Tyranny of Steel

Months had passed since that fateful day when Berengar entered into a relationship with his sister in secret, and things had become normal once more. Though he worked tirelessly behind the scenes to find an appropriate suitor for Henrietta, it was not as easy as he was initially led to believe.

Due to his fearsome reputation as a conqueror and a man with a severe sister complex, it was difficult to find any man worthy of his sister who had the stones to pursue the Austrian Princess. Thus at the moment, he was overseeing various dossiers compiled by Linde on men of high nobility or merit who could be considered acceptable suitors for Henrietta.

However, as he was glancing over these documents, a slight knock resounded upon the thick wooden door, interrupting his studies. Thus the young monarch elected to take a short break as he looked over at the intrusion before replying to the person whose identity was concealed on the other side of the door.

"What is it?"

Immediately he heard a somewhat irritated yet feminine voice behind the door, who he knew to belong to none other than his Second Wife, Linde.

"Master, your parents are here..."

Immediately Berengar rose from his seat before approaching the door; upon opening it, he witnessed the captivating sight of his beautiful redheaded bride. She was not very happy with her in-law's arrival, and Berengar did not blame her; after all, his mother had treated her quite cruelly in the past, and since their marriage, things had not gotten any better. Thus without hesitation, Berengar assumed his role as mediator between the two women and gave his wife an order.

"Lead the way!"

Linde nodded silently before leading her husband to the Dining Hall, where the entire family was gathered. An awkward silence prevailed in the room, aside from the sound of Sieghard speaking with Yasmin about how she had come to marry his son in secret.

"I have honestly never found tan skin to be attractive myself, but I must say you are gorgeous! My son is a lucky man to have a Moorish Princess as another one of his brides!"

Immediately upon saying this, Gisela glared at her husband, while she was playing with Adela's twins. She could not believe that the man supported their son's outlandish behavior. As far as she was concerned, Berengar had one wife, her niece.

Eventually, she noticed her son's arrival and glared at him menacingly as he entered the room. Though Berengar had no idea what he had done to invoke his mother's ire this time, he was glad to see that she at least remained civil with his various brides. Thus the Austrian King put on a broad smile as he greeted his parents, whom he had not seen in some time.

"Father, Mother, it is good to see you here in my home! I assume you are here to visit your grandchildren?"

Immediately Gisela handed off the twins to their mother before she approached her son and grabbed ahold of his ears as she yanked on it with force. The moment she did so, Berengar winced in pain as she began to rebuke him for his actions.

"You little bastard! You end up having children with your wife, and you don't even write a letter to inform us! I had to find out via the local newspaper, and they are far behind on the Capital's events! The next time you and your wife have children, you write me a letter ASAP. Do you understand me?"

Upon saying this small rant, the woman let go of her grasp over her son's ear, resulting in the young King rubbing it with a pained expression. He silently nodded his head in response to his mother's harsh words.

"Yes, mother..."

Upon witnessing this interaction, Henrietta smiled and giggled; no matter how powerful her precious big brother became, he would always react the same around their mother. It was good to know that though he had grown more ambitious with his ever-increasing power, fundamentally, he was still the same kind and caring big brother she had always known and loved.

As for Berengar's brides had mixed expressions; they noticed how the old Baroness had used the term "wife" rather than "wives" and were less than pleased with her assertion. Despite this, Adela walked over to her Aunt, with the twins in her arms, and smiled.

"Aunty Gisela, it is always nice to see you!"

The two women appeared to be on better terms than all the others, including the mother and daughter. Henrietta bit her lip as she witnessed her cousin getting along with her mother. She was not exactly on the best terms with her parents after they moved to the countryside and left her in the care of her brother all those years ago.

Upon seeing the awkward display, Berengar decided to get involved; as such, he approached his wife and mother and hugged the two of them before trying to soothe the tensions between them, his other wives, and his sister.

"Mother, it is good to see you. Have you said hello to Henrietta yet? She has grown into quite the beautiful young woman in your absence!"

Truthfully Gisela did not even notice her daughter sitting quietly at the table; she had been too enamored with her niece and the two twins. Thus when Berengar said these words, she gazed over at Henrietta and was stunned by how much she had grown.

"Henrietta? Is that you?"

The young Princess glared at her mother as she called out to her. It was clear from her expression some serious issues had to be worked out in their relationship. As such, she stood up from her spot and approached her mother, however when she came close, she veered away from her mother and latched onto Berengar's arm before making a spiteful remark.

"Big brother, who is this woman? I don't recall ever seeing her before!"

The moment she said this, Gisela's expression sank, and Adela became visibly enraged at her cousin's behavior. As for Berengar's other wives, they began to giggle; it served the woman right for treating them like they were nothing more than their husband's mistresses.  Berengar immediately flicked his sister on the nose before scolding her in front of everyone.

"Henrietta, behave yourself!"

After saying this, he looked over at his mother and apologized on his sister's behalf, which immediately caused the girl to pout.

"I'm sorry, mother, though Henrietta is now of age to marry, she is still a bit immature..."

Immediately Gisela frowned at Berengar before scolding him.

"Whose fault do you think that is? My baby girl is already sixteen, and you have not even found her a man. If I knew you were going to neglect her, I wouldn't have left her in your care!"

Berengar struggled to maintain his smile as he listened to his mother's harsh words; though he wanted to criticize her for abandoning Henrietta to his care, he chose not to do so. However, in the next moment, before he could smooth things over, Henrietta took the opportunity to enrage her mother further.

"What do you mean? Big brother is my man!"

After saying this, Henrietta pecked her brother on the cheek in front of everyone; the moment she did so, everyone was shocked, including Berengar. After hearing this, he flicked his sister on the forehead once more before lecturing her on her behavior.

"Not funny!"

In response to this, Henrietta stuck out her tongue as if she were joking the whole time; she knew she could not reveal the secret relationship she had with her brother. Thus the moment she did so, everybody present sighed in relief; Gisela nearly had a heart attack from this announcement.

Therefore when she finally recovered, she felt the need to slap her daughter; clearly, Berengar had failed as her guardian. As she raised her hand to do so, Berengar caught ahold of her wrist and glared at his mother before speaking coldly to her.

"No offense, mother, but the moment you abandoned Henrietta to my care, you forfeit any parenting rights you may have; disciplining my sister for her errant behavior is my responsibility, not yours!"

Sieghard gazed upon his wife and children with a stoic gesture; it was confirmed that he had abandoned them to focus on his health, but his wife was taking things too far. Thus, he intervened in the conflict before it escalated any further.

"Leave the kids be, Dear. So the girl has a bit of a mischievous streak in her, that will disappear in time. I'm sure our son has done a wonderful job raising our daughter. Now, how about we all get something nice to eat and come together as a family."

With that said, the tensions were eased, and the family began to sit down at the table for a nice meal. Though Sieghard had defused the timebomb that was his familial relations, for now, it would not take much to set off at least one of the many women present. Thus Berengar and his father would have to navigate through the following lunch perfectly to avoid any future conflict.

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