Re: Blood and Iron

Heidi was happier than she had been in a long time. And the reason for this was quite simple. Her family was home, together for the first time in a very, very long time. Not only was Bruno home from the war for several months of leave.

But Erwin was granted leave from the Academy as well, he was granted permission to attend this important family function which the von Zehntner household put on every year at the main estate.

Because of this, Heidi was able to walk into the villa's grounds while holding onto her beloved husband's arm, which was miraculously still attached to his body, despite the dangers he regularly and needlessly put himself in.

The von Zehntners were a family of wealthy war industrialists who now had deep ties to the political class. They were also noblemen who had been granted a much higher rank as a result of their relation to Bruno, who was, in the Kaiser's own words, the "most exceptionally gifted military leader the German nation had ever bene blessed with."

While Bruno was certainly talented in the fields of logistics, tactics, and strategy. It was not without mentioning, at least within his own mind, that many of his achievements came because he had an understanding of the future of warfare and of how it should be properly waged.

Nevertheless, to the people of this era he was a visionary beyond anyone that had preceded. Minor and Great Powers alike dreaded the idea of his very existence. And at the same time, envied Germany for having someone like him.

It wasn't just Bruno's capabilities on the battlefield as a brilliant commander. Unlike many of his predecessors such as Napoleon, he was the whole package. An attractive and charismatic man, who was on par with the sculptures the ancient Greeks left behind of their gods.

While also possessing a mind for engineering and science. On top of this, Bruno was a titan of industry and a philanthropist. Everything about him made lesser men envious, but what drove them mad was he seemed to be quite pious?

Intelligence Agents had driven themselves to the point of despair, looking for the slightest dirt on Bruno. Addiction? Debauchery? Infidelity? For fuck's sake, blasphemy!?! There was nothing on him that could be unsurfaced, which did not merely add to his aura.

A man of God who, despite his vast wealth actually tithed to the church? A man who, despite his valor, good looks and charm was faithful and loving to his wife? Who raised his children properly and abstained from excessive intakes of alcohol?

How could such an ideal of a man exist? If there was one flaw with Bruno, it was his lack of overall remorse towards those souls he had sent to the afterlife. Either way, the man had risen to the top of society, and was now the embodiment of near mythical figures.

Because of this, even those brothers who had once envied him and despised him for his gifts were now rustling his hair, and clinking their mugs of beer together with the man for all that he had accomplished in the year since their last meeting.

And they did this the moment he entered the grounds of the family estate, damn near trying to pick him up on their shoulders, and would have indeed done so if he hadn't so violently refused the attempt.

"Oh, come on, Bruno! We're here to celebrate! Another year, and despite all the chaos going in the world we are all still here in one piece! And you, little brother, my god you beautiful bastard! Do you have any idea what your reputation is among the working class?!?"

As a member of the Bundesrat representing the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Conservative Party, Ludwig was seldom this informal, even among his own family and close friends. But Bruno's image had done wonders for the party their family most closely supported.

It was a party of monarchists, social conservatives, religiously inclined folk, and of course most of all the nobility. But there were other parties which were similar and represented the interests of the working class.

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Usually they would not be so keen to work with the noblemen above them, but Bruno was the unifying factor of their little coalition of right-wing parties. Insofar as he was two generations removed from his family initially gaining nobility and was already a Prince.

Granted in foreign nations, but there were rumors that Bruno would be granted a similar if not greater status here in the Reich once the war was over, and as far as the working class was concerned, Bruno was what they aspired their grandchildren to be.

It didn't help that Bruno paid his workers extraordinarily well, and rewarded their labor and loyalty and every way he could that didn't draw away from the overall function of his corporations and the purposes they served.

Because of this, Bruno was actually quite interested in what the common men were saying about him and was quick to raise his brow as he finally responded to Ludwig's overly affectionate gestures.

"No, I don't have the slightest clue… In case you haven't realized I've been incredibly busy winning a war… What are the men here in the fatherland saying for me?"

Ludwig immediately did an impression of one of the men he heard in the streets who was clearly a member of the working class talking about Bruno to his buddies as they appeared to just be getting off work.

"I don't care how wealthy he is! I heard from my nephew that he personally took over the boy's spot on watch for the night so that the kid could get some proper rest. As far as I'm concerned, that is one noble bastard. I would more than willingly buy a drink should I ever get the chance to meet him! I might even shake his hand!"

This exaggerated impression caused all of Bruno's brother to break out into laughter together as they almost in unison said the same thing aloud.

"A true man of the people!"@@novelbin@@

Bruno was quite honestly shocked that the average working man thought of him this way. And if he knew how much he was celebrated in the German Reich by people of all walks of life. Except for perhaps the oldest and most proud of noble houses, he would realize that he indeed was the definition of "a man of the people…."