Published at 21st of February 2026 7:00 am

Chapter 874: Wintering in Constantinople

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Bruno noticed in the papers over breakfast only a few weeks later. The Netherlands had announced a period of decolonization across its empire. Troop movements were immediate, primarily in the East Indies, which was the immediate priority for such measures.

The British Empire was gone. The French colonial empire was buried. The Spanish, Portuguese, and Belgians had long since abandoned their stakes overseas. And Germany had washed its hands of the world beyond the fatherland.

The Great European colonial empires were gone and dead. And the Netherlands was the last in line to follow in the footsteps of its betters.

Colonialism had failed. The cost of building, maintaining, extracting, and refining raw materials to ship them back home for production had been a fool’s endeavor from the start.

It was not a question of morality, but of cost-benefit ratios. And Europe had emerged both in this life and the previous one he had come from as the ultimate losers of such grand ambitions.

Not in a military sense, but an economic one. The cost had been far too great to bear, and the colonies had not existed long enough to bear fruit. Nor could they after two world wars waged.

The Dutch were the last to learn this lesson in this life. And Bruno could only sit there with his paper in hand, enjoying his breakfast as a smug smirk etched itself across his face.

Heidi looked up at him and noticed he was thinking something related to world affairs, quickly slapping an extra piece of sausage on his plate to distract him.

"If you’re going to think about problems on the other side of the world, then I swear to God I will prevent the maids from bringing you the paper every morning! The breakfast table is no longer a place for you to catch up on what happened while you slept; it’s a place to enjoy what you have sitting in front of you!"

Bruno could only snicker as he tossed the paper aside and took a sip from his coffee. His retort caused everyone nearby to roll their eyes and shake their heads.

"Yes, mother...."

Heidi had half a mind to roll up the newspaper and smack Bruno across the nose with it as if he were a dog. But her shoulders relaxed instantly after she had such thoughts before sitting down next to the man on his right side.

"Honestly... what the hell am I to do with you?"

Erwin, whose own wife sat by his side, couldn’t help but laugh at his parents’ dynamic.

"You two haven’t changed in the slightest. It makes me feel young again to see you behave like you did when Eva, Elsa, and I were kids living in that old manor."

The mention of the manner had an effect on many of Bruno’s family members who were present for breakfast. Multiple generations of their family had grown up in that home. Prompting Bruno to look over at his eldest son and inquire about it.

"How is the old manor holding up? Erich should be there now with his wife and kids, yes? I heard the boy was promoted to the general staff. I would have personally sent him my congratulations if I didn’t already know that’s the last thing he wants from me."

Alya was shocked to hear her father-in-law say such things and was quick to speak up.

"The house is doing well. Erwin and I were there just last week, weren’t we dear? As for Erich, I’m surprised you didn’t send him a telegram. He joined the Army out of his respect for you after all."

Bruno shook his head and sipped from his coffee mug once more. It was a simple but large ceramic cup, painted in an ordinary blue, with the words poorly written across its surface "World’s Best General."

"Believe me, he may have started his military career out of admiration for what I have accomplished. But my congratulating him through such channels would only make him feel like I had a hand in his promotion. And he earned that entirely by himself. He’s learned to step out of my shadow, so there’s no point dragging him back into it."

Alya felt like she should say something in Erich’s defense; he was after all her son, but Erwin simply grabbed her hand and silently shook his head.

He too seemed to have noticed in discussions with Erich since the young man came home, that the war had changed him.

Heidi ultimately interrupted the conversation, speaking about the plans she had made without Bruno’s knowledge.

"Oh, by the way, Bruno, I’ve been meaning to tell you. Erika... Our daughter, not our granddaughter-in-law. She and her husband have invited us out to Constantinople for the winter. She says that the Patriarch of Constantinople extends an invitation to spend your Christmas service in the Hagia Sophia."

Bruno’s gaze immediately shifted to his wife who was seated by his side. What she had just announced to him was most certainly unexpected. But welcome nonetheless.

"The Hagia Sophia... I haven’t been there since I retook the city for Christendom. What was it 1915? It feels like a lifetime ago. I would very much like to go back and visit the Hagia Sophia at least one more time in this life."

Heidi rolled her eyes at Bruno’s exaggerated remarks, while his son Josef simply chuckled and shook his head.

"Father... I’m not sure Death has the courage to take you. He would have to do so while you slept. Otherwise, I doubt he would win that fight."

The family laughed at Josef’s remarks, gaining a rare chuckle from the old patriarch of their house as he pointed at his son with his fork and joined in on the fun.

"You’re not wrong about that... But let’s just pray he will be cautious for another few decades."

Judging by the way Heidi remained quiet while digging into her eggs, she didn’t appear to enjoy listening to the topic of Bruno’s eventual death being brought up so casually at the table.

Normally she would scold her son for making such an obscene joke. But the remarks gained more than a few laughs from them and himself and their sons, so she couldn’t help but let it slide.

Bruno didn’t remember the rest of the conversation. Not in distinctive detail. His thoughts drifted to Constantinople. To the Hagia Sophia.

He had been a younger man when he drove the Ottoman Empire to extinction. The decisive blow to their army in Eastern Thrace had all but guaranteed that Christendom would reclaim its crown jewel.

The city that Constantine had built, the capital of Rome for over a millennium. Bruno had reclaimed it where all others had failed over the course of the last five centuries.

He could see it now: the Chi Rho painted on his helmet, the rifle slung over his shoulder as he marched into the city after his soldiers had escorted out the defeated Ottomans. And of course, the fall of the minarets that stained the Hagia Sophia for too long.

What a beautiful sight it had been, as he marched straight into the Cathedral’s pews, laying down his rifle by his side as he knelt and prayed to the Lord, in thanks for the great victory gained, and in penance for those that had yet to come.

He reached towards his neck instinctively, feeling the wooden cross hanging tightly against his flesh. Carved from the stock of an old Turkish Mauser he had confiscated after slaughtering the Turkish host in Thrace.

In the end, his thoughts only drifted back to reality when his wife called to him. There he found that the rest of his family had dispersed, and the plates had been cleaned. Leaving only himself and Heidi behind.

"Bruno, are you listening? I’m asking if I should tell Erika that we will be visiting for Christmas week or not?"

Once Bruno had gained his bearings, he nodded his head, not once, not twice, but thrice.

"Yes, that sounds wonderful. I would love to visit our daughter and to see the beautiful family she has raised in their own home."

Though Heidi said this, she knew deep down that what Bruno really wanted was to spend Christmas mass in the Hagia Sophia.

She could only shake her head and sigh. She couldn’t possibly understand why a cathedral, and a city on the other side of Europe drove so many men to madness.

But she knew better than to make a remark, because otherwise she would have to listen to her husband spend the next hour explaining it to her.

"Well, I’ll make sure to tell Erika that we are coming to visit when winter comes. Is there anything else you wish for me to tell her, or the King of Greece, for that matter?"

Bruno shook his head. There was nothing more that he needed to say. Only that he was eager to visit the ancient city once more.

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