Tyranny of Steel

After dining with Linde and Henrietta, Berengar was finally able to relax, as such he sat in front of the fireplace as the evening came and went, drinking wine from his skull chalice, the more he drank, the more intoxicated he became until finally, he started speaking to his goblet as if he were speaking to his brother himself.

"Lambert, my little brother, why do you hate me to such a degree that you must attempt to end my life and usurp my title?"

Though Berengar had roughly heard about the reason for Lambert's actions during their duel at Obserdoft and could slightly sympathize with him, after all, if he was in the boy's position and had an older brother like Berengar from before his reincarnation, he too would have plotted against such a fool. Yet to Berengar, Lambert's actions were unforgivable, mainly because he continued to engage in such behavior after Berengar had proven himself capable of leading the House to greater power and prosperity.

Obviously, the chalice made from Lambert's skull did not reply to Berengar's question. Meanwhile, Linde had walked in and observed Berengar's drunken conversation with the inanimate object, and as such, she quickly approached him and grabbed the chalice from his hands as he attempted to take another swig.

"I think you have had enough, master..."

Gazing at Linde's worried expression and the look in which the skull chalice was giving him, Berengar merely chuckled before allowing Linde to snatch his goblet away from his grasp; the young Count voiced his support for his lover's actions as he struggled to get to his feet while leaning on Linde for support.

"You are probably right..."

After finding his balance, Berengar slowly followed Linde to their room, where she helped him get undressed and into bed, shortly thereafter she followed suit. Berengar was too drunk to fulfill his promise earlier in the day, and because of that, the young beauty pouted. Nevertheless, she found comfort in the act of cuddling in the arms of her lover as the two drifted to sleep. Before long the light of dawn shone through the window, and Berengar awoke from his drunken stupor, miraculously he did not have a hangover which he was thankful to Dionysus for such a result. He commonly found himself thanking the old pagan gods whenever something good happened to him related to their mastery. It was a lighthearted joke, and obviously something he kept to himself. As an atheist, he did not truly believe in his jests.

However, when he gazed at the unsatisfied expression on Linde's sleeping face, he realized that he had failed to fulfill his promise. As such a wicked smile appeared on his face as a sinister plot formed in his mind. However, before he could begin to enact such a thing, Berengar heard the infant cries of Hans in the other room, and Linde's maternal instincts took over with her sky blue eyes instantly opening and her head is rising from her pillow.

Seeing her bare body glistening in the light of dawn, Berengar wanted to pounce on the mother of his child then and there. Still, unfortunately for him, she was too focused on their son and his cries as such; she quickly got out of bed and dressed in her nightgown before leaving Berengar to pout like a child who had just been denied his favorite toy. Seeing that he no longer had the opportunity to fool around with Linde this morning, Berengar too got out of bed and dressed in his loose-fitting athletic attire before beginning his daily routine.

After doing his morning run, pushups, situps, squats, and pullups, Berengar began lifting weights before training in swordsmanship. Now that his right eye was no longer usable, his combat prowess was greatly diminished, especially since he had been forced to retrain himself in using his off-hand. After all, without the use of his dominant eye, to oversee the use of his dominant hand, fighting with his right hand was merely asking for trouble. As such, he was once more thoroughly thrashed in his sparring session with one of the Knights under his command.

However, Berengar was a persistent man, and he would not give up until he was once more adequate in using the sword. However, he would not be leading any charges on the battlefield until then and would merely stay at the rear and allow his soldiers to fight for him. The idea of which greatly wounded his pride as he thought about it. Nevertheless, that was the price to pay for his arrogance. As such, he spent his bath time greatly reflecting on the foolish actions of his past, the results of which were brought upon by his growing ego.

After getting out of his bath and fulfilling his other basic hygiene requirements, Berengar ate breakfast with his family. Ultimately the meal was uneventful, and nothing of importance was discussed; as such, Berengar soon found himself thrust into his work where he mainly oversaw the approval of budget concerns enacted by the House of Lords. Now that he had capable and loyal men leading the charge in his reforms, Berengar had little to micromanage and thus had a much larger degree of spare time than he had in the past when he had to lead the efforts in every small thing.

Eventually, a peculiar file found its way to his desk, which was for the approval of the appointment of a member of the House of Lords, a man with which Berengar had spent much time in the past, but lately had left to his own devices. Gunther, the reputable farmer who had helped him implement his agricultural reforms in their early stages, was voted into the House of Commons by the standard population capable of voting, which was still very few at this point in time. He had greatly embraced education and spent a significant degree of his spare time educating himself on various topics. Seeing that he passed the test that was established to determine one's ability to vote and the other exam that determined one's ability to hold a position of political office, Berengar had no complaints in approving his appointment.

During one of the previous amendments to the Constitution of Tyrol, Berengar had amended his constitutional powers to allow the ability to accept a nominee onto the House of Lords and the House of Commons to reside with the Head of State. Even though the ordinary people and the Lords could vote on their representatives, assuming that they had passed the minimum standard of education to do so, and the other constitutional requirements, it was still not a guarantee that elected person would fulfill the position, ultimately the power to choose who represented the people still rested with Berengar.

For example, he would never approve someone into a position of power who was antagonistic to his and his family's interests. Nor would he support someone with a track record of sheer incompetency or corruption. Sometimes the people did not know what was best for Society, and it was at that point a Monarch must step in to prevent the foolishness of said people from harming the Nation.

However, Berengar had no complaints with Gunther. The man was quite intelligent for someone born into the position of a serf. He had also proven his competency in the initial stages of Berengar's agricultural reforms. Now that he was fairly educated, he was the perfect representative for the common people; As such, Berengar quickly signed his approval to the document before moving on to the next candidate.

After getting through a list of potential candidates to fill the vacant seats in both parliamentary branches, Berengar had rejected over 75% of them. Mainly due to the lack of ability they had demonstrated in their respective fields. As such, the Parliamentary system was still largely unfilled. Yet, it was beginning to take shape, and as such, Berengar's workload thoroughly decreased with each passing day. Still, Berengar had plenty of documents to read through and sign, and as such, he spent the rest of his day doing such a thing.

By the time he had finished with his day's work, it was well past the dinner hour. He had once more missed the occasion to dine with his family. Nevertheless, Berengar quickly got up from his seat, in which he had been sitting in all day for the most part, and headed to the kitchen for a meal. Where he dined by his lonesome before returning to his room. Much to his surprise, Linde was waiting for him, completely naked and lying on his bed with a lustful smile on her face while showing off her alluring figure. Berengar quickly shut the door behind him as he entered the room, and Linde beckoned for him to join her as she stated the words.

"It is time to fulfill your promise!"

An eager smile appeared on Berengar's face as he stripped out of his luxurious clothing and pounced on his lover; he had been waiting for this all day. The couple spent the rest of their waking hours making love, where Berengar was exceptionally careful not to get her pregnant. After all, they already had one child, and Linde was still young, with many years of fertility to come. It was best not to rush such things. With this, Berengar ended endured a typical day in his routine as the Count of Tyrol.