Chapter 340: Coronation of a King Part I (1/2)

Nearly a fortnight had passed since Berengar had returned home from the War for Austrian Independence. After securing a complete and total victory over the Empire, Berengar and his armies had completely shocked the European world with their brutal efficiency during the conflict.

Not only did Bernegar secure a flawless victory on Land, but he even managed to annihilate the massive armada that belonged to the Kingdom of Italy and its vassal states on the sea. However, Berengar did not care about the reputation of cruelty he had gained after his immense success during the war.

Instead, he spent the last few weeks preparing for a significant occasion, one that would mark the beginning of a new Age in Austria and its Vassal State. The coronation ceremony of King Berengar von Kufstein was finally at hand, and Berengar had invited every prominent nobleman in the Kingdom of Austria and his allies from the East and West.

As the weeks passed, his visitors had arrived in the hundreds, and now the day for his ceremony had come. At the moment, Berengar was entertaining his guests in the Great Hall of his new Royal Palace. The degree of luxury within Berengar's new abode put every other Monarch's home in the western world to shame.

Berengar drank from a chalice filled with fortified wine to entertain his friend and ally Sultan Hasan Al-Fadl. They had traveled from Granada to attend the coronation ceremony of his partner to the east.

At the two Monarchs' sides were a string of beautiful young women; Berengar was flanked by his lovers and younger sister. On Hasan's peripheral were his two wives and his older sister Yasmin. They were all dressed in the formal attire of their countries and quite luxurious clothing at that.  Hasan was the first to speak as he introduced his gorgeous older sister to Berengar.

”My friend, it is good to see that you are finally a Monarch in your own right; you are truly deserving of such a position. Allow me to introduce my beautiful older sister Princess Yasmin Al-Fadl. I believe I have mentioned her to you in the past, yes?”

Berengar was stunned when he saw the woman standing before him; she was dressed in a Tyrian purple kaftan embellished with gold embroidery; she also wore a matching face veil that was translucent as such Berengar could roughly see the outlines of the woman's pretty face.

While enamored with the foreign beauty, Berengar did not notice Adela and Linde glaring at him with murderous intent; as such, he grabbed ahold of the woman's hand and kissed it before speaking to the woman.

”Princess, it is an honor to make your acquaintance.”

The foreign beauty smiled beneath her veil before Berengar released his grip over her hand. She, too, was quite attracted to the Austrian King. She had heard much from Hasan about his ally to the East, and until now, she had hardly believed her brother's words.

While Adela and Linde were glaring daggers at Berengar from behind, Honoria observed the color of the woman's dress. The young Princess from Byzantium was quite enamored with the Tyrian Purple kaftan; after all, she had acquired and sold an ample supply of the expensive dye for a small fortune.

For some time, she had some difficulties with the hair powder treatment that she had been using to disguise her appearance; to put it simply, it was not the most resilient form of masking when it came to water. However, seeing the beautiful color in front of her, Honoria suddenly got a brilliant idea about dying her hair with such a luxurious substance.

After all, she was in actuality royalty and had garnered the nickname of Pirate Queen by the enemies of Austria during her tenure as a privateer. Would it not make sense for her to dye her naturally chocolate hair to a deep Tyrian purple? Unlike the other girls, she honestly did not care that Berengar's eye had been gazing upon the massive bosom of the foreign beauty who was in their presence.

However, the awkward scene of Berengar's first meeting with the Princess of Granada abruptly came to an end as Emperor Vetranis of the Byzantine Empire made his way through the Great Hall to greet the soon-to-be-crowned King of Austria.

After stepping into the fray, the Emperor of Byzantium boldly approached Berengar as a fellow monarch, but more importantly as a man whose realm was deeply in debt to Berengar. Thus he put on a respectful appearance as he greeted Berengar.

”King Berengar von Kufstein, I have wanted to meet your acquaintance for some time now. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Emperor Vetranis Palaiologos of the Byzantine-”

However, the man's words were instantly cut short as he gazed upon the white hair beauty standing next to Berengar. Though the young woman's hair color was different, and she was more physically mature, there was no mistaking it; this woman was his long-lost daughter, who had until now been believed to be dead. As such, the proud Emperor of the East began to break out into tears as his voice cracked.

”Honoria!?! Is that you?”

This sudden revelation shocked the Court as they gazed over at the white-haired beauty from Byzantium, who they all knew by the moniker of ”Valeria Zonara, the Pirate Queen of Austria.”

Honoria's angelic face seemed shocked as she saw her father standing before her; the man did not appear to be vengeful in the slightest as he gazed upon his runaway daughter. Instead, he seemed to be filled with disbelief.

As such, she struggled to find the words, fearful that her father would drag her back to Constantinople. Berengar, of course, feigned ignorance to this fact. It was best not to reveal that he knew of Honoria's identity this entire time. As such, he stood by silently with a shocked expression, despite being the architect behind this father-daughter reunion.

Berengar had specifically invited the Byzantine Emperor for two reasons; one was that the appearance of the Eastern Emperor at Berengar's Coronation spoke volumes about the legitimacy of his title. Secondly, it was now time to advance his plans with the Byzantine Empire as a long-term ally.

After all, Berengar had become aware of Linde's agreement with Andronikos and his mysterious backers. Thus he was not afraid of making his play. After several moments of silence, Honoria rushed over to her father and gave him a big hug.

”Father! I did not expect to see you here...”