Chapter 296: A Shocking Gift
Bruno stood before the Austrian Royal Family dressed head to toe in the traditional gala uniform of an Austro-Hungarian Field Marshal. Why was this the case? Because today Bruno was being granted not only citizenship status within the lands of the Dual-Monarchy, but royal status as well. Discover stories at empire
Despite this, Bruno was not aware, Heidi after all did not wish to ruin the secret she had already become aware of thanks to her shall we say, blossoming friendship with one of her husband’s former admirers.
Even so, he looked rather dashing, more so than usual that is. Bruno was a man who personified the trope of a prince charming. Even now, as he entered his mid-thirties, the man’s finely combed and parted golden hair was short and cut to perfection.
His blue eyes were as azure as the clear sky above, and he had a slight scar on his cheek due to his days in academic fencing. He was also tall, and while muscular, still lean enough not to look like a blockhead.
While wearing this white uniform with a red collar/trousers and golden embellishments. It was easy to understand why the man, along with his exceptional accomplishments and natural charm had managed to capture the interests of so many royal young ladies.
Even now, Hedwig was trying her best not to get flustered, as she saw Bruno enter the room in the traditional military gala uniform of her family’s empire, one that was even more grand than that which her family wore, as it was granted the cultural alteration given to Hungarian units.
In other words, it had the dashing knotting that was commonly found in German Hussar uniforms of the late 19th century, and early 20th century. After all, these designs were inspired by those which originated in Hungary.
And to distinguish who was of the Austrian side of the Army ,and who was of the Hungarian side, the Austro-Hungarian Armed forces left such an embellishment exclusive to Hungarian units.
In his past life, the Hungarian tunic was also red, but for reasons unknown to Bruno, as part of the 1910 modernization of uniforms that occurred in this timeline, it was now white like the Austrian one.
This should have been a dead giveaway to Bruno about what was about to happen to him, but never in his wildest dreams would he think such a thing could happen. Thus he stood with a stoic expression, which only added to his appeal, as several noble ladies-in-waiting watched from afar, trying not to swoon as they did so.
Bruno stood there like this, even after receiving multiple prestigious awards, including the vaunted Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian order of Saint Stephen. Something which, when combined with the uniform he was currently wearing was indeed quite striking.
However, it was only after the Archduke of Austria stepped forward and gave him his next decoration that Bruno truly understood what was happening. As it was a rarity that only someone of royalty could wear.
The chain of the Grand Master of the Royal Hungarian order of Saint Stephen was wrapped around Bruno’s shoulders, shocking not only Bruno, but everyone else in attendance as clearly the Sovereign of the Order, Archduke Franz Joseph I himself had kept these plans to himself.