Berengar sat in his office while signing his name away on a document. By now, the man had endured enough paperwork to last ten lifetimes, and yet the work of a monarch never ceased. However, today he was not alone in his office, instead his eldest son, Hans von Kufstein, was sitting in the office filling out just as many forms as his father.
Upon seeing that it was just about noon, Berengar placed his pen down, and sighed heavily, causing his son to look up at him with a rather irritated expression on his face.
"Father, there is still plenty of more work to be done. And I will not have you pile your work load onto me again! If you wish to escape this paperwork, then just give me the damn throne already and I will assume all of your burdens!"
A peculiar look appeared in Berengar's mismatched eyes, as if he was genuinely contemplating the idea. No doubt he had already planned his retirement, which was only a handful of years away, and yet there were still things he needed to do before stepping down as the Kaiser of the Reich.
Thus, after several moments of awkward silence, Berengar began to speak. He did not know why now he had chosen to tell his son of a secret he kept from the world. Perhaps it was a way to give him some respite from his cramping hand, or perhaps he felt now his son, who was already a man, was old enough to know the truth. Whatever the reason, he began to speak about things he had not uttered a word of in a long time.
"You were pretty young when you found out the truth about me... But I don't remember you ever asking me how I came to this world. Haven't you been curious for all of these years?"
Hans immediately halted writing his signature upon hearing his father's words and looked up at the man with a stern expression on his face before posing a single question.
"After all this time, why now are you willing to reveal your secrets to me, father?"
Berengar sighed heavily once more while he reached into his nearby cupboard and pulled out a pair of glasses and a bottle of whiskey, which he poured for himself and his son, before handing one of the cups to the young man. After they had both had a sip of the whiskey, Berengar chuckled before revealing his story.
"Who knows, perhaps I have grown tired of hiding it, or maybe I just want an excuse not to do today's work. Whatever the reason, I am choosing to tell you now. Or are you too busy to hear an old man's tale?"
Hans simply scoffed when he heard his father's statement before sitting back in his seat and taking another sip from his whiskey. His response was short, but to the point.
"Go on..."
Having received permission from his son to tell the tale, Berengar began to recount some of the secrets that Hans had never learned about his father.
"Oh, it must have been twenty-five years ago, something like that... Somewhere around the time that I unified Germany into a single empire.
I was travelling to the border, to check on the construction of our defenses. Which were made in preparation for the Catholic Church, when I stumbled upon a forest surrounded by fog.
During the night, I slept walk into the woods, and there I met something which had changed my perspective on life entirely.
A little redheaded girl called out to me, but she was no mere child, instead she had been on this earth longer than even the Christian faith. The Goddess Baduhenna spoke to me, telling me that I had been brought to this world for a reason, and she gifted me with the boon of courage, so that I may overcome and fear I might feel in life...."
Hans looked at his father as if he had gone senile before posing the first of many questions, which he had after hearing the man's tale.
"A goddess? A pagan goddess in the flesh spoke to you, and gifted you with a boon of courage? Really? Father, I don't even believe the crock of shit which the Christians preach. Why would I believe something so absurd?"
To this, Berengar simply chuckled before taking another drink from his glass before asking his son a question which perplexed him.
"Haven't you ever wondered how my right eye suddenly had its sight restored, and became a perfect gold, rather than its natural blue state? Believe me, son, the gods are real, at least the pagan gods. You are right about Christianity though, and all Abrahamic religions. A total crock of shit.
Unfortunately, the gods have lost a lot of power now that few men worship them, and as a result, they are fairly secluded from the world, and rarely interfere in mortal affairs."
Despite the nonsense which his father was speaking, Hans decided to entertain him, if not for a thought experiment, and was quick to ask the next question on his mind.
"Okay... old man, tell me then, why would the gods choose you to enter this world? What were their plans for you?"
Berengar once more took a sip from his whiskey before pouring another glass. It was only after he had done this that he began to speak up once more.
"Ah, you see, to make a long story short, the gods wanted me to effectively end the stranglehold that Christianity had over Europe. Which I did by fracturing the Catholic church. The way their powers work is rather confusing, and in all honesty not well thought out. At least from my perspective, but essentially the more followers they have, and the more united those followers are in their belief, the more powerful they become.
By fracturing the catholic church, and created a bunch of different branches, I have effectively weakened the power of the deity which bamboozled the world with the Abrahamic religions. Needless to say, I have lived up to their expectations. Paganism is spreading in Iceland, giving the Germanic pantheon power once more, and as we speak Egypt and Sudan are returning to the ways of their ancestors.
It was Anubis who gave me the eye of horus, by the way. This golden eye didn't just restore my sight, but it also gives me the power to see people's true nature, and feelings towards me. When I retire, I will pass the eye on you, but you will need to sacrifice one of your own to gain its power."
Hans was definitely flabbergasted by his father's remarks. He could not believe that a bunch of pagan deities were hiding away from the world and had manipulated his father into doing their bidding. But he still entertained the man, no less and was quick to ask Berengar if he had been rewarded for his efforts.
"Okay, say you haven't lost your mind, and you are speaking the god's honest truth to me right now. What exactly did you get from helping them other than a new lease on life?"
Berengar sipped on his whiskey with a conceited smile on his face before responding with one word.
"Paradise...."
Hans looked at his father with confusion before questioning just what he had heard.
"Paradise? What the fuck does that even mean? You're going to have to be more specific!"
Berengar poured himself and his son another drink before responding once more.
"It's exactly what it sounds like. When I die, I get my own little heaven carved out for me in the afterlife. One where all my wives and lovers shall follow me, as well as all my children.
You, Ghazi, Kristoffer, Lukas, Alexandros and all thirty plus of your siblings will join me in this afterlife, as will all of our future descendents.
So you little shits damn well better behave yourself in this world, or things are going to be awfully awkward when you come to the heaven I have built for you, and have to answer to me about your crimes!"
As crazy as his father's words sounded, Hans knew his father was not a prankster, and could tell from the look in his eyes that he was quite serious. Thus, after some serious thought, he sighed heavily, believing himself a fool for believing such madness.
"Alright... I believe you... But are you going to tell the rest of your kids about this little secret of yours? Or am I supposed to play the role of peacemaker between all of my siblings for the extent of my reign?"
Berengar simply smiled as he finished his drink and placed the glass on his desk. His response only added to further infuriate his son.
"I will tell them when the time is right. But you will one day be the leader of the world. It is only natural that you maintain the peace between your brothers...."
I wanted to thank you all for supporting Tyranny of Steel up to this point. From here on out, until the very end of the novel, updates are going to be less frequent with one chapter a day. Instead, I would like to invite all of you to read my new novel Interstellar Age, at https://www.webnovel.com/book/interstellar-age_ 26235247006730205
which will be receiving my primary attention from here on out. Thank you all for the support you have shown me, and I look forward to writing novels for you all for years to come!
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