Tyranny of Steel

Berengar awoke within his bedchambers the morning after he returned from the Anangpur Empire. In his arms were two of his beloved wives, who were absolutely naked beneath the silk sheets. On the right was none other than the angelic beauty, Linde von Kufstein, Berengar's most beloved bride. However, on his left was the Princess of the Byzantine Empire, Honoria Palaiologos.

She stared lovingly at the man as he struggled to open his eyes. Though the sun shone through the windows, it had utterly failed to awaken Berengar from his slumber. In an act of passion, Honoria decided to awaken her man by kissing him on the lips. The soft and tender feeling of a woman's kiss had managed to succeed where the natural light of the sun failed.

Berengar's mismatched eyes slowly opened to reveal the sight of his third wife, who gazed lovingly at him. With a wry smile on his handsome face, he greeted the woman.

"Morning, love..."

Honoria smiled and nuzzled her head in her man's broad chest as she enjoyed the warmth of his naked body.

"Morning..."

Linde had witnessed the entire display despite concealing her eyes. She ultimately rolled over and into Berengar's other arm before scolding the couple on their overly intimate behavior.

"Do you two have to do this every morning?"

Berengar merely chuckled in response to this before rolling over on top of Linde and kissing her in a far more passionate manner. After he was finished, he whispered in the woman's ears, something that made her cheeks flush.

"What's the matter? You jealous that Honoria isn't waking you up with a good morning kiss?"

Linde was left speechless as she tried to hide her embarassment from her lover. Ultimately, Berengar did not wait for a response and tossed the sheets off the bed before climbing out of it. The two women's eyes lingered on his exquisite form as he covered his manhood with a towel.

"You two hurry up, it's bath time... Once we're finished with our morning routine, I have a surprise for one of you..."

The two women gazed at each other in confusion. They did not understand what Berengar meant by his choice of words, but were excited nonetheless. Both Linde and Honoria desired the surprise to be for themselves.

The trio found their way into the large bathhouse that was used for Berengar and his wives. Where they found Adela, and Henrietta already inside, bathing with one another. Upon seeing the man of the house enter through the doors of their soapy sanctuary, Henrietta jumped out of the water in excitement and ran after her elder brother.

"Big brother!"

The woman's body jiggled in all the right places as she hugged her man and spread the suds that adorned her flesh onto his own. Berengar responded to this by lifting Henrietta into the air and kissing her on the lips. What was supposed to be an intimate moment shared by two lovers turned sour when he then tossed the girl into the pool of water before jumping in himself.

Berengar would spend the next hour bathing with his women before emerging into the dining hall, where he enjoyed a meal with his large family. After it was over, he approached Honoria, and grabbed hold of her dainty hand before kissing it. He looked into her mint green eyes and smiled before posing a question to her.

"Honoria, my love. Won't you accompany me to the docks in Trieste? I have a present for you..."

Linde heard these words and pouted in her seat. It would appear the surprise was not meant for her after all. Then again, she had received the greatest gift of all when her man returned home from his last journey abroad.

She was now unbound by the Abrahamic god, as were all the others in Berengar's family. Meaning she could finally share an eternity with the man she loved. Thus, in that moment, the redheaded vixen decided it would be best to let Honoria have this one.

Honoria nodded her pretty little head with a wide smile on her face as she followed her man out of the palace and into the car. Which led the two of them to the nearest rail station where they boarded the Royal Train, which had been updated to make use of a diesel powered high-speed locomotive.

The two sat together on the large sofa, where Honoria rested her head on Berengar's shoulder throughout the entire journey. It did not take long for them to reach Trieste, and when they step foot outside the railway, a car was already waiting for them, which quickly took them to the docks.

Honoria could already guess what the present was based upon the fact that it was located in Trieste, but she decided to keep her mouth quiet, and feign surprise. Still, when the two of them stood before the mighty vessel, she could no longer remain silent. With a burst of gleeful energy, Honoria shrieked like a banshee before hugging her man and kissing his face fifty times.

Berengar sat back and laughed as his wife showed him such affection. When she was finally finished, he pet her on the head and looked her sternly in the eyes before voicing his concerns.

"The upcoming war with Japan will be fought with weapons you have never encountered before. It will be more dangerous than you can possibly imagine, so much so that I could never permit you to take part.

However... I know you are still young and have some adventure left in your heart. Because of this, I gift you this corvette, so you can have one last hurrah before retiring here in Kufstein. It is almost time for you to put aside your youthful self and become the mother that your children truly need.

Before this happens, I have one last goal, which I can only entrust to you and your crew. I want you to sail to Singapore, where you shall refuel before heading to a distant land. I want you and your girls to plant the German flag on its soil, so that I may claim it for our Empire.

This corvette was specifically designed to be operated by a minimal crew, with long range capabilities and high speeds when you need them. You can sail up to 42 knots, but I would not recommend it unless you absolutely have to."

The corvette was an entirely new design. There was no real-life counterpart to it in Berengar's past life. Despite its compact size, it made use of two separate steam turbines, along with two screw propellors. The ship used oil-fired boilers and was designed with long range in mind.

The Honoria-class Corvette, as Berengar called it, had a 10cm naval gun as its main armament and was supported with two 2cm flak 38 cannons. It also carried four torpedo tubes in case its crew came face to face with a larger vessel.

Honoria was utterly stunned by the vessel. It was truly a masterpiece of modern German Naval engineering. She was still hugging Berengar as tightly as she could when she whispered the words in his ears.

"Thank you..."

Berengar kissed the woman once more while he held onto her. The two of them admired the ship for several moments before Honoria made another comment.

"I promise, I will return to you both alive and well... Once I finish this mission of yours, I am done with the privateering life for good. Alexandros is no longer a young child, and his sister grows by the day. I have not been in their lives as much as I should have. I won't make that mistake with Constantinus..."

Berengar merely wrapped his arm around the woman's shoulder and kissed her forehead before reassuring her that she would do fine as a mother.

"I know you won't. Besides, you can thank Linde for raising your kids as if they were her own. I don't know what I would do without that woman..."

In response to this, Honoria merely nibbled on Berengar's neck, not hard enough to break the skin, but forceful enough to illicit a response. When he shifted his gazed towards her, she prodded his chest with a single finger.

"You have some nerve talking about another woman on my special day..."

Berengar merely chuckled and kissed the woman on her forehead once more. After doing so, he lifted her up into his arms and carried her towards the car, where he began to tease her for her choice of words.

"If today is your special day, then you're going to have to contain all of my lust yourself. Are you sure you're ready for that?"

A look of fear spread across Honoria's flawless green eyes. In an attempt to hide this, she looked away. She knew that Berengar's libido was practically superhuman, and if she were to bear the brunt of it herself, she would be sore for days on end. Thus she muttered beneath her breath in a tiny voice, hoping that the man could not hear her.

"Maybe Linde can join us after all..."

In response to this, Berengar chuckled once more before opening the car door for Honoria and setting her inside. Once she was safely belted into the seats, he took the opposite side, where the two of them returned to the palace together as a royal couple.