Tyranny of Steel

After briefly talking about Berengar's pasts, and his relationships. The man had some questions of his own for the Japanese Empress, which he was quick to discuss in an attempt to shift away from his own memories. 

"So I have told you about myself. It is now time for you to reciprocate. I'm not to entirely curious about who you were in your past life. As I have said before, that life no longer holds any meaning for me, and if I'm being honest, you should move on from it as well.

What I want to know is how in the middle of medieval japan, a woman of all people, rises to the top, and becomes Empress. Naturally, I know all the dirty details already. After all, my wife Linde has spent the last fifteen years creating the world's most advanced intelligence agency, but I want to hear it from you.

What drove you to build an Empire? Was it your father's death? I think not. You clearly showed signs of advancing your father's territory, and preparing for war long before the Ashikaga shogunate threatened you."

Itami was completely and utterly shocked by this revelation. She had no idea that all this time, Berengar knew so much about her. It was honestly rather impressive how far his intelligence network had spread in such a short period of time. This was something that she had utterly failed to accomplish on her own, and had been a large reason behind why the Germans had defeated her so soundly. 

After thinking about her response for some time, Itami took another sip of her beer before answering Berengar's question in a very long speech. 

"I suppose if you must know my ambitions for creating the Empire of Japan, it would have to go back to my past life. You see, my grandfather was a WWII veteran. He had fought in the Imperial Japanese Army, and told me many tales of the war growing up. In many ways, you could say that he inspired my career choice in that life. 

Unfortunately, I died rather miserably before I could make my mark on the world around me and was reincarnated into the body of a teenage girl during the years of the Ashikaga Shogunate. Unlike you, I was never really content with my position in life. 

My father in this life was Itami Yasutane. He was a minor nobleman in this world's version of feudal Japan. The man had utterly failed to sire a son, and as a result, he was especially hard on me growing up, where he forced me to be raised like a boy.

When I was thirteen, I suffered severe head trauma in a training accident, and when I finally woke up, I suddenly had memories of another life. Once I finally realized I was a teenage girl in feudal Japan, I knew my fate would be worse than death. 

You see, my father had gotten one of his concubines pregnant, and it was my fear that she would bear him a son. If she did, I would no longer be his heir, and would suffer the same humiliating fate that all young girls endure in this medieval world. Namely, being married off to some fat old bastard to live the rest of my miserable life in a loveless marriage. 

Thus, in order to avoid such a horrific fate, I decided to make myself useful, and began advancing the agricultural systems of my father's lands. It was not an easy task. As a young girl, nobody took my suggestions seriously, and I was forced to build a friendship with one of the old peasants from the village who held some sense of seniority among my father's lands.

It was only after this old man approached my father with my ideas, as if they were his own, did my father take an interest in them. Of course, the old peasant died shortly after, but he had been useful enough to trick my father into implementing my designs across his territory. 

The next nine months were rather stressful. I prayed to the gods every morning and night for this newest child to be born a girl. All the while, my father began developing his lands with my inventions.

Before long, we had gained a considerable amount of wealth, where I then manipulated the village blacksmith into manufacturing matchlocks and cannons. Which were presented to my father, who immediately took an interest in them. 

My hope was that by the time I inherited my father's lands, that I would have an army ready for war. Nine months passed and it would appear that the heavens took pity on me, for my father's concubine passed away while giving birth to her son, who turned out to be a stillbirth. 

With his most beloved concubine and his unborn son both dead, my father became extremely depressed. He often locked himself away in solitude for long periods of time. When he did finally reveal himself, he made my usual training much more difficult, as if to take out his frustrations on me for being born a girl.

Eventually he lost interest in the governance of our lands and left most of his responsibilities up to my mother, who was more than happy to implement my inventions for the sake of the Itami Clans' continued prosperity and security. 

Of course, this only attracted the avaricious eyes of those in power, and within a couple of years, the Ashikaga Shogunate had sent their lackeys to seize our wealth. A tax that only applied to the Itami Clan. What a fucking joke. I mean, honestly, could they not come up with a more reasonable excuse to plunder our coffers!?!

