Chapter 364: Death Before Dishonor
Bruno had stayed up all night discussing his stories with Erich from the time they first met and he was the most entitled brat he had ever met in his life, all the way up until his bitter end.
Discussions were had that depicted Erich as he was, not some romanticized friend who was only displayed in a good light to the Kaiser, as painful as it was recounting these tales, especially those that were brutal, in the end Bruno knew that Erich would have risen from the grave and haunted him for life if he dared dishonor the man’s memory by lying about him.
By the end, the Kaiser had a better understanding of the man who had sacrificed everything to fulfill orders that while cruel and ruthless were necessary for the long-term stability and survival of the German Reich.
In the end the Kaiser, perhaps having fully realized the true horrors of war, and what they could truly do to a man remained silent... By now the two men had long since switched from alcohol to coffee, sobering themselves up as best as they could manage in order to prepare for the new day.
Upon seeing the complicated and bitter smile on Bruno’s face, Wilhelm asked the man a question that he was not the least bit expecting.
"Tell me, Bruno, how has a lifetime of war affected you? From what you tell me by the end of his life your friend Erich had become incapable of living in a time of peace. Are you wounded in such a way as well?"
Bruno suddenly became stern as he thought about this question in solemn silence for a long time, before placing his coffee mug on the table and uncrossing his legs. After doing so, he was quick to answer with his true thoughts on the matter.
"Honestly? Had you asked me this same question and demanded the truth from me at the start of the war? I would have told you nothing terrifies me more than coming home from the war and living in the peace after the gunshots have settled.
After what I have done, what I have ordered men to do, how can I ever face my wife and children with my bloodstained hands? I’m honestly not sure when it happened, as it seems so long ago from my own perspective.
But I have found my peace. My family, and the love they bear for me, they are the reason I can never allow myself to slip into the darkness that is ever reaching towards me."