Tyranny of Steel

The revolution had begun, seemingly overnight, thousands of deserters had gathered together in the southern portion of Japan, and had begun attacking the Samurai clans who ruled over the region. Even without dedicated large bore artillery, the attackers made excellent use of their mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades to bring down the walls of the ancient castles. 

The Fall of the Samurai had come, and without even expecting it, Shiba found that many of his highest ranking officers and their families had come under siege. At first, he thought that this was perhaps a group of unconnected attacks conducted by various groups of troublesome deserters.

However, it became increasingly clear by the banners that these men flew, and the weapons that they wielded, that this was an organized rebellion.  In retaliation, Shiba ordered what remained of Japanese Armored and Air power to invade the South, and route these rebels before they caused some serious harm. 

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While the war within the Japanese Mainland reached a new level of intensity, Berengar found himself cornered by Itami, who, after being neglected for so long, had forced a situation where they could talk. 

The Kaiser had quite literally been caught in a corner of the palace by the young Japanese Empress, who was pouting at this moment. An expression Berengar found to be quite adorable, even though he himself had conflicted emotions regarding his relationship with this woman. However, before Berengar could even think about this, Itami vented her frustrations on the man.

"What gives? You have been avoiding me for weeks now! I know I did something wrong, so why don't you just tell me what it is so I can fix it? You can't just kiss me, and then the next day start avoiding me for weeks on end!"

Itami's voice was so loud that it echoed through the halls, alerting several of Berengar's children about the conversation that their father was having. Ultimately, Berengar sighed heavily, and decided that hiding from Itami was no longer an option. His expression suddenly became cold as he expressed what had been troubling him. 

"There's nothing you can do to fix this. I thought I could get over the past between us, but I am having a hard time envisioning you as anything other than the woman responsible for the deaths of thousands of my citizens.  I won't avoid you any longer, but I can't say for certain that you will receive the same sense of hospitality that I have previously given you..." 

The albino beauty was struck speechless by this sudden change in Berengar's mindset. What the hell did he mean by this? Everything was fine when they went on their first date a few weeks ago, so how did he suddenly become so upset about this issue? 

It was at this moment that Itami realized when and why Berengar had suddenly become so cold to her. It was that damned speech. She curled her fists in rage when she realized that the speech which was written by german agents, and approved by Berengar himself, had been the cause of the sudden rift between the two of them. She could not believe this. Thus, Itami began to shout at Berengar with all the fury in her heart.

"It is that damn speech, isn't it? The one you signed off on, and made me say in front of my people! I'm right, aren't I?"

Berengar neither nodded nor shook his head. He simply remained silent and uncaring as Itami struggled to cope with this news. She had finally found a guy she liked, and who treated her right, only for him to fall out of love with her because of a speech he had personally approved of. It was utter insanity. She could not help but voice her disbelief. 

"I don't believe you. Your agents wrote that speech. You personally signed off with your approval before I even uttered a word of it to the public. How can you condemn me for something that you came up with?" 

Perhaps Itami had gone too far with her shouting, but Berengar responded to this accusation with a sharp tongue, and a heightened tone. 

"You just don't get it, do you? Thousands of my people lie dead because of you! Tens of thousands more have been wounded, some even crippled. All because of your fucking ego. And yet, you have not taken accountability for your actions. Instead, I am forced to wipe the slate clean for you, and lie to everybody so that you can regain your throne, and provide some semblance of stability to Japan. 

This entire clusterfuck could have been avoided, but because you could not stand the idea, of another powerful nation existing on the other side of the world, you have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, and untold suffering to so many more. How am I supposed to just ignore all of that?" 

By now, tears were streaming down Itami's eyes as her fists instinctively uncurled. She could not believe Berengar was saying such things to her. Especially after everything they had been through. Why now? If he had such a problem with her, then why did he take her out on a date and kiss her? It was just too cruel. Thus, she said one last thing in her defense before storming off to her room.

"You think I don't know that? Every single day, I have to live with the fact that I have fucked up so badly. I thought you, of all people, would be able to see how much I am hurting because of the mistakes I have made. 

You have every right to be angry at me, but I just don't understand why you pretended to be in love with me, and stole my first kiss, when you really felt this way the whole time. You bastard! How dare you play with my emotions like that! I hope I never see you again!"

After saying this, Itami ran off towards her room, where she locked herself away in the darkness for some time. As for Berengar, he suddenly felt a bit guilty for going off on the girl like that. He honestly did not know how he felt about Itami right now. It was a deeply confusing situation. 

On the one hand, he had grown quite fond of the girl after accepting her into her home. He had not necessarily pretended to be in love with Itami. In fact, there was a genuine connection between them that he could not easily explain.

Even now, with all of the conflict in his heart, Berengar foudn himself wanting to chase after Itami, and mend the rift in their relationship. But he couldn't, too many of his men had lost their lives because of her actions. And though he himself was resonsible for the deaths of millions, they were not his people, and thus he could not be compelled to care about them.

He suddenly had an urge to defenestrate whoever the bastard was who came up with that damned speech. Perhaps, if he had not heard the woman avoid accountability for her actions with her own words, then he would have been able to ignore this feeling of confliction within his heart. 

Thus, like Itami, Berengar no longer felt the need to associate with the world at large, and locked himself inside his office, where he drank heavily to cope with the confusion he felt deep within his heart and mind. 

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