As you apparently already know, my father refused to give into their demands and ended up dying a miserable death in the battle that ensued. If you ask me, he had been looking for a way to die with honor since his concubine and son passed away. With the old bastard's death, I claimed my rightful place as his heir, and used my father's passing at the hands of the Ashikaga Shogunate to wage war against them.

In truth, I did not really care that my father had passed away. After all, he was never truly a parental figure to me. Not even my mother grieved his death for longer than what was socially acceptable. While my father in this life was ultimately nothing more than a stranger who looked after me, I did form a bond with Mibu-san and Momo, who I now accept as my actual mother and sister. 

As for what came next, I rallied those who had been oppressed by the Ashikaga shogunate and began my rebellion. If you must know why I was so insistent on building an Empire in this world, it has to do with my aforementioned grandfather from my past life. 

If there was one thing you could say about my grandfather, it was that he had always regretted the fall of the Japanese Empire. What replaced the Empire of Japan was a shadow of its former self, as far as he was concerned. Thus, I used my newfound power to build that very Empire in this world. 

Things were going well until I found out there was another person like me on the other side of the world. You could say that I panicked when I learned of your existence and, in my state of paranoia, believed there could only be one of us.

So I did what I do best, waged war against my neighbors in an attempt to gather resources so that I could industrialize my fledgling Empire. It would have worked perfectly if you didn't constantly meddle in my affairs like the nuisance you are! In the end, you proved me correct. In this war, you have thoroughly destroyed my empire and my life's ambitions. So I suppose I should congratulate you on that..."

Berengar had silently listened to Itami's entire tale with his complete attention. However, in the end, he was forced to argue with her about her last few words. 

"I would have never been compelled to fight with your Empire, if you did not send troops and resources into India for the sake of causing German casualties. You only have yourself to blame for how things turned out..."

After hearing this, Itami bit her lip in frustration. Obviously, she knew this was the case, but she still had a hard time letting go. Nearly ten years of effort, and it was now all down the drain. The Empire of Japan would never rise again, not with the treaty Berengar had forced upon her.

If there was one thing she could be thankful of, it was how Berengar had treated herself and her family, even after all of her actions. Still, the idea of losing everything after all her hard work it made the albino beauty incredibly bitter. Berengar immediately noticed this fact and quickly shifted the discussion to something more lighthearted in an attempt to avoid further conflict between himself and the Japanese Empress.

"So I take it you were a man in your past life? I honestly don't know how I would have reacted if I was reincarnated into the body of a teenage girl..." 

This remark had the exact opposite effect that Berengar had intended. Itami instantly shot him a dirty look, visibly offended by his remarks. She raised her voice as she began to interrogate the man about his statement.

"What makes you think I was a man in my past life!?!"

This question immediately caught Berengar off guard, but that did not prevent him from speaking his mind, which he was quick to do so with a confident expression on his handsome face.

"Well, I mean, If I'm being honest, it kind of explains a lot about your personality. Besides the fact that there seemed to be a hint of lament in your voice when you expressed the idea of being reincarnated in to the body of a teenage girl.The idea that you were a man in your past life would explain your overly masculine personality.

One thing I have noticed in all our interactions is that you are ambitious, disagreeable, and outright aggressive. These are just a few, among many other traits you have that characterize a masculine nature. No offense, but these aren't exactly traits that a woman would normally possess, nor should she. So it would make sense if you were really a man living in a woman's body." 

By now, Itami was grinding her teeth in displeasure as the words narrowly escaped her lips, sounding more like a hiss than a statement. 

"I was a woman! I am a woman! And I will always be a woman! How dare you!"

Realizing now that his assumptions were incorrect, and that he had said something quite offensive, Berengar averted his gaze from the albino beauty and sipped on his beer in silence. Had Itami been a man in either of her two lives, then perhaps he would have apologized for his remarks.

But she was a woman through and through, and if there was one rule, a man should follow. It was that he must never apologize to a woman, for if he did, she would expect him to do so every time she thought he was wrong. Thus, the two monarchs sat in utter silence for sometime with a rather awkward atmosphere between them. 

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