Tyranny of Steel

Days had passed since Honoria had arrived in Kufstein, and it was now time to say farewell to her friend Agnellus; unlike Honoria, the man could not stay in Kufstein for long. He had a business that he had to conduct, and after settling the deal with Berengar, he had to be on his way.

At the moment, Honoria was at the docks of Kufstein, surrounded by a few of Berengar's guards. She was sending Agnellus off as the man returned to the borders of the Byzantine Empire. In Honoria's hands was the jewelry she had snatched from her room before running away from home; it was the payment she had promised Agnellus for taking her to Kufstein.

She quietly handed the jewelry over to Agnellus with a bitter smile on her face; during their journey together, she had grown quite fond of the older merchant, not to the point of romance but strictly as friends. As such, she was sad to see him go.

"Here you go, Agnellus, as promised, this is payment for taking me to Kufstein. You and your sister have my eternal gratitude. I pray that I have not caused you too much trouble in assisting me."

Though Honoria was naive due to being locked away her entire life, she had seen some of the evil of the world and knew if Melissa or Agnellus were caught for their crimes of assisting Honoria in her escape, they would likely be executed, and as such she greatly dreaded this possibility.

However, Agnellus' actions shocked Honoria as he pushed the small box filled with jewelry back into Honoria's hands and returned her bitter smile with a friendly one.

"Keep it... Truly the honor of assisting you in your journey was payment enough. Besides, I was going to go to Kufstein anyway, and thanks to you, I was able to establish a rather favorable trade deal with the Duke."

Hearing this, a small tear began to form in one of Honoria's mint green eyes. Agnellus and Melissa had taken such a huge risk for her, and in the end, they wanted nothing in return. They were truly good people; as such, she ran up and hugged the man and thanked him for his assistance.

"Thank you so much!"

Agnellus blushed in response to this as he eventually broke free from the girls' grasp. After doing so, he gave her some solid advice.

"Be careful around Berengar; he is a very sly and cunning man; his lover also appears to have a sharp wit. They may not be as good as people as you think they are. I am sure they already have begun to suspect that you are lying to them about your identity. 

If you genuinely want to make the Duke yours, you will have to settle for being another one of his women. I could tell at first glance that he was not the kind of man to give up his treasures in return for another prize of equal or slightly greater value.

Whatever you do, please do not reveal your identity before you are confident he has fallen for you. If you do, he is liable to inform your family; after all, the moment he finds out who you are, he will be knowingly harboring a runaway princess, which is a severe crime in the eyes of your family."

Hearing this, Honoria began to wipe the tears from her eyes, and a determined expression took over her flawless face as she nodded at Agnellus' advice before responding to it.

"I will take what you have said to heart."

Honoria was impressed with Berengar, but she, too, sensed some form of danger from the man. Thus she was not yet sure if she was the man she wanted to give herself to. Nevertheless, she would use this time to learn more about the man and herself.

It would be quite some time before Berengar found out her true identity. If Berengar disappointed her in any way, she would move along in her life; after all, she did not plan to be a bird in yet another cage. 

Hearing Honoria takes his advice to heart, Agnellus pet her glossy white hair before saying his goodbyes. 

"Well, I trust you to take care of yourself. I must be going now; not only do I have to unload these jewels, but I also have to search for my sister, who should surely be in hiding right now. I pray that we may meet again, your highness!"

With that, Agnellus bowed before stepping onto his galley. The ship quickly set sail, leaving Honoria in the harbor, watching her friend depart. Heraclius was flying in the sky following the vessel to make sure it had reached the river well enough; he would return in a few hours after he was satisfied with the results. 

Honoria was not like Conrad; Berengar had no intentions of leaving her confined in the Castle; she was free to roam the city so long as she had a proper escort. The escort's job was simply there to protect Honoria. As for collecting information on her, there were plenty of spies in Kufstein under Berengar's command who could silently track her movements. 

After Honoria's arrival, Linde had quickly set her spies to task with infiltrating the Byzantine Empire and collecting information on two people, Princess Honoria, and the identity she was using while in Kufstein, Valeria Zonara.

However, it would be some time before her spies even arrived in Constantinople and Antioch, let alone began to gather intelligence. Thus, for now, all Berengar and Linde could do was watch the girls' interactions in Kufstein.

With Agnellus' departure, Honoria had some free time on her hands, so she decided to spend it walking around Kufstein and getting acquainted with the locals. The fact that Berengar's guard protected her meant she was essential to the Duke, and as such, nobody threatened to make a move on her as she walked through the city.

The city of Kufstein was beginning to look like an early-modern city; it had small and large shops located in the trade district. Some of these shops were owned by the nobility, others by Bernegar's dynasty, and the growing middle class owned a few. As such, she visited a clothing shop to witness the beautiful Austrian fashion she had seen Linde wearing.

Despite her luxurious silk clothes, she was fascinated with the designs that had appeared in Kufstein and began trying on dresses in the shop; these dresses were made for the common folk, and yet they still had some degree of embroidery on their bodices. The noblewomen typically had their dresses hand-tailored by unique shops dedicated solely to upper-class fashion. 

Thus, after getting acquainted with the common folk's fashion, she entered one of the largest noble fashion stores, where she saw exquisite and detailed dresses that were like works of art. 

While Berengar had implemented modern women's underwear, he was also a big fan of the corset. They were now commonly worn by women of all statuses with their dresses; when Honoria saw that several of the women in the shop looked abnormally busty, she was surprised; she had no idea what a corset was or how it helped with a woman's figure.

Seeing the beautiful young woman dressed in foreign attire enter the store, the shop clerk quickly came over to Honoria and began to inquire what kind of fashion she was interested in.

"I apologize if this comes off strange, but you are as beautiful as a Princess! I think you would look wondrous in some of the dresses our shop has to offer? I suggest this lovely mint green and gold dress that is exclusive to our shops; it will go perfect with your eyes."

Honoria was immediately overwhelmed by the shop clerk. Still, before she could respond, she was thrust into the changing room and quickly measured all over her body by the tailor, which she felt significantly violated her privacy. As such, she immediately began to blush. 

After doing so, the tailor, who was a woman, formed a smile on her face as she proclaimed Honoria's measurements aloud.

"30C-20-30, not bad! Do not worry; I will have a dress fit for you in no time."

The shop's clerks and tailors did not bother to see if the woman could pay the ridiculous price for the high-end fashion. After all, she was protected by Berengar's guards, and if that were the case, even if she couldn't pay, they could always bill the Castle for the expense. Berengar was known to pay a fair price for his fiancee's and lover's dresses, and because of this, nearly every tailor in the city had desired to make a dress for one of his women.

After some time, Honoria walked out of the stall in a mint green dress with gold embroidery in the Elizabethan fashion style from Berengar's previous life. Due to the corset she was wearing, she felt incredibly uncomfortable at first, and yet it highlighted her already perfect figure, making her look far more desirable. 

As she approached the counter with an awkward smile, she informed the clerk that all she could pay with was jewelry.

"erm... I don't have any of the local currency on me; I can only pay with jewelry, is that alright?"

Though Honoria was uncomfortable with being forced into this situation, she loved how the dress looked on her and did not want to leave it behind. However, the clerk merely smiled at her and informed her it was hers to take.

"Do not worry about that; if you are close to Berengar, he will properly compensate us. Just make sure to tell everyone where you got the lovely dress!"

With this, Honoria nodded and departed with her bodyguards. After doing so, she headed back towards the Castle; she did not know why but she wanted to get Berengar's approval of her new dress as quickly as possible.