Tyranny of Steel

Zara was pouting as she strolled through the halls of the Imperial Palace. Despite her age, or perhaps because of it, the little girl was as brilliant as she was mischievous, and she enjoyed making use of her adorable facade to manipulate others into lavishing her with praise and affection. 

However, there was one person whose attention she desired most of all, and that was her father's. Zara, like all of Berengar's children, knew that the man was the most powerful person in the world. Unfortunately, that also meant that her father was dreadfully busy all seven days of the week. 

There were only so many hours of the day the man had available to spend time with his family, and much of that was spent satisfying his multiple women. Berengar's children were forced to contend with one another for his love and affection. Zara knew this well, and when she was not in school, would commonly wait outside her father's office door, hoping to be the first to capture his attention the moment after he was finished with his work.

Unfortunately, Zara was not expecting him to take a half day, which was a rarity in his line of work. Thus, before she could meet up with her father and monopolize his free time, Helga had struck first. Now Zara was in a pitiful mood. Despite the man promising to spend time with her after he was finished being painted by his eldest daughter. She knew it was entirely possible that some other matter would come up, and he would be forced to neglect her. 

As a result Zara was sulking in her room alone, when her mother appeared in the doorway. Yasmin was the only one of Berengar's wives who was older than he was. She was currently in her mid-thirties, and was going through a crisis, feeling that she could no longer have another child.

Thus, she spent the overwhelming majority of her days spending as much time with what few children she had.  When she saw her only daughter in such a sour mood, the caring woman approached the girl and inquired about what had caused her to be so distressed. 

"Zara, what's wrong? You look like you're about to cry!"

The girl sniffled, as if to choke back the tears that were pooling in her amber eyes, before responding to her mother's question.

"It's nothing mother, I just fear that daddy won't be able to spend any time with me today, like most days... Stupid Helga, how come she beat me to him!"

Yasmin could understand her daughters' feelings quite well. It was not only Berengar's kids who were competing for his affection. His wives often had to vie with one another for intimacy. Some of them had even adopted strategies of pairing together. Adela and Henrietta being the most notable duo, who almost always spent time together with Berengar rather than be alone by his side.

The mature Moorish beauty could only sigh and wrap her arms around her daughter before whispering some advice in her ears. 

"If you want your father to pay attention to you, you need to do something that will draw his attention. Helga can get your father's love because she is a talented painter, Hans because he is a brilliant young man who has pursued a similar path to his father. You are just as intelligent as that boy, but rather than apply yourself to some field that your father can take pride in, you use your wits to manipulate people. 

Perhaps you should find something you enjoy doing that your father will also want to participate in. You're still young, so you have plenty of time to spend with your father. So I don't believe you should be worried so much about chasing after him."

Zara nodded her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. Just as she was about to say something to her mother, Berengar entered the room, and gazed upon the emotional scene of his wife and daughter both having depressed looks in their eyes. He couldn't help but question if he had done something to offend them.

"Am I interrupting something?"

The moment Zara heard her father's voice, all of her sadness dispersed within her heart, and a warm smile appeared on her face as she ran out of her mother's arms in an attempt to tackle Berengar with a hug. 

"Daddy!"

Berengar merely chuckled as he caught the young girl and lifted her in the air, where he swung her around. Her golden dress swaying as she spun in the air. Berengar kissed the girl on the forehead before letting her down.

"So Zara, now that daddy is finished spending time with your sister, what is it that you wanted me to do?"

Zara was about to make a request when she looked at her mother's exhausted expression. She decided to alter her plans in that moment to something that would include the three of them.

"I want mommy, and daddy to take me to the park!"

The way the girl referred to her mother was different when her father was in the room. Something only Yasmin knew, as she had largely kept the girl's hyper  intelligence a secret from Berengar. After all, in Berengar's eyes, Zara was just an adorable little girl, and was nothing more than that. A perspective Yasmin wanted him to keep for as long as possible. 

After hearing her daughter speak up on her behalf, a pretty smile appeared on Yasmin's luscious lips as she nodded her head before responding to the girl's request.

"If it's not too much trouble, I would be happy to accompany the two of you to the park."

Berengar thought about it for a few moments before nodding his head in response. 

"Sure, it sounds like a great idea!"

After saying that, Berengar, Yasmin, and Zara headed out from the palace and took the royal car to the local park, where the families of Kufstein gathered to enjoy their time off. It shocked everyone present when they saw the Kaiser and one of his wives appear with the young girl in tow. 

However, they did not dare approach the man. As an armed unit protected him and his family at all times. After entering the public park, Zara saw that one of the swings was free and quickly ran up to it with a wide smile on her cute face.

"Daddy! I want to swing!"

The girl expressed in the most childlike tone she could manage to utter. Berengar merely chuckled as he held Yasmin's hand while ultimately nodding his head before agreeing to the girl's request. 

"Sure, Zara, why not?"

The sight of the Kaiser pushing his young daughter on the swing was forever embedded in the minds of those who witnessed it. Right now, Berengar did not look like the Emperor of the German People. He instead looked like your average loving father.

The dignity and grace of an emperor was missing. Only the compassionate expression of a young man fawning over his daughter was visible. Zara felt her heart flutter as her father pushed her on the swing, calling out to the man while demanding that he put in more effort.

"Higher! Daddy pushes me higher!"

Berengar did as he was told and pushed the girl with a bit more strength. The playground equipment was designed with safety in mind, and thus Berengar was free to push the girl to her heart's content. 

Yasmin gazed upon the heartwarming scene and felt thankful that her daughter had dragged her along on this occasion. It was not every day that Berengar was able to cherish his children like he was able to do so today, and it warmed the mature beauty's heart to see that the man she married still had such a compassionate side to him. 

Ultimately, Berengar, Yasmin, and Zara would spend the rest of the daylight hours at the park enjoying time together as a family. As for Helga, she sat alone in her room, gazing upon the portrait she had painted of her father with a satisfied smile on her face. On this day, Berengar had made two of his daughters' dreams come true, and he did not even realize it. 

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