Tyranny of Steel

Within the streets of the city of Kufstein, there was a large group of peasants, nobility, and foreigners alike gathered to witness a spectacular event. An art exhibit was displaying the newest pieces created by Germany's most talented artists. It was a such a grand event that both the Emperor and his wife Adela, who was the minister of Cultural Identity, had decided to host it.

While Berengar may be most infamous internationally as a warlord who united the german people via conquest. In the Kingdom of Austria, he was also known for several other traits. One of these was a major patron of the Arts. For some time, Berengar had been sponsoring talented artists to fulfill their dreams. Giving them the knowledge and tools to make realistic paintings. He had even gone so far as to dedicate certain schools towards the arts.

Berengar was no artist himself, but he had gone through a few art classes during his high school years of his past life. It was because of this that he had basic knowledge of critical techniques, such as the different points of perspective, shading, coloring, etc. Over the years, he had imparted these tools to the artistic minds of Germany. Naturally, being sponsored by the crown, these artists took his knowledge and improved upon it every step of the way.

It wasn't simply a matter of talent that would get one to be sponsored by the Crown. They also needed to toe the line. Though it wasn't outright enforced, the crown heavily emphasized that the artists should focus on nationalistic topics. This could come in many forms, such as showing off the natural beauty of the German landscape, the magnificence of its architecture, or the glory of the German people's past accomplishments. There were even a few depictions of Germany itself as a beautiful blonde woman.

The culture of Germany was being refined through Berengar's lense which was largely inspired by the Kingdom of Prussia in his past life, and while Berengar may be pursuing the martial path for his society, he also inspired the arts. Thus the two often blended into once concept as many of the paintings revolved around Germany's militaristic nature.

Among these paintings was one drafted by a former soldier of Berengar's army who stood with him during the Austrian War of Independence. The painting in question was called "A Dominating Aura" and it depicted the young Emperor standing above his army in the alps giving them the rousing speech that led them into Italy.

Adela gazed upon the scene and was impressed at how well the man had captured her husband's brilliance. The artist in question was among the crowd, gazing at his own work and listening to the comments from the viewers. He was quite delighted when he heard the Empress commend his painting.

"Amazing, whoever the artist of this painting is, they did an incredible job displaying your suffocating aura. I actually feel compelled to kneel before this painting of you. Did such a thing really occur?"

Berengar gazed at the painting with awe. In his mind, he reversed the perspective of the painting to his point of view and knew the exact moment the man had captured. It was truly impressive and brought back many enemies. He wore a proud smile on his face as he declared the painting to be a masterpiece.

"Truly, this is a masterpiece. I must say it is interesting seeing my past accomplishments from another person's perspective. Whoever painted this had to have been a soldier in my army in order to properly understand every little detail that he included. I never thought I'd see the day where an Austrian soldier became such an incredible painter."

The painter was incredibly humbled to hear the Emperor personally declare his work to be of such fine quality. He wanted to kneel before him and thank him then and there, but he had decided to be incognito during his visit to the exhibit, and thus restrained himself.

As for Berengar and Adela, they continued to gaze upon the work of art for some time before moving onto another interesting piece. This was no mere painting, but rather a marble sculpture of Berengar prior to his eye injury. It was a sculpture of him in a bath towel with only his lower half covered. He could immediately tell somebody relatively close to him had made this piece, as there were only a few people who would be able to understand every line of his muscles with such precision.

Just when he was about to ask who had made such a fine marble statue, a woman approached him, she was dressed rather lavishly despite being a mere commoner. Though Berengar had a vague notion of who she was, the woman quickly introduced herself as the sculptor.

"Apologies, your Majesty, I don't believe you ever learned my name. However, I was once a servant of your parents during my youth."

Berengar chuckled when he heard this as he came to a sudden realization.

"That would explain how you know my figure so well..."

Adela immediately looked at the two with a hint of fury in her eyes. Did her husband sleep with this servant girl when they were engaged?

The man in question immediately noticed the cold stare his wife was giving him and he quickly cleared up her misconceptions.

"Do not fret, my dear. Nothing happened between us. In my younger years, I simply had a habit of walking from the bath to my room in nothing but a towel."

After saying this, he shifted his gaze towards the sculptor and politely inquired about the piece.

"So what is this sculpture called?"

In response to this, the woman blushed slightly before giving her answer.

"I call it Rebirth! It was inspired from the first time I saw you shirtless after you had improved your health. You were practically skin and bones for most of the years that I worked in your parents' service. However, I remember seeing you walk out of the bath one day in nothing but a towel, and the sight was captivating. It was as if you had been reborn from the brink of death."

Berengar nodded his head in approval. It was a fitting name. After all, he was reborn in more ways than one at that time. A single phrase escaped his lips as he gazed upon the piece of art.

"It's perfect..."

After saying this, Berengar chatted with the woman for some time before going on his way to observe other pieces of art. Adela had played a large part in the country's cultural affairs. In fact, it was her main job outside of raising her kids. The Ministry of Cultural Identity was nothing more than a propaganda department, and it was her job to ensure that everybody followed the will of the crown. Because of this, artists who were critical of Berengar's reign rarely found their work being appreciated.

However, the next painting that the couple witnessed was definitely controversial. How exactly it had made it into the art gallery, Adela did not know. The offending piece was a painting depicting the scene from the night Henrietta was wounded in an assassination attempt on her brother's life.

More than a few people had witnessed the Princess kiss her brother, and though Berengar had never made their relationship public, there were rumors going around that the girl was his mistress. Thus, the painting was the moment Henrietta confessed her feelings to her big brother while bleeding out.

Berengar and Adela stared at the piece with awkward expressions, Berengar was uncomfortable witnessing the painting, as he had never informed the people that Henrietta was actually his aunt by blood. Thus, when people saw the painting, they thought the Emperor and his sister were involved in a serious taboo.

The piece was even named "Forbidden love" and aside from the controversial nature of the piece, it was exquisite. Of course, nobody dared to comment on what they truly thought while Berengar was nearby. They knew the temperament of their emperor, and it was not risking making the man their enemy. Even if they believed the rumors regarding Berengar and his sister, they would never speak them aloud.

Naturally, to maintain their secret relationship, Berengar had hidden Henrietta away in the Palace while she was carrying his child. It would be very troublesome if such news made it to the public. Thus, she was not able to witness the painting of her confession.

Not wanting to be the center of everyone's attention, Berengar and Adela quickly moved onto another piece. Adela whispered to him an apology for such a thing being in her art gallery.

"I'm sorry. I don't know how that painting got in here. I will severely admonish whoever is responsible for it."

Berengar merely nodded his head in silence. Such memories were bitter, and simply gazing upon the scene of his sister's near-death experience soured his mood. He no longer cared to see the rest of the paintings, but he continued his work, regardless. After all, he was hosting the event, and it would be improper for him to abscond so early into the night.