Tyranny of Steel

Several weeks had passed since Berengar first visited the Kalmar Union. The day after returning from his fishing trip with King Alvar, Berengar and the Scandinavian king signed a non-aggression pact between Austria and the Kalmar Union into effect.

The two men also signed a comprehensive trade agreement designed to bring wealth to both countries via open trade of raw materials. As such, Berengar was able to acquire raw materials like timber and furs at a reasonable price.

After returning home, Berengar found himself fulfilling his promise to his dear lover. Linde monopolized a week's worth of Bernegar's time, refusing to allow him to work during that period. As such, he spent the days with his beautiful young lover. When they weren't making love, they were spending time as a family with their children.

During this time, Honoria had spent it training the crew she was raising, and as such, rarely saw Berengar. After all, she was well aware of the promise he had made to Linde and had no plans to intrude upon them.

Before Berengar knew it, his birthday had arrived, and with it, winter had officially begun. Today was December 21st, 1420, and it was Berengar's twenty-fourth birthday. As such, numerous guests had arrived to celebrate it, and though Berengar wanted to keep the attendance to a minimum, he could not very well decline those who had shown up.

To Berengar, a birthday was just any other day, and he had never really cared for it; after all, he had spent the overwhelming majority of his birthdays in his past life alone and thus felt uncomfortable having so many people over celebrating what to him was just an average day.

After being surrounded by various guests for some time, Berengar finally managed to escape their grasp as he went to his balcony, where he began to smoke some hemp. Berengar had long since cultivated the material for the textile industry, but now and then, when his nerves were in a wreck, he would smoke some hemp.

Unlike cannabis, hemp flower contained a shallow content of THC, and as such, he did not get high. However, it did have a large amount of CBD, and thus it aided with relaxation. As long as there was no tobacco for him to smoke, hemp was pretty much the best way for him to calm his nerves.

Eventually, his smoking session came to a halt when Adela appeared behind Berengar and wrapped her hands over his eyes. The moment she did, she asked the question on her mind with a pretty smile on her face.

"Guess who?"

The moment Berengar heard this, a smile appeared on his face as he put out the Hemp cigarette; he then grabbed ahold of Adela's dainty hands before answering her question.

"Adela, I know it's you..."

Because Berengar had not played along with the young woman's games, she immediately let go of him and began to pout. The moment Berengar saw this, he thought it was adorable and petted her silky golden hair in response.

This only caused Adela to pout further as she was still being treated as a child, despite her growth over the last few years. After seeing this, Berengar extended his hand out as he looked back inside at the party that was taking place in the ballroom. In doing so, he asked Adela the question she most likely wanted to hear.

"Would you care for a dance?"

After hearing this, all of Adela's discontent flew out the window, and she immediately began to smile as she grasped ahold of Berengar's hand, where he led her to the dance floor. Though it had been a while since they had last danced, Berengar did not forget the movements and began to waltz with his fiancee as the crowd of guests watched.

As usual, Berengar had stolen the show with his graceful appearance and a beautiful girl by his side, and thus all eyes had drawn themselves to him and his young fiancee. As for Linde and Honoria, they watched with enviable expressions. The two women hatched a plan in their minds at the same time and began to communicate with one another in secret.

The moment Berengar had finished his dance with Adela, both Linde and Honoria approached him; despite his exhaustion from the event, Berengar could see the keen interest in their eyes and reached out his hand towards Linde where he began to dance with her for some time.

The guests gazed upon Berengar and his lover with complicated expressions. Berengar's affair with Linde was well known to the Austrian nobility at this point, after all, he had two children with the girl, and despite this scandal, there were few brave enough to rebuke it openly.

However, what truly shocked them was that after Berengar had danced with both Adela and Linde, he took Honoria's hand and waltzed with her as well. Few people outside of Kufstein knew of Berengar's newest acquisition, and as such, they were pretty surprised to see that Berengar had potentially taken another lover.

After all, the way the two looked at each other was as passionate as the others. As such, a new rumor would begin to spread as the nobility of Austria attempted to inquire about the identity of the young white-haired woman who was by Berengar's side.

Eventually, the dancing ended, and Berengar opened his presents; it was primarily lavish gifts that Berengar had no use for. Nevertheless, he thanked every one of the guests who provided them before moving on to the cake.

Soon the celebration came to an end, and the guests who had visited Kufstein had departed from the castle, their goal being to spend the night in the lodgings provided for them within Kufstein city. Adela and her family stayed behind and were granted access to the castle.

After spending some time drinking with Marquess Otto, who Berengar had promoted from a Count to his current position after rising to power, Berengar returned to his quarters where a surprise present was waiting for him.

Upon entering his bed-chambers, he noticed two beautiful young women dressed in a nearly matching pair of translucent silk negligees. Linde's exceptionally curvy body showed through the sky blue material, revealing her perky pink nipples beneath them.

As for Honoria, she was dressed in the same garment but in the color of mint green to match her own eyes. Unlike Linde, who was quite amorous by nature, Honoria was blushing profusely as she held onto Linde's hand for encouragement.

The two had arranged that their gift for Berengar would be something special, and as such, they decided to present themselves for his enjoyment on his birthday night. The moment Berengar saw the two gorgeous girls dressed in such enticing attire, all of his exhaustion accumulated throughout the day vanished from his body, and he shut the door behind him.

As he approached the bed, Linde took the lead and was the first to speak as she got up and began to disrobe Berengar.

"Master, this is your gift for tonight; please make use of your slave however you see fit!"

Honoria struggled to speak the lustful thoughts she had prepared in her head to entice Berengar; after she approached Berengar to help Linde disrobe him, the young duke grabbed ahold of her plump bottom and squeezed it, which caused her to lose her thought process. After a few seconds, she calmed herself, despite her flushed appearance, and spoke her mind.

"Daddy, show me your love; Linde and I are prepared to satisfy you in whatever way you desire tonight!"

Berengar struggled to contain his growing lust, and after he was fully undressed, pushed the two girls on the bed and pounced on them like a tiger in heat. He would spend the entire night making love to his two women; it was only after the dawn had risen and the three of them were covered in sweat, among other bodily fluids, that they fell asleep in each other's arms.

As Berengar began to pass out, one final thought appeared on his mind.

"I can die happy now..."

He had no way of knowing it, but this event had strengthened the bonds between the three of them. Eventually, such a scene would become routine for Berengar and his lovers. At the moment, he was thoroughly enjoying his peaceful life. However, peace never lasted for long, and soon enough, Austria would be thrust into another war.