Chapter 509: Getting Old
Though graffiti and propaganda leaflets continued to spread throughout the cities of France, following its unification under Pétain’s new regime. The so called "Réveil de France" remained quiet, and largely inactive.
And they had remained quiet for years following the official end of the French Civil War. The reason was simple: the brutality of the new order had quickly caused those with a spirit for liberty to rally behind de Gaulle’s cause.
But this was not a concern for Bruno, rather as two years passed, he was forced to confront more personal matters. Marrying off his son had been one thing. But Bruno had not truly anticipated how he would feel in 1922, when both his daughter Elsa, and her fiancé Alexei Romanov had finally come of age to marry.
It was not some inappropriate feeling between a father and his daughter that caused such troubles, but rather how much he would miss the girl once she had left his home and moved to Russia to be with her new husband.
To be so far away from home, to no longer interact with his daughter daily, it was not something he had truly understood the weight of until the day rapidly approached.
Because of this, Bruno was dreading each rotation of the sun, whereas Elsa became more and more excited about her upcoming wedding. The planning was left up to Heidi and the Tsarina, both of which gathered frequently in Russia, along with Bruno, and his children that still lived at home to plan the ceremony.
But there was another among the group, who was less than stellar about the thing. Eva had her own reasons for being pouty, standing aside at the table, drinking vodka, along with her father. Both of which kept their distance from the social gathering for their own reasons.
And both understood why the other was feeling glum. Eva knew her father doted on his little girls more than anything, and to see one of them finally spreading her wings and flying was a bit too much for him to handle.
Whereas Bruno knew that Eva was also incredibly jealous of the status quo. She was engaged to the Crown Prince Wilhelm, who was about five years younger than him. Meaning that he would turn 18 two years from now.
But, Elsa was much closer in age to her fiancé. There was only about a year apart from them. As the oldest sister, it rubbed Eva the wrong way that her little sister was getting married before her.