Re: Blood and Iron-Chapter 408: A New Star is Born
Eva von Zehntner was the oldest of Bruno's children. As a young woman, she was entirely unlikely to inherit her father's position, and that was fine by her. She was not some ideologue of liberal virtues, despite having received a classical education while growing up. Rather, she deeply admired her parents' relationship and the traditional values her mother embodied.
When she heard from her father that an arrangement had already been brokered to marry her off in the future to Prince Wilhelm—not the immediate son of the Kaiser, but his grandson and future heir to the throne, who was currently roughly the same age as her—she didn't cry, or rebel, or throw a tantrum of epic proportions.
Rather, the young woman who had been raised her entire life with the civility and grace of a proper princess spent most of her time fantasizing about how their future relationship would blossom.
Sure, because of how close Bruno was with her fiancé's grandfather, and the importance both men had in the German Reich, they were already acquainted. But the idea of marrying the future Kaiser, and becoming the single most important woman in the world, had been nothing short of a fantasy—until Bruno casually dropped the nuke on the family over a breakfast conversation.
It was a secret so powerful it had the ability to change the course of history, and provoke disaster upon their entire house by those who would naturally be envious of the alliance brokered in the shadows.
And the political significance of the Kaiser marrying his grandson—a man who would one day be the Kaiser—to a young woman from a house of noble upstarts with a lineage barely more than a single century? It was unfathomable. In another timeline, it would have never happened.
But Bruno was a force of nature—like thunder and the lightning which preceded it. He was a dealer in death on a global scale. The Kaiser's enemies were broken, defeated, and scattered to the winds, licking their wounds as they gazed from afar in horror at the prosperity and might that Germany was building at this very moment.
Historical enemies, like the Habsburgs, had been bound by a leash of servitude. Not through the brilliance of old and ancient dynasties which had supported the House of Hohenzollern for centuries—but by one man.
Sure, the Austrians didn't quite realize it yet, but they had sold their soul to Bruno in order to save the heart of the Empire: the Archduchy of Austria and its crown lands. But when the time came to collect, Bruno would take everything from them.
Austria was poised to be peacefully integrated as another subordinate state of the Prussian Royal House—a feat that had never before been done in history, despite both nations being clearly German.
Bruno's contributions to the German Reich were second to none. And despite having every chance to betray the Kaiser and seize power for himself, he had rejected the temptation brutally every time it manifested.
His loyalty? Unquestionable—albeit he was a figure of fearsome and ruthless pragmatism, to the point where sometimes he even scared the Kaiser. Yet, it was only natural that once Austria had been properly annexed, lands would be broken off, and Bruno would finally become a proper German Prince, quelling the rabble and their complaints once and for all after doing so.
It was a conspiracy that only a few people knew. One that could forever change the world. And Bruno had told his children as if it were the most lighthearted of dinner conversations.
Wilhelm—the young prince, not the Kaiser—was barely aware of the arrangement at all. He knew he would be marrying the daughter of Germany's most fearsome, respected, and decorated general, but unlike Eva, he did not know the extent of the details.
Because of this, as the two of them sat together enjoying evening tea, with only the company of the maid to keep a close eye on them—while their fathers discussed boring details of diplomacy, strategy, and industry—Wilhelm was entirely unaware of his fiancée's future lineage, despite having no qualms over it.
Still, he found it unbelievable that his grandfather would marry him off to a mere German countess, whose family might hold grander titles abroad, but was still ranked at the lowest echelons of the high nobility in Germany. When other, more noble options existed, he couldn't help but voice these thoughts—in the most respectful and relieved way possible.
"Truth be told… I thought my grandfather was going to try to have me married off to the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg as some grand attempt to annex them after the war was over… I never thought I would be able to marry a woman in my own age group, let alone one who I get along with so well.I mean, there are only so many princesses who meet the qualifications, thus why I am pleasantly surprised to see His Majesty has decided that you are to be my bride when we are of proper age."
Though both met the criteria to marry under current German law, the reality was they were not in a hurry like Alya and Erwin had been. Thus, the heads of their houses felt it would be better to wait—until they had time to properly develop a connection—rather than ham-fist the matter for political discourse. The storms on the horizon that still kept a watchful and malevolent eye toward Germany's borders were still far enough away for breathing room to exist.
Eva was not at all surprised that her husband-to-be was shocked at the revelation, and she was quite happy he didn't appear snobbish toward her "lowly" heritage, as others in his position might have been. It was because of this that she responded with a bit of a smug tone—one that hinted she knew more than he did, and one that was entirely playful, not mocking in nature.
"Who knows what those two old men are scheming behind our backs… In fact, I bet you right now they are concocting some mad plot to elevate my father to the status of a monarch—not abroad in Hungary or Russia—but here in Germany… Wouldn't you say that's right up their alley?"
Wilhelm was deeply perplexed by Eva's comments. He didn't expect the girl who came off as a demure and elegant princess to have such a cunning wit, nor such a vast understanding of geopolitics. Sure, she didn't say much, but she had hinted that she knew more than any other noblewoman he had ever interacted with—and that made her irresistible to the young man. He couldn't help but ask for more details, along with where she had learned such knowledge.
"A young countess who understands matters of state and global politics? I've never heard of such a thing. Where did you come to possess this strange array of knowledge?"
Eva's perfect lips—which took the form of a cupid's bow—curled into a playful sneer as she placed down her tea and looked over at the young prince with a sly expression before taunting him in a way he had never experienced before.
"From my father… If you're not capable of keeping up with this little bit of political discourse, then I fear, my prince, you won't be worthy of the crown when you come to inherit it—let alone the hand of this little countess."
After saying this, Eva walked off and winked at the boy, leaving in a hurry as her face had grown too red from embarrassment over her own boldness. Her mother's lessons in wrapping her future man around her finger had paid off in full—as the boy stood Starstruck at his future wife, walking off as if she were his sole obsession.
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As for his maid, she chuckled before removing the discarded teacup and saucer, making a slight joke at the young master's expense as she did so.
"It appears she's quite the bold one, isn't she?"
The young prince, still in a total daze after the brief conversation he had with Eva—a conversation like no other he had ever had with a woman or girl—couldn't help but express his thoughts aloud, without even intending to.
"She's absolutely brilliant…"
