Tyranny of Steel

After a long flight back to Japan, Berengar spent nearly every waking hour with his pregnant wife for weeks on end. Within a month, the albino beauty finally gave birth, and having rested for a few days, the royal couple were now standing in a small bedroom while gazing upon an infant child who lie silently in his crib.

The young boy was the perfect example of a Eurasian child. Perhaps too perfect, as his father's Germanic genes had influenced more than just his facial structure. Most notably, the boy's eyes were as blue as the ocean's surface. Which made both his parents proud. 

While gazing upon his newest son with fatherly affection. Berengar noticed that Itami spoke in a voice so low that he nearly missed what she had said. Still, the albino beauty's voice was filled with joy at the prospect of finally being a mother. 

"I can't believe that after all these years, you and I have finally had a child together... It is almost too good to be true. I still struggle to determine whether this is reality, or just some wonderful dream that I never wish to wake from. If only I hadn't been so foolish, we could have been happily married a long time ago..."

Berengar could hear the remorse in his wife's voice as she spoke the last part of her statement, and sighed as he placed his hand on the woman's shoulder, while maintaining his focus on his young son. 

"Little Ryu here will make a great emperor. I will make sure of it. As for the circumstances which brought us together, they weren't random. In fact, I suspect that the gods of your nation brought you into this world for a reason..."

The moment Itami heard these words, her gaze shifted from her son to her husband. She had never before spoken to anyone about her brief interaction with the goddess Inari. And yet Berengar spoke as if he was already aware of this chance encounter. This caused the woman to become quite concerned, as she immediately began to interrogate the man about his knowledge of the supernatural.

"You know of the gods? But how, you have not stepped foot in Japan until relatively recently, and I have never seen you wonder off to one of their shrines other than on our wedding night." 

When Berengar heard this, he did not make a noise and instead silently stared at his wife while pondering a question in his head. After a while, he smiled and shook his head before speaking of what he knew.

"So you already knew of their existence? That's good. It means I won't have to convince you that I am not a madman. I won't hide anything from you, dear. I was brought into this world by the Germanic pantheon. Their reason for doing so was a petty dispute with another deity. I won't bore you with the details. After all, this did not have much of an impact on the life I have lived thus far.

However, although I met the gods of my ancestors, they are not the only deities that I have encountered during my travels. In fact, since the moment I first found out you were a transmigrator like me, I figured that you were brought into this world by your own pantheon, but I have yet to determine what for...."

When Itami heard this, a sudden realization washed over her mind, causing her to immediately fell as if she were the world's greatest fool. The albino beauty instantly rested her forehead in the palm of her hand, as she let out a heavy sigh before speaking her mind. 

"It all makes sense now. If I am being honest, Inari was rather stern with me when we met. She mentioned something about me being brought into this world for a reason, and I now suspect it was to preserve her power and influence over Japan by appealing to you who would go on to establish global hegemony. 

Not only was Inari and the other deities upset that I had killed the previous dynasty, but Inari claimed that I had fucked up in ways that I could not imagine. I suspect now that she was referring to the conflict I had started with you. Oh dear, I have so many regrets in this life, and if you were not by my side, I might just fall on my own sword to atone for them."

Seeing the distraught expression on his wife's otherwise beautiful face, Berengar placed the palm of his hand on her cheek, in an attempt to comfort the woman, which she took full advantage of, for roughly three seconds before her young son awoke, and instantly started crying. 

Berengar could only wear a bitter smile as he saw Itami's blood-red eyes shift over to their son. However, the moment she looked back at her husband, he was already gone. Having silently departed from the room in the brief moment it took the woman to shift her gaze. A curse escaped from Itami's lips as she expressed her annoyance over her husband's tendencies to avoid taking care of their child. 

"That fucking bastard..."

After saying this, Itami sighed once more, before approaching her son, and realizing that the boy needed a diaper change. Which she took care of before departing from the room. After washing her hands, Itami found Berengar snacking on some takoyaki in the kitchen, where she immediately began to scold the man for his actions. 

"Every time! Every time the boy needs a diaper change, you are nowhere to be found! Can't you at least help out with the raising of your own son?"

Berengar simply scoffed as he heard this, before shoving another octopus dumpling in his mouth. It was only after he finished eating it that he responded to his wife's fury with a calm, and conceited smile on his face.

"Isn't that the job of the mother? I can proudly say that I have never once changed a diaper in this life, and I have sired over twenty children. So if none of my other women have been able to convince me to do such a thing, what makes you think you have a chance of doing so?"

Itami merely gawked in disbelief at her husband's shamelessness, before averting her gaze and once more cursing under her breath. 

"You are such an asshole..."

Berengar chuckled in response to this, before rising from his seat, where he proceeded to stuff his last piece of takoyaki in the woman's mouth. She was startled at first, but as she swallowed the octopus dumpling, she heard further shameless words escape from her husband's mouth. 

"Yes... But I am your asshole..."

Luckily, Itami had just swallowed the food, or else she would have choked on her own laughter. She could not help but giggle at the man's response as he successfully avoided taking responsibility for his own child yet again. No matter how much Itami wanted to stay mad at the man for his irresponsible behavior, she could not find it in her heart to do so, and thus she decided to kiss him.  However, in the next moment, a heavy sigh escaped from Itami's delicate lips as she looked out the window with a glum expression on her face. 

"It is hard to believe that we only have two more months that we can spend like this before you have to go back to the others. I wish Ryu and I could go with you. Unfortunately, I am needed here in Japan. I have learned a lot from watching you work this past year, and I believe I will be able to effectively continue what you have started. Still, I will miss you every day that you are away..."

Berengar's expression turned glum as he heard this. It was true that he found it difficult to be away from his other family for so long, but at the same time, he knew it would be just as painful to be away from Itami and their infant son for most of the year. In order to reassure himself, and his wife, Berengar spoke the words that were currently present in his mind.

"I won't be away for long. I promise to visit you at least once a month. Still, I know how hard it is to be separated from the ones you love. So the most we can do is make each day that we have together count. So how about you and I go take a bath together? After all, it has been some time since I have sat in the hot springs." 

Upon hearing this, Itami wore a seductive smile as she grabbed onto her husband's hand and led him to the personal hot spring that existed within the palace. Once inside, the two of them relaxed together for some time while in each other's arms. 

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