Tyranny of Steel

Adela sat in her personal office, where she was employed as the Reich's Minister of Propaganda. Every day, a war was silently being waged in the background of society, a conflict to win the hearts and minds of the German people.

Propaganda was more than just a shiny broadcast, or a powerful poster. It was an art form, and like every other form of art that Adela engaged in, the woman excelled at it. Currently, the first Kaiserin of the Reich was listening to a recording, which was a song from an up-and-coming artist, dedicated to the glory of the Reich, specifically on the field of battle.

Whether this song was approved for public consumption, or was rejected, was up to Adela to decide. Thus, as she listened to the lyrics, which spoke of the brave spirit of Germany's young fighting men, she paid extra attention to the words that were being sung, in order to see if there was any hidden message contain within them.

After listening to the song on repeat for a total of an hour, Adela finally stamped her approval for the track before sending the paperwork off to the department, which would begin the production of the vinyl.

With this action completed, Adela had finished her work for the day, and thus took off her headphones, and placed them to the side, while gazing out the window of her office, and towards the palace where she knew her husband was most likely being intimate with one of his many other women.

The relationship between Berengar and Adela was a rocky one, or should I say, had been in the past. At the moment Adela was lost in thought while reminiscing about all the petty squabbles she and Berengar had gotten into over the years.

For most of their marriage, Adela's wants and needs had taken a back seat. Whereas Berengar's demands were met with nothing less than unquestionable loyalty. Thus, despite being a pious and monogamous young woman, Adela had been forced to conform to the standards of a hedonistic atheist.

Throughout all of this, Berengar had broken multiple promises to the woman, but one in particular hurt Adela more than any other. Despite promising that she would always be the number one woman in his heart. The prestigious position of being her man's most beloved had been usurped by Linde, and though Adela had come to terms with this reality, she still felt slightly bitter inside every time she thought about it.

Even now, the pain of ranking among the last of Berengar's wives was one that Adela wore in secret. To cope with this, the woman would lose herself in her work, hobbies, and family. Thus, lately she had been spending more time at the office, and less at home, especially while Berengar was away in Japan.

However, the man was back in town, and yet, despite it already being three days since his arrival, the amount of times Adela had seen Berengar in person could be counted on one hand. Still, she could not hide in the office forever, and thus, Adela sighed heavily before grabbing her coat and heading out the door. Where an armored car was waiting to take her back to the palace.

Whatever Adela had been expecting upon returning home, it was not what greeted her the moment she opened the door. Standing there in the entrance of the Palace, while dressed in his most luxurious civilian attire, was none other than Berengar himself.

At first, Adela thought perhaps the man was waiting for one of his other women, yet this notion was immediately dismissed when his mismatched eyes gazed upon her petite figure. With a warm smile on his face, Berengar posed a question to his wife, which she had not been anticipating.

"My sweet little Adela, don't tell me you have already forgotten? Did we not promise to spend the night of our anniversary alone together? I have been waiting for your arrival for the past two hours and was beginning to think you were not coming home..."

At first Adela was confused, but then it finally dawned on her what the day was, and when she realized that today was indeed their anniversary, and that her husband had not only remembered, but had been waiting for her arrival for so long, a tear of joy fell from her eyes. Noticing this, and mistaking it for sadness, Berengar immediately became concerned and wrapped the woman in his arms. He kissed her on the forehead before whispering something in her ears, which she least expected.

"There, there... I know things have not been easy for you these past few years, but I want you to know that I have always appreciated your unwavering loyalty, despite everything I have done to dishonor you.

If I'm being honest, I am undeserving of the love you have shown me all these years, and yet you have never left my side. Thus, to reward you for your loyalty, I have decided to grant you one wish. So long as it is in my power, I will move mountains to make your greatest desire come to pass. Tell me dear, what is it that you want most from me?"

Adela was slightly surprised by this gesture, at first she thought that perhaps she had fallen asleep at her desk, and was simply dreaming of this moment, but the pain in Berengar's mismatched eyes told her this was indeed reality.

In truth, Berengar had been having some rather wild dreams lately that were the result of his irregular sleep schedule. In these dreams, memories of his mistreatment towards a young girl who wanted nothing more than to receive his love manifested themselves.

Perhaps it was the fact that he had matured over the past sixteen years, or maybe it was because he was able to see Adela's emotional state during these memories with his eye of Horus, but Berengar had suddenly realized after all this time, just how much he had hurt Adela with his womanizing actions. Not to mention the suffering he had caused the poor girl when he had utterly spit upon her attempts to save his soul from what she perceived to be eternal damnation.

Upon realizing that this was not in fact a dream and was instead a genuine attempt on Berengar's behalf to seek forgiveness for the harm he had done years ago. Adela thought carefully about what she wanted until she finally let her thoughts escape from her lips in a meek voice.

"Just the two of us..."

It was clear that Adela's timid nature was resurfacing, causing her to not fully communicate, and thus Berengar forced a smile as he attempted to comfort the woman so that she could properly give voice to her thoughts.

"Take your time Adela, I'm not disappearing any time soon."

After hearing this, Adela took a deep breath to calm her nerves before blurting out her thoughts without any shame.

"I want to go on a romantic getaway with just the two of us! No kids, and none of your other women interfering in our affairs. I don't care where you take me, so long as the two of us are alone together..."

Immediately after saying this, Adela looked away, perhaps fearful that Berengar might reject her request. However, Berengar could only smile and nod his head in acceptance. He placed one hand on his heart and bowed before Adela as if she were his superior before voicing his agreement.

"Your wish is my command."

Adela could hardly believe her eyes and ears. Berengar had so easily accepted such a selfish request? Did he not need to return to Japan and help his newest wife rebuild her country? How long would such a trip last, anyway? Yet despite these concerns, Berengar showed no sign of changing his decision.

Little did Adela know that Berengar was currently planning their trip in his mind. In the coming days, the two of them would depart from Trieste in the private ocean liner Berengar had ordered to be built to act as the personal yacht for his family.

From there they would sail towards the Caribbean and go on a cruise of all the German colonies in the region, before stopping at their own private island, where a large beachside villa awaited the couple. During this time, Berengar would be attentive to all of Adela's needs, and not respond to any messages that were dispatched to him, unless, for example, a national emergency occurred.

The trip Berengar was now planning in his mind, would be one that far exceeded Adela's expectations, and would hopefully at the very least go some ways towards repairing the damage he had done to the woman's heart, when he was a much younger and more selfish man.

However, such a trip would take at least a few weeks to prepare for, and thus at the moment, Berengar would satisfy Adela by taking her out on the town, before returning home, and spending a night alone with her.