Re: Blood and Iron-Chapter 478: A Father’s Lecture

Bruno got his work done early in the morning, anticipating his daughter would knock on his door sometime after lunch—around noon. And he was right as rain about her temperament and timing, because the knock came exactly when the clock struck thirty.

The door was already unlocked—it was seldom anything but. He just liked advanced notice before someone disturbed whatever he might be involved with. So many folders contained classified or otherwise sensitive materials that, for the safety of his own family, he didn't want them walking in and seeing something they shouldn't have.

Luckily, Bruno was expecting the girl, and thus when he made it clear the door was open, it revealed only two glasses on the table—both a liter in capacity—filled to the brim with freshly poured beer from the mini keg Bruno kept in his office.

Eva was surprised at this. She seldom consumed alcohol, and had come to his room in casual attire, but still carried the composed grace of a trueborn princess. When she sat across from her father, she waited for him to grant her permission to drink.

Bruno sighed and rolled his eyes, taking a sip from his daughter's mug as a teasing gesture—and a lesson in timidity.

"Don't act coy now, girl, not in front of me. It's unbecoming and you know it. But fine—if you're offering me your share, I'll gladly drink it!"

Eva's eyes went wide as her father snatched the mug away rather than simply granting her permission. She shot him a glare, her voice sharp with indignation.

"What the hell, old man? I show you deference and courtesy, and you take my drink anyway? What are you—some common blackguard?"

Bruno chuckled as he handed the mug back to her, finally stoking the flame in her eyes. He took a sip from his own glass as she pouted fiercely and took hers in turn. He found it adorable, but decided it was time to offer a lesson she wouldn't forget.

"Lesson number one, girl: in the realm of politics, never expect the man sitting across from you to play by 'the rules.' Everyone is suspect who doesn't share your blood, or your name by law—and nobody is who they portray themselves to be."

Eva immediately realized her father was in lecturer mode. She was keen to listen, but quick to challenge what she saw as unnecessary hostility.

"Isn't that a bit paranoid? Not everyone is a bad person."

Bruno's eyes narrowed, his tone dropping into something darker, more deliberate—a truth sharpened by experience.

"Every man, woman, and child has the capacity for both great virtue and horrific wickedness. To assume otherwise is naïveté at best—and willful stupidity at worst."

Eva sipped her beer silently. From her perspective, her father was the most brilliant, most capable man she had ever known—perhaps the greatest political mind in history. And while she might disagree with his worldview, she was not so foolish as to reject it outright. After all, if this is how he thinks—and he built the world around them using this logic—there was clearly something to learn.

Bruno could see it in her eyes: she wasn't fully convinced. Not yet. So he decided to test her.

"Alright, let me propose a scenario.

The King of Hungary and your future husband are in a dispute over Transylvania. I've partitioned the land in a way that settled the matter, and guaranteed the protection of the buffer state between the Romanians and the Hungarians.

But—I am indisposed. Retired. Or simply dead.

The King of Hungary seeks to press his claim and has gathered forces at the border. He has promised me this matter was settled. He has promised your husband he will not invade.

Regardless, troops are massing at the border—Hungarian and Romanian. What is the logical outcome of this scenario? And how do you advise your future husband?"

Eva considered the situation carefully. Now that it was personal, she understood the stakes. She wasn't naïve enough to believe everyone could just get along in this world and coexist peacefully. That was not reality, that was the fever dream of a madman or a fool.

This was a real problem, one that could erupt the moment Bruno was no longer around to keep people in check. And if she was going to be the Kaiserin one day, she might actually have to face this. As a result, she took it as seriously as if it were really happening here and now. And after thirty seconds of contemplation, she sighed and shook her head.

"Without proper deterrence—and the force to back it—your promises mean nothing.

Wilhelm, who by then—if God wills—will be Wilhelm IV, is neither you nor his grandfather. He would likely try to settle the matter with words, not blood. But if troops are already amassed at the borders, war has already begun in all but declaration.

If we can't even guarantee the protection of a small duchy in Transylvania acting as a demilitarized zone, then we are not a power to be reckoned with.

And if that were to happen, it would only be a matter of time before the Lions of Tyrol are usurped by a pack of ravenous jackals and hyenas—too cowardly to move until we appear weak and decrepit…

My advice would be simple: send in the army in force. And if so much as a shot is fired across the demilitarized zone, both Romania and Hungary must answer to the might of German steel." freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Bruno took a long sip from his mug, a proud smile tugging at his lips. His words were simple—an acknowledgment, and a father's praise.

"That's my little princess."

He and Eva would continue to have a long and thorough discussion about history, philosophy, morality, ethics, and the nature of force, and when it should be applied. By the time the two stopped their first discussion, as this was no longer simply a lecture, dinner had arrived, and Eva had emerged with a far more deep and pragmatic understanding of the world around her, and human nature as a whole.