Chapter 343: Discussing Military Intervention in Granada (1/2)

After successfully negotiating his future marriage to Honoria, Berengar returned to the great hall of his royal palace, where another guest was sitting and drinking, surrounded by his two wives and his beautiful sister. This guest was none other than Sultan Hasan Al-Fadl.

Though nearly all of the guests had long since vanished from the scene, Hasan had stayed behind to ask a favor of Berengar. When Berengar saw the man sitting next to the three beauties, he decided to sit alongside them. As he did so, Hasan made a toast in Berengar's honor.

”To King Berengar, long may he reign!”

Berengar smiled as he heard this and took a sip from the chalice filled with the fortified wine. After doing so, he gazed over at Yasmin, who he could tell was an astounding beauty. Berengar decided to check out the young woman and was highly impressed with the Moorish princess's divine physique. However, before Berengar could finish inspecting the woman, he heard Hasan's voice call out to him.

”So, you are interested in my sister after all?”

Berengar snapped back to attention after hearing this and sighed before responding.

”I'd be lying if I said she was not beautiful. However, I have enough women at the moment, and I'm pretty sure they will castrate me in my sleep if I were to take in another.”

When Berengar said this, Yasmin looked at him with a sad glance; she had grown quite fond of Berengar during her brief stay in Kufstein, even though they had rarely communicated. Berengar's exquisite appearance and natural charisma had taken ahold of the girl's affections. Despite Berengar's words, Hasan remained undeterred and made one final remark.

”I am certain you will come around to the idea sooner or later...”

After saying this, he glanced over at his sister and his wives before commenting.

”girls, if you will excuse us, I have some important matters to discuss with my friend.”

After saying this, Yasmin nodded and led her little brother's wives from the scene. After the women disappeared, Hasan looked around to ensure that he and Berengar were truly alone. It was only after he confirmed such a thing did his confident facade begin to crack.

”Berengar, I need your help; the war with the Iberian Union is not going as planned; they have defeated my armies on multiple occasions and captured many of the weapons you have sold me. They have already retaken the land I have seized in this conflict and have begun to push into the heart of my Kingdom. You said in our alliance that you would guarantee our independence! I have come to ask for you to honor your words...”

Berengar took a sip from his chalice before sighing heavily. He had just finished a war and did not want to engage in another. Though he did not desire to go to war so quickly after returning home, certain events were unavoidable.

Thus Berengar began to hatch a plan, one where he could utilize General Arnulf to oversee the war effort in his stead. If things still did not turn out well, only then would he take up the mantle. With this in mind, Berengar tapped the armrest on the sofa thrice before responding to Hasan's remarks.

”How the hell did you manage to fuck up this badly? I gave you arms, training, and advisors, and you still could not lead your men to victory?”

Hasan had a downcast expression as he stared at the ground, too afraid to look Berengar in the eye. Noticing his ally's behavior, Berengar sighed once more before speaking up on the matter.

”I suppose I should not be too hard on you...”

As soon as Berengar said this, Hasan looked up at him with surprise on his face. However, Berengar ignored this and continued his train of thought.

”Truthfully, even with the advantages I have given you, I did not believe you would win this conflict by yourself. There are too many factors working against you. You are vastly outnumbered by your enemies and surrounded but the south.

You lack the means to produce the arms and munitions that your Army is equipped with and thus rely heavily on imports to sustain your military. You also lack the means to conscript a large number of forces without it adversely affecting your economy.

I knew this day would come; I just did not expect it to be so soon. Alright, I will send 10,000 men from my Army to intervene on your behalf. However, I will need a few months to field them, we have just gotten out of our war for independence, and my Army needs time to lick their wounds.