Re: Blood and Iron

Chapter 7: Belle of the Ball



Following the warning that Bruno received from Heidi's maid, he immediately began to change how he depicted himself. He had not properly thought through the consequences of what displaying such a terrifying intellect and cunning nature at such a young age would have on him.

Until now, he had displayed the potential to become a world class genius like that of Da Vinci, Newton, or Tesla. A man capable of changing the very world around him. And while such expectations came with many perks, it created as many, if not more dangers.

Because of this, Bruno spent the next five years "dumbing down" his public persona. As if he peaked in childhood, Bruno suddenly went from being known for having the potential to be a peerless genius among humanity to a peerless genius among kids his own age.

Even his parents were not clued in on this, and assumed it was simply a matter of age and personal development. That he had reached a bottleneck as he grew older. And while his father came to expect less of him, his mother still considered Bruno to be her favorite son, her little genius.

Bruno's initial plans to attend university at an unusual age were thwarted by his own genius. Instead, he was forced to endure the following years of schooling with those his own age, attended a private academy for Germany's elite and noble youth in the day. While returning home to his peaceful family life in the afternoon.

Five years passed like this, and the suspicions of Heidi's father, a man by the name of Prince Gustav von Bentheim-Tecklenburg had finally subsided. He too bought into the façade that Bruno created for himself.

Gustav was a man of esteemed power and wealth. His family was of ancient and high nobility. And had once been rulers of their own vast lands.

However, following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire their lands were annexed and mediatized by the Kingdom of Prussia. Where in 1817, they were elevated to the status of princes, and in 1854 were granted a hereditary seat in the Prussian House of Lords.

There was a reason the man was so prideful about his family's position and was so antagonized by the Junker upstarts such as Bruno's family. But with his eyes no longer lingering on Bruno the boy had been able to develop quite swimmingly.

Over the course of the past five years, Bruno continued his independent studies, not only mastering the basic subjects that were required for graduation from the Royal Prussian Main Cadet Institute, but he also began to explore skills that would become necessary for his future ambitions of leading Germany to military and political dominance in the coming century.

Subjects he had ignored in his previous life such as politics, economics, and mechanical engineering became the primary interests of his personal study. But in addition to this, Bruno began to master the art of fencing.

The era of the sword had long since passed. Guns and bayonets had replaced the need for close quarters combat in most cases. And though the militaries of the day continued to delude themselves with chivalric notions of cavalry charges, the sad truth of the matter is such units became obsolete decades ago.

But that was neither here nor there. There was a tradition of academic fencing among the German nobility, as well as its military. And though duels were outlawed years prior back in 1851 within Prussia, and later in 1871 when Germany was united under their banner.

The fact remained that Duels to first blood were still a common occurrence among the nobility, and the military to settle disputes, and would remain so until the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. Which was still decades away.

Because of this, Bruno spent a considerable amount of time over the past five years mastering a variety of sword styles in case the need should ever arrive to defend his honor, or that of his

woman.

Eventually, his fifteenth birthday came and passed. Where Bruno was invited to a gathering of noble youth, for the celebration of Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia, who was the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm the II.

Bruno and his family were only invited to such a prominent gathering due to his father's position in the Reichstag, which he had been elected to as a representative of the Junker coalition during the previous year.

Though his father's aims were far more ambitious as he sought to be appointed to the Bundesrat which was the higher of Germany's bicameral legislature, and more specifically be placed on the Committee of Land Army and Fortresses Which would naturally allow himself to place his own family's arms corporation and its products as a priority in terms of future military procurement.

But to do that, Bruno's father would need to make connections to the Kaiser, who was also the King of Prussia. Meaning that this ball gathering for the Princess' upcoming second birthday was the perfect opportunity for such matters.

Bruno was not the only one of his siblings afforded the honor of attending this event. In fact, it would be a gathering of thousands of noblemen and their families at the Kaiser's personal palace. And tonight was the night of the event.

Bruno looked at himself in the mirror. He had grown so much since first reincarnating into this world. In his past life, he was a relatively mundane looking man. Especially as he grew older, one would not think much of his appearance.

But in this life he had been reborn as a noble scion, and in all honesty his facial features were not half bad. In fact, he was rather handsome by the standards of the day. His golden blonde hair was neatly parted into a style that would be fashionable in the coming decades. While his relatively muscular and athletic physique was hidden behind the ultra-luxurious tailcoat which he wore.

By no means had Bruno neglected his physical training in this life and instead was in far better shape than most men of the day. Physical fitness would be a supreme requirement for his future military career, and he was preparing for that day, which appeared to be nearing ever closer.

There was a knock on Bruno's door as he adjusted his bowtie so that it was perfectly straight. Followed by a familiar voice. The voice was feminine, like that of a young girl who was quickly blossoming into a woman. It was meek, and quite embarrassed, as it called out to Bruno from behind.

"My Lord... Are you ready?"

Bruno was honestly slightly surprised that his date for the evening had come to personally gather him for the event. But he quickly pushed this to the back of his mind and opened the door to reveal his darling little fiancée.

Despite having the memories of a middle-aged man from his past life. Bruno was currently a teenager physically. His body was flooding with hormones that controlled his thoughts. And because of this, when he gazed upon Heidi's teenage form, as she was dressed in a lavish Victorian style dress, while wearing the accompanying jewelry he couldn't help but get slightly flustered.

He had no idea when they were kids that the girl he would one day married when they became adults would become such a beautiful woman, and she still had plenty of time to further develop Bruno was forced to shake his head, and remind himself that he shouldn't be having

any inappropriate thoughts.

