Re: Blood and Iron - Chapter 955: Abdication

Bruno left Japan with a strange feeling in his gut. He and Sakura hadn’t been particularly close in this life. In fact, they hadn’t spoken for many years. But there was something deeply unsettling about watching someone he had known for so long come to the end of their lifespan.

First it was Nicholas, then his mother, and eventually his father too. Now, Sakura, and who was next? Wilhelm? Or perhaps one of his elder brothers?

Who else whom he had known over the course of decades, even in passing would be the next to enter the grave? Or… was it him who was on Death’s list?

Truth be told, Bruno had not given much thought to the concept of death in this life. He had died once already, and the end result was him finding himself here.

It was this lack of concern for his own life, or at least, the lack of fear regarding the unknown that comes after his last breath. That allowed him to storm through battlefields with a resolve seldom found in other men.

But after everything he had built, after every relationship forged. For the first time in a very, very long time, he sat there on a train headed back to Berlin, pondering his own mortality.

Was there an actual end to this life? Had he fulfilled God’s will? Or was it just endless reincarnation? New lives, new parents, new siblings, new lovers, and new children? If so, would he even remember all that had become before the next time he reincarnated?

What had made him so special? He had always been certain of a divine influence that had caused him to enter this place and time. And if that were truly the case, did it not mean that his final judgement would come after he had fulfilled his purpose?

But… was that truly the case?

Mortality… the eternal dread of man, and the bane waiting for him at the end of his existence.

Perhaps it was better for him to have died on a battlefield….

This was the conclusion Bruno had come to when he stepped off the train, breathing in German air for the first time since he had embarked on his journey to the East less than a week ago.

The city was exactly the same as he had left it. And yet, he felt like his belief in the world around had changed.

Bruno didn’t speak as he entered the car waiting for him. He was, after all, expected to report to the Kaiser after his trip.

And since he did not have to deal with jetlag, and the fatigue that came with long distance air travel. He was crisp enough to entertain whatever surprise Wilhelm had waiting for him.

After all, it was a rarity for Wilhelm to request he visit Berlin after a long trip abroad, normally he was allowed a slight reprieve to return home to his family before getting right back to the next task.

When Bruno entered Wilhelm’s office, he found the man sitting there, dressed unusually casually.

There were no medals, no pompous flair, or the grandeur of the Imperial hegemon Bruno had known his entire life.

No, the Kaiser wore a three-piece tailored suit, it was of the highest quality, but for once it was worn without medals, sovereign’s chains, and grand orders of merit.

Bruno sat down in front of Wilhelm as the man poured a drink for both of them and made a flippant remark about the sudden change in attire.

“I almost didn’t recognize you without the usual medals.”

Wilhelm didn’t speak, not at first. He looked into his glass as he took a sip of his amber liqueur.

He then looked up at Bruno and spoke frankly.

“There is no need, I’ll be announcing my abdication once the weekend is over.”

Bruno chuckled, a joke, it had to be. Wilhelm was abdicating? In what world? But he could see the heaviness in the man’s eyes, and it caused Bruno’s expression to lower.

“You’re serious?”

Once more the Kaiser hesitated to speak until he had enjoyed a share of his liquor.

“I’m old Bruno… And you were right… I think it’s about time I retire, and allow my son to take the reins. You’re only a few years older than him. And it would be best if you were there as the chancellor to oversee his first few years as Kaiser. The time for the next generation to rule is around the corner, and it would be best if we began its transition now, before we are both too old to ensure its stable.”

The reasoning was solid. Bruno knew that. In fact, he had been subconsciously thinking of a way to convince the Kaiser to step down. For the good of the Reich, for a solid transition to the next Kaiser, and the new era of peace that now existed.

But it felt strange… worse yet, it felt wrong. Not logically, not even ethically…. But it just didn’t sit right with him.

Still, Bruno could not find a single reason to fault the Kaiser’s decision. And so he could only sit there in silence the two of them continued to drink without saying another word.

In the end, Bruno nodded his head and came to accept the decision after he had downed a few more glasses than usual.

“If that is your decision, I’ll respect it.”

It was only now that the tense atmosphere broke, as the Kaiser chuckled and shook his head.

“Do you think you have a choice? What? Would you rally the army to march on my palace just to keep me in power if you didn’t agree with it?”

Bruno smirked when he heard these words. There was a bittersweet curl at the end of his smile, but he couldn’t help but laugh all the same.

“Only if you force my hand, old man….”

