Re: Blood and Iron

Bruno had no way of knowing it, but while the man was making his way to the front lines of the Russo-Japanese War once more. His wife was at home receiving news of his recent achievements on the battlefield and the prestigious awards he had been granted by the Japanese Emperor.

Heidi had just gotten off the phone, while her kids were in the background, engaging in various youthful activities. After hearing the tales of the legendary Mamushi, and his feats at 203 Meter Hill the normally timid and docile woman's fingers clenched around the cord of the phone quite tightly.

She was conflicted internally. On the one hand, she was furious that Bruno was forced to break his promise to her by the shamelessness of the Japanese Generals in the field. Who tried to use her husband as a scapegoat to cover for their own repeated failures at Port Arthur.

At the same time, she was enamored with the idea of her husband returning home with such a prestigious award wrapped around his uniform. Something which only enhanced the attraction which she felt towards the man.

Still, the nature of her grievances did not go unnoticed by her young son Erwin who walked up to her and checked on the condition of his mother.

"Mommy... Are you okay? You look angry..."

Upon realizing that the wrath she felt towards the men who had wronged her husband was visibly on display for her children to witness, the woman did a complete 180 and let her hands slip free of the cord, instead grabbing hold of her young son and carrying him into her lap. Where she hugged the boy and pat his head, assuring him that she was perfectly fine.

"It's nothing you need to worry about Erwin, your mother just heard some news that was unsettling. But that is not important! Rather, the good news is that it appears your father will be home in just a few months!'

She had not after all told her young children that their father had traveled across the world to take part in a foreign war for the sake of advancing his career. That would no doubt worry the kids. Instead, she told them that their father was taking part in a joint military exercise between the German Reich and their allies in Japan.

A small white lie, but one that could not easily be disproven by the means of children. After all, such matters on the other side of the world weren't exactly commonly spoken about in public. Let alone around the presence of children.

Nor did the internet exist, or was there a prevalence of smart phones that were capable of instantly verifying whether or not the woman's words were true. It was a simpler time, and because of this the children were happy to hear that their father was coming home sooner than their mother had initially led them to believe.

With Eva running up to her mother, the oldest of the three children, and looking at the woman with sparkling eyes.