Tyranny of Steel

In the Imperial Palace of Germany, the young Prince Hans sat within the Library with only his sister to keep him company. He was currently reading up on a book about German history, as recorded by the ancient Roman historian Tacitus. Berengar's scholars had translated the book into the German tongue, and Hans found it to be an interesting read.

As for Helga, she was busy painting a portrait of her mother, Linde. Interestingly enough, the art piece contained the woman in her Intelligence Uniform. Despite her young age, the painting was well beyond the capabilities of her peers, and because of this, it didn't look half bad.

While Hans was interested in a variety of school topics, and had a mind built for mathematics and science. Helga was far more creative and spent most of her time engaging in the fine arts. She was an introverted child who only seemed to be social around her brother and mother.

As for her father, Berengar was largely absent from her life. Hell, since the day she was born, he had probably spent more time abroad in wars, then home with his family. However, that had recently changed, and the young girl was becoming more accustomed to her father being around.

While the two royal children conducted their extra-curricular activities in peace, their mother walked into the Library and noticed them. She carried the youngest of their siblings in her arms as she walked up to the two children with an excited expression on her face and hugged them tightly before kissing both of them on their foreheads.

"Hans, Helga, I have prepared lunch for you both. Your father is waiting for us in the Dining room. Come quickly!"

Hans quickly placed his bookmark into the page he left off on, before standing up. As for Helga, she was rather unwilling to follow her mother. Her father was a bit of a stranger to her, and she was usually anxious around him. On top of that, she wanted to finish the painting of her mother, thus she instantly cried out to Linde in rebellion.

"I don't wanna! I'm painting!"

Linde immediately gazed over at the painting and smiled. She quickly lifted the young girl up into her arms with one hand before lecturing the girl.

"Helga, we have to spend some time as a family. Your painting can wait!"

The young princess could only pout as her mother dragged her off to the dining room. Hans quickly became jealous of the attention that Linde was giving his sister, and immediately grabbed hold of her dress while following behind his mother like a little duckling.

"Mother, wait for me!"

Linde put on a pretty smile as she gazed upon her little boy and his eagerness to be by her side. She quickly nodded her head before dragging her three children off to the dining hall, where their father waited for their arrival.

Berengar was busy drinking a nice cold beer with a satisfied expression on his face. Nearly three months had passed since Berengar first drafted the plans for his ice factory, and his workers had recently completed it.

The Emperor was currently using a portion of the first batch of ice to refrigerate his beer. He achieved this via a stainless steel ice box he had created solely to house his a ready supply of his favorite beverages.

In the mind of Berengar, there were few things in this world better than a cold beer with an excellent lunch made by a pretty girl. Shockingly, Linde had made the food herself. Perhaps she felt a sense of competition from Yasmin, who was always cooking Berengar's breakfast.

Over the past few months, Linde had put in an extreme amount of effort into learning how to cook. Luckily, she had a whole kitchen staff to teach her how, and because of this, she had become quite proficient in the means of doing so in a brief period.

Naturally, Berengar did not know how hard Linde had been working to please him behind the scenes, and instead gazed upon the simple dish that sat upon the table with a warm smile. Linde had made an entire tray of bierocks, which were a delicious stuffed role of Volga german origin from his past life, that he had introduced to this world a long time ago.

He could hardly contain his excitement at the prospect of tasting the fruits of Linde's efforts, and had shamefully grabbed hold of one roll and placed it in his mouth. He was just about to take a bite when Linde and the kids arrived. The smiling expression on the angelic beauty's face immediately twisted into a pout as she chastised her husband for his impatience..

"Honey, have you no patience? I told you to wait five minutes while I fetched the kids, and yet you have so shamelessly started without us!"

Honey was a nickname that Linde commonly used regarding Berengar when they were in the company of others. She couldn't very well call him master in public, let alone around their children. When Berengar heard this, he immediately placed the roll down on the table and walked over to his wife and three Children where he gave them each a firm hug. As a master manipulator, Berengar spoke the words he knew would ease Linde's fury without hesitation.

"I'm sorry, babe, but the food looks so delicious, and the idea that my loving wife worked so hard to make such a masterpiece for my family filled me with excitement. I simply could not restrain myself."

The young redheaded mother sighed heavily before letting her man off the hook.

"I'll forgive you this one time, but next time you absolutely must wait for us to arrive. We have so little time together as a family, and I want everything to be perfect!"

Upon hearing this, Berengar nodded his head with a smile before making a promise he knew he couldn't keep.

"I swear, I will wait for you all to arrive before taking a bite next time..."

He knew instantly he would pay for that remark later, but if it got him out of trouble in the present, then so be it. After saying this, he sat down at the head of the table, where Linde took the seat by his side after placing Isle in a high chair nearby. As for the other two kids, they sat as close to their parents as they were able, with Hans on Berengar's side and Helga on Linde's.

