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Hans sat at the dining table within the Royal Palace of Austria, along with his entire family. The man had inherited a vast domain, both physically in terms of the Reich's sheer volume of land, and also the family fortune, which was practically a second treasury in its own right.
Along with this came the Grand Place of Kufstein, which Berengar had established in his hometown after growing it from a small agricultural town, to a thriving metropolis, and the center of the modern world.
Along with his five wives, Hans' many children sat around the table. Although Hans had married five different women, only two of his wives who were capable of producing offspring which met the requirements to compete for the German throne. The rest would have to follow a similar path as their uncles.
Ansgar was the son of Anne von Wittelsbach and Hans, and the moment he was fiercely competing with one of his half brothers. Little Berengar was the child between Hans and Veronika. The young boy was not to be confused with his grandfather and uncle, both of which shared his name.
Though he was the same age as Ansgar, little Berengar was in fierce competition with his half brother. Both of these youth had inherited their father's intelligence, and spent their every waking hour improving their skills in every field they trained in.
Whether it was martial arts, firearms, history, mathematics, science, politics, economics, et cetera. These two boys competed in every way they could think of, and currently, even now, while at the dinner table, their blue eyes did not falter from each other's childish figure. That is until Hans asked his son Ansgar a particular question, which stumped the boy.
"So, Ansgar, I hear that you and Elsa have become quite fond of one another. That is good. Family is important, but you should remember not to get too attached to her. After she completes her education here in the Reich, she will be returned to her family, who will undoubtedly marry her off to the most appropriate suitor."
Ansgar flushed red in embarassment when his father said this, and was quick to protest, which only further revealed the thoughts he had towards his younger cousin.
"It's not like that, dad! Elsa and I are friends, that is all!"
Little Berengar witnessed his rival's flustered expression and went in for the kill, all while cutting up his schnitzel with the civility of a Prince.
"Oh, how cute! Ansgar likes Elsa!"
Ansgar flashed his half brother a vicious look, which only cemented the smug smile on the boy's face. Hans simply shook his head. He had no idea how his father had managed to raise all of his siblings to be so harmonious with one another. He was overwhelmed with his preparations for the invasion of the Rus, so much so that this was his first time which he could eat dinner with his family in over a week.
And yet, every time he saw these two boys, they were always at each other's throat. In all honesty, Hans did not ever remember competing with any of his siblings for the throne in any meaningful capacity. They all seemed to just be aware that he was the oldest, and most intelligent of them all.
But perhaps that was because his father and mother had him years ahead of his half brothers. As for Ansgar and little Berengar, they were born on the exact same day, and were equal in intellect and wit. Thus, they were natural born rivals.
Before Ansgar could respond to his half brother's taunt, which, judging by the expression on his face he clearly wanted to, Hans put a stop to his son's petty disputer.
"That's enough! Berengar, quit instigating things with your brother. So what if he likes Elsa? You're both still children, and for many reasons which I do not wish to get into right now, I won't be betrothing any of you to your cousins!"
There was a visible look of disappointment on Ansgar's face as he heard that he would not be betrothed to Elsa, which little Berengar took satisfaction in. The obvious instance of schadenfreude only further convinced Hans that his wives were doing something wrong when it came to raising their children, and that despite his burdens, he would be forced to take a more active role in their parenting. Thus, he sighed heavily before taking a swig from his chalice. Once he was finished, Hans commanded his son to apologize.
"Berengar, apologize to your brother. You were clearly in the wrong by teasing him, and I will not stand for your little rivalry. I know you both wish to inherit my throne, but this is supposed to be a friendly competition, not one of personal animosity, and if neither of you can understand that, then I will consider you both unfit to rule this nation, and will instead confer the title of my heir to one of your younger siblings!"
The young boy who shared the same name as his illustrious grandfather immediately panicked when he heard that his chances of inheriting the throne would be forfeit if he failed to bury the hatchet between himself and his brother, and thus he bowed his head before apologizing, despite feeling aggrieved by his father's words.
"Very well, I'm sorry Ansgar, I should have treated you with more respect...."
Ansgar looked at his father, the Kaiser, and understood that he was also being implicated in this, thus as much as he wanted to dismiss little Berengar's so-called apology, he did not do so, instead he accepted it with the grace befitting a prince such as himself.
"Apology accepted...."
Anne and Veronika gazed at each other in disbelief as they saw their sons become amicable to one another for the first time in years. They had tried nonstop to discipline the cheeky little bastards for years, and yet nothing worked. Yet with one quip from their father, they suddenly fell in line. How was this fair?
Despite their feelings on the matter, the two beautiful women kept their thoughts within their heads. Allowing Hans to properly take care of their children's discipline from now on.
After all, he was the only one who could threaten these little kids with something that they actually feared.
The dinner remained respectful after this, with Hans speaking to each and every one of his kids in a desperate attempt to catch up with their lives. And after the meal was finished, he sent them back to their rooms to prepare for the rest of the evening, while he himself entered his bedroom with a glass of wine in his hand.
The five women who were Hans' brides gathered together, to help the man remove his tie, and dress into something more relaxed. As they did so, he could not help but comment on the current state of their family.
"I don't know how he did it...."
This remark caught the women off guard, and it was finally Noemi asked the question after several moments of awkward silence.
"Are you referring to your father?"
Hans nodded his head as he down the rest of his wine before placing the chalice on a nearby end table. He then began his rant about his father and his true thoughts about the man.
"When I was young, the old man was absent from my life quite often. I mean, it was a different era, where a King could ride on horseback at the front of formation if he was so daring.
And my father was the best at it.
The man was in the fucking trenches at Vienna along with his men, eating the same food as them, living in the same brutal conditions, and even staying up on watch at night so they could sleep soundly.
Yet, whenever he returned from war, he never let whatever horrors he had witnessed affect any of us. And he tried his best to make up for lost time. But the work of a Kaiser is never finished, and he spent most of the days secluded in his office overseeing the development of the Reich.
And, yet, none of us ever had any of the problems that our sons and daughters do. I just don't understand how he was able to provide such a stable direction for us all, while still running the nation so effectively.
Meanwhile, here I am drowning in paperwork and barely managing to keep those boys from tearing each other's throats out."
Hans then gazed upon the portrait of his father, which hung proudly in his room, and could not help but question himself as a ruler, especially when compared to a man who was now revered by the German people.
"How can I possibly compare to you?"
The fives wives of the Kaiser gathered together and hugged the man as they comforted him. None more so than Veronika, who told him exactly what he needed to hear.
"If you're struggling, then perhaps you should speak with the man. I've been a part of your family long enough to know the truth about what happened between your father and his brother. As much as we don't like to speak about it, I can't help but worry Ansgar and Berengar might follow the path of Lambert.Your father may be retired, but he is just a phone call away. I am sure he would be more than happy to speak with you."
Upon hearing this, Hans wore a bitter smile and looked up at his father's portrait one last time. He had tried his best up until now to distance himself from the old man in an attempt to build his own legacy, but it was clear that he was in need of some proper fatherly advice. Thus, he decided that the time has come to visit his father and interrupt the man's peaceful retirement.
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