Chapter 283: Fertility Incentives
Once more, Berengar was in his study, which was where he spent most of his waking hours when he was at home. He was drafting a piece of legislation designed to encourage fertility among the Austrian population. The reason for him doing so was because he was looking toward's the future.
Within the upcoming decades, Berengar had intended to conquer and colonize large swaths of land across the world and inhabit it with German citizens. However, the German population at this time was low, it was at most between ten to fifteen million people, and due to the ongoing conflict, those numbers dwindled by the day.
As such, Berengar had established several laws designed to create strong families that could raise multiple children. First and foremost, Bernegar established both paid paternity and maternity leave. To Berengar, the physical and mental health of the next generation was a critical concern. Berengar had based several laws on the Scandinavian countries from his past life, who had some of the best welfare laws on the books.
Parents of a child were entitled to up to 480 days of paid leave to raise a newborn child. Of course, this was the maximum based on specific requirements; a typical two-parent household was likely to get 240 days of paid leave.
Berengar's other laws to help raise fertility rates included a monthly stipend for every child a family had to help with childcare costs and what Berengar liked to refer to as a child starter pack. This starter pack was based upon what the Finnish government provided expecting mothers in his previous life.
The state provided this child starter pack to every expecting mother, which included a crib with a mattress, clothes, diapers, hygiene products, a sleeping bag, and outdoor gear. It also had a few small toys and a propaganda book for the parents to read to the children, which contained whitewashed children's stories of Berengar's conquests and goals.
Several sanitary measures were required by law that was put into place during childbirth, especially regarding washing one's hands and sterilizing tools used in the process. Berengar wanted to lower the child mortality rate to the best of his ability and had devised laws and procedures to achieve this goal.
After this comprehensive reform was signed into law under his executive powers, Berengar decided to relax for the time being. He already had two children, a son and a daughter with Linde, and it would not be long before Honoria came around to the idea of having children.
However, Berengar wanted to prevent that until after he married Adela and had a child with her. He felt terrible for the girl always coming in last place among his women, and as such, was willing to wait for some time with Honoria.
Another reason for this was a matter of legitimacy; until Berengar married Adela as his first wife, he could not enact polygamy for himself as the ruler of his realm and therefore could not marry either Linde or Adela as his other wives.
Thus at the moment, Linde's children were nothing more than bastards; Berengar would have to wait another year before he married their mother and legitimized them. Reflecting upon this Berengar decided to pour himself a glass of fortified wine, immediately drinking its contents before pouring himself another.
As he did so, he heard a knock on his door and knew it could only be one of two people; as such, he sighed heavily before responding.
"It's open!"
After the door opened, Honoria revealed herself, and in tow was a woman Berengar had not met before. However, at first glance, the two women appeared to be close. The moment Honoria entered the room, she put on a pleading expression as she asked her lover for a favor.
"Berengar, this is Melissa; she helped me escape from Constantinople and has fallen on some rough times. She has recently arrived in Kufstein and has no place to stay, nor any currency leftover from her journey. Could you help her out?"
After hearing this, Berengar took a sip from his skull chalice once more before reaching into his desk and pulling out a token, where he proceeded to hand it over to Honoria. This token had the new ducal arms of Berengar's house carved into it and symbolized his authority.? After handing this token over to his lover, Berengar sighed before responding to her request.
"Show that to the landlord of whatever tenement she desires to move into, and also to whatever employer she seeks to work for. The treasury will pay out any costs accrued during her moving expenses. It is the least I can do for a friend of yours who aided you on your journey."
Melissa was shocked when she heard this. However, Honoria's actions startled her even more as the princess ran up to Berengar and hugged him before planting a kiss on his lips. Afterward, she responded in an affectionate tone.
"Thanks, Daddy!"
Berengar cringed when he heard this; for whatever reason, Honoria had begun to call him this after they started dating. It was pretty embarrassing for Berengar, but he supposed it was not too inaccurate. In a way, he provided for Honoria and looked after her as a father figure that she could look up to over this last year.
Of course, the moment Honoria realized she had called Berengar by his pet name in front of Melissa, she began to flush with embarrassment. She had forgotten entirely that Melissa was present and said something shameful in front of her friend.
If Linde called Berengar by the title "Master" in private, and Honoria referred to him as "Daddy," then Berengar dreaded the idea of what embarrassing pet name Adela would give him after they were finally married.
Berengar did not show it upon his face; as a ruler, he had to be dignified in all situations, and since they were not alone, he had a stoic expression on his face as he flicked Honoria on the forehead before chastising her.
"Behave yourself while we have company!"
When Honoria heard this, she bowed her head, too embarrassed to look her lover or her friend in the eyes. After a few moments of silence, Berengar gave Honoria an order.
"You've taken up enough of my time; go find your friend a place to stay and a job so that she can sustain herself! While you are at it, find yourself the rest of your crew members."
Honoria nodded before thanking Berengar one final time with a kiss on the cheek; afterward, she left with Melissa in tow, leaving Berengar by his lonesome. Though not for long, as Linde appeared shortly after and began to mock him.
"Daddy? Wow, I did not know you were into that kind of thing..."
She had been hiding in the shadows outside the door to his study the entire time, and as such, heard the conversation. Berengar smiled before grabbing ahold of his other lover and pulling her into his lap.
"Funny, I don't remember giving you permission to mock me?"
When Linde heard this, her training took over, and she instantly bowed her head in remorse before playing along to Berengar's games.
"I am sorry, Master, please forgive this rude slave for not knowing her place..."
As Berengar heard this, he began to chuckle before pushing Linde off of his lap, he knew what she wanted, but he was far too busy to entertain her desires. As such, he slapped her on her perfect behind before giving her a command.
"I am far too busy to entertain you right now; go play with yourself; I promise that tonight you can have me as much as you want!"
In response to this, Linde began to pout, but she did not make a fuss. Instead, she smiled before commenting on Berengar's remarks.
"I am going to hold you to that!"
With that said, she disappeared from Berengar's sight, leaving him alone in his study with nothing but a mountain of paperwork to get through. Gazing upon the large stack of paperwork in front of him, Berengar sighed heavily before pulling another document from the pile and beginning to read through it. He sighed to himself as he voiced his discontent with his current lot in life.
"Some people say peace is a desirable state, and for the people, I assume it is; to me, it is nothing but paperwork, and paperwork is dreadfully boring!"
As such, Berengar continued to fulfill his daily work well into the night, burning the midnight oil as per usual. It was well past midnight by the time he was able to fulfill his promise to Linde. Luckily for him, he had the stamina of a horse and could perform as long as Linde needed.
By morning Berengar was dreadfully exhausted and decided for once in his life to sleep in. As such, it would not be until past noon when he finally awoke from his slumber and was forced to resume his work.
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