Tyranny of Steel

While several of Berengar's sons had gone on to become world leaders in their own rights, and his daughter Zara had become the lead engineer at the German Space Program. The many other children of Berengar had begun to flourish in their adult lives.

For example, in the city of Munich, Princess Helga von Kufstein lived with her husband, whose named was Prince Karl von Wittelsbach of Bavaria. If Kufstein had become the capital of the Reich, both in terms of politics and industry, then Munich had become a city renowned for its art and culture.

This was largely in part due to Helga's influence, as she had spent years transforming the city into a den of artists, all of which displayed their projects in the many art galleries of the city. Currently in one of the exhibits, the Princess of Austria and Bavaria was currently walked hand in hand with her husband, who was an attractive young man in his own right, as both of their work were publically displayed for free to the population.

Helga had only improved as an artist over the years, and was now renowned as one of the world's greatest painters, if not the greatest. Whereas her husband was particularly fond of sculpting. And had made many marble statutes of his wife's most renowned family members.

Gone were the days when Helga was timid and shy, like during her childhood. Instead, she had blossomed into a confident and intelligent young woman. This was noticeable when she was around her family and her work. For example, at this very moment, she was practically dancing around the art gallery she had helped establish with her husband and kids. All of which gazed upon their beloved wife and mother and the exceptional works of art she had created over the years.

Everything from her very first painting when she was a small child to her most recent masterpiece was all on display for the public, free of charge. Karl in particular had always praised his wife's ability to bring fiction into reality with her work, and could not help but do so again, as he saw how far she had come as an artist over the years.

"Helga, my love, your work is always inspiring. I can't wait to get home and sculpt another statue, perhaps this time one of you!"

Helga simply blushed as she heard this before wrapping her arms around her husband's neck and kissing him on the lips. His sweet words, his kind personality, and his talent as a sculptor were what ultimately compelled her to marry the man. And she could not be happier with her current lot in life.

While Helga was touring her art gallery in Munich, Katherine was in the middle of performing as the prima ballerina for the Austrian Ballet. She had performed her dance moves all over the country to millions of fans, and today was no different. The stunning footwork which she made use of was enough to astonish even a laymen, who knew nothing about the higher arts that those among the nobility so prominently enjoyed.

And as the performance came to a close, she took a deep bow, with a wide smile on her exceptionally pretty face. All to the thunder of applause and the cheers of more than a few men and women. Roses were tossed onto the stage for the woman who had taken the breath of so many men, none of which she accepted.

After all, Katherine's heart belonged to one man in particular, and that was her husband. He was also in the crowd, cheering for his wife's performance. Perhaps most peculiar of all, was the fact that Katherine had chosen to marry the Prince of Prussia. That's right, Eckhard's eldest son, who was quite a few years younger than Katherine, was the man who could boast of being the prima ballerina's husband.

Prince Berengar von Marienburg was named after the Kaiser, which was no surprise one when considered his father was none other than King Eckhard von Marienburg, the man who many considered being Berengar's greatest General.

And he waited patiently for his wife to descend from the stage, and return to his loving arms, which she did so, to an audience of many German noblemen, who could not help but cheer for the Princess of their Empire, who had displayed her talents once more for them all.

Standing by Berengar's side were three young children, all of which looked like they were proper members of the von Kufstein Dynasty. When Katherine saw her youngest daughter, she quickly picked the girl up, and clutched her to her bosom, as the young and vibrant beauty kissed the little girl on the forehead.

She, like Helga, was completely happy with her current life, and would change nothing of it if she were given the chance to do so.

Helena stood on the balcony of a particularly large mansion, which was located on the coasts of Krain. She could gaze out into the Adriatic and witness the oncoming traffic of ships whose final destination was the port city of Trieste.

During her years as an adult, Helena had chosen a quiet, but luxurious life as one of the Empire's most famous authors. But she valued her anonymity, and because of this she used the pseudonym Erika Khune when she wrote her romance s, which were so incredibly popular among the Reich's female audience.

As with the stories that she wrote when she was a teenager, the male protagonist was almost always based on her father in some way, and she had gone so far as to emulate this in real life, by marrying one of her distant cousins from Gisela's side of the family.

Helena's husband was named Wilhelm, and he looked considerably similar to Berengar did when he was young. Like his distant uncle, Wilhem had even served as an officer in the German military, and had been awarded many great distinctions during his tenure in the Colonial conflicts.

However, those days were long past, and now the man was actually a business partner with Zara's fiancee, helping Brandt run a brewery which had quickly become the premier choice of beer among the German population.

Both Wilhelm and Brandt had been awarded with titles of nobility of equal standing, and because of this, the beer company they managed was simply called "Freiherr" which meant Baron in the German tongue.

The Freiherr Brewing Company had made so much money that Wilhelm and Helena retired to the coast of Krain, within the Adriatic Sea, where they lived a quiet but luxurious life with their family. After taking in the fresh sea air, and drinking a glass of wine, Helena heard her kids call out to her, and thus she entered the living room, where she saw several happy children playing a popular multiplayer video game. With a wide smile on her beautiful face, the young woman sat down next to her children and joined them in this endeavor.

Helena could easily be labelled a nerd, and she was passing this tradition down onto her kids. No matter how quickly the video game industry advanced, she kept up with it, and it was times like this, where she had come to enjoy her life, as she fell behind one of her kids in the race, and then another, until finally they had all beaten her at her own game.

To which she smiled, and hugged all her kids, and congratulated them on their victory.

"That was very good! Mommy is very proud of you all! You have come a long way, and in such a short time, too. But do you think you will still be able to beat mommy, if we up the difficulty a little?"

A young girl wore a wide smile on her adorable face as she challenged her mother to another race, with confidence that she would emerge victorious.

"Of course! Mommy sucks at this game. There is no way I can lose!"

When Helena heard this she frowned, before upping the difficulty to the maximum, so that she could teach her arrogant child about the values of humility, and thus she began another game with her kids, on their most favorite console.

The stories of Berengar's many children were much in the same way as these. No matter what careers they chose in life, and what paths they pursued. They all emerged at the top of their industries.

Because of the strict way they were raised, not a single one of Berengar's children wasted away and relied on their family fortune to get by. Each of them managed to accomplish something significant and had proven that the von Kufstein Dynasty had very strong genes. Something which would continue well into the next century, and beyond.