Chapter 456 - Buying Time

Berengar sat by the fireplace as he warmed himself beneath a blanket. He had just done something utterly foolish, and that was to enter the cold winter weather of the Alps with nothing but pants on. He had spent more than enough time outside on a frozen bench, thinking through his plight in the freezing weather.

He was indeed in a difficult situation as it appeared Henrietta's infatuation with him was more substantial than he initially believed, almost like she was dependent on his affection to sustain herself. If he coldly rejected her, there was no way of knowing what drastic measures she might take to win his love.

Thus he had come to a decision, he needed to buy himself some time. Time to find a proper suitor for Henrietta, and introduce him to the girl so that she could build a proper bond, with a man unrelated to her. However, it had become obvious that she would insist on an answer from him sooner rather than later. Thus he had hatched a plot within his mind that would allow him to accomplish his goals. 

Until he found a proper suitor for his sister, Berengar would be forced to entertain some of her less radical ideas, to give her the emotional fulfillment she needed to prevent any unnecessary actions that she might resort to if she were desperate enough. 

As he was thinking of these thoughts by the fire, Henrietta silently approached him from afar. Eventually, she sat down next to her brother without him noticing. It was not until she latched onto him did he begin to see her presence.

Berengar's first instinct was to flee the scene, but like a wolf who had locked onto its prey, Henrietta could smell his fear, thus with a soft voice as if she was hiding her true nature by acting like a sheep, she whispered something in his ear. 

"Big brother, please don't leave me..."

Upon hearing this, the young King's defenses immediately melted, and he sat firmly in place, where he began to pat the Princess' head like he had done so many times before. As he did so, he gazed down at her appearance to see that her eyes were red and puffy. She had been crying for some time. With a heavy sigh, he began to put his plan into motion.

"I would never leave you, Henrietta..."

A glimmer of hope appeared in the girl's azure eyes as she heard her brother's words, almost as if she was too afraid to shatter the dream she found herself in; Henrietta cocked her head with a curious expression on her doll-like face.

"Do you mean-"

However, before she could complete her sentence, Berengar gazed at her with firm determination and nodded his head before revealing his plan.

"If it is what you desire, then I can be with you, however, we must keep it a secret from the others. If anyone were to find out about our relationship, it would be the end of everything we hold dear..."

Henrietta immediately nodded her head thrice with a broad smile on her face. However, Berengar interrupted her once more.

"We will take this slow, and in the meantime, I will find a suitor for you to keep up appearances as if everything is normal between us, you must agree to be courted by a man of my choosing."

The young Princess immediately began to frown as she heard this condition, her cheeks puffed up as she pouted before expressing her discontent.

"But I don't want to! I only want to be with big brother! The thought of talking to another man disgusts me!"

Berengar chuckled when he heard this, however, in his mind, he was cursing himself; it would appear he still underestimated his sister's obsession with him. However, to get his plan to work, he would need to convince her of this condition.

His grand scheme was that he would pretend to date his sister in a secret while, in reality, setting her up with a man that she could grow close to and form a healthy bond with. Thus he put on an intimate facade as he grabbed ahold of her chin with a smile on his face.

"Henrietta, my dear little sister. You are now of the age to marry, and if I don't at least create an attempt to get you a husband, then not only will my wives grow suspicious, but so will the people of Austria. For us to be together, there must be some sort of cover..."

Berengar's little sister gazed at him with a distraught expression; Though she did not want to see another man, she could understand her brother's reasoning. After careful consideration, the young Princess decided that she would tolerate this condition but she vowed to herself that this was merely a facade to mask her illicit affair with her brother. Thus she slowly nodded her head with downcast eyes. 

"Okay... I will do whatever is necessary to be with you!"

Immediately after saying this, she jumped into her brother's arms and tried to kiss him once more; however, Berengar immediately shrugged her off and made some distance between them. When he did so, Henrietta became confused and inwardly questioned his actions. Despite this, the young King cleared his throat before making his stance clear.