But it was hard to do so, with the young woman bashfully averting her gaze from the boy, while her face was as equally flustered as his. Rather than wear her usual twin braid style, she had tidied her golden locks into an elegant bun.

And if Bruno was being honest, it added an air of maturity that the girl did not normally have. The two of them persisted in a state of an awkward silence, until ultimately Heidi interrupted it, stammering while she did so.

"My... My Lord... You really should not have spent so much on this dress and jewelry... It is unbefitting for a bastard like me to waste so much of your money...."

It was not as if Bruno knew why Heidi felt this way. Though he had stopped her bullying problems at home. The ridicule she would receive by the noble girls who were friends with her sisters was something he had no control over.

And because of this, the girl was still deeply self-conscious about her position in life. Bruno alone had the ability to convince her to be more confident of herself. Which he was quick to do so, with a charming smirk, as he grabbed hold of her dainty chin and forced his fiancée to look

him in the eyes.

"My Lord? I have told you this a thousand times, Heidi, but I don't like it when you refer to me by my title when we are alone together... Besides, I spend my money how I please, is it a sin for me to bestow my future bride with a wardrobe worthy of her beauty?" Heidi's face was as red as can be. She seemed to have a hard time expressing herself, and quickly ran off, no longer able to face Bruno after he said such embarrassing things to her.

"I'll wait for you in the automobile my... Bruno!"

Once she was gone, Bruno sighed and shook his head, thinking how much he would have fallen for the girl if he didn't have his old memories in his head. But give her five more years when she was finally an adult, and even he wouldn't be able to resist such feelings. After thinking this, Bruno left the corridor and entered the grand hall of his family's manor, where he saw his brother Ludwig and his parents waiting patiently for his arrival. Ludwig was the only other of their children who had not yet reached the age of majority and moved out after marrying their fiancée. Kurt and all of Bruno's other siblings would meet them at the

venue.

When Bruno's mother saw her youngest boy enter the venue, she ran up and hugged him. She always displayed a little too much motherly affection towards him. His mother's name was Elsa, and frankly, she matched the image that immediately came to mind when he heard the name that should otherwise belong to a princess.

Elsa couldn't help but make an embarrassing statement about her youngest child and his current refined appearance.

"My baby boy is all grown up! You will be the most handsome young gentleman at the ball!"

Ludwig couldn't help but immediately rolled his eyes at the scene presented to him. No matter how old Bruno became, their mother would still treat him as if he were a small child.

Even Bruno was embarrassed by the overly affectionate behavior, and shoved his mother

aside, while chastising her as if he were the parent.

"Enough, mother... I'm no longer a child. It's not acceptable for a woman your age to be so

handsy with me!"

Elsa pouted like a girl half her age and pulled her son's ear while lecturing him about his

audacity to scold her.

"Who do you think the parent is between the two of us, young man!?! Dear, are you just going to sit there and not properly discipline our son?"

Bruno's father, who shared the same name as his youngest son simply looked at his wife and

sighed heavily in exhaustion. She had always been this way with their youngest child. Perhaps it was because the boy was her youngest that she continued to treat him like a baby. But ultimately, no matter how many times he scolded her about it, she would continue to do so. He was resigned to endure such embarrassment, and instead simply told the family to get into the automobile so they could head to the venue.

"Alright that's enough, Bruno. Your young fiancée is already waiting for you in the automobile. As for you Ludwig, your own betrothed is already at the venue, waiting for you to arrive. So let's not waste any further time!"

With this said, the family set off in their luxurious able to their destination. While the automobile was by no means common, and horse travel was still the primary means of travel within cities like Berlin. The wealthy did have access to early forms of such vehicles which were invented a mere eight years prior, and Bruno's family was no exception to this.

After arriving at the Kaiser's palace, and being properly greeted into the main hall where a massive gathering of nobles was taking place. Bruno took Heidi's hand, who was shaking with anxiety, and led her into the venue. Many eyes were drawn to the two of them.

Not only because of Bruno's family's recently established position within German politics.

But because they were shocked that the Rumors were actually true. Until now, Bruno and Heidi had never truly been to a public event such as this together.

Bruno after all had a tendency to avoid such social gatherings, as he had no interest in rubbing shoulder with a bunch of rich snobs who acted like they were superior to them because their great-great-grandfather may have invented something like the toilet brush.

No, he would rather mingle with people who had more promising talents, still at his father's

behest he was forced to attend today. And since it was a social gathering, he naturally brought his young fiancée with him.

Heidi was well known for being the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy Prince. And there had been rumors that a engagement existed between her, and the youngest son of a wealthy Junker. But now it was fully confirmed. And people stared and made whispers among one

another.

But there was one thing that people did not expect, and that was the fact that the young bastard girl would, when dressed up, exhibit the qualities associated with her noble bloodline. Her elder sisters were at the event and stared with hideous expressions at their youngest half sister.

Who, despite being just barely capable of embracing the moniker "teenager" was already

more beautiful than any of them. When dressed in such luxurious attire, which Bruno had spared no expense on her behalf, she was the one who looked the most like a fairy-tale princess among them.

And this was naturally a factor which contributed to the amount of onlookers both she and Bruno received as they entered the venue. Knowing how frightened Heidi had become due to all the looks and whispers she was receiving, Bruno shocked her by pulling her into his arms,

and stated the words that absolutely made every noble girl and woman in attendance furious beyond measure.

"Don't worry about the onlookers. They are simply jealous of your natural beauty. Now, how about the two of us go have some fun?"

Even though the attention she was receiving was truly a dreadful experience for the girl, so

long as Bruno was by her side, she was quick to follow him with a smile on her face. "As you wish, My Lord!"