Chapter 210: Denser Than a Neutron Star
Heidi's preparations over the last few years, using the money her husband had given her, had not gone to waste. With Heinrich's exceptional organization and management skills being put to efficient use, a series of charitable institutions were founded and operated by Heidi and those under her employment.
Whether it was a network of orphanages built across the German Reich and the Russian Empire, or a large investment in doctors, nurses, and other humanitarian efforts, by the time the war began, these critical and often overlooked non-profit organizations were not only in full effect but were reaching optimal levels of performance.
Heidi herself would take one day off every week from managing her own household affairs to visit the orphanages established in Berlin, speaking to the children and seeking to aid them in any way she could. She also did her best to find reputable families of proper moral virtue to adopt them.
Considering Alya herself was a war orphan, the young woman had decided to dedicate her early adult years to working in the largest of Heidi's orphanages. She would, after all, reach the age of majority within the German Reich later this year.
For the time being, as was always the case whenever Heinrich was deployed alongside Bruno, Alya had come to live with Heidi and her children.
Bruno's oldest children were now well into their adolescence, with Eva turning 13 this year and Erwin turning 12. Perhaps because of this, Bruno's eldest son and presumed heir had started acting a little strangely around the Russian woman he had grown up with and had long thought of as an older sister.
Alya had grown into an exceptionally beautiful woman over the years, and Erwin had naturally begun to notice this as he entered the stage of development where girls became an interest of his. In the past, he would run around and play with his "older sister," but now he was incredibly timid and embarrassed whenever she spoke to him.
Today was no different, as Heidi enlisted the help of her soon-to-be teenage son to do some heavy lifting around the orphanage. Erwin was in the midst of carrying some heavy boxes full of necessary supplies into the orphanage.
He did not complain in the slightest; the boy had been properly raised by his father and mother to be a man of good moral character. The idea of complaining while helping those less fortunate than himself had never crossed his mind.
Despite the weight of the boxes, Erwin carried them with a smile, as if he were fulfilling some masculine obligation to do the labor on behalf of the otherwise fragile ladies around him.