Berengar immediately took a bite into the stuffed roll and moaned in pleasure when he tasted it. The crunchy exterior of the roll, with the soft interior filled with ground beef, cabbage, and onion, was truly delicious. When Linde saw her man so pleased with her cooking, she blushed ever so slightly. After swallowing down the hearty role with a cold lager, Berengar could not praise Linde enough.

"Linde, it brings a smile to my face knowing that you care so much about this family that you are willing to take the time out of your busy schedule to learn how to cook a delightful meal for us."

Linde's face flushed red as she accepted the praise with a beautiful smile and a slight nod of the head. As for Hans, he gazed at his father with a curious expression. He did not know why such a simple compliment made his mother act in this manner.

However, the young Prince noted the exact mannerisms that his father made when interacting with his mother. Perhaps one day he could follow the example set before him, and make a woman quiver in excitement with a simple phrase.

As for Helga, she was trying to avoid her father's gaze. She was completely oblivious to the romantic moment occurring between her father and mother. Eventually, Berengar's sight shifted over to Hans. He could tell the boy was studying the interaction between his two parents by a simple look in his eye.

Sometimes, the studious nature of this child outright frightened Berengar, thus he put on an awkward smile as he addressed his son.

'So, Hans, what have you been up to lately?"

Hans gazed up at his father with his sapphire eyes and answered the question with a stoic expression on his face.

"Not much. I've been going to my fighting lessons like you have requested, aside from that I mainly hang out in the library..."

Berengar nodded his head with a smile on his lips as he heard this before asking a followup question.

"So, how are your fighting lessons going? You should be learning unarmed combat techniques at your age, correct?

Hans nodded his head before answering his father's question like an obedient child.

"We have been learning a lot of grappling, and though we roll on the matt often, our kickboxing lessons are rather boring..."

One of Berengar's brows raised as he heard this question, he immediately inquired further about the reasoning behind such a statement.

"You don't enjoy kickboxing?"

In response to this, Hans merely shook his head before replying with a glint of regret in his eyes.

"No, kickboxing is fun, but the older kids get to spar. I only get to do pad work and drills. After a while, it just becomes boring."

Berengar shook his head. He had never once found pad work or drills to be boring. While it was true sparring was the most fun one could have in the sport of kickboxing without going through an actual fight, he agreed with the instructor, Hans was simply too young to begin such rough training. Instead, he offered words of encouragement to the boy.

"I know sparring seems fun, and it is, but you are still learning the fundamentals. If you wish to become sufficient in the art of hand to hand combat, it takes substantial effort, and training. It is not all about sparring. Even a master needs to work on the pads and with drills.

Besides, this is just the beginning. As you get older, you and other boys your age will train with swords and firearms as well. By the time you are a full grown man, your entire generation will be well trained in the art of war and survival. These are skills that will be needed when you join the military."

When Berengar said this last part, Linde froze, the very idea that her baby boy would one day be forced to join the military like all the other children in Germany gave her a sense of dread. Helga noticed the frightened expression on her mother's face and immediately inquired about it.

"Mommy? What's wrong?"

Linde quickly came back to her senses upon hearing her young daughter's voice and forced a smile on her face as she took a bite from her bierock before responding.

"Nothing, Helga, I was just thinking about the future is all..."

Linde was visibly shaken. Evidently, the idea of her baby boy one day going off to war terrified her. When Berengar noticed this, he grabbed hold of her hand and kissed it gently, bringing her back to a state of reality. When her beautiful sky-blue eyes gazed into his line of sight, Berengar whispered something in the woman's ears that calmed her growing fear.

"It is a man's duty to protect his family and fatherland. One day, Hans will be a great commander, like his father. Do not fret, I will teach the boy well so that he does not foolishly charge into battle like his old man."

After hearing this Linde sighed heavily, though she did not want her precious son to go off to war, she knew it was something that he may have to do as a potential candidate for the Throne, and thus she forced herself to calm the uneasiness in her gut. Berengar then grabbed hold of his beer and took a deep sip before shifting his attention to his baby girl.

"Helga, how have you been lately?"

The girl looked up at her father, then at her mother, as if asking permission to speak to the man. Linde smiled and nodded her head before the young girl began to open up about what she had been up to in his absence.

"I like painting! Do you like painting daddy?"

Berengar chuckled when he heard this, before nodding his head and responding.

"Though I lack the talent for such things, I do enjoy a good painting. If it is something you enjoy, then stick with it, and one day you may be a great artist forever remembered by our people for your brilliance. I believe in you, Helga!"

The little girl smiled upon hearing her father give her such praise and nodded her head before making a promise to the man.

"One day I will be the best painter in all of Germany!"

Berengar merely smiled and nodded his head before responding to the cute little girl.

"Of course, I look forward to the day when I can gaze upon your brilliant art work!"

With this said, Berengar took another bite out of his bierock before washing it down with his lager. It was truly an enjoyable experience to spend a delightful meal with his family. After thinking about this, Berengar decided in this moment to make meals like this a regular occurrence. Not just with Linde, but the other girls as well. After all, he had four wives and children with each of them. After making a mental note of this, Berengar returned his attention to his family, where he enjoyed the rest of the meal together.