Steel Empire
The Sadness of a Father

Berengar woke up brightly and morning once more; with his lover by his side, he could not help but smile at the light of dawn in their gentle embrace. However, now was not the time to entertain his little pet. Instead, she quickly got out of bed and began to start her daily practice. Today it mainly consists of cardio; therefore, he did his daily run before engaging in swordplay with Eckhard. Now, he was at least competent enough with the sword to survive the battle on the battlefield.

Today is not sparring day. Instead, he drilled intensely, getting the strike movement and the proper defensive position embedded in his muscle memory; after nearly two hours of swordsmanship learning, he had, Berengar retired to the bathroom where he cleaned himself before visiting his parents' room.

Berengar arrived at the door of his family room, where he knocked on it several times before his mother opened the door. She had a worried expression on her face as she glanced at Berengar before dragging him into the room and closing the door behind. Surprised by her mother's actions, Berengar couldn't help but question her motives.

"Mom, what's going on?"

Gisela did not say much and only took Berengar to the side of the bed where her father was resting, it had been more than a month since the last time she had seen the man, and his condition had gotten worse all along. The old man really looked like he was ten years old, his hair that had started to gray in the past, had grown rapidly in that regard, and his face was thin with malnutrition that added to his age. Evidently, the man had fasted heavily and repeatedly prayed to God for guidance. However, all such measures were successfully accomplished was a significant blow to his health; he now looked worse than Berengar when he first arrived in this world.

Berengar looked at his father with great guilt; if the old man was this bad after alienating his son, then Berengar did not want to imagine his condition if Lambert had been executed for his crimes. As a dutiful son, Berengar took responsibility for this and approached Sieghard, lying depressed in his bed. After grabbing his hand, Berengar spoke to his father, telling him about some of the good news that had happened during this past month.

"Dad! I'd like to tell you that you are now a Viscount! Due to the border conflict with Kitzbuhel, I have managed to subdue them, forcing Baron Guntrum to become your follower. As far as Lambert is concerned, I have received news that he fits well in the Teutonic Order and will soon take his vows. There is no reason to suffer so much; the child will surely soon redeem himself in the eyes of God!"

Berengar could not bear to tell his father that he was involved in a serious conflict with the Church and that he had been excommunicated and condemned as a heretic. He also had no desire to tell the old man that the Teutonic Order planned to march on their land within 6 months to a year in an attempt to depose himself as Regent and annexing territory that allowed Lambert to rule under the Royal Banner. Teutonic States. If the man heard such terrible news, he might actually die of heartbreak, and Berengar could not bear to witness such a thing.

Sieghard smiled for the first time after hearing the news; it brought a hint of relief from the crippling guilt he felt for disappointing his sons as a father. He spoke weakly to Berengar with an affectionate smile.

"A Viscount, huh? I think that's good news for you, my son, soon, you'll inherit my land, and you deserve far more than commanding a lowly Barony like I can give you. I'm sorry that I won't live to see your marriage..."

"Dad, don't talk like that; you'll soon become a grandfather. Don't you want to see your first grandchild after birth?"

With this, Sieghard simply scoffed and returned to his depressed state as he stopped staring at Berengar and returned his gaze to the cold ceiling of the stone room. He voiced his concerns out loud, no matter how Berengar felt when he heard them.

"Pffts... An illegitimate child, which as a result will forever be a reminder of my failures as a parent. One of my sons conspired to kill his older brother, and the other impregnated his younger brother's fiancee. Very good work for me. has finished raising you guys ... "

Berengar's plan to comfort his father actually backfired so spectacularly that he made his father even more depressed; berengar could understand his father's grievances with his relationship with Linde. At this point He is only happy that Sieghard is unaware of how his relationship with Linde came about; if the old man is aware that it was the result of another conspiracy against his life by Lambert, he is, he might actually die on the spot.

Therefore, the young Regent could only sigh in response to his father's state. There was absolutely nothing he could do; he was not socially adept enough to comfort his father properly through overwhelming guilt and grief. His only attempt to do so had just managed to make his father feel worse about the whole situation. He may have just caused a few weeks to be taken from his father's life. Berengar needed to find something that could give the old man hope, and quickly. Otherwise, he was afraid the reaper would take his father away from him much earlier than he should.

Before leaving the room, Berengar revealed his empathy to his father while holding back the anger he felt towards himself for being so socially inept when comforting others about serious issues.

"Fastly healed dad..."

With that said, Berengar left his father's room feeling defeated. He did not know how to fix this situation, and all he could do was throw himself into his work to avoid the despair that began to take hold of his heart as he thought of the despair from his father's current state.