Tyranny of Steel

Berengar sat within the confines of his office while holding a cup of coffee in one hand and a status report in the other. His office was clean and tidy, as per usual. Berengar was an incredibly organized man. In his mind, everything had its place, and to disrupt this order would cause him mental anguish.

An example of this was the mountain of paperwork that was neatly stacked on the side of his desk. Every morning, a page would come in and unload a pile of paperwork onto this exact corner. If it was placed anywhere else, Berengar would have an aneurysm and would be compelled by his own mind to put the stack of paper in its proper place before getting to work for the day. 

Naturally, there was also a small coaster within his reach that acted as the house of his coffee mug. After taking a sip of the brew, Berengar smiled before placing the mug down in its proper place. He was reading over a document which was a report by the Gunther Merchant company about the ongoing progress of the Colony they had established in what was Cuba of his past life.  While he was reading this report, a knock resounded on the door. Berengar calmly placed the paper on the top of the stack before answering the intrusion.

"You may enter..."

After saying this, the door opened to reveal the petite figure of Berengar's first wife, Adela. Berengar smiled when he saw the woman approach him. That is until she spoke of what was concerning her.

"Berengar, we need to talk about my sister Ava...'

Berengar had a single fond memory of Ava, and that was when he walked in on the woman's bath and saw her impressive bosom. However, in his experience, the woman was an enormous pain in the ass. The only reason he had allowed the bitch to take care of his children while he was away on his honeymoon was because Adela had insisted upon it. Though she performed her duties well, the woman's actions only slightly improved Berengar's impression of her. Thus, he sighed heavily before asking his wife to cut to the chase.

"What happened to the poor woman this time?"

Adela had a bitter smile on her face. It said a lot about Ava's character that Berengar would automatically assume that the woman had caused some kind of incident and was now requesting help from her little sister. Though Adela didn't disagree with this presumption, she was quick to correct her husband and speak up on her sister's behalf. 

"Apparently Ava's husband, Wolfgang, said something to upset father, and so he kicked the two of them out. He offered to look after the children, but Ava refused to be separated from her kids. She hasn't come asking for me for help just yet, but I decided to ask you for help on her behalf. Surely we have enough space to look after her family until they get back on their feet."

Berengar sighed heavily as he heard these words. He did not want to deal with the burden of looking after Ava and her family. Adela could see the hesitation on his face, and quickly tried to speak up on her sister's behalf once more.

"It won't be for long, besides what would the people say if they knew the great Kaiser of Germany turned away his nieces and nephews? Do you really want to be known as the monarch who abandoned his family to the streets?"

The bitter expression on Berengar's face grew worse as he heard Adela try to guilt trip him into accepting. He was about to speak up about his misgivings when Adela became flustered with his behavior. In the heat of the moment, she said something she shouldn't have.

"Is this because of your past engagement with my sister? You never speak about it, but it is clearly affecting your reasoning whenever my sister comes into conversation. Are you really not over her after all these years?"

Berengar was dumbfounded when he heard this. He had no memories of being engaged to Ava and looked at his wife as if she were a madwoman. He only had one question on his mind, which he was quick to voice.

"Adela... What the hell are you talking about?"

It was at this moment, when Adela gazed on Berengar's confused expression, that she realized he did not remember the past at all. She immediately cursed herself in her own mind for bringing up a topic that had internally bothered her for some time, without knowing how her husband felt about the matter. Thus, she was quick to deflect the issue.

"I... It's nothing. Forget I said anything."

She was about to leave the room to avoid explaining her previous question when Berengar grabbed hold of the girl's wrist and forced her to face him. He had a stern expression on his face as he spoke with authority.

"Adela... What do you know?"

Upon realizing that she had dug her own grave, Adela sighed heavily before taking a seat in front of Berengar's desk. She crossed her arms and legs before informing Berengar about the past that he did not remember.

"You seriously don't know? Here I thought you were just ignoring it... When you were a kid, my parents engaged my elder sister to you, in the hopes that you would one day succeed your father and they could manipulate you into giving up the iron resources of Kufstein to them. Of course, that's also the reason they had us engaged later on.

