Chapter 553: The Weight of Crowns
The Tsar’s death had come rather suddenly after Bruno left his family’s palace. He had lied when he said he had a year left to live. He had died before the end of winter.
Though for the life of him, Bruno could not fathom how Nicholas had managed to appear so presentable at the gathering. He must have conjured every ounce of strength, and had his best makeup artists conceal the truth from him and everyone else.
The Funeral was held in Peter and Paul Cathedral, within Saint Petersburg. It was the traditional resting place for the members of the House of Romanov.
Bruno remembered little of the ceremony. He only that he stood, silent and still, dressed in the full regalia of a Russian Field Marshal. A rank he had earned during the Revolution of 1905, when, as a foreign volunteer, he helped crush the first sparks of communism on Russian soil.
It was a surreal experience. Bruno had fought so hard to save Nicholas and his house, and certainly he had received a better end in this life. Not only that, but his family still lived, and still held power.
But... To see his efforts ultimately pass before his very eyes. It was something he didn’t want to come to terms with. The world he was changing, the timeline it created, it still moved forward, and took the souls within it the same as the one he had come from.
By the end of the ceremony, Bruno had said his good-byes properly. To a man he had once admired, to a man he had saved, to a man he had grown accustomed to. But never close.
Alexei and Elsa stood before Bruno, the young boy dressed like the soldier he always wanted to be, but never could be because of his condition. His words were ultimately what awoke Bruno from his stupor.
"I wanted to thank you, on my father’s behalf. He said it a thousand times to be sure. But he never once stopped admiring you, and what you did for our family all those years ago. And in his final days I had never seen the man so happy. Whatever you said to him in private that night when he made us all aware of his condition, it made his death one that he did not regret."
Bruno stirred and then said nothing. He did not know what to say, how to respond. He had seen the letter Nicholas left him.