Tyranny of Steel
chapter-1236

Hans stood outside the gates of his father's mountain villa. The village of Hallstatt was established around a lake which was surrounded by mountains. Because of this, there was very little land to actually be developed. Yet Berengar had purchased most of what he could get his hands on to construct his retirement home.

In fact, it was the perfect secluded paradise, one which Berengar seemed to enjoy himself in. However, Hans not actually announced to his parents that he would be visiting, and thus, he knocked on the door when Berengar and his wives were being intimate with one another.

At first, the man's knock was not acknowledged by the residents of the villa. But after pressing the doorbell a number of times, his mother answered the door, with only a nightgown covering her voluptuous body.

Hans could hardly believe his eyes when he witnessed his mother's appearance. Linde was supposed to be fifty-six years old at the moment, but she looked sixteen years younger. This was truly shocking, but not as much as it was, when his father's voice rang out from the halls, before revealing his own figure.

"Linde, dear, who's at the door?"

A pretty smile formed on Linde's beautiful face as she called out to her husband, who was dressed in nothing but a pair of compression shorts.

"It's Hans! I think we should probably get dressed!"

Berengar stared at his own son, who was looking at the man as if he were seeing things. Berengar's appearance was not that of a sixty-year-old man, but someone who was twenty years younger, and the missing eyeball that was supposed to exist had been replaced with a clear sapphire iris.

Hans felt as if he was having a stroke and was quick to ask just what the hell had happened to his parents.

"Why the hell do the two of you look so young? The last time I saw you, you were ancient! Why do you look roughly my age!?!"

Berengar chuckled as he approached the door and slapped Linde's ass before letting his son inside. An action which caused Linde to blush, and hug her man with a pretty smile on her face. But Hans looked at it with horror. Must his father always be this way?"

Realizing that his son was speechless, Berengar spoke to his wife, and commanded her to prepare some tea and cookies.

"Linde dear, be a doll and fetch Hans and I some tea, and cookies. There are some things we need to discuss."

Linde bowed her head in deference to her husband as she obeyed his command. After which, Berengar pulled on a nearby robe which was sitting on the coat rack, and covered his shame. He then led his son to the dining room, where he offered him the seat across from himself.

Once seated, Hans felt he could no longer contain his curiosity, and asked the question that was most important to him.

"How? How the hell? What the fuck happened to you two?"

Berengar chuckled as he heard this before explaining his situation to the boy.

"There's a pool in Iceland which has miraculous effects. I told you about the gods already, well this is their blessing to me. Although my body is still aging, the process has been slowed down, and your mothers and have regained the last twenty years of our life.

Who knows, we might live to be a hundred, and still appear to be half our age when we finally pass away from this world. It's not important. The only thing it has really done is allow me to be more sexually attracted to your mothers. I'm still going to die in forty years.

Oh speaking of, I made a deal with Odin a while back that makes it so our family, and yes, all of our descendents will end up in our own personal afterlife. I may have forgotten to mention that to you earlier.... anyway, none of this is really important. What brings you here, Hans? It has been months since I last saw you, and now you show up unannounced. Is everything alright?"

Hans gazed upon his father, who appeared roughly the same age as himself, with complete and total shock on his face. If he had been skeptical about the existence of ancient deities before, he was now a full-fledged believer.

However, he quickly recollected his thoughts, and spoke about the troubles he was having.

"It's about my sons, they are a bit too competitive with one another, and I fear that it is only a matter of time before they end up like your and Lambert...."

Linde walked in on this exact moment, where she handed her husband and son their tea, while placing a plate of cookies on the table. She then chose to sit in Berengar's lap, while the man eyed his son with a concerned expression on his face. It took Berengar several moments to think through his thoughts, which he then began to express aloud.

"Hans, what happened between your uncle and I was the failure of my parents. My only regret in life was that I could not share everything that I have built with my little brother. He died hating me more than anyone, and I have no doubt he continues to have that resentment in the afterlife.

If your sons have developed a fierce sense of rivalry already, one which is starting to become worrisome, you need to spend time with them, and teach them what I taught you and your siblings when you were young. Our family matters more than anything. My grandsons are of my bloodline, and they need to be reminded of this.

It doesn't matter which of them sits on the throne, what matters is that we all work together. It is the von Kufstein family against the world, it always has been, and so long as my descendents continue to understand this, it always will be. Let me ask you this Hans, how many hours a day to you work?"

Berengar began to take a sip from his tea when Hans answered the question with a nonchalant expression on his face.

"About sixteen hours a day, on average. Why?"

Berengar nearly choked on his tea as he heard this answer, and even Linde had an uncomfortable expression on her face. Something which confused Hans, who was only following his father's example. It took Berengar some effort to swallow his tea, where he then chastised his son for being an idiot.

"Why the fuck are you working sixteen hours a day? You're the fucking Kaiser. You can work four hours a day and nobody would give a shit!"

This response startled Hans, who looked at his father and mother, who both had disapproving expressions on their faces. He could not understand this and was quick to voice his disagreement.

"What the hell do you mean? You always worked sixteen hours a day?"

Berengar suddenly realized where the problem lied, and immediately sighed and shook his head before explaining his reasoning to his son, who appeared to be confused.

"Hans, I worked sixteen hours a day because I was building an Empire from scratch. The Reich is already built. There are no enemies for you to fight that worth such effort. The world belongs to Germany. You don't need to follow my example. You can work four to eight hours a day, and it will be sufficient to get your work done.

No wonder your children are at odds with one another. You are never around to parent them! I could get away with that, because you all had a strong maternal figure like your mother to rein you all in. And as much as I love my daughters-in-law, you don't have a strong supportive figure like Linde to glue the family together. That is your responsibility as the head of the house.

Hans, you need to cut your hours in half, and spend some proper time with your family, especially your sons. You need to guide them on the path to manhood. You may be teaching them the qualities that a ruler must have to be capable, but without your guidance they will end up as treacherous, and backstabbing fiends. A father is essential for his children to grow up with proper character. And the only thing more important for a ruler to have than his ability is his character."

Hans suddenly felt as if he had been an idiot. His father's words made sense. There was no reason for him to perfectly emulate his father. He needed to do things his own way. And ensure that the Empire his father built was not only maintained, but expanded at a healthy rate.

The major wars which the German Empire would ever fight had already been won. Now what was needed was to maintain its hegemony, and that was easy, at least compared to the goal of conquest.

Thus, he had only just started his conversation with his father, but had already learned so much. It was true what they say, one's journey was never complete in life. And despite already being an adult, and the new Kaiser, there was still much his retired father could teach him. Not only about how to be a monarch, but on how to be a man as well.