Tyranny of Steel

The world was rapidly changing, as the major empires, which were now ruled by the sons of Berengar, began expanding their borders through military conquest. However, some of these empires simply did not have much room to expand to, due to the nature of their geographical position.

India, for example, was smack dab in the middle of the Byzantine Empire, and the Ming Dynasty, whose sovereignty Berengar was respecting for the time being. Leaving them with no chance to expand, not that they really needed to.

However, after Arun came of age, and decided to marry the Princess of the Ayutthaya Kingdom to cement their relationship as Suzerain and Vassal, he was shocked to find that his request for betrothal had been rejected by the Thai King.

Thus, at the moment Emperor Arun Tomara was sitting in the Ayutthaya Kingdom's capital, with a small troop of his personal bodyguards, and the Ayutthaya King himself. There was a stern look on the middle-aged man's face as he shook his head and declined Arun's most generous offer yet again.

"With all due respect, Emperor Tomara, it is not a matter of payment which I find sufficient for my daughter's hand in marriage. However, it is the bloodline which you descend from that I find so troublesome... I would never permit a member of my dynasty to marry a bastard, even one as powerful as yourself..."

This was perhaps the first time in his entire life that Arun had been openly referred to by such a disrespectful term. Technically, he was a bastard, as his mother was only a mere concubine of his esteemed father.

Yet Berengar treated all his children equally, so much so, that the idea that anyone would think less of him, simply because his mother was a concubine, filled the young Emperor with rage. So much so that he stood up from his seat and smacked the solid gold table with the palm of his hand.

"What did you just call me? Where do you get the nerve to speak to your Suzerain in such a manner?"

Contrary to what Arun was expecting, his intimidating display did not have the slightest effect on the Thai King who simply scoffed in disdain at his Suzerain's remarks, before once more reiterating the troubling nature of the man's heritage.

"What did I say that was inaccurate, which could possibly cause you offense? Your parents are not married, and you have only managed to obtain your throne because your uncle left no heirs to speak of after his untimely death.

Dharya was a man who understood respect and how to wield it properly. You are a boy who has not done anything to deserve my respect, and because of this, I will speak the truth where I see it. A bastard, no matter how respectable his father may be, is still a bastard, and my precious daughters are too good to be married to an illegitimate ruler like yourself."

Arun could only gnash his teeth in rage as he heard such disrespectful words, before voicing his intent clearly to the Thai King who was technically his subordinate.

"Such words could be considered treason. Do you intend to rebel against me?"

There was a cold look on the man's face as he shook his head, and in doing so, revealed his thoughts to the Indian Emperor.

"You have my loyalty, as I simply have no alternative to seek protection from. But you do not have my respect. The Tomara Dynasty is dead, because there are no legitimate heirs left to sit upon the throne. The only reason your people have not rebelled against you is because they fear the power that the Germans wield, and they are a particularly violent race who would stop at nothing to cement their rule over this world.

So, no, I do not intend to rebel against the Indian Empire, even if the legitimate dynasty died with your uncle. But you will never take one of my daughters as your wife, let alone multiple. I have shown you enough courtesy by entertaining you in my home, but I believe I have reached my limits. Be gone from my real, and do not return again. Because the next time I see you at my palace's gates, I will not open them for you."

Arun had suffered the ultimate humiliation from a man who was supposed to be his servant and was naturally outraged. Thus, after returning to the capital of his Empire, he got on the phone and dialed his father, who at the moment was making love to his mother.

It took Arun several attempts to get into contact with his father, and when he finally did, he heard a rather irritated tone in the man's voice.

"What is it? I'm busy, so make it quick!"

Naturally Arun could hear his mother's moans of ecstasy on the other end of the lien, and thus he sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose, as he struggled to cope with his father's never ending lust, before finally voicing his concerns.

The moment Berengar heard that the Ayutthaya King had dared to disrespect his son, he said one simple phrase before hanging up without waiting for a response.

"I will call you back in a few minutes..."

Sure enough, the phone rang fifteen minutes later, no doubt after Berengar had finished fucking Priya, where Arun then heard a far more relaxed tone in his father's voice.

"Alright, tell me in detail exactly what this little prick said to you."

Arun then summarized the meeting he had with the Ayutthaya King, before he heard a tone of scorn in his father's voice as the man responded. But it was not towards the disrespectful monarch, but towards Arun himself.

"And you just let that fucker speak to you like that? I mean, you had armed guards with you, right? Men with machine guns? What exactly was that feudal prick going to do if you just started blasting? Son, you have the same weakness as your uncle. He relied on me to get his throne back and maintain his power. And though I loved the man as if he was my own son, I expect better from my actual blood. I thought I have told you this before, but in case I haven't remembered these words, my son: Nobody in this world ever freely gives you any respect, you have to take it!

The answer to your problems is really simple, our bloodline can never be disrespected by an outsider. So raise that army of yours, which I have invested so much into over the years, and teach that little fucker a lesson of obedience. It is unwise to tolerate a vassal who blatantly disrespects you to your face, sooner or later he will turn on you. It is better to put that bastard in his place now, before it comes to such a thing.

Never forget, son, no matter what the world may say about your lineage, you are my son, and I have done enough in this life to ensure that you receive the respect that you deserve.

And if an outsider dares to speak to you with disrespect, then you force him to curb his tone. Understood?"

Arun was slightly surprised that his father's first thought was to start a military conflict over such a petty matter, but when he thought about it, the man's entire history was forcing the world to bend to his knee via violence and bloodshed. Something he alone managed to achieve in human history.

After thinking about this, Arun sighed heavily, before nodding his head. He then responded to his father's words with a newfound determination.

"I will do what is necessary. Thank you father, I have learned a lot from this chat of ours."

A slight chuckle emerged from the other end of the line as Berengar said the words that his son wanted to hear the most.

"Any time son, now if you don't need anything else, I have to get back to my erm... work. I will talk to you later, and when I do, I hope to see some results with this little problem of ours..."

Arun smiled and nodded his head, before hanging up the phone, but not after leaving one last sentence behind for his father to hear.

"Thanks, Dad. I will remember your words for the rest of my life."

After hanging up the phone, Arun's gaze turned towards the globe, where he saw the Ayutthaya Kingdom lying next to his Empire as a mere vassal state. Berengar was right, respect is earned in this life, and more often than not through the spilling of blood.

Thus, the Thai King may not have realized it, when he so blatantly disrespected a scion of the Great Kaiser Berengar von Kufstein, but he had just signed a one-way ticket to hell for himself and his people.

I wanted to thank you all for supporting Tyranny of Steel up to this point. From here on out, until the very end of the novel, updates are going to be less frequent with one chapter a day. Instead, I would like to invite all of you to read my new novel Interstellar Age, at https://www.webnovel.com/book/interstellar-age_ 26235247006730205

Which will be receiving my primary attention from here on out. Thank you all for the support you have shown me, and I look forward to writing novels for you all for years to come!