"If we are to do this, Henrietta, then we need to take it slow; for now, there will be no kissing or physical intimacy of any kind; aside from holding hands, and hugging okay?"

This response was not what the girl was looking for and she immediately began to pout once more; despite this, Berengar grabbed ahold of her hands with his own and smiled. Ultimately Henrietta could not resist her brother's charming face and sighed before agreeing to his terms. 

"Fine... we can take it slow for now..."

After agreeing to these terms, she latched onto her brother and shoved her head into his chest as she sniffed his masculine musk. Berengar had no choice but to wrap his arms around his sister, all while asking the question in his mind.

How long can I keep this up before she demands more from me?

Thus, for now, Berengar had bought himself some much-needed time to deal with the complex issues that stood between him and his sister. As for potential suitors? He had a few men in mind who had proven themselves as valuable members of Austrian society and were relatively young. After all, he would never set up his dear sister with an old man or a scoundrel. 

While Berengar and Henrietta were making up from their brief fight earlier, Linde was sitting before the French Prince with her legs crossed; if Lambert were still alive, and witnessed this scene, he would be all too familiar with the domineering expression on the woman's face.

For whatever reason, Aubry brought out the latent sadist inside Linde's heart. After dealing with her husband's nonsense early in the morning, she was not forced to admonish the French Prince for his action. The young queen utterly refused to have this femboy strutting around in neglige attempting to seduce her husband.

Upon gazing at the beautiful woman's frightening expression Aubry was absolutely petrified; he had never met such a terrifying woman in his life. Thus he lay prstrate on the floor begging for forgiveness from the Second Queen of Austria.

"Please forgive me, your Highness, I know now of my misdeeds, and I swear, I will wear appropriate clothing henceforth!"

Despite his apology, Linde glared at him with a cold expression on her face; as she did so, she placed her heel upon his head and slammed the effeminate Prince's skull into the ground. After doing so, she spoke with a tone of voice she had not used in some time.

"Pathetic! You call yourself a man, yet here you are dressed like a woman; I honestly don't know what you intend to accomplish by being here in Kufstein, but it ends now. Pack your bags and return from whence you came.

If your father wishes to deal business with Austria in the future, he is best to send a more impressive diplomat, for you are an utterly disgusting creature. If I catch you within the borders of my Husband's Kingdom after you have been expelled, then I promise you, only pain and death await!"

The French Prince shivered upon hearing these words; in all of his life, the only woman he had ever feared was his elder sister, and yet the redheaded lass sitting in front of him deeply reminded him of that woman. The difference was, that she was more mature, and had far more tool at her disposal to accomplish her threats.

Another point that instilled dread into the boy's heart, was that, unlike his sister, he had no familial bonds with Linde to stay her hand; instead, she gazed upon him with total contempt and cruelty. Thus, he knew that she would remain faithful to her words if he were to risk staying in Austria any longer. 

After kneeling his head on the floor beneath Linde's feet, Aubry vowed internally to never return to the Kingdom of Austria nor attempt to sway its King ever again. Upon seeing that she had utterly broken the Prince, a wicked smile etched itself upon Linde's lips as she pulled out a knife and cut the bonds that tied him up. As she did so, she spoke in a cold and murderous tone.

"You are free to leave, but remember my warning, for you will not be given a second chance!"

After hearing these chilling words, Aubry returned to his room where he frantically packed his supplies; having done so, he quickly fled the Palace of Austria with his host, leaving behind a letter to Berengar, which acted as an apology for his swift retreat. 

Now that the Prince was gone, Linde narrowed her gaze in the direction of Henrietta's room. One threat was now removed. All that remained was to figure out a way to deal with the other little brat appropriately. Her hands curled in rage as she thought about her husband's scandalous actions on this past night. 

Though nothing had happened between the two siblings, it would not be long before something troublesome transpired if things were left as they were. Though she could not harm the Princess, there were other ways to deter the girl from the treacherous path that she walked upon. While Berengar had hatched a plan to deal with Henrietta's incestuous fantasies, so too did Linde. 

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