Chapter 40: Caught in the Act (2/2)
Berengar chuckled lightly as the little loli grabbed ahold of his torso and hugged the other side of him. He thought to himself for a moment and then decided to entertain the two girls, who were currently in the middle of playing an imaginary game. One where Adela was the crown princess, who was captured by an evil witch. Berengar played the role of the valiant knight as he strode through the castle walls and rescued the princess from the wicked grasp of Henrietta, who acted the part of a wicked witch. Berengar felt quite embarrassed playing such childish games at his age and was thankful that video cameras did not exist at this time. He could not imagine what the internet would label him if this scene were posted on some video-sharing site from his previous life. However, after rescuing the princess and slaying the evil witch, Berengar picked up Adela in a princess carry and walked around the castle with her. To his surprise, he got a reward that he was not expecting. When Adela gently pecked him on the lips, her face began to become red with embarrassment and she looked away while in his arms and awkwardly muttered.
”My Hero...”
At this point, even Berengar felt embarrassed, as he was not mentally prepared for such a thing. He did not know what to say, so he chose some cheesy one-liner and smiled at Adela and said in a serious tone.
”I will always protect you, my little princess!”
The scene was sickening to Linde as she watched in the corner; it was only when Adela's eyes met her own with a furious stare did the young beauty realize that her little rival had been aware of her presence and that Adela had deliberately done this to mark her territory. Linde thought it was cute that the little girl considered that slight peck on the lips to beconsidered a kiss. Obviously, Linde would have to leave her own mark on Berengar later that night to make up for it.
After seeing Linde had watched the entirety of his performance, Berengar's heart immediately imploded. He sincerely hoped nobody was watching what would be considered a potentially illegal activity in his previous life. Yet he was caught in the act by his own lover, he was never going to live this moment down, and he could tell by the smirk on Linde's face that she was going to hold this moment over his head forever. Berengar attempted to defuse the situation and asked Linde an important question, which immediately received the two little girls' glares.
”Would you like to join us, Linde?”
The heavenly beauty immediately scoffed at the idea and glared at Adela
”No thanks Berengar, I've long since matured beyond the need to play such childish games. A word of advice, if you keep playing games like this with little girls, people might believe you to be a pervert.”
And with that said, Linde turned around and walked away with a smug expression on her face. Before Adela or Berengar could even form a response, she had already turned the corner and was out of sight. The couple then stared at each other awkwardly as Adela was still in Berengar's arms. Henrietta, of course, was lying on the floor pretending to have been slain, but she still managed to overhear the conversation, and her disdain for Linde grew even greater as a result. After Linde's departure, there was an awkward silence for a while before Berengar finally let Adela down from his arms. Feeling embarrassed about the whole situation, the young man scratched the back of his head before calling it quits for the evening.
”I suppose we should end it here... We can play again some other time!”
Adela nodded; she was also quite embarrassed after Linde's harsh words. On the other hand, Henrietta was pouting; she wanted to play some more with her big brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law. It was rare where she was able to play games with Berengar these days. Nevertheless, she acquiesced to their conditions. Either way, she would hold her elder brother to his word that they would definitely play together later.
Afterward, Berengar dined with his family, it was a civil conversation, and there was less animosity between him and Lambert than usual. Berengar was well aware that Lambert was in the middle of cooking up a conspiracy against him; after all, it had been a while since Berengar was given the title of regent, and Lambert had yet to act. What Lambert did not know is that Berengar was also in the process of conspiring against his brother. His plan would not only disrupt Lambert's plot but actively take out one of the boy's greatest allies.
After dinner, Berengar snuck out into the town where he entered his newly built chemical laboratory today. Tonight he would complete the production of white arsenic, which would allow him would begin his plot to assassinate his father's marshal, who was an ardent supporter of Lambert. Of course, he had to confirm such a thing before acting rashly. While some of his spies were acquiring the materials to create arsenic, others were gathering intel about any potential alliance with Lambert. In the process, Berengar uncovered lambert's plot to act against Berengar, and frame him and his militia for multiple crimes, and use the marshal as a witness. Unfortunately for the teenage boy, the marshal would soon become very ill and pass away from this world.
Berengar began to laugh sadistically as he saw the powdered arsenic that was created overnight. He would give his many spies strict instructions to lace the Marshal's wine with the poison in small doses for the next week; once the man became dreadfully ill, Berengar would increase the dose, effectively ending the man's life. As far as anyone was concerned the marshal would have fallen ill and passed away from said illness shortly after. Even if someone expected an assassination, nobody would be able to prove it. Just like that, Berengar had taken this war of intrigue to the next level. Lambert would soon enough be left alone, cut off from any support, and when Berengar finally had his scoundrel of a little brother by his lonesome and the authority to pursue justice, then, and only then would he put an end to this war of intrigue once and for all.
After distributing the poison to his assassins, Berengar quietly returned to the Castle. He made sure that his absence went unnoticed. When he finally returned, he saw the familiar sight of Linde waiting for him. She immediately ran into his arms and kissed him passionately, as if she was trying to remove the mark upon him that Adela had left previously. Just like that, Berengar and Linde spent the remainder of the night enjoying each other's passionate embrace.