Tyranny of Steel

The following morning was a bit awkward at breakfast. There was a new girl, who was happily munching on the food at the table as if what she was eating were the tastiest things she had ever consumed in her entire life.

Nobody knew who she was aside from Berengar and Yasmin, but judging by her level of beauty, it was entirely likely that she was another one of Berengar's flings. As a result, several of the Kaiser's wives gave him callous stares as they watched the man smile at the sight of his stepdaughter devouring her food.

"How is everything Siv, is it to your liking?"

Siv was either oblivious to the tense atmosphere or just simply didn't care, as she munched on a sausage with a wide smile on her face.

"It's amazing, father, thank you very much. I have never tasted anything so good before!"

Berengar immediately played coy and responded to his stepdaughter's words with a warm tone in his voice. However, the fact that she called him father did not go unnoticed by everyone else at the table.

"Oh, come off it Siv, your mother's cooking is very good. I quite enjoy the reindeer sausage she makes. In fact, I look forward to it every month I go to visit Iceland."

The moment Berengar said the word Iceland, a sudden understanding washed over the room. However, it only created more questions. While Berengar had informed his wives that he did in fact have another lover in Iceland, he had never quite explained that she had a teenage daughter. Thus, they were quite confused about why a fully grown woman was calling their husband by the term "father."

However, not one of them dared to ask, as Berengar had not bothered to explain the situation until now, and thus they felt it was not their place to pry into his personal matters while he was abroad. Still, this girl had come to their home, and they felt like they were deserving of an answer. Luckily for Linde, Adela, and Honoria, Henrietta finally asked the question that was on all of their minds.

"Big brother, she calls you "father" but as far as I know you did not visit Iceland until only a few years ago, how is it possible that this woman is your daughter? Isn't she too old?"

Berengar responded to his little sister's question with a wide smile on his face, as he happily explained the situation that all of his wives were too fearful to ask.

"Oh, it is very simple. Siv is my stepdaughter, we are not related by blood. Her mother is one of my women, and because Siv never knew her biological father very well, she has taken quite a liking to me. And yes boys, that means if you are able to win her heart, you can marry her."

Siv nearly choked on her breakfast sausage when she heard her father say these words. However, immediately after recovering, she noticed that several of Berengar's sons were looking at her in ways she was not experienced to.

After all, she was a foreign beauty, and quite exotic at that. Few human beings possessed her features if any, and that was because the girl was half-valkyrie. In the eyes of several of Berengar's son, including Lukas, she was the most beautiful thing they had ever laid eyes on, and that included both their mothers and sisters who were all top tier beauties in their own rights.

If there was anyone at the table who was not happy with Siv's appearance in the house, it was Berengar's many daughters. All of them competed regularly with one another for their father's affection, and now they had another contender to deal with. One who could very well win their father's loves in ways they could not by virtue of not being related by blood.

Perhaps most displeased of all was Zara, who had always been known throughout the house as Berengar's favorite daughter, not only was she still being punished for sneaking into the man's war room, and commandeering his satellites, but now her beloved father way paying more attention to another girl who claimed to be one of his daughters.

As a result, the arabic beauty pouted at the dining table, and glowered towards Siv, which was something that the Icelandic bombshell did not take notice of. Katherine, however, did in fact notice Zara's displeasure and further added salt into the girl's wound, while snacking on her omelette with the grace of a princess.

"Oh, by the way Zara, I heard that kickboxer you are so fond if is having a major fight this Friday night. If he wins, he will become the number one contender in the middleweight division! What was his name again.... Oh that's right! Brandt Zehntner!"

Zara blushed when she heard the kickboxers' name. In a way, Brandt was her celebrity crush. He was a rising star in the Middleweight division of the world's largest kickboxing promotion. The man was undefeated throughout the entirety of his career and had won every fight via a knockout or technical knockout.

Brandt was particularly famous not only for his aggressive fighting style, and exceptional power, but also because he was both young and a relatively handsome man, more so than anyone else in the sport. He had also come from an impoverished family in the Lindeheim Colonies, thus giving him a reputation for being an underdog, something which most people found appealing in a prospective champion.

Zara snuck a glance at her father to see if the man had seen her coquettish reaction, and only pouted further when she realized her father had not once looked in her direction. As a resort, she responded to Katherine's remark with a rather crass tone in her voice.

"It is a shame that Zara won't be able to watch it. Daddy is still punishing Zara for helping out her big brother. But Zara knows that Brandt will emerge victorious, like he always does!

So Zara can only support him in her heart!"

Katherine was slightly dismayed that her taunt did not cause her half-sister to have an outburst. Though Berengar had spent the last five years making up to Katherine and her siblings for his rather poor parenting, she knew that Zara was still his favorite daughter. This was something that Katherine had a hard time coming to terms with, and as a result, she kept pestering Zara whenever she got the chance.

As for Berengar, he did not pay the slightest bit of attention to the dispute between his two daughters, instead he focused entirely on Siv while ensuring that the girl enjoyed her breakfast. This was, of course, until Zara realized that her father was so preoccupied with the newcomer that she might be able to coerce the man into ending her punishment early.

Thus, a pleading look formed on Zara's face as she addressed her father, who was not really paying attention to her.

"Daddy, Zara was wondering if you might make an exception in her punishment for Friday night? It has already been so long since daddy first punished Zara, and Zara has been a good girl since! Won't you please let Zara watch the fight this Friday night?" '

Katherine simply scoffed and wore a conceited smile when she saw that her half-sister had already become so desperate at the slight mention of that pathetic meathead's name and was just about to mock the girl when Berengar responded.

"Sure Zara, go ahead. Anyway, Siv, how was your journey to the Reich? You did not encounter any trouble on the way here, did you?"

While Siv was explaining the difficulties that she had endured when she decided to stowaway onboard a german fishing boat, Katherine was gawking like an idiot. She could not believe that Zara had seriously just managed to manipulate their father in such a crude manner. The girl was just about to speak up and protest when Zara stuck out her tongue and held up her left hand with a sign of victory.

Such a thing infuriated Katherine to no end. She had accidentally ended up helping Zara get out of her punishment. Even if she did want to protest now, it would do no good. Her father was too busy paying attention to the newcomer. Thus, she could only eat in silence, while the rest of her siblings chatted among themselves in their own cliques.

If you're not reading this on Webnovel, consider supporting me by donating at https://ko-fi.com/zentmeister