The following day Berengar awoke to the feeling of something wet pressed against his lips; when he finally managed to open his eyes, he witnessed a face pressed against his, with their lips intertwined.
Immediately he became frightened and pushed the young woman aside to reveal that it was none other than his sister. With a coquettish expression on her pretty face, Henrietta placed a loose strand of her silky golden hair behind her ear before greeting Berengar.
"Good morning, big brother!"
Immediately the young King felt frightened and yet at the same time slightly aroused as he thought to himself.
Has my sister always been this beautiful?
Nevertheless, he instantly looked away from Henrietta's azure blue nightgown, which showed off her cleavage. Though it wasn't as large as Linde or Yasmin's, there was no doubt that her bust was more significant than Adela's, perhaps even more prominent than Honoria's. However, as a proper brother, he averted his gaze, despite his dark desire to get a better glance.
Before Henrietta could make a move on her brother, the door slammed open to reveal the sight of Berengar's various wives, who were enraged that their husband did not find himself in their bed during the previous night.
Adela was practically red with fury as she stared at her Cousin, who had a guilty expression on her face. Henrietta immediately stood up from the bed and bowed before her Kingly brother before departing for the bathroom.
"Big Brother, I had a great time last night! I just want you to know, that was my first time..."
After saying this, she absconded from the scene like a frightened criminal, leaving Berengar to bear the brunt of his wives' fury. The Austrian King's expression sank when he heard those misleading words come from his sister's mouth. Immediately he lifted his hands in defense while asserting his innocence.
"It's not what it looks like; nothing happened between us!"
Despite this truth, none of his women were buying his protests. After Henrietta's comments, they had to be thorough in their investigation before buying such a line. Linde had a murderous glint in her sky blue eyes as she stormed over to the bed and threw off the covers, where she quickly began to scour the scene for evidence of wrongdoing.
"We will see about that!"
Berengar immediately hid his excited little brother with his hands as the girls observed the white sheets to ensure no signs of any incestuous behavior between the two siblings. After confirming that they were clean, Linde sighed in relief before declaring that Berengar was, in fact, innocent.
"They're clean; aside from being a pervert who gets excited over his sister, no crime has been committed here."
Berengar sighed in relief as he heard this. Luckily he would be spared the trouble Henrietta had nearly brought upon him. Despite being found not guilty of the alleged charges, his wives were by no means relieved. After all, he was enticed by Henrietta, which was a fact that they could not easily ignore.
However, before they could adequately scold him, Aubry walked by the room in his gossamer nightgown, which showed off the woman's panties he was wearing beneath them; he immediately gazed over at the scene and became curious; thus, he walked into the room where he witnessed Berengar's well-toned half-naked body. The effeminate prince practically drooled in excitement upon seeing this and could not help but comment on the situation.
"Oh, King Berengar, you are so manly; won't you impart some of your wisdom unto me?"
Luckily for the Austrian King, Aubry had no idea that this was, in fact, Henrietta's room, and thus he was unaware of the allegations laid against him. Instead, he was too absorbed with the appearance of a striking German man in his undergarments.
Of course, the moment Aubry said this, Berengar's multiple wives immediately shifted their attention to him and forced him out of the room, leaving Berengar by his lonesome. They had forgotten entirely that Henrietta was still in the attached bathroom.
The moment they disappeared, Henrietta appeared before her brother with a sly smile on her face. Berengar was quite irritated by her actions and immediately flicked her forehead before scolding her.
"Just what the hell were you thinking saying such a provocative statement! Do you have any idea the kind of trouble I would be in if they mistook your words for something more severe?"
Despite being criticized by her older brother, Henrietta merely played dumb; in doing so, she put on an innocent expression before asking Berengar why she was being so mistreated.
"What did I say wrong, big brother? I didn't lie! I swear that was my first kiss!"
Despite her convincing act of innocence, Berengar refused to buy it and flicked his sister on the head once more before lecturing her yet again.
"You know damn well what I meant! I swear to God if you weren't my sister-"
Before Berengar could finish his sentence, Henrietta spoke over him with a mocking expression.
"You would pin me down on this bed right now and ravage me?"
Immediately Berengar's cheeks became flushed red in embarrassment as his mind began to melt. He had no idea how to handle such provocation. He tried to shift his head away and avert his gaze. However, Henrietta grabbed ahold of his cheeks and fixed his line of sight on her beautiful azure eyes.
"I can't be the only one who wants this... Can't you be honest with yourself? Who cares what anyone else thinks? You are the King; you can do what you want!"
However, despite her enticement Berengar merely turned away from her and began to get dressed in his clothes on the floor; as he did so, he began to speak his thoughts on the matter.
"No, it is wrong, Henrietta, and you need to move past this fantasy of yours because it is never going to happen!"
Despite his harsh words, Henrietta refused to give up; as her brother was equipping his pants, she latched onto his back with tears in her eyes as she professed her feelings to him.
"Don't you dare leave me! Mom and Dad left me! So did lambert! I can't bear to lose you too! You are all I have in this world!"
Berengar could feel his back smeared with tears, and thus he sighed heavily. He couldn't bear seeing his sister cry; therefore, he turned around and stuffed her head into his chest as he comforted her.
"My sweet little sister, I will never leave you, but what you want from me is something that I can not give you. Even if a part of me did want to be with you, it could never happen, for if someone found out about our little secret, it would undo everything I have worked so hard to achieve! Everyone would turn on me, and in the end, I would be deposed, and you would no longer be a Princess!"
Henrietta merely shook her head; she refused to listen to reason in her distraught state and gazed up into her brother's one good eye as she continued to latch onto him.
"I don't care about any of that; I only want you!"
Berengar kissed his sister's head before forcing himself apart in response to this. As he walked to the door, he left behind the words that Henrietta would latch onto with hope.
"We will discuss this later after you have calmed down..."
The moment he left the room and shut the door behind him, the young princess fell to her knees and began to break out into tears. After several minutes of crying, she managed to find her resolve. She refused to admit defeat; if Adela could win his heart as a cousin, then surely she could do the same!
Thus despite Berengar's best efforts to let his sister down softly, Henrietta was now more determined than ever to find a way to make things work between the two of them, and she would not stop until she had found a way to make such a thing into reality.
As for Berengar slowly descended the staircase; he was only half-dressed, the remainder of his Kingly attire laid strewn across Henrietta's bedroom floor. He even lacked his signature eyepatch. Instead, he was lost in thought; he knew deep down there was a part of him that was at least attracted to his sister. However, he also knew that such a thing was wrong for many reasons. It was a pity that Henrietta was his sister, or else maybe they could indeed be together.
Ultimately he walked out into the gardens of the Imperial Palace, which were covered in snow, where he sat on a bench in the freezing weather of the Austrian Alps. The Austrian Monarch rested his head in his hands as he tried to find a solution to the problem at hand, one that could make everyone happy.
It would be some time before Berengar returned inside, and by that time, he was nearly frozen solid from the cold. However, despite his foolish actions, he would endure as he always had. As for how Berengar would handle his sister's incestuous feelings, perhaps even God did not know the answer to that.
