Chapter 11: A New Assignment
A year came and went, from the time Bruno had his wedding night, until the day he graduated from the Academy and officially entered service within the Imperial German Army as a
commissioned officer.
As the most exceptional cadet to graduate in his class, Bruno was immediately awarded the rank of First Lieutenant. Whereas the rest of his class graduated as Second Lieutenants.
Bruno was immediately granted the position he requested, which was being assigned to the East Asian Expeditionary Corps. And was given two weeks of leave before shipping off to his new unit.
After all, by now China was thoroughly embroiled in the early stages of the Boxer Rebellion, and it would be a matter of months before the Eight Nation Alliance was officially formed in response.
When Bruno returned to his home, he was not surprised to find to find that Heidi was waiting for him. She appeared to have been notified in advance of his temporary leave and was quick to greet her husband at the door of the quiet and quaint manor.
They had only seen each other over the holidays during the past year, despite being newlyweds. And as much as Bruno wanted to take her out to some place extravagant for a proper honeymoon. He was not able to do so because of his military obligations.
Still, to see the young woman's loving smile as she welcomed him home was a sight for sore eyes indeed. Of course, her smile immediately vanished, and turned into concern when she saw Bruno's face, quickly approaching the man and grabbing hold of his chin. Carefully examining his cheekbones on the right side of his face.
"My god, what has happened to your face? Are you alright? Who did this to you?" Bruno grabbed hold of Heidi's hands with his own and lifted them off his face. He had a confident smile as he explained the blemish that was cut horizontally on his cheekbones. "Relax Heidi, it's a simple fencing scar. I received it during a contest with a student from the Bavarian Military Academy. After my duel with Julius all those years ago, I was practically forced to join the Mensur team at the Academy. And by the way, I won the match, so don't go pitying me as if I'm some kind of loser."
The scar was neither hideous nor large. It was left by a glancing blow, and was quite small, no matter how noticeable it may be. Hedi, of course pouted as she heard Bruno had gotten hurt taking up the sword again. And she lectured him on his reckless actions as a result.
"You shouldn't be risking your health simply because they asked you to take up fencing on behalf of the academy! I'll go get some alcohol and I'll try to clean it up!"
Bruno wanted to tell the girl there was no point, as the wound was old, having suffered the blow several months ago. By now it was thoroughly scarred and there was nothing she could do about it. But she nevertheless ran off to fetch the first aid kit.