There were times where you would visit Graz and have play dates with Ava. As the years passed, your condition worsened and by the time Ava was nearing the age of marriage, she was convinced you were going to die soon. So she persuaded our parents to marry her off to the heir of a count. Ultimately, our parents broke the agreement with yours and married her off to Wolfgang von Salzburg. The rest you remember clearly."

It shocked Berengar to hear all of this. He truly had no recollection of it. Though he now understood why, Adela seemed frustrated with his hesitancy. He calmed himself with a deep breath before explaining his thought process to Adela.

"I honestly don't remember any of that. However, what I will say about my hesitancy regarding this matter is that your sister annoys the hell out of me. It is that simple. I don't know where you got the notion in your pretty little head, but I assure you there is nothing between me and Ava, and there never will be.

As for her husband, he is the type of man to seriously make me consider capital punishment as a viable option for dealing with stupidity. If the two of them were to live here for any extended period, I feel like my days would become much more tiresome."

Adela bowed her head after hearing Berengar's reasoning. It turned out that he just hated the couple's personalities and didn't want to be bothered to deal with them. Because of this, she found a sense of hope as she made a promise that she ultimately could not keep. 

"I swear, neither Ava nor Wolfgang will approach you without your consent while they stay here. I will even make sure your office is off limits so you can have a space away from them if they become too much. Please, it won't be for long. Let my sister and her family stay here until they can get back on their feet!"

Adela's willingness to go so far for a sister she despised perplexed Berengar. He simply could not contain his thoughts on the matter any longer and thus voiced them allowed.

"Adela... Why the hell do you care? I thought you hated your sister?"

Adela sighed heavily as she admitted the truth of the matter to her husband.

"I did hate her for a long time, actually... However, things have changed between us. We are slowly becoming more cordial, and I want to help her get her life on track. I feel bad for her. She married such an incompetent dullard who keeps ruining her life.

If you were to ask me a few years ago if I would ever bother to help her, I would have immediately responded with a "fat chance". However, ever since Ava proved to me that she could be trusted by taking care of our children while we were away. We have been meeting regularly and slowly have been hashing out our differences. I now firmly believe it is my duty as a sister to help her now that she truly needs it." 

Berengar could feel the passion in Adela's speech, and as such, he felt he had no choice but to agree to her request. He sighed heavily as he sat back in his chair and contemplated on the issue in silence for several minutes. During this period Adela became ever more depressed, expecting Berengar to deny her, despite how much she truly believed in this. Ultimately, he shocked her when he finally spoke.

"Fine... But if anything happens, I'm not to be blamed for it. This is my house, and if they think they can treat it as their own, they are sorely mistaken. Ava and her family will be our guests until you can help her back on his feet. However, make no mistake, I will have no part in it, so don't expect any additional kindness from me!"

Adela's frowned immediately turned upside down as she smiled with excitement. She could hardly believe that Berengar had accepted her request. Truthfully, she knew she was the least favorite of his women, and she also accepted the blame for that. However, when he agreed to her request, despite getting nothing out of it himself, the young woman immediately felt her heart flutter. She bowed her head gracefully before responding to the kindness that her husband had shown her.

"Thank you Berengar! I won't forget this!"

Berengar was utterly done with this conversation and waved the girl off. 

"You can do as you wish, but don't expect me to give them a royal welcome. They may be our guests, but I will not treat them as if they are of significance. I will barely interact with them during their stay."

Adela merely nodded and kissed Berengar on the cheek before running off.

"I will let them know. Thank you so much!'

With that Adela quickly scurried off, and Berengar sat back in his chair, dreading every decision he had made in his life that had led to this point. He knew with Ava and her family arriving in the Royal Palace, things were going to be a massive headache for him. As a result, he pulled out a flask of distilled spirits and poured it into his coffee before taking a sip. After doing so, he expressed his true thoughts on the matter. 

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"