Tyranny of Steel

The day had Arrived, and Berengar was up bright and early, properly dressed to see his little fiancee off from his territory so that she may return home to her homeland. Despite her suspicions about Berengar's potential affair with Linde, she had been quite happy during these past few months she spent getting to know her fiance. After some serious soul searching over the past few days, she had concluded that even if Berengar had secretly taken Linde as a lover, she would still marry him. She was confident in her ability to keep Berengar by her side, even if he did spend time with Linde. Who knows, maybe when her body finally matured, she would be even more beautiful than Linde; at that point, she could easily monopolize Berengar's love. Her only fear was that if Berengar was truly the father of Linde's child, that one day he might legitimize the bastard, and if it were to be born a boy, that bastard boy would become the heir to his titles. As such, she had decided she would do whatever it took to put her own future son on the throne in which Berengar was sure to carve out of this world.

Truthfully Berengar had been dreadfully busy these past few days and saw very little of either of his women and thus was unaware of the conflicts between them or the resolutions they had come to. However, to see her off, he was here now, and Linde was not present, fearing it might sour the relationship between her lover and his fiancee, She felt it would be best to be absent. Though she liked teasing Adela, she had no plans to steal her position as the wife. Berengar had made it clear that he intended to marry Adela and that his mind would not be swayed, and Linde had come to accept that.

Adela stood in front of her luxurious carriage, which was flanked by the retinue of knights who had protected her all of this time. They knew better than to get in the way of the young lady and her fiance. Berengar hugged the little girl before seeing her off. However, the words she whispered into his ear caught him off guard.

"I want you to know that even if you are with Linde, I will not stop fighting for your love..."

With that said, the little girl pecked him on his lips with her own before running away from his embrace and into her carriage. Leaving Berengar stunned in silence as the Caravan drifted off. He had a million thoughts racing across his mind as he watched Adela waving at him from the carriage in the distance. Chief among them was simply.

'Am I really that bad at hiding my affair?'

Despite realizing he was not as sly as he thought he was throughout this time, Berengar was happy that despite suspecting his illicit relationship with Linde, his little fiancee did not give up on marrying him. It would have been an unmitigated disaster if the girl had caught onto his actions and ended things after all of his efforts. As such, a wicked grin spread across his face as he stared into the clear blue sky above and voiced his thoughts aloud.

"Monogamy is for suckers..."

Berengar quickly returned to the castle after leaving his parting words for nobody to hear. He was not the type of guy to cultivate a harem; after all, trying to satisfy the emotional needs of more than two women was enough to drive any man to an early grave. However, if he could achieve it, he had more than enough love to spare for two beautiful ladies. As such, he was happy that things were progressing in the manner he intended.

Things were going to be lonely now that Adela was gone, but with Lambert having been exiled and his family already aware of his relationship with Linde, he no longer had to hide his actions and could openly flirt with Linde and enjoy her company without having to sneak around all the time. Surely that would be a liberating experience. Apparently, Linde had the same idea, for the moment he entered the Castle's doors, she jumped into his arms and began kissing him passionately. In between their kissing, Linde asked the question on her mind.

"So is the little girl gone?"

Berengar flicked her on her forehead, which interrupted their passionate display, and chastised his lover.

"Yes, but curiously she said something to me before she departed. Something unexpected..."

By the look on his face, Linde knew Adela probably mentioned something about their affair. As such, she acted innocently as if she had no idea what it could be about. As such, Berengar repeated what Adela had told him before narrowing his eyes and interrogating the young beauty.

"So tell me, what exactly did you say to Adela about us?"

Linde was caught off guard and blushed lightly as she tried to hide her embarrassment from Berengar; ultimately, she had been caught. After being cornered like this, she had no option but to confess.

"I may have said something along the lines of I would take good care of your fiance while you are away..."

Berengar stared at Linde with a tyrannical expression before speaking the words on his mind.

"You know what this means, right?"

Linde nodded; though she tried to hide it, she had an excited look in her eyes that told Berengar she had deliberately done this to be punished by him. Even if she enjoyed such a rough display of dominance, he would do exactly as she desired. As such, he dragged his lover into his room and spent the rest of his day punishing her severely for her actions which could have gone horribly wrong. For the first time in a long time, Berengar took a day off from work and merely spent it playing with his lover; if he were going to live a long and prosperous life, he would need to spend some days in such a manner...