Tyranny of Steel

Weeks had passed since Dharya and his sister first arrived in the Royal Palace of Germany. The two siblings had been well looked after during their stay, and Ewald had recently discharged Priya from the infirmary. Currently, the two siblings were sitting in the dining room enjoying afternoon tea.

Priya was engorging herself on a variety of german sweets like a little glutton. The girl was particularly fond of black forest cake, which was recently added to the list of german cuisine after cocoa beans were transported en masse from the colony of Berenstadt to the Fatherland.

Since Tlexictli returned to the Empire after her trip to her homeland, she had continued to oversee the constant influx of cocoa beans across the atlantic, as well as the processing of the beans into chocolate. It was a massive trade, as chocolate had begun to dominate the sweets market.

As an ambassador to the reich, the Aztec princess now resided in her own chateau located within the palace district. Where she would occasionally visit the Royal Palace and speak to Berengar about important matters of diplomacy.

At the moment, Berengar was seated across from the two Indian siblings with a smile on his face. Priya seemed to enjoy the sweets and tea that he provided, and devoured them as if she had not eaten in months. Which was mostly true, as Priya had suffered from malnutrition long before she was poisoned.

Because of her uncle ’s cruelty, the poor girl had been severely underfed throughout most of her life. Naturally, when she was poisoned, it became difficult for her to even stomach the paltry portions she was served. Because of this, she had become borderline emaciated.

However, now that Priya was living in the city of Kufstein, she would never go hungry again. While Berengar understood the need to feed the girl so she could get to a healthy weight, he was concerned with the speed that she consumed sweets, and quickly lectured her about her unladylike behavior.