While Berengar was away at war, one man was in Kufstein working exceptionally hard to cover for the King's absence; this man was Chancellor Otto von Graz. After the debacle with Liutbert, Berengar had selected someone else to act as Chancellor.
However, this man had utterly failed to live up to the task. Thus when Berengar promoted his Uncle and soon-to-be father-in-law to Marquess, he also gave him the position of Chancellor, which in Berengar's Kingdom was equivalent to the Vice President.
Otto had been working at home in Graz during his tenure as Chancellor until now; after all, there was not much work that needed to be done in such a position. Now that Berengar was off at war, it was the Chancellor's job to rule in his stead.
Thus Otto had traveled to Kufstein with Adela in tow and was currently living within a chateau built within the city. Every day Adela would visit the Castle of Kufstein, where she would interact with her rival Linde. She also played with her dear friend and cousin Henrietta, who had just begun to enter into her teenage years.
At the moment Adela was in a meeting with Linde, the two young women were having a serious discussion now that they were alone for the first time in a long time. Adela had a calm expression on her face as she began to chastise Linde for her behavior that resulted in another child before Adela herself could marry her fiance.
"You couldn't help yourself, could you? You just had to convince Berengar into giving you another child so soon, even though you knew there were still some years before he and I got married.
That's selfish of you; you know that, right? I still have months before I can marry my fiance, and in the meantime, he has given you his lover two children. Do you have any idea how envious that makes me?
How long will this war last? What if he doesn't come home for a year or two? If that is the case, then by the time I get married to him, your children will already be five and three. How is that fair to me?"
In response to this line of questioning, Linde held her head high; she was exceptionally proud of her relationship with Berengar and felt no guilt for her actions. Seeing the smug grin on Linde's exquisite face, Adela sighed in defeat before placing her forehead in the palm of her hand; she sounded exhausted as she admitted defeat.
"Whatever, that's in the past; what I need to worry about now is Honoria; just how much have the two of them been sleeping together? Do I need to worry about another bastard child being born before my own?"
The term bastard greatly pained Linde; however, she kept it to herself. Instead, a wicked smile curved itself upon the angelic beauty's lips as she thought of the question Adela asked; as such, Linde decided to punish the little fiancee for her cruel remarks.
This did not go unnoticed by the shrewd girl, who confused Linde's smug expression as a sign that she knew something important. As such, a cold gaze spread across Adela's sapphire blue eyes as she glared at Linde with a stern expression.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Linde was aware of how many nights Berengar had spent with Honoria. Since his birthday nearly half a year ago, the man had been demanding that his two women share his bed with him at the same time; as such, there was not an intimate moment between Berengar and Honoria that the veteran spymaster was unaware of, at least in recent history.
With this in mind, Linde decided to play with Berengar's fiancee, who she thought of as nothing more than a naive little girl, seeing Adela's reaction to the debauchery that Berengar engaged in with his two lovers every night would at the very least be entertaining to the young woman.
"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you, Berengar hasn't done anything that could get the girl pregnant."
This answer confused Adela, as she was still young and innocent and was unaware that three people could share a bed, or how one could have sex without the risk of pregnancy. All she knew about procreation was the small details her parents had informed her of, which was nothing more than basic biology.
As such, the young fiancee asked the question on her mind in a fit of fury.
"How could you possibly know that?!"
Upon hearing this, Linde simply smiled before approaching the girl and whispering in her ear the grotesque details about how she and Honoria would service Berengar every night. Before long, Adela's cute face was flushed red with embarrassment. No matter how much Linde said, she could not pull herself away out of curiosity.
After Linde had spent a few minutes explaining her usual nightly play with her master, she broke away from the girl with a satisfied expression. The Embarrassed and shocked appearance of Adela was too cute, and Linde intended to enjoy every second of it.
It took Adela a few moments to find the words to rebuke Linde. At first, she stammered over herself before gradually forming the words to chastise the vixen in front of her.
"y... y... you pervert! You're sick; there's no way Berengar would do such a thing! You have to be lying!"
However, Linde giggled in response to Adela's innocent reactions; to her, this was the best form of revenge for what the little girl had said about her children earlier. As such, she responded to Adela in an amorous tone.
"I am sure that after your wedding night, he will pressure you into joining the fun; I can't wait until I see the day, little sister..."
The moment Adela heard those words, she began to pout and reject Linde's statement; there was no way she could ever conceive of the idea of sleeping with Berengar along with his two lovers. It was simply out of the question!
"I will never do such a thing, even if Berengar asks it of me! That's just wrong; for so many reasons, how can you possibly live so sinfully? Are you not afraid that God will punish you? To think you would drag Berengar down into such filth with you!"
This comment only made Linde laugh even more; this statement was just too funny to her; as such, she laughed so hard that she nearly collapsed. After over thirty seconds of laughing, the young woman finally began to calm down and wiped the tears from her eyes.
Adela, of course, was furious at this response and had grit her teeth while curling her fists as she struggled to contain her inner wrath when she asked about Linde's outrageous reaction.
"What's so funny?"
To this, Linde sighed before informing Adela of the reality.
"It was not me who suggested such a thing, to begin with..."
Adela found this shocking; if it was not Linde, it could only be Honoria. However, Adela did not immediately pin the blame on the young princess. Instead, she asked the identity of the pervert who first thought up such wicked behavior.
"Then who was it?"
Linde struggled to contain her laughter as she anticipated Adela's expression when she heard this next piece of information.
"Well, Berengar had joked around about the idea a few times to me, but it was ultimately Honoria who came up with the plan to give him such a birthday gift. I had my reservations at first, but it was quite an enjoyable experience. I am sure you will join us soon enough. After all, I can tell that you are curious no matter how much you protest."
After saying that, Linde walked past Adela, tapping her on the shoulder before leaving the room in silence. In doing so, she left Adela alone with nothing but her imagination about such a situation where she, Linde, Honoria, and Berengar all embraced one another.
The more Adela thought about it, the more her mind went numb until she finally shook herself out of her stupor. At that moment, the little fiancee made a solemn vow to herself as she cursed Linde beneath her breath.
"I will never allow such a thing to happen; just you watch bitch!"
After saying this, Adela too left the room; however, unlike Linde, who had left in style, Adela had gone out in a tantrum; she could not believe Berengar had fallen to such depravity. As such, she made it her mission to bring Bernegar back into the light. Whether she would teach the man, she loved the error of his ways or fall to the depravity she resented was yet to be seen.
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