Tyranny of Steel

Having bathed after an intense night of love-making with his brides, Berengar returned to his regular workout regimen, which he used to maintain his chiseled yet lean physique. Only after he had finished did he return to the bath once more to clean himself of the sweat and grime accumulated throughout his exercise. 

After having two baths in one morning, Berengar visited his Dining hall, where he saw his three women waiting for him alongside the rest of his family. Unlike what Berengar expected, the air was not awkward by any means; in fact, his three girls appeared to be relatively cordial. So much so that it was frightening to Berengar, who was used to walking around eggshells in order to avoid a catfight. 

Adela smiled as she drank from her coffee cup; as usual, her hair was tied up into twintails, which gave her a cutesy appearance. She was smiling while engaging in casual conversation with both Linde and Honoria. 

Henrietta was watching the scene with an equally unnerved expression that Berengar had blasted upon his face; in the two siblings' minds, something wasn't right. Never before had they seen the three women get along so well together. 

As Berengar sat down at his spot, all three of his women cornered him and kissed him one at a time before sitting back down in their respective seats; this was something that Berengar had never expected to happen. Usually, the moment one of the girls showed their affection, the other two would instantly begin to pout or lash out in anger. Finally, Henrietta could no longer hold her tongue and instantly questioned Berengar about the behavior change in the trio.

"What exactly happened between the four of you last night?"

The moment the young girl said this, Berengar began to choke on his coffee; it was not something he wished to reveal to a fourteen-year-old girl. As such, he remained silent on the matter until Linde spoke up in a teasing tone.

"We merely enjoyed each others' company; you're too young to understand."

Despite Linde's words, Henrietta immediately understood what had happened between Berengar and his women, causing her to immediately flush in embarrassment. As for Berengar, he continued to drink from his coffee in silence. This was not a landmine he wanted to step upon.

Eventually, the food arrived, and Berengar began to feast upon his breakfast while watching his family interact in a manner he was not accustomed to. It was as if he had stepped into the twilight zone; he was amazed over the fact that one night of group sex had drastically changed his girls' perspectives on the family dynamic.

However, no matter how enlightened they may have felt when together, competition between women was an instinct, and it did not take long before such a thing reared its ugly head. In an attempt to assert her dominance over the other two women, Adela had climbed into Berengar's lap and begun to spoonfeed him his scrambled eggs. 

"Open wide, darling!"

Though Berengar felt like refusing the request, ultimately, he surrendered; it was better not to spoil Adela's moment, and as such, he munched on his scrambled eggs from the spoon that Adela provided.

In response to Adela's actions, Linde approached his side and presented him with a glass of milk. She, too, followed Adela's lead and whispered in his ear something suggestive.

"Does master desire some of mommy's milk?"

Whether or not the milk in the glass was cow milk or Linde's brew, Berengar did not know the answer. However, upon seeing Linde's frightening gaze, he quickly took a sip to wash down the eggs. As such, he began to alternate between the eggs being spoonfed from Adela and the glass of milk given to him by Linde. As for Honoria, she had a sly idea of her own; the young princess immediately put on a childish facade and made of a request of Berengar.

"Daddy, feed me!"

The moment she said this, the eyes of everyone at the table grew wide. However, her pleading face was too cute for Berengar to pass up; as such, he grabbed a spoonful of her food and stuffed it into her mouth, where the Byzantine princess immediately began to smile in bliss.

Though the girls were acting more cordial with one another, their competition was as intense as ever. It had simply simmered down to a point where it had become friendly rather than hostile. Regardless, Berengar was beginning to enjoy the Kingly treatment he was receiving from his three beautiful women. 

Meanwhile, Hans watched Berengar's pleasant experience with a smile on his face; it was good for his father to get such loving attention from his mommies. Unknowingly, this public display of affection began to paint a picture in Hans' mind about how a man's love life should be and would significantly affect his romantic life when he finally came of age. 

Of course, Berengar had no way of knowing that this very moment would inspire Hans to become an even bigger playboy than he was when the boy reached his adolescent years. After finishing his breakfast, the girls continued to smother Berengar with attention. Eventually, Berengar began to feel suffocated and found a chance to escape, where he fled to his study, sealing the door behind him as he did so. 

He immediately sighed as he sank into his leather desk chair, where he pulled out a bottle of whiskey he had stashed away within his desk and poured himself two fingers. As he drank from the alcoholic substance, he began to mutter under his breath.

"These girls are going to be the death of me..."

After saying this, he pulled out a folder from atop his workstation and dug through its contents. It was a status report of the field testing of the new rifled breechloader; a few problems had been raised during their testing, where they were immediately corrected by Ludwig and his crack team of engineers. 

After fixing these issues, they were sent back to the testing facility, where they continued to go through their trials. So far, nearly 10,000 shells had been fired through the guns under varying conditions, and the report concluded that they were ready for approval.

All that was needed was Berengar's signature. As such, he immediately signed the document and sat it atop a pile of folders that a servant would later take to the various departments required to finalize the process. 

Soon, Berengar would replace his aging, smooth bore muzzle loading cannons with rifled breechloaders. As such, he sat back in his chair and pondered what he should do with the old artillery pieces. Immediately he pulled out another sheet of paper and began to draft a new document.

This document approved the refurbishing of the replaced guns and their sale to Austria's allies after all his new artillery pieces would make the twelve pounders completely obsolete on the field of battle. As for the remainder of the smoothbore cannons, they would be given to the reserves. 

While reflecting upon the current state of global affairs, It was becoming dreadfully obvious that his enemies would be able to replicate matchlocks in a matter of years, maybe even make their own musket variants. Unlike the flintlock mechanism that required spring steel to make the trigger function, the earlier matchlock design did not require such advanced metallurgy. 

His spies had already reported that the Iberian Union and the Catholic Church were working on reverse-engineering the arkebuse. With this in mind, Berengar began to draft a new form, requiring the manufacturer of matchlock muskets for the use of sale to Austria's allies; it was about time he upgraded the equipment of Granada and the Byzantines.

As for the actual design of the matchlock musket, he would leave that up to Ludwig, considering what he could make in his own spare time these days; such a primitive firearm would be a walk in the park for the old man to create. 

Time was running short; soon enough, Berengar would have to send a force to intervene in the ongoing Reconquista, all while advancing his industry at home. While the railway was under construction and the arms factories were being outfitted with the newest machinery, the other forms of his enterprise were lagging behind. 

However, for now, there was nothing he could do about that, new steam engines needed to be created to mechanize his other industries. For the time being, he could only sit back and wait until his manufacturing cities caught up to the newest technological innovations.

Berengar sat back in his chair and relaxed for a few moments thinking about the future; he had five months to prepare for war in Granada, and at most, five years to prepare for the Crusade against him. He wondered if he would fully industrialize his territory between now and then. 

While reflecting upon this, Berengar began to rest his eyes; he would fall asleep shortly after, concluding his day early. After all, he had gotten very little sleep throughout the past week, especially the night before. When he finally awoke, it would be late into the evening. 

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