Tyranny of Steel

Eventually, the food arrived; it was a tray filled with bierocks and two bottles of fresh milk. The bierock was a Volga-German dish from his past life. In other words, it originated from a group of German immigrants who had moved to Russia during the 18th century with the purpose of farming Russian Land. This occurred during Berengar ’s past life.

They were allowed to maintain their own culture, and as such, some very unique cuisines originated from the Volga-Germans. Berengar could partially trace his ancestry back to these people and had plenty of their recipes within his brain.

The bierock was a roll stuffed with hamburger meat and cabbage. It may not sound like much, but to Berengar, it was delicious, and it was easy to make. The delicacy had become quite popular as a lunch food within Kufstein and was beginning to spread to the rest of Austria.

After sitting in awkward silence while eating the food for some time, Berengar finally tried to create a conversation with Honoria, and so he asked something simple about her background. Even though she was lying to him, the girl was not very good at it, and he knew anything he inquired about regarding her past would most likely be accurate.

”So, Lady Valeria, tell me about yourself. Do you have any siblings? ”

After hearing this, Honoria was snapped out of her daze and caught off guard. She had not thought too deeply about her background and thus opted to be honest; after all, she did not know how to make up a lie on the spot.

”I have three brothers, all of them older than me…. ”

Berengar nodded his head at this, though she had no way of knowing he was asking simple questions based on what he knew about the Byzantine Royal Family ’s makeup, and what she had just said acted as another confirmation of his suspicions.

”What is your relationship with your brothers? Do you get along at all? ”

Hearing this, Honoria went silent and began to fidget with her hands, not knowing how to respond. She thought about what to say next deeply before responding once more with the truth. After all, she was growing more fond of Berengar by the day, and it was better, to be honest about small stuff like this than make up a completely fabricated background about herself and have to explain her real past later on. Thus she sighed before entertaining Berengar ’s thoughts.

”I would not say we get along, but we certainly aren ’t on bad terms either. Growing up, they mainly left me alone, my father was pretty strict since I was his only daughter, and he made it well known to my siblings that I was special. They looked out for me, but honestly, I think deep down they were deeply envious of how pampered I was. ”

Berengar nodded his head as he listened to her story; by the look on Honoria ’s face, she did not want to speak of her past anymore at the moment. However, Honoria ’s following words shifted the conversation out of his favor.