Tyranny of Steel

Berengar currently sat in the dining room; the only two people present for this morning's breakfast were Berengar and Linde; as usual, his family was still fractured after Lambert's conviction. Berengar had not seen his father's or his sister's face in some time. Though Sieghard was officially declared a Viscount, and his territory had doubled, he was officially in isolation for penance. The good news about this was that Berengar could openly flirt with Linde without getting the stink-eye from his fellow family members. As Berengar snacked on a breakfast sandwich, he noticed the blue eyes of his darling little sister peering out from the corner of the entryway.

Evidently, the little girl was spying on him and Linde; though Berengar wanted to go over and greet her, he feared she would fly back to her room the moment she noticed she was spotted, like a scared little rabbit. As such, he continued to have a civil conversation with Linde about managing the realm's affairs.

"Has your father guaranteed safe passage for my trade routes within the County of Tyrol?"

Linde was gracefully dining on an omelet while she nodded her head; she only began to speak after she had swallowed her bite.

"Of course, my father will do whatever I tell him to do; he dotes on his daughter's far too much."

Berengar smiled and decided to shift the conversation to something more personal. After a few moments of silence, he finally asked in an awkward manner.

"So... What should we name the Child?"

This line of questioning instantly piqued Henrietta's curiosity which was not so subtly listening in on the conversation. On the other hand, Linde wiped her mouth with her napkin before putting a gentle smile on her doll-like face.

"If it's a boy, I was thinking of naming him after his father..."

Berengar smiled sadistically as he responded to her idea while she took a drink from her goblet of water. He could not help but tease his lover when the two of them were alone; even if Henrietta was watching, he did not mind embarrassing the poor lass.

"Oh, so you plan on naming him, Lambert?"

Linde nearly spat out her drink as she heard those words; she struggled to contain the liquid as she swallowed it down. After doing so, her face shifted into a furious glare as she scolded Berengar for his behavior.

"Don't even joke like that! You know I meant to name him after you!"

This news was shocking to Henrietta as she listened to Linde admit that her child was Berengar's; this invoked the inner fury of Henrietta as she already blamed Linde for Lambert's exile. Considering she was so young, Henrietta was not told that Lambert had attempted to kill Berengar. Instead, she was told that he voluntarily chose to join the Teutonic Order after changing his heart about his marriage with Linde. She may be young, but Henrietta was no idiot, she suspected something was going on between Berengar and Linde for quite some time, and now that it was confirmed, she was furious at the two of them.

However, despite the little loli's inner fury, she continued to listen to the conversation between the scandalous couple. Berengar, of course, was not fond of any of his children being named after him. He did not want a Berengar II chipping away at the Legacy he envisioned himself building in this world. He wanted people in the future to know and revere the name Berengar and immediately associate it with himself, much like they did to the name Alexander which belonged to the world's greatest conqueror.

As such, he came up with an alternative, one which was very dear to him as a man who had lived two lives. It was his father's name from his past life; as such, Berengar looked at Linde with a tender expression and grabbed ahold of her hand as he tried to convince her to name the child after his father from his past life.

"If it is a boy, how about we name him Hans? That name once belonged to someone very dear to me..."

Though Linde did not know who Berengart was referring to, by the look on his face, it was a bittersweet memory at best, and as such, she did not pry for information. She did not dislike the name, and as such, quickly agreed.

"A fitting name! But what if it is a girl?"

Berengar did not even need to think about it; he would name it after his mother from his previous life if it were a girl.

"Then we will name her Helga."

both of these names were acceptable to Linde, and as such, she smiled and nodded her head as she accepted the terms.

"That sounds good to me."

After hearing these things, Henrietta finally revealed herself with a pouting expression; she did not like that Linde was getting all of the attention from Berengar and quickly jumped into his lap while staring down Linde with a furious gaze. Berengar was taken aback by this action as Henrietta had not done such a thing in many years. Thus he felt slightly uncomfortable as she looked up at him with a pitiful expression.

"Big Brother, you have not come to visit me in so long!"

Berengar did not know how to react to this; indeed, he did not visit her while she was hiding away in her room and opted to give the little girl some space. However, he was dreadfully busy over the past few weeks managing the entirety of the realm, and as such, had no means to do so. He felt that he had no option but to pet her head and show her some affection, which he did as he chastised the girl for her behavior.

"You know Adela left, right? She was quite sad that you did not bid your farewells!"

A distraught expression appeared on Henrietta's face as she realized she was too depressed to say farewell to her friend and began to slam her tiny fists into Berengar's chest as she threw a childish tantrum.

"Why didn't you tell me!"

Berengar chuckled lightly before restraining the girl,

"Don't worry, her birthday is coming up soon, and we will go pay her a visit!"

Henrietta finally calmed down when she heard those words and began to smile for the first time in a long time. Just like that, Berengar spent the rest of his breakfast time doting on his little sister, much to the ire of Linde who sat silently and ate her meal.