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 fa?ade 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.