Chapter 132 The Price of Salvation

Chapter 132 The Price of Salvation

Bruno and his family were entrusted to a long-winded retelling of the ancient house of Habsburg and its astounding legacy and impact on Europe and, by extension, the world at large. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The tour through the Hofburg where they stopped at every portrait of every ruler over the dynastic history while enlightening someone like Bruno who appreciated history was nothing but dull for his wife and children. Even so, they were forced to endure it, as to even make a statement about how dreadful they found it to be considered an insult of the highest caliber to such an ancient and lofty royal family. By the time they were done with this historical lecture conducted in the form of a tour across the Estate and its massive grounds. Dinner had been prepared, and this was where the real entertainment began. After all, in a bid to make sure that Bruno properly lived up to his promise, Princess Hedwig quickly took to the man's left side, even after meeting the ire of Heidi's homicidal gaze. She then began to plead with Bruno to regale her with the tales of his heroism on the battlefield. Something which Bruno had no qualms about reliving, as he, after all, found comfort in the weirdest of places. Frankly speaking, Bruno did not exactly know how to tone down the violence that occurred, and retold the war as it was, catching the attention of his wife, as well as the Habsburgs who looked at the man as if he was mad. Whether it was clearing houses, leading a charge through trenches, or personally taking command over the interrogation and execution of captured rebels. Bruno's retelling of the campaigns he had fought and won was bone chilling. But what was perhaps the most terrifying part of all is that he retold the story with the same lifeless expression he always seemed to have. Almost as if the horror he described had not phased the man in the slightest.

Should my sanity be the ultimate price to pay for the sake of ensuring the survival of the German Reich, and a future for our children which we can be proud of, then I will gladly pay it a thousandfold.

As much as it may appear to be, it is not out of some gruesome bloodlust that compels me to return to the battlefield time and again. But rather, for the sake of you all, and for the future of our family. For without my guidance in this coming Great War, this entire world would be doomed to a ruinous future filled with despair.

Heidi was not entirely surprised by Bruno's words. She was well connected after all, and with each passing day as the list of international crises piled up, it was starting to become more and more apparent that war between the Great Powers was inevitable, but she simply had to ask the question which kept her heart bitter towards this thought. "But why? Why does it have to be you? Couldn't anybody else fulfill this job?" Bruno simply smiled bitterly as he shook his head, before caressing his wife's chin, where he gently kissed her lips, before leaning in and whispering his thoughts aloud. "Silly girl, it was always meant to be me. Had God not chosen me for this role, you and I would have never met, for I never would have been born in this world. Do not lament the fact that I must suffer to ensure the existence of a better world, for it was a burden chosen for me to bear from the start. Rather, you should rejoice that by virtue of my fate, I was destined to meet you, the love of my life." Bruno's words, and the certainty in his statement, made it seem like he knew things he shouldn't know. As if he was some kind of prophet chosen to alter the course of history in the favor of Germany.

Madness if uttered by any other man, to be sure. But when spoken by the man she loved and believed in more than anything, Heidi couldn't help but believe perhaps Bruno was telling the truth.