Tyranny of Steel

For nearly two years now, Berengar had been shipping goods to and from the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, these massive steel vessels had to go through the Malacca strait. A region controlled by the Majapahit Empire, and despite the constant traffic through the area, Berengar had paid no tax. Though there had been attempts by the Majapahit empire's navy to force the German vessels to stop, they were all met with failure.

At first, the Majapahit Royal Family did not know who these steel behemoths belonged to, and had used various means to investigate their origin. Finally, after nearly two years, they had found the answer, when a Ming delegate had visited their homeland and described the ships as German Vessels, followed by the advice that the Majapahit should let them be.

After careful consideration of how to deal with the Germans, the Majapahit King had sent a delegation to Kufstein to reach an acceptable agreement. The leader of this delegation was the King's daughter, a beautiful young woman by the name of Anggraini.

In the Majapahit empire, the women of the royal family often acted as advisors to the King, and this young woman in her early twenties was no exception. Still, the moment she gazed upon the German Kaiser, she could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of awe. Before she could introduce herself, however, a screaming child rode into the Great Hall on the back of a full grown leopard.

This child was none other than Josef, Berengar's youngest son, with Linde. The boy had the golden hair of his father, with the sky-blue eyes of his mother. In a way, he resembled Henrietta more than either of his two parents. The boy was latching onto the back of the Leopard as it rushed through the great hall at great speeds. That is, until Berengar shouted at the two of them.

"Josef! Genseric! Out!"

Both the child and the leopard lowered their heads in shame before sulking out of the room. Berengar sighed heavily and rested his forehead on the palm of his hand. It took him a few moments to recover his mood, and after doing so, he stood up from his throne and walked towards the Indonesian Delegates.

"Apologies, my son can be a bit playful with my pet. I hope they did not frighten you."

The Indonesian princess's jaw was fully dropped upon seeing a small boy ride on the back of a fully grown leopard as if it were a common mount. It was an African leopard, and because of that, it was a bit bigger than the ones she was familiar with in Java.

Of course, Genseric would not allow any child to ride on its back. Linde had taken responsibility for the beast and raised it as if it were one of her own children, and because of that, the mighty leopard grew up alongside the young prince Josef. The two were practically inseparable, and often played together.

Genseric was, after all, the child of a deity's familiar, and because of that, it had heightened intelligence, practically to the level of a human child. Thus, it was able to get along with the boy as if they were actually brothers. Naturally, as a leopard, it grew up quicker than the human boy, and because of that, it often played around by taking the boy for rides across the massive palace.

This exceptionally tamed behavior out of an apex predator was quite possibly the most puzzling thing the Indonesian delegation had seen all day, and they were left without words. As for Berengar, he was admiring the Princess's natural beauty.

When it came to Asian women, Berengar's preference was for jade skinned beauties from the Northeast of the continent. However, he had to admit this princess was to his liking. As he inspected the woman's rather humble chest, he remembered Linde had said it was fine if he spread his seed among the world's princesses. Naturally, he intended to take advantage of this, even if he did not plan to have an actual long-term relationship with the woman.

It was a common adage that Genghis Khan had tens of thousands of children with thousands of women. Assuming such an old tale was not an exaggeration, then Berengar had to admit he was severely lagging behind. The man was already in his thirties, and yet he had less than twenty offspring, with a handful of women.

Thus, he decided to be on his best behavior as he stood in front of the woman, well over 30 centimeters above her, and gazed down upon her pretty face before asking the princess for her name.

"You stand here in my palace, as my guest, and yet I still do not know your name? That's a bit rude, don't you think?"

The woman had to look up in order to see Berengar's handsome face smiling down at her. She had never met such a tall man before and was quite surprised. Then again, everything she had seen in the borders of the Reich thus far had left a memorable impression on her. After the translator conveyed the Kaiser's words, the woman knelt respectfully before introducing herself to the man.

"My name is Anggraini of the Rajasa dynasty. It is truly a pleasure to meet you, oh mighty Kaiser."

Whatever ideals of justice Anggraini had when she first set off to the reich were now dead. She knew there was no way she could request that the Reich pay taxes as they passed through the Malacca strait. For christ's sake, she had just flown in the air for several hundred kilometers. Such a thing was simply inconceivable.

