Tyranny of Steel

While the Papacy had openly declared its intent to wage a Crusade against the Kingdom of Austria and the regions affected by the German Reformation, Berengar was relaxing in his new Royal Palace. Even though the Palace was primarily based on Schönbrunn Palace from his previous life, there were a few changes.

For example, In the center of the massive complex, an additional floor was added to the structure; this small story was a penthouse that acted as Berengar's harem room. This Harem room had all of the luxuries needed for Berengar and his women to enjoy themselves in their usual hedonist behavior.

An opulent Bedroom was the main area, where it held a large mattress capable of fitting up to five people. This mattress had a silk canopy to hide its inhabitants' amorous activities from the outside world.

Outside of the bedroom was a small bar area filled with all kinds of alcohol for Berengar and his women to enjoy. This was the region of Berengar's Palace that he spent the most significant amount of his time in outside of his study.

Aside from the bar, there was a common area where a round table lay in the center. Atop this table was an exquisitely crafted hookah that sat in the middle. This hookah had four hoses so that multiple people could smoke from the device at the same time. Berengar usually smoked a mix of herbal shisha and locally cultivated hash from the device after a long day's work to help him relax.

Finally, there was a substantial private bathhouse built within the Penthouse Suite. This bathhouse was practically the size of a small swimming pool and was capable of containing multiple people. More often than not, Berengar would bathe with his beauties inside this bathhouse.

For security reasons, this area did not act as the Royal Bedchamber. Instead, it was just a luxurious area for Berengar and his future wives to enjoy themselves in debauchery. Of course, Adela refused to step foot in the room, at least for the time being.

At the moment, Berengar, Linde, and Honoria were gathered around the hookah, smoking cannabis from the device. Berengar himself took a long hit where he inhaled the smoke for some time before letting out a puff into the air.

Honoria looked quite different from her usual appearance; after revealing her identity to the Austrian Court during Berengar's coronation, she had decided to dye her hair Tyrian purple, which matched her pale skin, and mint eyes perfectly. She was dressed in a luxurious Tyrian purple and gold silk dress in the style of the Byzantine nobility.

She had an intoxicated expression on her face; much like Berengar, she had been partaking of the drug for over an hour now; as such, she had begun to space out completely. In doing so, she tilted her head and rested it on Berengar's shoulder. As she entered an entirely different realm within her mind, she asked the question that had been bugging her for some time.

"What do you plan to do about this Crusade? You just got out of a war, and now the Catholics want to drag you into another..."

Berengar began to chuckle when he heard this; as he did so, he wrapped his arm around Honoria and kissed her on the forehead. After doing so, he began to lie back upon the plushy pillows that surrounded the hookah area. As Berengar enjoyed the comfort he found himself in, he revealed his innermost thoughts on the subject without realizing how honest he was being.

"I'll sit back and wait. After seizing the Medici's fortune, the Vatican is beyond destitute. It will take years for them to gather the funds from their followers to afford an army capable of marching into Austria. By then, my Army will be equipped with weapons that will completely negate their numerical advantages. It will be a slaughter the likes this world has never seen before. In the end, I will be victorious and will finally be able to explore the new world!"

Linde and Honoria looked over at Berengar with confused expressions; in his stoned state, Berengar had accidentally revealed the existence of the New World to his two lovers. Linde, not taking Berengar's words seriously, began to make fun of him.

"What new world? How high are you?"

In response to this, Berengar began to chuckle as he laughed off his mistake as if it was symbolic in nature.

"Not as high as I could be. Clearly, I was referring to the new world I will usher in, one free of the Church's influence, where science and reason prevail instead of faith and superstition. Obviously, I was not talking about a vast landmass on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean; how could I possibly know such a thing exists?"

With this said, Linde put her luscious lips against the hookah hose and dook a long draw; after a while, she puffed out the smoke contained within her lungs and began to giggle at Berengar's comment.

"If such a thing truly existed, wouldn't we know it by now?"

After saying this, the trio began to break out into laughter. Berengar, of course, was laughing more fervently than his two women; after all, he knew that such a place existed, and the ignorance of the old world was truly laughable compared to his modern knowledge.

Honoria began to take a significant hit from the hookah; while she did so, Berengar moved close to Linde and began to make out with her. The sight of which made Honoria dreadfully jealous. As such, she completed her hit before grasping hold of Berengar and shifting his attention to her gem-like mint green eyes.

She then began to kiss Berengar passionately while Linde took a puff from the smoking device sitting on the table. After a passionate display, Honoria released her grip over Berengar and said the words on her mind.

"I love you!"

Berengar grasped ahold of the girl's cheeks as he looked into her eyes and responded to her proclamation with his innermost feelings with a snarky grin on his face.

"I know."

This response immediately made Honoria puff her cheeks as she pouted in silence. Seeing the adorable look on his lover's face reminded Berengar of something important that he had completely forgotten about. As such, he got up from his seat and swayed across the room towards the bar area. As he did so, he called out to the two girls sitting in the common area.

"I just remembered that I have something special for the two of you..."

After rummaging through the bar for some time, Berengar found two small cases where he brought them over to his two women. After sitting between them, he grabbed ahold of Linde's hand before placing a white gold and sky blue topaz ring on her finger. As he did so, he stared into Linde's sky blue eyes before asking the question on his mind.

"I've been meaning to ask for some time now, but Linde von Habsburg, will you marry me?"

Linde was stunned when she heard these words, she knew Berengar had mentioned polygamy in the past, but she did not think he would go through with it; after all, the cultural backlash from such a thing would by no means be slight. However, she did not care about any of that at the moment and merely stared at the luxurious ring on her finger as tears flowed from her eyes.

The beautiful young woman who had grown up as a Count's daughter nodded her head as she struggled to find the words to accept. After a while, she latched onto Berengar and kissed him passionately before answering with a sultry smile.

"I thought you would never ask!"

Honoria, who had witnessed the entire display, merely stared at Berengar and Linde while pouting. Even though Berengar had negotiated with her father for her hand in marriage, she had not received such a heartwarming proposal.

However, her disappointment soon ended as Berengar opened up another container that contained an equally luxurious golden ring fitted with a mint green gemstone known in the modern era as tourmaline. Berengar quickly placed it upon Honoria's finger, where he smiled at her and revealed the difficulty he had gone through to source the gemstone.

"I want you two to know just how difficult it was for me to acquire these gemstones. I had to establish trading ties to the Timurid Empire in the east. These stones are very precious and cost me a considerable amount of coin to get my hands on. If not for Honoria's old friend Agnellus, I would not have managed to acquire them."

Having heard the lengths, Berengar went to acquire the stones for their engagement rings; the two girls nearly broke out into tears as they grasped ahold of Berengar and began taking turns kissing him.

After a while, Berengar and the girls began to strip off their clothes where they proceeded to enter the large canopy bed that existed within the penthouse. It did not take long for the trio to begin their amorous activities. They would spend the next two hours enjoying the warmth of each other bodies.

Berengar had successfully managed to propose to two women shortly before his marriage to Adela took place. While his enemies were beginning the many preparations necessary to invade Austria, Berengar was enjoying the moment of peace to the best of his abilities.