Tyranny of Steel

Linde was sitting across from her young son, Hans, who had a pouting expression on his face. His mother had just given him an order that he did not want to fulfill. Thus, he could not help but repeat her words as if they were simply unbelievable.

"You want me to take the Ming Prince and the Anangpur Emperor on a tour of the city? Give me one reason why I should?"

Linde glared at her son with a look of fury in her sky-blue eyes before speaking in a stern tone. Hans was smart enough to know that he should fear his mother and her womanly wrath. Thus, as she spoke to him, he bowed his head in submission.

"Because, Hans, I am your mother, and I told you to do so. That should be reason enough, however if you must know the intent behind my request, it is because you share the same position as Zhu Zhi, and it would be best for his equal to take him around the city.

I'm not asking you to take the two men on a boring tour to the industrial sector, or to the graveyard. I'm asking you to show off the wealth and prosperity of the reich. Be a good boy, and do this for mommy, won't you, Hans?"

It was amazing how the woman could so effortlessly shift her expression from a scolding mother to a loving one. When Linde spoke to her son in such a way, he could only avert his gaze and accept her request. Even if he did not want to do so. 

"Fine..."

In response to this, Linde wore a radiant smile as she hugged her boy and kissed him on the forehead multiple times. The very act of which caused Hans great embarrassment. 

"That's my good boy! Thank you so much Hans, you are really helping mommy out!"

While Linde was showering her firstborn son with unwanted affection, the two esteemed guests arrived in the room and witnessed the scene with the same sense of embarrassment that Hans himself was feeling. Even though Linde noticed their entry immediately, she continued to hug and kiss her son until the boy had enough and shoved her away. After which she pouted for a brief second before shifting her attention to Dharya and Zhu Zi.

"Emperor Dharya, Prince Zhi, thank you for coming on such short notice. Today is such a wonderful day that I figured I would allow Hans here to take you on a tour of the city. You're not busy, are you?"

Zhu Zhi gazed upon the angelic, redheaded beauty and her pleading expression, and immediately nodded his head in acceptance. For whatever reason, this woman had some form of sway over him. Though he had desired to go on a tour of the city ever since he first arrived in Kufstein, he had concerns about a young child being his tour guide. However, Linde's natural charm was enough to compel him to accept her offer. Which he did so in the most respectful way possible. 

"I have nothing planned for the day. It would be my honor for the young Prince Hans to guide me around the city. I look forward to it very much."

Since the moment the two young men stepped foot in the room, Hans had put on the facade of an average nine-year-old boy. Though Dharya was aware to some extent of Hans's hyper intellect and true personality, Zhu Zhi was not so well informed. Hans rarely revealed his true self around others. In fact, the only people who were aware of his true mindset were his parents, his fiancees, and his younger sister Helga. Thus, he quickly stood up from his seat and approached the two guests with an innocent smile on his face. 

"If mommy says so, then I would be happy to lead you both through the city!"

Linde smiled and patted Hans's red hair as he stood by her side. The loving expression on her pretty face as she dealt with her son made both Dharya's and Zhu Zhi's hearts race. As much as the Anangpur emperor was thankful to Berengar for saving his sister, and allowing the two exiled siblings to enjoy a life of peace and prosperity in the reich, he deeply envied the man for having such a wonderful woman as his wife. While the two men were busy controlling their heightened emotions, Linde bent down in front of her son and hugged him one more time before whispering in his ear.

"Be on your best behavior, or mommy will give you a spanking!"

Hans's face paled as he heard these words, but his innocent facade did not crack in the slightest. His parents had never disciplined him so severely before, thus if his mother was threatening him with a spanking for misbehaving, this little request of hers must be something critical to diplomacy.  Immediately after threatening her son, Linde broke away from the boy and pinched his cheeks before sending him off. 

"Alright Hans, be a good boy for mommy, and have fun!"

Just when Hans was about to leave with the Ming Prince and the Anangpur Emperor in tow, a peculiar sight occurred. Linde's pet cat named Midnight sprinted through the room and up onto the windowsill. His tail was puffed to its fullest extent, and he began to hiss at the creature which chased after it. Genseric the leopard cub was in a playful mood as it chased after Linde's pet cat. The sight of which caused Linde to scold the cub. 

"Bad Genseric! You need to stop harassing my poor midnight!"

The leopard cub had a sullen expression on its face as it hid its tail between its legs. It was intelligent enough to understand Linde's words and quickly became depressed. It just wanted to play a little with its closest kin. The distressed state of the cub caused Linde's heart to bleed as she bent down and picked up the Genseric before stroking its silky fur. 

"Oh, I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean to be so harsh. You need to know that midnight is not the same type of cat as you, and you will scare him with your strength!"

Midnight stared at his master, who was pampering his greatest rival with disbelief. He immediately pawed out to her, which caused the redheaded beauty to place the leopard cub on the floor and give some love to her favorite pet.

"Don't be jealous, midnight. Genseric is your little brother, and you need to get along with him! One day, he will be big and strong and can protect you against anything! It will be good for you to foster a sibling relationship with him when you can!"

The way Linde treated the two cats as her children caused Hans to facepalm in embarrassment. He seriously did not understand why the woman had such a soft spot for the felidae family. While Hans hid his head with shame, Zhu Zhi was more surprised that an actual leopard cub was being treated as a house pet by everyone in the room. Even the Anangpur Empire seemed to accept it as if it were something normal. However, before he could speak up about this peculiarity, Hans grabbed hold of his hand and led him towards the courtyard.

"Let's go... It's best to leave mommy alone when she's fawning over her cats..."

Hans led his two guests out the door and into the courtyard, where an automobile lay in wait for them. The cab was closed, and the vehicle was armored to protect against potential threats. Despite this, it looked like a normal car. Both Zhu Zhi and Dharya stared in awe at the vehicle. This was the Ming Prince's second time seeing such a thing and the Anangpur Emperor's first, and they were quick to ask about the device. 

"Prince Hans, do you mind explaining to us what this device is? It doesn't appear to have any animals pulling it, and yet it is capable of motion. I don't believe I am the only one who is deeply confused about this?"

A member of the Reichsgarde, who was dressed in his ceremonial uniform, opened the door to the car and allowed the group entry into the vehicle. Hans quickly informed his guests of what he knew about the car as he relaxed in the fine leather interior with a cup of milk in his hands that was provided to him by the driver. 

"Father calls it an automobile. It is one of his newest inventions. It is designed as a means to transport people and cargo around town. I don't know much about how it functions, but such vehicles are becoming more common across the Reich with each passing day. Though generally you will see busses on the streets instead of individual cars such as this."

In truth, Hans had enough knowledge of basic engineering concepts to understand the principle behind the car's power train. However, such information was far too advanced for someone who came from a pre-industrial era country to properly comprehend. Thus, he chose to feign ignorance. 

The driver inserted the keys into the ignition and started the vehicle. Within a few seconds, the automobile was propelling out of the Palace's driveway and towards Kufstein's Trade district. Hans had no interest in explaining how the German government worked for the Ming Prince and instead wanted to his two guests to see the economic progress of the Empire's capital. 

Thus, the trio began their journey around the City of Kufstein, one that would leave a favorable impression on the Ming Prince. Many changes had taken place in the months since Dharya and his sister were given a tour around Kufstein. The city had rapidly developed, and today would be another shocking day for the Anangpur Emperor.