Tyranny of Steel

Itami took Berengar's hand without even thinking about it, and before she knew it she was already in the car, driving through the town, with the most powerful man in the world by her side. Unlike nearly all previous instances where Berengar and Itami had been together, there were no kids to worry about, nor any other women for the Japanese Empress to contend with. 

Though there was a quiet voice in the back of Itami's mind reprimanding her for cheating on Julian, she felt as if it were more of a nuisance than a voice of conscience. After all, Berengar shared many of the best qualities of Julian, but without the defects. If there was one thing the albino beauty had a problem with, it was the man's polygamous lifestyle, but with each passing day, she found herself becoming more tolerant of it. 

Berengar had something special in mind for his date with Itami, something that wasn't necessarily high profile, and would help her cheer up. Thus, he took the woman to the local carnival, where had taken Linde and his other women on multiple occasions. 

After stepping out of the car, all eyes were on Berengar and Itami. Berengar himself was dressed relatively casually. He wore a pair of denim jeans, cavalry boots, a cotton dress shirt which was opened at the color, and a leather jacket. His hair was not in its formal slick state, but was left deliberately messy. If not for his mismatched eyes, nobody would have noticed that he was, in fact, the Kaiser of the German Reich. 

As for Itami, she wore a white lacey cocktail dress and a pair of matching slippers. She was instantly noticeable by the crowd due to her albino state and her foreign features. In fact, nearly everyone knew from a single glance that Itami was the exiled empress of Japan. However, rather than look at her with disgruntled expressions, there was instead pity on the faces of the German people.

By now, the German propaganda machine was in full effect, and to the people of Germany, Itami had been seen as a puppet for the self-declared Shogun. The entire war with Germany and all other past aggressions had been effectively pinned onto Shiba, with Itami being a mere figurehead. As a result, the German people felt sympathetic to the albino beauty rather than hateful.

Once outside, Itami's eyes lit up as she gazed upon the bright flashing lights of the carnival, along with its many games, rides, and prizes. Like a kid in a candy shop, Itami immediately felt gleeful. Memories of her past life filled Itami's head as she instantly dragged Berengar off his feet and towards the nearest game. Specifically, a memory of the time she and Julian had gone to the carnival with a group of her friends. A strength test was located nearby, with a local carny hollering at the crowd to try his machine.

"Step right up, step right up! Come one come all and prove your strength. If you can pass this test, you will be able to select one of these fabulous prizes!"

The prizes were everything from little trinkets to plushies. Though Itami had just received a stuffed fox from Berengar, her eyes were immediately drawn to what could only be described as an exceptionally large teddy bear. She slowly tugged at Berengar's sleeve, with a shy expression on her face as she witnessed the giant plushy in all its glory. 

Berengar did not take notice immediately, but after a few attempts by the Japanese empress, he looked down upon her pretty face and saw an eerily familiar expression. A memory of the time Ai had asked him to win a similar prize flooded his brain, and caused him to look away with a slight bit of pain on his face.

Though Itami did not notice this as she too looked away, too embarrassed to say what was on her mind, and yet as she tugged away at Berengar's sleeve she mustered the courage and thus muttered under her breath the same words Ai had once spoken to him during his past life. 

"Please... can you win that bear for me?" 

In that past life, Berengar had completely failed to win Ai the stuffed bear, but seeing Itami with the same embarrassed expression on her face. Berengar could not allow himself to stand idly by. He immediately took off his jacket and handed it to Itami before rolling up his sleeves while approaching the carney. 

There was a look of utter disbelief on the carney's face as he saw the Kaiser of all people approaching him with a rather intimidating glare in his mismatched eyes. Berengar was now determined to win that stuffed bear, and if his physically enhanced body could not win this contest of strength, then it was clearly rigged and he would have this man behind bars by the time the night was over.  Berengar reached out his hand and said two words to the carney, as the man stammered constantly. 

"Hammer, now!"

The Carney did not even dare ask Berengar for a ticket, and instead handed the man the hammer, where he then lifted it up in the air as high as he could manage before slamming it down on the platform with all his might. 

