Tyranny of Steel

Having spent the evening getting high and drunk with two of his women and then engaging in intercourse, Berengar found the fatigue he felt from months of endless battle slowly wash away. To Berengar, war was an exhilarating activity, but if it went on for too long, it was capable of causing great anxiety and anguish.

After having fun with two of his women, Berengar rose from his bed and entered the bath, where they joined shortly after. Immediately he threw off his towel and entered into the steaming water; as he did so, Honoria and Linde grabbed ahold of him and began to wash every part of his body with their own.

While this was ongoing, Berengar was drinking from a glass filled with beer; any semblance of his previously heightened nerves vanished under the exceptional service his girls provided to him. After a while, Linde, Honoria, and himself got out of the bath and dressed in nothing more than silk robes, where they proceeded to head down from the harem room and into the dining room where Adela, Henrietta, Hans, and Helga were currently sitting.

When Linde saw her two children sitting in their high seats, she walked over to them and picked them up, where she placed them on her lap. After doing so, she lowered her robe and began to breastfeed the two small children.

The sight of which greatly unnerved Adela, who gazed at the sight with a look of disgust on her face. She could not help herself from commenting on the issue.

"Ahem... Linde, we are at the dinner table. Can you please cover yourself up?"

Linde, wearing a pleasant smile, did not give into Adela's provocation and merely responded with a snarky tone.

"What? Can't I feed my babies? What would you suggest they eat?"

Berengar, who was sitting in between the two women, and their argument refused to comment on the situation at hand. Though Hans was already three years old, he was still breastfeeding, which Berengar thought to be unusual but not entirely uncommon from his modern sensibilities; however, sooner or later, he would need to talk with Linde about weaning the kid and introducing cow milk into his diet.

However, at the moment, he simply did not want to get involved in this conversation and, as such, began to shift his attention to his son, who was growing more by the day. After finishing his session with Linde, Hans was placed back into his seat by Berengar, where he began to dine on schnitzel and Käsespätzle.

As the boy happily dined on his meal Berengar began to speak with his son; after all, it had been some time since he had a conversation with the little tyke.

"So Hans, I understand you have already begun your elementary education, and at such a young age too. Truly, one day you will be an inspiration for the Austrian people. Are there any questions you might have that I might be able to help with?"

Upon hearing this, Hans looked up from his plate and at the multiple women surrounding Berengar before asking the question bothering him for some time now.

"Tell me the truth, father, am I a bastard?"

When Berengar heard this, he dropped his fork onto his plate, sending a clanging sound resounding throughout the dining hall. Everyone present at the table looked at Hans with shocked expressions. Being the birth mother of Hans, Linde had her maternal instincts kick into overdrive and was the first to inquire about the origin of Han's question.

"Hans! Where did you hear such a thing?"

The boy refused to look his mother in the eye as he admitted to how he had heard the term.

"I read about it in one of the books in a library, if a child is born to parents that are not married, then he is a bastard and is not able to inherit his father's position. Does that mean that despite being the firstborn, I won't be able to follow in father's footsteps?"

Linde looked at Hans with a gaze over overwhelming compassion; she felt terrible for Hans having such questions on his mind at his young age. After feeling bad for her son, she threw Adela a wicked glance while thinking to herself.

If it weren't for this woman, my son would not have to think so lowly of himself!

Berengar, on the other hand, drank from his skull chalice filled with beer before answering the question to the best of his ability. Due to his son's hyper-intelligence, he was able to converse more generally with the child. However, he still left out specific information to avoid creating an awkward scene.

"Well, you see, my son, technically, you are a bastard as your mother, and I are not yet married. However, the book you are reading is old and outdated. The laws of succession are no longer as such. I have made it, so the most competent of my children can take my position after my death. One day soon, I will marry your mother, and you will be a legitimate member of my Dynasty.

When that happens, you will be eligible to succeed in my throne if you meet the criteria as an efficient leader. Of course, if you desire such a thing, then you must work hard because I will have many children, and only the fittest to rule shall become King."

When Hans heard this answer, he was further confused; he inquired further about the issue at hand with an innocent expression on his face.

"I thought you were going to marry Miss Adela? How are you also going to marry Mommy?"

Berengar could feel the leering gazes of all three of his women set upon him as he struggled to come up with an answer to satisfy them all. As for Henrietta, she was silently eating her meal, trying to avoid getting involved in her brother's affairs. In her eyes, he had made his bed and now had to lie in it.

Adela was not precisely in the best of moods; she was entirely aware of the degree of hedonism that Berengar was engaging in with his two lovers upstairs for the past few hours. Though she disapproved of excessive drinking, drug use, and group sex. She also knew that Berengar had just come home from the horrors of war and needed a way to relax.

Of course, the real issue bothering her was that Honoria and Linde were now wearing their engagement rings, a tradition that Berengar had started with herself. She felt it was wildly inappropriate for Berengar to propose to the two women before she was married.

Thus Adela was staring at Berengar with a gaze filled with fury; However, she had forced herself to remain calm and wait for Berengar's explanation for such things. Now that her fiancee's son, who she also thought of as her own, broached such a question, she was more than curious to find out about the answer. Berengar, of course, shrugged off the vicious gazes he was getting from his girls and began to explain the complexity of his relationship with them to his young son.

"You see, Hans, in the days of our ancestors, it was not uncommon for men of great wealth and power to have multiple wives. Though with the introduction of Catholicism, we accepted many foreign practices. One of these changes was the law that men could only have one wife. It is my intention as King of Austria to bring back the ways of our forefathers. So you can think of Adela and Honoria as your other mommies..."

The expressions on the girls' faces differed; for Linde and Honoria, they were happy with the result, and as such, they gazed lovingly at Berengar. However, Adela reacted far more poorly; she was greatly displeased that Berengar had neglected to mention her position as the first wife. She was also upset that her children would have to compete with Hans to succeed their father in the future. As such, she glared intensely at Berengar with the fury of a woman scorned.

While this silent battle between Berengar's harem was ongoing, Hans thought about his father's answer for a few moments before he blurted out the first thought that came to his mind.

"Does that mean I get to have milk from my other mommies too!?!"

When Adela heard this, she felt as if she had been struck by lightning and quickly flushed in embarrassment, looking away from Hans' innocently excited expression. Berengar, on the other hand, nearly choked on his food as he struggled to maintain his composure. Linde broke out in laughter; she had never even thought of the idea that her son would be as big as a playboy as his father until now. As for Honoria, she gazed at the kid as if he were the cutest child in the world; thus, she hatched a devilish plot as she began to tease Hans.

"Sure, kiddo, come over to mommy Honoria!"

When Hans heard this, he nearly jumped out of his seat at the opportunity he was presented, but Berengar stopped him before he was able to reach Honoria's open embrace.

"Hans, you've already eaten; we can talk about this later."

the young boy began to frown as he heard this and was about to object to his father. However, Berengar raised his hand, signaling the boy to be silent, and thus he began to pout in his chair at the cruelty of it all.

Henrietta was gazing at the whole scenario with an amused expression as she continued to eat in silence. She knew for a fact that this was a conversation she did not want to get involved in, and as such, she drank from her wine glass while watching Berengar slowly navigate through the minefield he had created.

The family ate in awkward silence for the rest of the dinner; However, Hans had many more questions about Berengar and his three mothers; despite this, his father had seemed to become uncomfortable and unwilling to discuss it further. As such, he would have to wait for a later date before he could inquire further about the complex nature of Berengar's harem.