Tyranny of Steel

At the head of the table sat Berengar; to his left was Linde, to his right was Adela; as for his other two wives, they flanked both sides of the table, followed by Henrietta and Berengar's parents. On the other edge of the seating, was where all of the children were sitting in high chairs since they were far too young to sit in a regular seat, aside from Hans that is, who sat in his own seat with his small feet dangling from the air.

For the past few minutes, since they began to eat the lunch prepared for them by the kitchen, this large family sat in complete and utter silence. An awkward silence prevailed as the only sound that could be heard was the people gathered munching on their food. While this was going on Henrietta glared across the table at her mother with a bitter stare.

Though Henrietta had enjoyed her time in Kufstein, growing up under the tutelage of her precious big brother. There was no doubt that her current infatuation for her sibling stemmed from the abandonment issues resulting from her parents' up and disappearing after Lambert's death and leaving her alone with Berengar and Linde.

However, it appeared that both her mother and father were aging well after their retirement and were living safe and secluded lives in the heart of the Tyrolean Alps. This was something that the young Princess had contention with; if not for their poor parenting, then perhaps Lambert would still be alive.

Neither Henrietta nor her mother was aware of the true origins of Lambert's death. Of course, even if Berengar informed his sister how their brother passed, she would undoubtedly take his side. After all, by now, she was greatly enamored with her big brother and willing to engage in an incestuous relationship with him. What was a little fratricide in the face of her unconditional love?

However, Berengar wanted to maintain the memory in Henrietta's heart that Lambert was not the backstabbing scoundrel he was. In doing so, he had unwittingly created a divide between the girl and her mother; after all, she shifted the blame on her parents for Lambert's passing. While Henrietta scowled at her mother, Berengar noticed this and immediately tried to mend the void.

"Henrietta, my dearest sister, you know it is rather rude to stare at our mother in such a manner..."

However, despite his words, Henrietta did not cease her activity. Instead, she cut into the jaeger schnitzel, which sat on her plate, and elegantly took a bite from her fork. After doing so, she merely snubbed her mother and responded to Berengar with an excited expression.

"So, Big Brother, when will we be going to Gibraltar?"

Berengar immediately had a stunned expression on his face as he glanced over to the gazes of his four angry wives. He had planned to take the girls on a honeymoon to Gibraltar in the summer, but he had not voiced this concern.

In fact, due to his political circumstances, he not only rushed three weddings in the span of as many months, but he never actually took his girls on the trip they deserved. Now that his schedule was reasonably open, he had decided that he would take some time to enjoy a vacation with all four of his wives on the beaches of Gibraltar, where the villa was given to him by Hasan lie.

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Either Henrietta had gotten wind of his plans, or was merely creating conflict, for the sake of it. Either way, he had to put his foot down and explain his plans before any of his wives got the wrong idea. As such, he presented a calm facade as he swallowed the scoop of käsespätzle on his spoon. After washing it down with the taste of a hearty lager, he began to inform his family of his plans.

"Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, and I don't know how Henrietta figured it out, but I intend to take all of you on a trip to Gibraltar this summer..."

Various gazes of excitement filled the eyes of Berengar's wives; as for Yasmin, she had a look of nostalgia as she remembered all the times she and Berengar had made love on the beach during his stay in Iberia. After a few lively exchanges, Adela finally came up with an essential question in her pretty little head.

"Will Henrietta be coming with us?"

Berengar immediately exchanged glances between his sister, his wives, and his mother as he thought through the answer to this question. He sincerely hoped to find a suitor for Henrietta before he went on a honeymoon with his wives. Otherwise, she was bound to interfere and demand some special attention of her own due to their "secret relationship." Thus he cracked a joke in an attempt to shrug off the responsibility.

"That is unless I can find a proper suitor for her in the meantime... It is just a damn shame..."

Immediately Adela latched onto the last part of Berengar's statement and inquired further about it with a curious gaze.

"What is?"

Berengar shook his head and merely chuckled in response to his wife's question.

"Nothing, I was just thinking that if Henrietta and I weren't related by blood, then I could marry her instead..."

Immediately everyone's expression sank as they heard this, especially Adela. Henrietta was the only person among their ranks who did not react gravely; unlike the others, she gazed upon her brother with a lovestruck appearance—as for Gisela, she responded by smacking her son across the back of his head before rebuking him for his inappropriate comment.

"Don't even joke like that! It is unbecoming for a man of your position!"

Berengar chuckled in response to this while Sieghard gazed upon his son and daughter with a complicated expression. Judging by his two kids' reactions, something was going on between them. However, immediately after thinking this, he shook his head and dismissed the thought. While Berengar may be a womanizer, there was no way he was that far gone.

As for Henrietta, he did not know his daughter well enough to predict her feelings on the matter accurately. However, he was not foolish enough to miss the intimate glances that the girl shared with her brother now and then.

Eventually, a frown appeared on the older man's face as he thought about what Berengar had said. It was indeed a damn shame that the two of them were related by blood because nobody was better for his daughter than a man like his son. Unfortunately, there was only one man like Berengar in this world, and he was the blood-related brother of Henrietta.

Thus he tried to shift his thoughts elsewhere, as his gaze landed on Linde, he was well aware of the difficulties between his wife and Berengar's second Queen. Though his opinion of the woman was initially bitter, he had come to see how beneficial she was to his son's life and Kingdom over the years. Thus, he began an attempt to bridge the gap between her and his wife as he brought up memories of the past.

"I must say, Linde, you have changed a lot over the years. I have known you since you were a small girl; after all, you were engaged to my second son at one point, and I must admit I was not fond of you at the time. However, now you seem to have grown into a fine young woman!"

Linde was shocked upon hearing her father-in-law's praise; she was well aware that her in-laws despised her almost as much as her own family did. To hear that at least one of them had pleasant views of her was something she greatly appreciated. As such, she put on the dignity of a Queen before addressing Sieghard's comments.

"Father, you have no idea how much that means to me. What remains of my own family views me as a traitor, and I know for a fact that your wife does not care for me either. To hear that someone besides Berengar views me in such a kind light is truly a great honor!"

Gisela did not respond well to this statement; calling her husband by the term "father" implied that the temptress was indeed married to her son, and the old Baroness had never approved of Berengar's playboy nature or his legalization of Polygamy. In response to Linde's statement, Berengar's mother merely scoffed, letting everyone in the room know just what she thought about Linde and Berengar's other "wives."

The only woman among Berengar's harem to not care in the slightest about Gisela's opinion was Honoria; the only person whose opinion she cared about who was in this room was her husband and him alone. As for her rivals, her in-laws, or even her own family, they could shove their opinions where the sun doesn't shine. The Pirate Queen had been severely influenced by the Austrian King's "to hell with the world, I do what I want!" attitude.

Thus, she merely watched her husband's and his family's engagements with a slight sense of interest. She enjoyed seeing Linde get a taste of her own medicine. While they had been intimate with one another during Berengar's absence, and the Byzantine Princess generally found Linde to be more agreeable than Adela; they were frenemies at best and outright rivals at the worst.

As for Berengar, he continued to eat his food and keep the conversation going in a healthy direction; after all the meal was far from over, soon they would move onto the desert, and there was much conflict to be resolved between Berengar's large family. He sighed in exhaustion as he could only imagine the difficult conversations he would be having in the future when his children were grown up and vying for power.