Chapter 347: An Awkward Family Dinner (1/2)

Having spent the evening getting high and drunk with two of his women and then engaging in intercourse, Berengar found the fatigue he felt from months of endless battle slowly wash away. To Berengar, war was an exhilarating activity, but if it went on for too long, it was capable of causing great anxiety and anguish.

After having fun with two of his women, Berengar rose from his bed and entered the bath, where they joined shortly after. Immediately he threw off his towel and entered into the steaming water; as he did so, Honoria and Linde grabbed ahold of him and began to wash every part of his body with their own.

While this was ongoing, Berengar was drinking from a glass filled with beer; any semblance of his previously heightened nerves vanished under the exceptional service his girls provided to him. After a while, Linde, Honoria, and himself got out of the bath and dressed in nothing more than silk robes, where they proceeded to head down from the harem room and into the dining room where Adela, Henrietta, Hans, and Helga were currently sitting.

When Linde saw her two children sitting in their high seats, she walked over to them and picked them up, where she placed them on her lap. After doing so, she lowered her robe and began to breastfeed the two small children.

The sight of which greatly unnerved Adela, who gazed at the sight with a look of disgust on her face. She could not help herself from commenting on the issue.

”Ahem... Linde, we are at the dinner table. Can you please cover yourself up?”

Linde, wearing a pleasant smile, did not give into Adela's provocation and merely responded with a snarky tone.

”What? Can't I feed my babies? What would you suggest they eat?”

Berengar, who was sitting in between the two women, and their argument refused to comment on the situation at hand. Though Hans was already three years old, he was still breastfeeding, which Berengar thought to be unusual but not entirely uncommon from his modern sensibilities; however, sooner or later, he would need to talk with Linde about weaning the kid and introducing cow milk into his diet.

However, at the moment, he simply did not want to get involved in this conversation and, as such, began to shift his attention to his son, who was growing more by the day. After finishing his session with Linde, Hans was placed back into his seat by Berengar, where he began to dine on schnitzel and Käsespätzle.

As the boy happily dined on his meal Berengar began to speak with his son; after all, it had been some time since he had a conversation with the little tyke.

”So Hans, I understand you have already begun your elementary education, and at such a young age too. Truly, one day you will be an inspiration for the Austrian people. Are there any questions you might have that I might be able to help with?”

Upon hearing this, Hans looked up from his plate and at the multiple women surrounding Berengar before asking the question bothering him for some time now.

”Tell me the truth, father, am I a bastard?”

When Berengar heard this, he dropped his fork onto his plate, sending a clanging sound resounding throughout the dining hall. Everyone present at the table looked at Hans with shocked expressions. Being the birth mother of Hans, Linde had her maternal instincts kick into overdrive and was the first to inquire about the origin of Han's question.

”Hans! Where did you hear such a thing?”

The boy refused to look his mother in the eye as he admitted to how he had heard the term.

”I read about it in one of the books in a library, if a child is born to parents that are not married, then he is a bastard and is not able to inherit his father's position. Does that mean that despite being the firstborn, I won't be able to follow in father's footsteps?”

Linde looked at Hans with a gaze over overwhelming compassion; she felt terrible for Hans having such questions on his mind at his young age. After feeling bad for her son, she threw Adela a wicked glance while thinking to herself.

If it weren't for this woman, my son would not have to think so lowly of himself!

Berengar, on the other hand, drank from his skull chalice filled with beer before answering the question to the best of his ability. Due to his son's hyper-intelligence, he was able to converse more generally with the child. However, he still left out specific information to avoid creating an awkward scene.

”Well, you see, my son, technically, you are a bastard as your mother, and I are not yet married. However, the book you are reading is old and outdated. The laws of succession are no longer as such. I have made it, so the most competent of my children can take my position after my death. One day soon, I will marry your mother, and you will be a legitimate member of my Dynasty.