Tyranny of Steel

Berengar woke up six hours later, where he noticed that Itami was still wrapped around him while fast asleep. He simply smiled as he rolled onto his back and gazed upon the albino beauty's immaculate face.

There appeared to be a tinge of distress on the woman's face, and Berengar realized that perhaps she was having a bad dream. Thus he reached over, and grabbed hold of the Japanese Empress's dainty hand, which caused her to suddenly smile.

The relationship between Berengar and Itami was a complicated one, and in all honesty, the man did not know how he felt about the woman sleeping next to him. It was moments like this where Berengar suspected that deep down inside Itami was just a naïve, and scared little girl, who had been given too much power and authority too early on, causing her to make many mistakes as the Empress of Japan.

Though Berengar knew very little about Itami's past life, from what she had told him, she must have been just out of university when she died. She was incredibly inexperienced with men, and like most woman in the modern world, was immature to a fault. But then again, Berengar couldn't blame her for that. In the world he came from, most women never needed to take accountability for their actions, especially if they were beautiful.

That was a fault with modern western society, one that Berengar did not plan to replicate in this life. Much like in her past life, Itami was never held accountable for her actions after entering this world. After all, she was surrounded by a group of opportunistic yes-man who pretended to worship the very ground she stood upon.

The one redeeming feature of Itami was that she had not used her lack of accountability to whore herself out to the public. At the very least, she had practiced chastity, but even then it was out of a sense of entitlement, believing no man was worthy of herself. Perhaps if she had been raised better in both lives, she would not have resorted to causing such a disastrous scenario to unfold in this world.

As Berengar stared at the woman, and reflected on these truths, he noticed her eyes were slightly open. The young woman raised from under the covers and yawned while rubbing her eyes with her free hand. It was only after several seconds did she realize that Berengar was still grasping onto her other hand, which she quickly withdrew like a frightened rabbit.

Itami covered her partially exposed breasts and looked away with a flush of embarrassment on her pretty face, before muttering a single word beneath her breath.

"Pervert..."

Berengar simply chuckled at this, before responding to her accusations with a confident, yet kind, tone in his voice.

"Apologies if I upset you by holding your hand while you slept, but you appeared to be having a nightmare, and I felt that the warmth of another human being might be able to help calm your mind."

Itami blinked in disbelief for a second, before scurrying off from Berengar's bed and into the shower, where she intended to prepare for the day. As for Berengar himself, he rose from his bed and dressed himself in his imperial regalia before sitting down at one of the booths which existed throughout the relatively large private jet. Though he had wanted to steal a glance at Itami's sublime physique while she was in the shower, he ultimately decided not to.

While sitting in the booth, the stewardess prepared a cup of coffee for Berengar, before informing him how many hours were left on the flight.

"We still have another three hours before we arrive in Heian-kyō. The pilots have assured me that the city is fully under the control of the German Army and is essentially under martial law until your arrival.

As you have previously requested, I also made sure to have our pilots ask about the ongoing war effort, and by now, the fighting has died down across the country, with only a few pockets of resistance in the mountains. Within the coming weeks, the remaining warlords and the remnants of their forces shall be eliminated by special operations units. With all that said, is there anything else I can help you with?"

Berengar smiled and shook his head, before reaching into his wallet and pulling out a hundred mark bills which he handed to the stewardess as tip.

"Just breakfast..."

The stewardess wore a pretty smile while nodding her head before responding to the Kaiser's remark.

"Of course. How would you like it prepared?"

It took only a moment for the man to think about this question before he responded with a polite smile on his handsome face.

"I would prefer a spinach omelette with a side of bacon, sausage, and toast. Thank you for all your hard work."

The woman wrote down Berengar's order before curtseying to the man, where she was quick to inquire about Itami's breakfast.

"And what about your guest? Shall I prepare the same thing for her?"

The only response Berengar made was a simple nod of his head, where he was quick to then take a sip from his caramel mocha latte. The stewardess smiled one more time before heading off to the kitchen, where a dedicated staff prepared Berengar's and Itami's meal for them.

Before long, Itami emerged from the shower dressed in neither a Jūnihitoe, nor a military uniform. Instead she wore an exquisite strapless dress which cut off slightly below the knees and was as white as the woman's hair. She had dressed her hair in a style that Berengar found to be particularly attractive, which was long hair, with two braided buns and blunt bangs.

Itami sat down in the seat across from Berengar and noticed that a hot cup of coffee had been prepared for her. She was quick to take a sip, and when she noticed it was a particularly sweet cup, she smiled before posing a question to the man.

"How did you know I like my coffee, sweet?"

Berengar wore a confident smirk on his face as he took another sip from his own drink before responding.

"You have been living in my house for the past three months now, or close to it. There isn't a thing I don't know about you. I also know that you are particularly fond of lagers, buffalo wings, and jalapeno poppers, which I must say, you have very fine taste in bar food."

Itami blushed slightly, and averted her gaze when she heard this, she had no idea that Berengar had been keeping tabs on her, nor where he found the time to do so. The man worked harder than anyone she knew, and yet he was always up to date with what was going on around his home.

Judging by the expression on the albino beauty's face, Berengar figured she had been rather pleased with the fact that he knew her likes and dislikes. Not that it was a difficult matter for him to discover, he simply asked his palace's chefs and bartenders about it.

Before long, the food was brought out, and Itami, like Berengar, was quick to dig in. The two of them talked about some rather trivial matters for some time and joked around until finally the plane began its descent. It was at this moment that the captain's voice echoed throughout the cabin as he declared the estimated time for landing.

"In approximately thirty minutes, we will be landing at our destination. So please clean up and take your seats."

The stewardess came around to clean up any trash while Berengar and Itami found a pair of seats which had seatbelts on them. There was a nervous expression on Itami's face as she gazed out the window, and looked upon her homeland, which she had been exiled from not too long ago. Upon seeing the woman shaking with anxiety, Berengar grabbed hold of her hand once more to comfort her. A single thought escaped Itami's lips as she continued to stare out the window in a trancelike state.

"I'm finally coming home..."