you would not like to start with a chalice?"

Berengar held his head in the palm of both of his hands as he lightly raked his fingers across his eye and eyepatch before confirming his request.

"Yes, a whole pitcher, you can forget the damn chalice!"

The servant was shocked at how Berengar snapped at her. Usually, he was so friendly. He must have had quite the night last night. Berengar seldom got drunk to the point of being hungover, but he turned exceptionally impatient and nasty when such a thing occurred. Thus the servant quickly went to the kitchen to fetch a milk pitcher before returning and handing it to Berengar, where she proceeded to inquire about her next task.

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"Does your excellency require anything further?"

Berengar did not even need to think about it and quickly gave his response.

"Toast, over-easy eggs, and a side of bacon. Make it quick!"

The servant quickly nodded before running off to the kitchen to inform them of Berengar's request. Berengar's hangover cure usually consisted of coffee with milk in it, toast, and eggs, and some form of meat. However, at the moment, he did not have access to coffee; it would be some time before such a thing naturally made its way into Europe. At the moment, he greatly desired to sail an expedition around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Horn of Africa, where he could colonize Ethiopia so he could seize their massive coffee forests for himself. 

As for the rest of the people present at the table, they were either as miserable as he was, or they were gloating at the foolishness of men. Regardless, Berengar had important matters to attend to on this day, and he desperately needed to shape up before Conrad's potential arrival.