Chapter 472: A Leisurely Coup
Alya was right. What exactly did a man like Bruno do with free time? What even were his hobbies? For as long as he could remember in this new life, he had spent every waking hour either with his family or actively trying to build the world he envisioned.
Hell, twenty years might’ve been an understatement for how long it had actually been since he’d had a true day to himself—one where nothing demanded his immediate attention. And that was perhaps the most damning part of the peaceful era he had created.
After thinking this through to its logical conclusion, his first instinct was to call Heinrich, maybe grab a drink, catch a fight in person, or do... whatever the hell people did these days to waste a few hours unproductively.
But Heinrich declined. Something about getting the 8th Army—now under his direct command—up to speed on the new doctrine and equipment being phased into both the German and Russian militaries.
Bruno respected that. But it left him staring into the void of his contact list, wondering: did he actually have anyone else to call?
Erich was dead. Crossed off the list. The only other men he might’ve considered friends were Wilhelm and Nicholas. But those were literal emperors. Historical figures. How could he possibly ring them up and say,
"Hey, want to grab a drink and catch a movie?"
No. In Bruno’s mind, that was inconceivable. He thought, Maybe I’ll read a book... Except he had already read all the ones worth reading. In this life and the one before it. Anything else felt like a waste of valuable time.
Earlier in the morning, he already completed his daily workout routine, like always. So the gym was out of the question as well.
Eventually, after spinning Alya’s innocent question over and over in his mind, Bruno gave up. He returned to his office, sat down at his desk, and stared at the untouched tape recordings of his last conversation with the President of the United States.