Chapter 494: Atonement
After a long night of grief, Luise was driven back to her family’s estate. She had fallen asleep in the back seat from exhaustion, while her butler, Wolfgang, sighed and shook his head. He had promised Erich, in the final days of his life, that under no circumstances would he approach Bruno if something happened to him.
Erich had left behind a sizeable estate for Luise. He had no children of his own and had been thoroughly disgraced in his family by the time he passed. Luise, hidden from both Bruno and Heinrich, was the only family Erich had left that mattered to him. He ensured his assets were transferred to her in a way that shielded her from any formal ties between them.
Bruno had searched for the woman after killing Erich, but found little information about her. It wasn’t his fault, Erich had served as the director of the Kaiser’s secret police for a time. Under Bruno’s orders, he had gotten very good at hiding evidence. If he wanted something to disappear, even Bruno would have difficulty uncovering it. That was one of the reasons Bruno had loved the man like a brother, and entrusted him with so many gruesome tasks.
Wolfgang knew none of this. All he knew was that, from time to time when drunk, Erich would speak with admiration about Bruno, as a commander, as a man, and, most importantly, as a husband and father.
Neither Wolfgang nor Luise truly understood the depths of darkness that had consumed Erich’s soul long before they met him. He had been a good actor, but Wolfgang had always suspected there was more to his story.
Especially given the way he spoke of Bruno. It was never about the legends or myths, about Bruno being the avatar of war. No, Erich didn’t speak of that. He spoke with reverence about Bruno’s ability to come home, to act like a human being after everything he had done.
Something Erich never managed to gain.
Still, Wolfgang felt he owed both Luise and Erich a measure of peace. While he would not break his vow by approaching Bruno directly, he decided to leave a trail of breadcrumbs that might compel Bruno to come looking.
He chose the simplest method.
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Bruno found a letter on his desk the next morning. His mail was always screened by security to ensure nothing harmful made it through. This letter had passed inspection. There was no return address, and no indication of who had sent it.
When Bruno opened it, he found it was written anonymously. The message was encoded, but simple enough for him to decipher. And once he did, he understood exactly what it meant: someone knew the truth of Erich’s death, and nothing more.