Chapter 22: A Diamond in the Rough (1/2)

After observing and instructing the peasant militia, Berengar returned to the village, for now, their training was done for the day; and the young lord had business to attend to elsewhere. The Baron's son had to say goodbye temporarily to his fiancee, who would be returning to her homeland with ten tonnes of steel. Five more than Berengar had initially estimated. After all, as his plans became more ambitious, his family needed a larger treasury.

Though the count's daughter would not be gone for long, she would return with the transport containing the gold and silver bars which were the promised form of compensation for such a massive stockpile of steel ingots. A small portion of the money gained from the transaction would go towards the engagement ceremony that Berengar had planned; seeing as he was far from beginning preparations for it, he had not sent out the invitations yet. Due to unforeseen circumstances, primarily involving Linde's arrival and the things that occurred afterward. Berengar was far behind schedule on preparing for the party he had promised Adela. Currently, it was his notable lack of funds that hindered his progress in that regard.

After arriving at the Castle, the young Lord approached his fiancee, whose retinue of knights were loading the steel ingots into the convoy which Berengar had prepared for her. He trusted her to keep her father's side of the bargain intact. The cute girl who was at the cusp of her teenage years played with her twintails as she waited patiently for Berengar to arrive; when she finally spotted him, she dashed over into his arms and embraced him firmly. She had grown quite fond of her fiance since their initial meeting. After several moments had passed, the young girl let go of her hold over her betrothed and pouted.

”Are you sure you can't come with me?”

Berengar chuckled as he patted her silky golden hair; with such a reaction, he truly wished he could travel with her to the girl's ancestral homeland, but alas, he could not. The young lord had many preparations that needed to be made, and unfortunately, he did not have the spare time to go on a brief vacation with his future wife. He spoke from the bottom of the heart as he smiled endearingly at her.

”I wish I could, yet unfortunately, there are many matters I must attend to here. But fret not; you will be back in no time.”

He tried to assure the young girl that they would not be separated long, as he too had grown quite fond of his young cousin. However, the real trial would be their long-term separation after the engagement ceremony was over, and she was forced to return home. It was not as if she could stay in his family's lands until their wedding. That would not be proper. Truthfully, she had already stayed longer than what was considered acceptable in the eyes of society. It was supposed to be a short meeting of a matter of days, yet she had been in her fiance's lands for weeks already.

The young girl eventually stopped pouting after hearing Berengar's words and smiled at him gratefully as she said in a hushed tone.

”Come closer. I want to tell you something.”

Berengar thought nothing of it and leaned over so that he matched the girl's height. She quickly pecked him on the cheek with her full lips and whispered in his ear.

”I'll miss you.”

Afterward, Berengar stared at her in disbelief; he did not think she had the nerve to do such a thing; as he stared at the young lady, her face became increasingly flushed until the point where she covered her face with her hands and rushed off into her carriage. Berengar instinctively placed his hand on the cheek where she had kissed him as he thought to himself.

'This girl is just too cute.'

As his thoughts began to shift back to the wonderful memories he had made with the Count's daughter over the past weeks; the convoy began to ride off into the distance, leaving Berengar standing alone in the courtyard as the sunset came to a close. It was only after he could no longer see the carriage which contained his fiancee that Berengar decided to walk back inside and take a bath.

Berengar sat in the large circular stone pool, the hot water soothing his milky white skin as he washed away the stress accumulated throughout the day. He was completely unaware of the creaking of the door and the sound of footsteps approaching. It was not until he felt the soft and bouncy mounds of his lover press against the back of his neck that he realized someone had intruded on his private time. The girl covered his eyes with her hands from behind as she asked in a playful tone.

”Guess who?”

Berengar chuckled as he grabbed ahold of the dainty hands and pulled the buxom beauty into the bath with him. Linde was not expecting such behavior and screamed as she splashed into the hot water, her alabaster skin instantly reddening as the heat began to affect her complexion. After climbing into the young lord's lap and pressing her chest against his, she looked at him while pouting.

”You got my hair wet!”

Berengar wrapped his arms around the girl and kissed her; only after a minute had gone by did he break away from her enticing lips.

”It's the bath, of course; your hair is going to get wet.”