Re: Blood and Iron

Bruno's deployment to the Bosnian city of Sarajevo was, in all honesty, short-lived. The war between Bulgaria and its neighbors was simply not destined to last long. Within another month, it was over, and the powers of the world incorrectly assumed that the threat of a Great War had been completely averted.

But Bruno knew better. Even so, when he returned home, he was not in a jovial mood, nor did he lie to Heidi and tell her that everything would eventually be alright. He merely told her the truth: peace would last only a bit longer before the world burned itself in global conflict.

Heidi, of course, knew this was true; she was intelligent enough to see what the world was quickly becoming and also trusted her husband beyond measure. If he said a major war was coming, then that was unquestionable.

Because of this, she did not worry—not truly—everything that could possibly be prepared for had long since been done so by her man. All she could do was pray to God that he would keep her husband safe and sound throughout the years of turmoil that would soon be upon them.

Hence, Bruno opted to spend the remainder of his time no longer worrying about what was to happen. After all, everything had gone according to plan, including the 1912 U.S. Presidential Election, where, by nobody's surprise, the America-First coalition banded their resources together to prevent Theodore Roosevelt from winning a third term.

Instead, William Howard Taft was elected President, and because of just who was financing him behind the scenes, the new U.S. President and his administration would do everything in their power to stay out of the war altogether.

Assuming, of course, that Germany or its allies did not do something monumentally stupid like provoke the American public into a state of outrage as they had done in both World Wars during Bruno's past life.

---

Sitting in a room within a building that belonged to the Serbian government was a group of men. These men came from all walks of life; some of them were senior officers in the Royal Serbian Army.

Others were officials within the ranks of Serbian intelligence. Among them were even a few prominent statesmen, including a member of the Serbian royal family. This prince stood among the ranks of his fellow conspirators and was quick to speak on what they had just discussed.

"So… It is agreed then… We will supply and train these little brats to deal with the problem for us? In doing so, we can avoid total accountability for what is about to happen!"

There was utter silence within the room, and while nobody voiced disagreement with the treasonous plot that would embroil the world in a war that stretched across the globe, they all nodded their heads in approval.

And thus, the Serbian prince was quick to confirm the plan in motion; as of this moment, there was no stopping the Great War from beginning, nor was there a way to prevent the timeline from restoring its natural order.

"Very well then… We are fully committed to supporting Young Bosnia?"

Young Bosnia was the name of a revolutionary organization to which the man who would eventually be held responsible for plunging the world into total chaos belonged. In Bruno's past life, they had committed the act after being armed and supplied by the Black Hand.

It was the reason Serbia rejected Austro-Hungary's request for an unbiased international investigation into the death of the heir to their throne. And in doing so, caused the outbreak of the Great War.

Despite Heidi's best efforts to eliminate the Black Hand, they were a tenacious, cockroach-like organization. The problem with dealing with revolutionary groups like the Black Hand was that just because you took out their leader didn't mean you ended their reign of terror.

No, so long as their ideals were around to be preached, and there were men ignorant or vile enough to commit violence on their behalf, such groups could survive even the end of times. Hence why Bruno had been certain, even after discovering the untimely death of their leader, that the Black Hand would survive long enough to start the Great War.

With the current leaders of the Black Hand in agreement and the unconditional support of the Serbian crown behind them, the time to act was now. They would spend the next year or so training Young Bosnia and its members to commit this heinous act of regicide.

Bruno noticed in the papers that Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were on their way to Sarajevo, where he had just been deployed. He and his men had been withdrawn from the region after only a month of deployment because the Three Emperors of Europe believed the threat had passed, but Bruno knew better.

Tomorrow, Franz Ferdinand would die, and a month later, war would spread across Europe. The time had come, and because of this, he finally decided to tell his wife the truth—or at least the partial truth.

He approached Heidi, who was busy reading a story to their younger children, who, in recent years, had been born, despite more than half a decade between their births and those of his older children.

Heidi had begun to change in subtle ways over the past year or two since she had finally let go of the past burdens. She had always very much loved Bruno and the children they had together, but Bruno had always known that something deep down inside the woman he loved had kept her deeply paranoid about her family being taken from her.

It was one of the reasons she had always acted with such hostility toward any potential threat that reared its ugly head. But now she was at peace, and the graceful smile on her gorgeous face, even now as she entered her early thirties, was like that of an angel sent by God.

Bruno was a man of extreme fortitude; in this life and his past life, he was a veteran of more than five wars combined. There were few things on this mortal earth that could compel him to feel a sense of anxiety.

Yet… at this moment, as he knew what awaited him, as he understood what he was about to tell his wife and the dangers it posed, he felt an intense knot in his stomach. Even so, he needed to say what was plaguing his mind.

Should he die in the war, and Heidi never learned the truth, he felt that lying to her all these years would condemn him to an eternity of hellfire. And thus, Bruno signaled his presence with a slight knock on the door as well as a soothing whisper of his voice.

All the while, Heidi's gentle and nurturing tone continued to resound throughout the room.

"Heidi, dear, may I request a moment of your time?"

It was not unusual for Bruno to ask for a private moment between him and his wife. They were a married couple, and such a thing was needed for intimate bonding. Because of this, Heidi tried to reject Bruno's request as politely as she could, fully misunderstanding his intentions as she did so.

"Can it wait? I'm with the children right now…"

Bruno chuckled and shook his head immediately after understanding what his wife had assumed before quickly correcting her thoughts.

"Believe me, dear, what I have in mind is far more important than what you are thinking. Could you spare a moment of your time to meet with me in my office?"

Whatever it was that Bruno had in mind, it was far more serious than the woman initially thought, and because of this, she was quick to agree to her husband's request.

"Give me five minutes to make sure the kids are properly prepared for bed, and then I will join you right after…"

Not another word needed to be said, as Bruno politely nodded his head before wandering off to his office, where, as promised, Heidi met him at the door not a moment later than the timeframe she had given him.

Heidi, however, surprised Bruno as she hugged him tightly and kissed him immediately after the doors had shut behind her. The passion with which she displayed her love for her husband was almost as if she were trying to inhale every last gasp of breath from Bruno into her lungs.

After breaking away from the man, she held her head tightly against his chest, almost like a wounded kitten, before voicing her greatest fears aloud.

"It's happening, isn't it… Your previous deployment to Sarajevo was just a fluke… But this time… you really will be going to war again…"

It had been many years since Bruno last marched away from home to go fight in some foreign land, and, frankly speaking, Heidi had gotten accustomed to having her man at home with her, safe and sound….

Bruno sat his wife down in front of his desk as he poured himself and her a stiff drink. Heidi seldom consumed alcohol and had never once touched a cigarette in her life. Such things were indecent for a woman to partake in.

The mere fact that Bruno was even offering her a drink spoke to the severity of what he was about to tell her, and because of this, she happily accepted the hard liquor for the first time in her life. Making a novice's mistake, she drank down the high-proof scotch in one solid gulp before damn near coughing up a lung.

Naturally, Bruno immediately ran to her side and messaged her back, laughing as he commented on her foolishness.

"I forgot you had no experience with distilled spirits. Please let me apologize—not just for offering you such a potent drink, but also for what I am about to confess to you. Hear my story, my love, and listen well, because I fear this might very well be my last chance to tell you the truth of who I am and all that I have been through…"