Tyranny of Steel

Itami sat in the back of Berengar's limousine with a flustered expression on her pretty face. By her side was the man she had just gone on a date with. No matter how the young Japanese empress tried to spin the night's events, she could only conclude that it was, in fact, a date. 

The very idea that she would be dating the man who she had once seen as her nemesis was quite bewildering. Over the course of a month, Berengar had gone from a hated enemy, to the object of Itami's affections, and yet she did not dare say how much fun she had at the carnival, nor would she dream of hinting that she would enjoy another outing with the man by her side. 

She even found it difficult to grab hold of the man's hand as he smoked a cigarette out the window. Inch by inch, Itami's dainty fingers slowly nudged their way towards Berengar's hand until the two overlapped.

This sparked a slight reaction from the man, who finished his drag before glancing over at the albino beauty's direction. With a charming smile on his face, he properly grabbed hold of Itami's hand while remaining silent.  Thus, the Japanese Empress and the German Kaiser did not say a word, as they stared into each other's eyes until the vehicle pulled into the Palace's driveway.

Once the door to the vehicle opened, Berengar stepped out, before helping Itami to her feet, where the two of them proceeded up the steps and to the doorway. Knowing that the date was truly at an end, Itami knew this was her last chance to express her thoughts. With a meek voice and an averted gaze, the Japanese Empress declared her feelings aloud. 

"I had a wonderful time tonight... Thank you for everything..."

Berengar could only smile when he gazed upon the flustered appearance of the albino beauty. In this moment, it was as if all the bitter disputes they had previously engaged in had never occurred in the first place. Instead, the Empress of Japan had turned out to be a rather delightful young woman, once she had been properly humbled. 

Seeing this as a good opportunity to permanently imprint himself into Itami's memories, Berengar did something unexpected. He gently grabbed a hold of the albino beauty's dainty chin before kissing her softly. An act which shocked Itami to the core of her being, and yet she did not refuse the man's advances.

Before the couple could enjoy themselves in the throes of their passion, the doors to the palace swung wide open to reveal Linde, who gazed upon the two love birds with a confident smirk on her gorgeous face.

As Berengar pulled himself away from Itami's lips, he noticed the woman's face has become beet red, as she quickly hid her embarrassment within the palms of her hands, all while muttering a single phrase over and over again. 

"My first kiss..." 

As for Linde, she immediately felt the need to mark her territory, and thus mocked Itami openly with a hint of irritation in her voice. 

"You call that a kiss?"

After saying this, the redheaded beauty grabbed hold of the back of Berengar's head and kissed him with a level of passion and experience that Itami had been utterly lacking. With a confident smirk on her face, Linde proclaimed her superiority.

"Now that's a proper kiss!"

Naturally, the young Empress of Japan noticed Linde's actions as she gazed in horror through her fingers. Just one look at the albino beauty would reveal that she had been overstimulated after witnessing such a sight. First she had been kissed by a man, and then, in the next moment, that same man was kissed more passionately by another woman.

Such a thing was simply unbelievable, and thus rather than stay and fight for her position in Berengar's heart, the albino beauty scurried off through the halls of the palace, and to her room, where she instantly locked the door behind her. 

Berengar simply chuckled once Itami was gone, before swatting Linde's plump ass with his open palm. A slight yelp erupted from the redheaded beauty's lips as she gazed over towards her husband with a fierce glint in her eyes. Berengar chuckled when he saw this before scolding the woman for her actions. 

"You just couldn't help yourself, could you? Everything was going great between Itami and me, but you just had to mark your territory."

There was an intense expression on Linde's gorgeous face as she gazed off into the direction where Itami had run to. She then spoke in a voice so low, Berengar had almost missed it. 

"Someone had to put that naïve little girl in her place..." 

Berengar could only chuckle once more, thinking that Linde was being her usual playful self. Thus, he petted her strawberry blonde hair while holding her in his arms before expressing his love for her. 

"Yes, yes... You're my number one!" 

Contrary to what Berengar was expecting, Linde did not laugh off this remark, like she usually did whenever he acquired a new woman. There was something serious in her sky-blue eyes, as if she had suddenly felt threatened by Itami for some unknown reason. The words that Linde spoke were rather callous and foreboding before she stormed off in a fit. 

"And don't you forget it!"

--- 

While Berengar was wondering just what had come over Linde, and why, she had acted so strangely. Itami had locked herself up in her room, where she sat on her bed with the arms of her giant teddy bear wrapped around her. Though her face was still rather red from embarrassment, the entire night's events had not escaped her mind. 

On more than one occasion, Itami touched her lips, to see if she could still feel the sensation of Berengar's kiss. She. continued to contemplate her feelings for both Berengar and Julian in silence for some time, before a slight knock resounded off of her door, followed by a voice she was all too familiar with. 

