Chapter 381: Reflecting on the Past

The day after Berengar arrived in Constantinople, he arose bright and early. He immediately noticed Honoria was not lying next to his side, which made him curious. As such, he spent some time getting ready for his day. Luckily for him, the Byzantines had a large bathhouse within their palace similar in size and grandeur to his own. 

After spending some time cleaning the sweat and grime from his body that had accumulated during his journey across the Mediterranean sea, Berengar decided to take a walk through the palace gardens. After all, the Byzantines, much like their Roman ancestors, were quite well known for their unique garden culture. 

While walking through the immaculate gardens of the Byzantine Imperial Palace, Berengar noticed a peculiar sight. Honoria was dressed in a byzantine style gown that matched her Tyrian purple hair as she sat upon the side of the large fountain with Heraclius perched upon her forearm. 

The beautiful princess had a broad smile on her face as she gazed upon the gardens that she had grown up within and reminisced of the past. Upon noticing her lover enter the area, she beckoned him to sit with her, which Berengar was more than happy to do.  After sitting down next to Honoria on the edge of the magnificent fountain, Berengar began to comment on Honoria's cheery state.

"You seem to be in a rather good mood, and here I thought you would lament the idea of returning to the home you once described as a cage."

Honoria's warm smile immediately turned into a bitter one. It was amazing what nostalgia could do to someone's memories. The moment the young princess heard this, she immediately began to reflect on the truth of the matter.  However, in the end, her bitter smile reformed into a gentle and pretty one as she began to reflect upon everything that had happened since she ran away.

"Though I was a prisoner trapped within the palace, I never saw any hardship during my youth. One could say my life was ideal aside from the fact that I was to be married off to a gay prince from a faraway Kingdom."

Berengar instantly felt chills go down his spine as he heard this; that same prince had already expressed his intent to seduce him; however, after thinking about it for a few moments, Berengar got a brilliant idea and decided to tease Honoria a bit.

"Prince Aubry was it? Did you know that he of all people sent me a flirtatious message?"

Honoria's smile instantly vanished when she heard this and was replaced with a look of fury. She could not believe that the little slut not only tried to trap her brother but was now attempting to seduce her fiance. As such, she curled her tiny fists as she cursed the boy out.

"That fucking harlot, I swear to God if I ever see him again, I'll put a bullet in his brain! Please tell me you're not interested in such a thing!?!"

Berengar chuckled as he saw the enraged state Honoria had entered and proceeded to wrap his arm around her before expressing his thoughts on the matter.

"No matter how pretty Prince Aubry maybe, he is still a guy, and I have no interest in anything other than women. You can relax; I was frankly disgusted when I heard his message." 

Upon hearing this, Honoria sighed heavily in relief; she could not imagine Berengar falling into the hands of another man; the very idea made her skin crawl. As such, she leaned in close, which caused Heraclius to launch off of her forearm and fly into the sky above the couple. Where he began to circle the ancient city in search of prey. 

After a while, Berengar gazed around at the palace gardens and expressed his opinion on them to the young princess he was soon to marry.

"I'm impressed; these gardens are magnificent! I think I will have to have a word with my gardener... Clearly, I need to do some redesigning of my own."

Honoria instantly began to giggle when she heard her lover say this. After visiting her childhood home, Berengar's takeaway was to compete with the Byzantine imperial family in gardening.  Berengar had no idea why she was laughing and immediately began to question what had caused such a state.

"What is so funny?"

Honoria calmed herself down upon hearing this before beginning to speak her thoughts on the matter.

"Nothing, I just love that about you. If you see someone who has something better than what you possess, your first instinct isn't to steal or destroy it but to compete with them by making something of your own that is far grander. It is this very attitude that makes me believe one day soon Austria will be a Kingdom that stands above all others."

Berengar was struck with awe as he heard this comment; until now, he had never believed that he had such qualities. But it was true; if he envied someone else for what they possessed, his immediate desire was to create something more significant.

It took a remarkable man to look at magnificence and desire to create something even grander. Most men would have the desire to steal or destroy what they did not possess. After hearing that Honoria had such a high opinion of him, Berengar was curious; he had never really thought about what made his girls love him. Instead, he just accepted it.  As such, he instantly began to inquire further about Honoria's opinion of him.

"Really? what else do you love about me?"

Honoria put a warm smile on her face as she began to list the qualities she found attractive in Berengar.

"For starters, you are strong and ambitious. You do what you want and to hell with the consequences, for you have faith in your power that you may be able to overcome any obstacle you may face. Such confidence is a rarity among men."

Berengar smiled when he heard this; he became increasingly interested in Honoria's views of him and thus goaded her on.

"What else?"

Honoria immediately placed a finger on her chin as she began to reflect on the question, which Berengar found to be adorable. After a moment of thinking, she smiled once more as she bridged the distance between her and Berengar while resting her head upon his shoulder.

"You are kind to those who you love and are responsible for. The amount of time and money you spend on making sure your family and your people are happy and well off is something I have never seen before."

Berengar immediately cracked a joke about such an essential part of his character.

"I hope I'm not too kind, or else my enemies will walk all over us..."

Honoria immediately began to pout as she heard Berengar's remark; she knew he was aware of precisely what she meant, but seeing as the man was purposely being obstinate, she began to address the next point of his character that she loved.

"I said you were kind to your loved ones and the people under your protection. If you were kind to everyone, I would think you were a fool and wouldn't even bother to be with you. It is the cruelty you show to your enemies that I have immense respect for. 

You have shown time and again that the lives of your people come first. The way you conduct warfare is brutal and vicious, but it achieves a swift victory so that your soldiers and their families suffer to the slightest degree possible.

You genuinely care for the lives of the men beneath your command and do whatever you can to minimize their losses while providing appropriate benefits to them and their families after they have been wounded or killed in battle."

After saying this, a warm and gentle smile appeared on Honoria's face as she stared into Berengar's deep sapphire eyes before adding one final comment to her rant. 

"I could spend all day talking about the qualities that make you great, but I think what I have said is more than enough to describe why I and the others love you so much. It is not just us; your people admire you, even if your enemies despise you, never forget that!"

Berengar was shocked when he heard such a long-winded speech about his good qualities. Though he generally did not think or even care about what people thought about him, On more than one occassion, his curiosity had gotten the better of him, forcing him to ask for clarification on why his women loved him, and they repeatedly responded with similar answers. Was this truly how people viewed his character?

He had to admit that he had never imagined himself as the person Honoria and the others described him to be. Generally, he thought of himself as a selfish and vicious bastard who did whatever was necessary to achieve his goals. Most of what he had achieved in this life, if not everything, was due to his own selfish desires. But, that begged the question, is it the intent behind his actions that mattered, or was it the result?

Berengar reflected deeply upon this question as he continued to chat with Honoria in the gardens of the Byzantine Imperial Palace. It would be a matter of days before their wedding took place, and Berengar intended to spend as much time as possible with his young bride before it took place. 

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