Chapter 113: The Tyranny of a Proper Housewife
Though Bruno's deployment to Austria only lasted a few weeks, he had taken many men with him, including Heinrich, who, as a major in the army, wasn't exactly invited to the meetings between the Generals and Monarchs.
Instead, he spent most of his time with the other soldiers, in the same tents, trenches, and conditions. Heinrich hadn't joined Bruno's latest escapade by choice; he was serving in the Field Army that Bruno commanded and happened to be in the division Bruno chose to enter Austria with.
Since this was the case, he needed someone to look after Alya, and that someone was naturally Heidi, who took the girl into her home with open arms. Heinrich wasn't exactly an ideal father figure.
The man had been living the life of a bachelor until the young adolescent girl was suddenly dropped into his care. Because of this, his home was rather unkempt, and he didn't exactly have the necessary skills-whether in terms of parenting or simply maintaining the place-to properly care for the girl. While in her new adoptive father's home, Alya commonly lounged around the house when she wasn't at school, with reading fiction as her primary source of entertainment.
Heidi, however, was an absolute taskmaster of a parent. Her children, as long as they could walk, were performing some form of chores around the house that were appropriate for their age. Naturally, she was bewildered by the fact that Alya neither knew how to cook, clean, sew, nor perform any basic tasks necessary to become a proper wife.
Because of this, the first week of Alya's life under Heidi's reign of terror was absolute hell for the girl. The tyrant watched over her every move, giving her various chores to perform so she could become a proper woman of value to her future husband.
Alya was no doubt salty about the fact that she couldn't simply lounge about and read fiction all day. Instead, she was sore all over from the laborious work that the housewife put her through. So much so that Bruno's oldest daughter, Eva-who, while very young, was rather intelligent for her age-couldn't help but comment on the whole thing while helping Alya out.
"You missed a spot... Mommy is going to be mad if you don't clean the bath properly!"
Alya, whose hands were soaked with water and soap and were fully pruned and peeling, couldn't help but break out into tears as she complained about how hard life was in Heidi's tyranny.
"It's so unfair! Papa never makes me do housework! How am I supposed to do all of this all the time? I want to read, goddammit!"