"Onee-chan, are you alright? Can I come in?"

It took Itami several seconds to recognize that Momo had come to check up on her, and thus after a few moments of silence, she rushed towards the door and opened it. What awaited Momo was not what she had expected.

If Momo could compare her elder sister to any animal, she would say that Itami was akin to a lioness. She had always been strong, confident, and capable of handling her own business. However, in this moment, Itami resembled a frightened rabbit, as she slightly poked her head out the door, with a flushed appearance and glazed eyes. 

Naturally, Momo became concerned when she saw this, and forced her way into the room, while asking her elder sister just what had happened to reduce her to such a state. 

"Onee-chan! What happened! Are you alright?"

Itami sank back onto her bed. While reminiscing about all that happened tonight, she silently nodded her head, still lost in thought. An act which only made Momo more concerned. Momo assumed the worst and was quick to jump to conclusions which she was not afraid to voice.

"Did he hurt you in any way?"

Itami slowly shook her head before expressing the thought that still consumed all of her mental energy. 

"He... He kissed me..."

Momo's expression immediately turned from one of concern to one of glee as she hugged Itami and squealed like a little girl. 

"Are you serious? What happened? I want to know everything."

Itami spent the next hour vividly retelling everything that had happened between her and Berengar on this day. At the end, Momo was so excited that she was pacing around the room, expressing her thoughts aloud. Even Itami was taken aback by Momo's sudden increase in intelligence.

"This is really good! I didn't expect your relationship to progress so quickly, but this is good for us. And by us I mean all of Japan. I have been talking to Yasmin and Honoria. They both say that after marrying Berengar, the quality of life in their homelands improved drastically. Berengar appears to be more than happy to help out the kingdoms where his wives originate from. 

Albeit, both the Byzantine and Iberian Empires both had a hard fought road to success, but Japan is different. We have no more wars to fight after we eventually end Shiba's reign of terror. Every ounce of German investment will go into rebuilding what has been destroyed. 

I heard that Berengar had given 50 billion marks to one of his concubines so that she could build a kingdom of her own in Crimea. He will be a lot more generous to a lawful wedded wife, don't you think?"

Her little sister's remarks flabbergasted Itami. Lawful wife? Just who is she talking about? It only dawned on Itami that Momo was speaking about her when the girl grabbed hold of her hands and expressed her next thought. 

"I can't wait for the wedding. Where do you think we shall hold it, here or Japan? Oh, I think you will look absolutely fabulous in one of those German white wedding gowns, don't you think?"

Suddenly, the dots connected in Itami's mind that Momo was insisting she and Berengar get married. But that could never happen, could it? Thus, she was quick to voice her disbelief. 

"Me, and Berengar? Married? Have you gone mad, Momo? Obviously, that could never happen!" 

Momo's expression had shifted from one of complete excitement to a look of pity. As if she were looking at a particularly dull child. With a heavy sigh, Momo shook her head before expressing her thoughts aloud once more.

"How dense are you?"

Itami immediately became offended at the idea of being dense. After all, if there was one quality about Julian that Itami hated most, it was the fact that he had been as dense as a neutron star. Thus, the Japanese Empress was quick to fire back at her younger sister, who was still looking at her as if she were a dullard. 

"What do you mean? I'm not dense! There are good reasons why Berengar and I can't get married?" 

Despite Itami's protests. Momo simply raised her brow and responded with a challenge. 

"Name one!"

For perhaps the first time in Itami's life, she was left utterly speechless at her little sister's intelligence. It was true; she did not have a single logical explanation on why she should not marry Berengar. Contrary to this, there were quite a few reasons Itami immediately thought of that explained why she should marry the man. Thus she sat there stammering for several seconds like an idiot, before Momo cut her off. 

"See you can't! I don't understand onee-chan, you like him don't you? I mean, I haven't seen you this happy in years and it is all because of Berengar! So why wouldn't you want to marry him? Obviously, he likes you, so why are you so hesitant with the idea?

Itami knew exactly why she was so hesitant at the thought of marrying Berengar, but she could not express this concern to her little sister, and thus she sighed heavily before asking for some peace and quiet. 

"Momo, I need some time to think. Can you please leave me alone for a bit?" 

Momo could tell that her elder sister was about to go through a metamorphosis, and thus she decided to no longer bother Itami. With a brief hug, she departed while leaving behind some heartfelt words.

"Get some rest Onee-chan, you deserve it." 

Thus, Itami went to bed that night thinking about all the things she had lost over the years, and the prospect of entering into a serious and committed relationship with a man who was not Julian. 

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