Her civilization was advanced enough to know that Berengar and the Germans weren't gods, unlike the natives of America. However, she still struggled to believe everything she had seen so far on this day. So much so that she was convinced the german people might as well be deities with how advanced their civilization was compared to hers.

The airship had a particularly large effect on the woman. In this world, Islam had not spread beyond the borders of the near east, and North Africa, because of that Hindu and Buddhist teachings were the two greatest foreign influences on Javanese people.

Though they had some differences, she was at the very least aware of the legendary Vimāna within the Hindu sacred texts, and the airship she had taken to reach Kufstein was quite literally a god's floating palace. It simply could not be explained in any other manner.

Thus, despite meeting the Emperor of Germany for the first time, she treated him with the utmost respect as she kneeled before Berengar as if he were the equivalent of a god. It surprised Berengar to see the princess of a foreign empire kneel before him so respectfully. He was not the only one. The unusual behavior of their usually proud princess also surprised those men who accompanied the woman.

What astonished Berengar was that she treated him so respectfully, when her people were so far away from the Reich, that they could not possibly be aware of the brutal wars that he had fought to unify his people, and establish German hegemony over the west. Without this knowledge, there was no way this young woman would be able to properly fear and respect him. Yet, the look in her eyes was more of a reverence which confused him further.

It was at this moment that Berengar thought that perhaps Germany had advanced so far beyond the rest of the world, that even the civilized people of the east consider him to be a god? Was that even possible? As he thought about it, he felt as if this explanation was plausible, and merely smiled before finally answering the girl's introduction with a compliment.

"Anggraini... Am I pronouncing that, right? That's a pretty name. At the very least, it sounds a hell of a lot more pleasant to say than my own..."

Once these words were translated, the woman giggled. She did not expect this man of such power to have such a self-deprecating sense of humor. She was curious about what a rough sounding name like Berengar actually meant and was quick to ask about it.

"Pardon my insolence, but I'm curious. What does the name Berengar even mean? Is it common in Germany?"

To this, Berengar scoffed and shook his head before answering the woman.

"Until recently, it was rare to come across a man named Berengar. It's a name from a much more ancient era. Maybe two or three centuries ago you would see a bunch of Berengars running about, but you won't meet many men my age with such a name. Though, nowadays it is the most popular name for baby boys. What it means can roughly be called an amalgamation of the old high german words Bear and Spear."

After saying this, Berengar quickly shifted the conversation to something more important, and forced the woman to express her reasoning for visiting the Reich.

"Enough with the introductions. Tell me why are you so far away from home, here in my little Empire. Have I perhaps done something to offend you? This is the first time we have ever had interaction, is it not? What is it that you desire from me?"

The Majapahit Princess felt as if her heart would explode should she ask the man what her father had requested. Just how was she supposed to force this man to pay a toll for the use of the Malacca strait? If she were to ask such a thing, he would just laugh in her face and kick her out of his palace.

Rather than try to get the Germans to pay taxes, she decided she would instead attempt to open up trade between their two empires. A land with such overwhelming technology must be wealthy, and if that were the case, it would be better to establish a healthy sense of commerce between their two realms. Although whether he would agree to such a request remained to be seen. Thus, with a silent thought as if she were speaking to her father, she apologized before making her request.

I'm sorry, father, but I can't convey your request. There is no way the Germans would ever be willing to recognize our control over the Malacca strait. To insist upon it would only bring disaster to our Empire. I'm afraid I must take an alternative path.

After thinking this, the Princess took a deep breath before speaking of her desires.

"I would like to establish trade between the German Empire and my homeland!"

After hearing the words translated into the German tongue, Berengar thought about it for a few moments. Having access to Indonesia would be good for the future war with Japan, and he had no doubt that the Empress Itami would eventually try to take the islands for herself.

After all, there was rubber and oil on them, something she desperately needed to compete with the Armed Forces of the Reich. Thus, after several seconds, Berengar sighed heavily, as if he were in deep thought, before revealing his thoughts to the beautiful young woman.

"I suppose I can accept such a thing, however I have one condition that must be met before I do so..."

Once Berengar's words were translated to Anggraini, she smiled and grabbed hold of his hands with a pleading expression on her pretty face, before stating her thoughts.

"Anything, so long as I can give it, it is yours!"

A devilish grin curved on Berengar's lips as he whispered something in Sanskrit into the woman's dainty ears.

"Sleep with me..."