Wilhelm joined Bruno in laughter as he poured the two of them another glass. He didn’t see the comment as disrespectful, or God forbid treasonous. In fact, Bruno found his reaction rather curious.

“Truth be told, Bruno, there was a time where every one of my advisors told me you were planning to usurp my position. And that I should have you tried for treason. Especially with that whole nasty business regarding your old friend Erich, and the Federal Police.”

Bruno no longer smiled, he didn’t laugh, he remained silent, he knew exactly what the Kaiser was referring to. He wasn’t ashamed of giving the order, but he lamented its result, only insofar as it had ultimately cost Erich his life.

It had been one of his biggest regrets in this life, that he had not found a way to save Erich earlier.

The Kaiser didn’t stick on this subject, he knew it was a sore spot for Bruno, so he instead continued with his train of thought.

“And, if I’m still being honest… I have no idea why I didn’t. You had gained so much power shortly after the turn of the century, anyone in their right mind would assume you were preparing to overthrow me and my house. But, for the life of me, I couldn’t do it…. Despite how suspicious many of your actions were, you had never given me a reason to doubt your loyalty. And so, I trusted you to do the right thing. Luckily for me, you have proven my trust was well placed.”

Bruno remained silent for the longest time. He was clearly deliberating something in his own mind, and the Kaiser took notice of it.

“What? Is it something I said?”

Bruno sighed heavily and placed his drink down on the table. His voice became quiet, and solemn. More than Wilhelm had ever heard from Bruno in his life.

“Can I be brutally honest with you, your majesty?”

Wilhelm narrowed his brow when he heard this, he suspected Bruno was about to confess something he would rather not hear. But, he felt compelled to let the man speak all the same.

He leaned back in his seat, taking a drink to calm his nerves as he did so.

“Go ahead.”

Bruno sat tall, his posture perfect and respectable as he prepared his statement in his mind for a final few seconds before speaking.

“It was never that I was particularly loyal to you or your house… Though I appreciate your trust, I feel it is slightly exaggerated.”

This was a shocking statement to come from Bruno, perhaps even treasonous if it had come from any other man. But for the life of him, Wilhelm was far more curious about what exactly Bruno’s reasoning was than he was outraged at the idea that his most loyal and capable subject did not consider himself loyal at all.

He didn’t raise out of his seat in protest, or hasten his words in panic, he calmly and collectedly asked that plagued his mind.

“If you were never loyal to me, then who were you loyal to? And don’t tell me yourself, you had every opportunity to become the Kaiser. So if it wasn’t out of loyalty to me or my house, then why didn’t you?”

Bruno sighed, it was as if he was releasing a weight he had been carrying on his shoulders for his entire life. And the Kaiser could feel how heavy the words were.

“For the Reich, sire….”

The words were every bit as confusing as they were profound, there was a million ways to interpret such a simple statement. And Wilhelm needed clarification.

“The Reich?”

Bruno nodded his head, reaching back towards his glass, and taking a sip to soothe his throat before continuing.

“Yes… There are very few circumstances where deposing you benefits the realm. So long as I had already consolidated power, the title and position of Kaiser was irrelevant to me. My entire life, my singular purpose was has been in my duty to protect the Reich, it’s security, it’s prosperity, and the people who make it. Everything I have done in my life was out of duty, and responsibility to the Reich. If the Habsburgs were in power when I was born instead, I would have not acted any differently.”

This was perhaps the last answer that the Kaiser was expecting. Not because it didn’t make sense. In fact… the more he thought about it, the words Bruno had said made far more since than out of a sense of personal loyalty to him or his house.

No, the Kaiser ended up breaking out into laughter out of the sheer absurdity of it. Bruno sighed and rolled his eyes, he could already guess what the Kaiser was going to say, and he said it after finally recomposing himself.

“Bruno, has anyone ever told you that you’re a saint?”

Bruno shook his head, and sighed once more with exhaustion.

“Your majesty, please…”

But Wilhelm cut him off.

“Bruno, if what you say is true, and I am starting to believe it is…. Men like you arent’ supposed to exist. You’re a fantasy… a fairy tale that children should aspire to… But who would actually want to live such a life? You’re a martyr…. You lived your entire life bearing the burdens of your people. And most of them will never properly thank you for it. If that doesn’t make you a saint, I don’t know what does.”

The Kaiser shook his head and laughed while finishing off the rest of his drink.

“Saint Bruno of Alemannia… It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

Bruno sighed… There was nothing more he could say now that the Kaiser had taken a liking to the joke.