Tyranny of Steel

While Berengar continued to work on his efforts to reconstruct the Japanese Empire from the ground up, he did not entirely forsake his responsibilities back in Kufstein. As a result, he had flown to the fatherland, in order to get caught up on what had been going on in his absence.

Immediately after landing in the Airport and travelling back to the palace via an armored car. Berengar was greeted by his family. However, before any of his wives could properly welcome their husband home, the scream of a young girl filled the air as Zara ran up and jumped into her father's arms.

"Daddy's home!"

Berengar smiled and lifted his young daughter into the air, while kissing her forehead. The girl blushed and looked away in embarrassment as her father asked her a question she could not answer truthfully.

"Has Zara been a good girl while daddy was away?"

The look on the young girl's face proved to Berengar that she had indeed been misbehaving herself, which was clarified the moment Yasmin stepped into the room and laid eyes upon her absent husband. 

"She most certainly has not been a good girl! Every week, she throws a tantrum over some minor occurrence. I hate to say it dear, but your children need you to be a father to them, and these long-term visits to Japan are starting to take a toll on our family..." 

An expression of guilt appeared on Zara's face as her father shook his head in disappointment. Berengar was quick to lecture the girl and her mother on the importance of his current mission. 

"Zara, you are old enough now that you should not be throwing tantrums simply because I am away on business for a few months. The work I am doing in Japan is critical to the continued success of our family's empire.

I promsie you, I will only be gone for a few months longer, and then everything will be back to normal. You need to behave yourself, or I will begin restricting your access to the test site which I had commissioned for you." 

Chills went down Zara's spine after hearing her father's threat. Though she began to pout, she did not say a word in her defense, knowing that she had indeed been misbehaving and quite deliberately at that.  After seeing the girl finally understand his meaning, Berengar smiled, and was quick to pet her hair. 

"Give daddy a few minutes to rest, and then you can show me the progress you have made on your rockets. Does that sound good?" 

Zara had indeed made great progress over the past eight months on her rocket designs and had wanted to show her father just how much she had improved since he initially gifted her a fully staffed testing facility to work on her projects.  Thus, she smiled and hugged her father while holding him accountable to the promise he just made. 

"Remember your promise to Zara!"

After saying this, the girl scurried off and allowed her father to reconnect with her mother. Yasmin shook her head and clicked her tongue in disappointment at Berengar's actions before scolding him for his leniency. 

"You are spoiling the girl! If you keep this up, she will never learn how to properly behave herself!" 

However, Berengar simply scoffed at this remark while pulling the Moorish beauty into his arms. He began to kiss her neck passionately while speaking about their eldest daughter. 

"Oh please, Zara is more intelligent than either of us. She knows exactly what she is doing. Now that a proper threat has been established, it should deter the girl from acting out when I am away. Besides, I am quite serious about witnessing the progress that my little girl has made while I have been away. How about you fetch us both a glass of wine, so we can enjoy ourselves for a while in the gardens, before I fulfill my promise to the girl?" 

Yasmin simply rolled her eyes at this comment before responding with a reminder to her husband about her faith. 

"You know I don't drink... I will fetch you a glass of wine, if that is what you desire, but I will not partake myself..." 

A simple chuckle emerged from Berengar's lips as he brought his luggage further into the building before joining Yasmin for a drink in the gardens. Time had passed so quickly that Berengar had not had a proper opportunity to register that it was already a new year.

Yet, standing in the alpine gardens of the Kufstein Palace, he could not help but take in the fresh air of spring while enjoying a glass of wine.  Yasmin could not help but gaze upon the haggard appearance that her husband had taken since first returning from Japan and was quick to give him a back message while expressing her worry. 

"I don't mean to sound rude, but you honestly look like shit. Just how hard are you working over there? Please tell me that at the very least, you are resting properly?"

Despite Berengar's exhausted appearance, he was still as playful as ever, thus he feigned offense while assuring his wife that he was indeed alright. 

"Pfft, you sound just like Ai. Always complaining about how I don't get enough sleep. Believe me, I am far better off now than I was a month ago!" 

Berengar had not even realized that he so casually used the name Ai when referring to Itami, but just because he was oblivious to this fact, that did not mean Yasmin did not pick up on it. Her brow raised slightly as her hands suddenly halted their message.

"Ai? Hold on a minute, I know I have heard that name before..." 

Immediately, the cogs began turning in Yasmin's mind until her bright amber eyes suddenly shone with a new light of understanding. She slowly backed away from Berengar and covered her gaping mouth in an act of disbelief as she voiced her thoughts aloud. 

"Ai? As in Mizuno Ai? The girl from your past life? Don't tell me that Itami is actually-"

Before Yasmin could finish voicing her thoughts, Berengar sighed in defeat while nodding his head, thus confirming that she was indeed correct in her assumption. 

"I have been meaning to tell the lot of you for some time, but yes, Itami Riyo is also Mizuno Ai. I found out the truth about her identity on our wedding night." 

Though Yasmin had a hard time believing that such an improbable thing was indeed reality, she could tell by the tone in her husband's voice that he was not lying. Thus, Yasmin looked away with a hint of sorrow in her eyes before speaking her mind. 

"So that is why you rarely return home these days... You have been making up for lost time with Ai... It all makes sense now."

Berengar sensed that a misunderstanding was forming in Yasmin's mind, and was quick to counter it with a proper defense of his actions.

"No, that's not it! I have genuinely been busy helping to restore Japan. As a result of the war, the nation was in such dire straits that Ai alone could not save it. Thus, I have been working 16-hour shifts trying to get Japan back on the right track. I promised Ai that I would help her for a year, and by the time I returned to the Reich, she would be able to manage things on her own.

While it has been nice reconnecting with Ai, that has not been my primary focus. Everything I have done during these past eight months has been for the sake of stabilizing the region, and ensuring that nothing important is leaked to other countries. 

Once I can safely say that Japan is on the right track to total recovery, and that my personal assistance is no longer required, I will move back to the Reich full-time, and visit Japan once a month like I do to Iceland. You have my word!"

Yasmin sighed heavily once she had heard Berengar's reasoning. Though it sounded like the man was making excuses for his actions, his word was ultimately worth more than gold, and thus, she would trust him to fulfill his promise. However, after accidentally learning the truth behind Berengar's relationship with Itami, Yasmin was now faced with further difficulties, which she was quick to voice her frustration over. 

"Alright, I will trust in your judgement. However, now that I know the truth about you and Itami, I feel as if I have an entirely new burden to worry about. Why you have kept something so important a secret from the rest of us? I do not know, but I am sure you have your reasons.

However, the fact that I know now this secret leads me with two options: I can either maintain my silence on the subject, or inform the others. Personally, I feel it is best if you make the decision on on how to proceed. Whatever you tell me to do about this whole ordeal, I will obey."

Berengar smiled when he heard that Yasmin would not turn him in. He could always trust on the woman's loyalty. Thus, he wrapped his arms around her neck and kissed her gently on the lips before responding to her request.

"Let me tell the others when the time is right. For now, let us keep this little secret between the two of us."

Yasmin remained silent as she silently nodded her head in agreement. Now that such a trivial matter had been temporarily resolved Berengar decided to shift his mind to more pressing concerns. As if all the exhuastion he previously felt had miraculously been stripped from his body, the man smiled while dragging his wife towards the nearest door. There was a look of excitement on his face as he expressed his intentions aloud. 

"Now where is our daughter? I am sure she has something spectacular to show me!"

With that said, Berengar led his wife, Yasmin, in search of their eldest daughter, who was waiting patiently in her room for her father's arrival. 

---

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