Tyranny of Steel

In the town of Hallstatt, Berengar was having lunch at a particularly quaint restaurant with his wife, Adela. Although the two of them have had their differences over the years. Whatever resentments they had towards one another in the past were now dead and buried. Instead, Berengar treated Adela with the love and dignity she deserved.

And because of this, he would often take her out on dates by herself like today.

The restaurant they were sitting in was actually Italian themed, and was owned by an Italian chef who had travelled to Austria to spread the cuisine of his homeland. Naturally, Berengar had a hand in the creation of this said cuisine, which would not normally exist in this world for several hundred years. But nobody but himself knew about that.

Instead, he ate from a bowl of baked ziti. While Adela enjoyed a plate of chicken Alfredo, the smile on her pretty face was truly endearing to the man, as he reminisced about their first date together in what seemed like a lifetime ago. Something which he was quick to discuss.

"You remember all those years ago, when you first visited my home, and I took you out for sandwiches? Gods, it feels so long ago."

Adela simply smiled as she swallowed the noodles in her mouth, which she drowned out with a glass of white wine before responding to her husband's words.

"It was so long ago, practically a lifetime ago. Do you know I was extremely angry that we were betrothed back then? I had always heard from my brothers that you were this sickly man, who might die at any moment. One with a particularly bad attitude and a love of wine.

But the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew that everything I had been told about you was nothing but lies, because you were my prince charming. My fiancee, the day I would one day marry and have a family with."

Berengar chuckled when he heard this, before responding to Adela's claim with the truth, something she was already long since been aware of, but he felt the need to say, nonetheless.

"Well, I dare say they weren't exactly lies. Who I was before I gained the memories of my other self was an utter wastrel. One who was entirely undeserving of your lovely little hand. No man can live his life without any regrets, and though I have many, none more so than the way I treated you for the first part of our betrothal and marriage.

I know I have apologized before, and so I won't do so again, but I am glad that you are my wife, Adela."

Adela simply blushed when she heard these words, but even more so when Berengar leaned across the table and gave her a gentle peck on the lips. Despite everything the two of them had been through over the years, she still loved the man more than anything.

The married couple, who had been together for so many years, now sat in silence for a while, reflecting on the time they had spent together over the years. To say that their relationship was perfect would be a lie.

It was, after all, built on a sandy foundation. Though their relationship could have been perfect if Berengar had remained a loyal and faithful husband. Berengar had early on committed the grave sin of adultery, by having sex with and impregnating Linde, all while he was engaged to Adela.

This had been a sore point in their relationship for many, many years. One which Berengar had mixed feelings about. On the one hand, he loved Linde very much, as much as he did Adela, for that matter, and as a younger man, he had loved Linde even more than Adela.

But... There were things one thought about as they got older. And Berengar was indeed getting up there in years. He could not help but wonder what the world would be like had he married Adela and stayed faithful to her.

Though Linde's skill in intrigue was indeed unmatched in this world, it was possible for her role to be replaced with someone else. Would his empire be the same without Linde? Or would it have never gotten a start to begin with?

Would he and Adela have been happy together, or would they have had other complications in their marriage that simply did not present themself in this world, because Linde was the major point of contention?

These were all thoughts that Berengar had, and in many ways slight regrets which he dwelled upon more and more than the years passed, and he approached death's door. Adela seemed to have noticed the regret in Berengar's eyes, and simply gave him a warm and compassionate gaze as she grabbed hold of his hand, and said the words that he had never expected to hear in his life.

"It's okay Berengar... I forgive you... In all honesty, I forgave you a long time ago.... Though I also often wonder what life would have been if it were just the two of us, I'm happy. I'm truly happy, and I know you beat yourself up over what happened all those years ago.

I won't lie. We got off to a rocky start, but we built a wonderful family together, even if you do have those other women. And some of us have become great friends, for example I don't believe I would have the friendship I have with Henrietta if not for you taking her as your lover...

You don't need to feel so much regret and guilt... Everything turned out for the best. And I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you, what little that may be at this point..."

Berengar wanted to scoff and deny that their lives were coming to an end. But he was more touched by what Adela had said. And thus he remained silent for several moments, as if struggling to come up with the words that needed to be said in this moment.

After taking a deep breath, and exhaling just as heavily, Berengar forced a smile as he held onto Adela's dainty hand and thanked her for the words he still needed to hear most in this world.

"Thank you Adela.... I can die happy now..."

Adela giggled when she heard this, and released her grip over Berengar's hand, resting her dainty chin on her hand while mocking him for his poor choice of words.

"Oh? You can't die yet, Berengar. After all, you have a family to take care of... A very large family."

Berengar wanted more than anything to drop his head onto his plate and die on the spot after thinking about just how many kids he had sired with so many women. And the number kept growing, because Brynhildr never aged, and would always be fertile. In a way... He yearned for the afterlife.

But Adela was right. Now was not his time to go, thus as much as he wanted to just croak on the spot, he could not do so. And thus he began to ignore this statement, and dig into his meal with an almost resigned look on his face. Something that Adela found amusement in, and giggled at the sight of.

The two of them would finish up their meal in a peaceful and serene sitting before hitting up the small mountain town of Hallstatt which they had retired to. It was an almost surreal experience for Berengar.

To go from a conqueror, and hero of the German people, to an old man walking the streets with his lover. One that the people, especially the younger generation, failed to recognize. After all, by now Berengar's hair had begun to grey, and he had a short beard.

The Mystical pool in the Iceland village could only keep him visibly young for so long. Not only that, but the signature aspects of Berengar's appearance had disappeared.

Every statute, and painting that existed of Berengar when he was a monarch, displayed him with either an eyepatch, or heterochromia. But now Berengar was walking around with two blue eyes, and without the scar that his little brother had dealt him so many years ago.

As Berengar and Adela walked past a woman and her children, the woman recognized him and bowed respectfully to Berengar. Which Berengar made a slight nod in response to before walking by. However, as he passed, he heard one of the women's children ask about the stranger her mother had shown such respect to.

"Mother, who is that? Why did you bow to him?"

The woman was quick to chastise her son for her blatant disrespect as she spoke back to him in a stern tone.

"Kristof! Haven't you learned anything at school? That man is the Great Kaiser... He used to rule the world!"

Berengar couldn't help but make a slight chuckle as he thought about the idea. Used to rule the world? Indeed, it was true... To think that he had gone from the world's greatest conqueror to just another old man on the street. It was simply too entertaining of a thought.

Adela noticed this and rested her head on Berengar's shoulder, while commenting on how happy he looked.

"You're smiling... I never thought you would be so happy to go unrecognized by the people you fought so hard for over the years..."

Berengar wrapped his arm around Adela's shoulder and held her close. He sighed heavily and shook his head while informing Adela of why he was so happy.

"That's the thing Adela... I fought so hard, and for so long. Throughout all of my effort, I have ensured that the name Berengar von Kufstein will go down in history, forever to be remembered so long as human civilization persists. But in the end, I'm just another old man on the street.... It is really an amusing thought..."

Adela smiled when she realized that Berengar had finally come to peace with his retirement. And couldn't help but feel happy for him as she did so. The two of them would spend the rest of the day together before returning to their quaint lakeside manor.