A loud ping rang through the air as the platform was struck by the sledgehammer, causing the puck embedded within the machine to shoot up to its maximum height. Shockingly to everyone who bore witness, the puck did not stop there and instead shot straight through the top of the strength machine, and went flying into the air, where it flew all the way to the nearby pier and into the river. 

A completely defeated expression appeared on the Carney's face, as Berengar handed the man his ticket, which he had forgotten to give before demanding the extra large, fluffy white bear as his prize. 

"The bear..." 

The carney was left speechless as he handed the large stuffed bear to Berengar, which he lifted up with one hand before giving it to Itami, who, like the carney, was utterly speechless. The albino beauty's sanguine eyes were as wide as possible, as an expression of shock filled her pretty face. However, once Berengar had approached her with the bear, his frightening expression had shifted to one of warmth and kindness. 

"For you... I hope you treasure it always..."

Even Berengar was slightly embarrassed by the cheesy words he had said. However, Itami was already hugging the bear with all her strength and did not notice. Her heart was completely fluttering for the first time since she had last seen Julian.

Even she did not know what compelled her to act, however she stood up on the top of her toes and just barely managed to kiss Berengar on his cheek, before hiding behind the large white bear so that he did not see her flushed expression.  Itami's actions had surprised Berengar, so much so that he too was left speechless for several moments, before awkwardly shifting the subject to something else.

"How about we go get some snacks? Do you like kettle corn?"

Itami finally stopped hiding her face and silently nodded her head. She was still completely flushed in embarassment from what she had just done. However, Berengar found this inexperienced side of the Japanese Empress to be cute, and thus he smiled before grabbing hold of her hand and leading her to a snack cart, where a variety of different popcorns were being served. 

Popcorn with butter, cheddar, and white cheddar popcorn, kettle corn, caramel corn, chocolate popcorn, S'mores popcorn, there were so many different types of popcorn, that even Berengar had a hard time deciding what he wanted. 

Ultimately, Berengar decided on chocolate popcorn, as Itami pointed toward it with great interest on her face. Thus, he purchased a large bag of chocolate popcorn, which the two of them snacked on as they walked through towards the pier so that they could gaze upon the river Inn. 

As Berengar and Itami leaned against the railing while snacking on chocolate popcorn, Itami finally broke the silence as she gazed upon the river, which glistened under the light of the full moon. 

"I could never traverse through the streets of Heian-kyō without an escort. However, you can so effortlessly walk among your own people, and the most they will do is come up to you and thank you for all your hard work. 

This place, your Empire, is exactly how I envisioned Japan would be under my reign, except maybe less western influence, and more Japanese traditions. However, I have utterly failed to bring about such an advanced civilization.

I have failed as a ruler in more ways than I can count, and shamefully enough I used to blame all my mistakes on you, but it was me who overreacted to the news of someone like myself existing in the world, and thus causing all the problems Japan now faces.

How can I ever live with myself, knowing how many lives were lost because of my ego... Will I ever be able to redeem myself in the eyes of the gods?"

Itami once more had a sullen expression as she set the giant teddy bear on the ground, while looking down upon her own feet. Berengar had expected to cheer her up with this trip, but it would appear that she was right back where she started. Thus, he grabbed hold of her chin, and forced her to look him in the eyes, as he stated his beliefs. 

"You will be able to redeem yourself! I will help you regain your throne, and together we will fix every mistake you have ever made. Maybe it is true that thousands have perished in pursuit of a dream that will never come to exist, but with the aid of the Reich, Japan will become a modern nation, one which won't ever have to bother wasting money on its own defense.

Your entire economy can be dedicated to the benefit of your own people. You can't change what you have already done, but you can move forward and improve the lives of your citizens so that their sacrifices were worth something! And I will be there with you every step of the way." 

Tears flooded down Itami's face, and without thinking she stuffed her head into Berengar's chest, and wrapped her arms around him, and in doing so she let out all the sorrows that had plagued her for years on end. 

Berengar accepted Itami's embrace, and hugged her tightly, while kissing the top of her forehead. He did not know why, but after getting to know Itami, she suddenly reminded him so much of that girl he had let get away from him so many years ago.

In this moment, Berengar silently vowed to himself that he would never allow himself to repeat the mistakes he had made with AI, and would see through this fragile relationship, which was blooming between himself and the Japanese Empress. 

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