Published at 28th of May 2026 7:02 am

Chapter 960: Hail to Thee, the Victor's Crown

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Bruno sat in his office, not the one in his personal study back in Innsbruck, but the one he was gifted as the Chancellor of the German Reich in Berlin.

For the first time since he had accepted the position at the behest of Kaiser Wilhelm II, it was not the same familiar old Emperor seated before him. The man who had ruled through the strife of the Year of the Three Emperors, whom Bruno had served under his entire life was gone.

Not dead, but abdicated. In his stead, his son, the recently coronated Kaiser Wilhelm III sat reading over every document at a slower pace than his predecessor ever had.

Not because Wilhelm II was a slow reader or partially illiterate. But because Wilhelm II trusted Bruno with such steadfast faith that he simply signed whatever Bruno signed without a second of hesitation.

Wilhelm III was not the same. Though Bruno had been around the man his entire life, and their children were married. The two of them had been more formally acquainted than personally attached.

Bruno read the next document, speeding through its lines with a level of efficiency few others could match. He then discarded it onto the pile of other bills he was vetoing. Neatly stacked, Wilhelm III placed the document down on the table in front of him that Bruno had already graced with his signature.

He stared Bruno in the eye; a flicker of fear behind his pupil, enough that Bruno took notice of but did not immediately move to press the matter. He stayed his hand and waited for his new emperor to say his piece.

"So... according to this bill you placed your signature on, you are emphasizing striking the native tongues from all government buildings in the newly integrated regions of Lower-Lorraine, and Helvetia? Is that not a bit much?"

Bruno didn’t pay attention to Wilhelm III directly after saying this, instead he turned his attention to the next document, reading its words while responding all the same.

"Not at all, our distant cousins need to relearn what it means to be German. Just like the Bohemians and Moravians have when they rejoined the fold. Modern post-Westphalian identities serve no purpose but friction in the new world we are making. The original sin has been undone, and so too must the falsehoods it purported. It will no doubt take decades, but soon they will be just as German as Prussian, Austrian, or Bavarian. Though I fear perhaps not within my lifetime."

Wilhelm III didn’t make an immediate comment. But he did notice that Bruno had ceased reading the folder currently in his hands, instead placing all of his attention silently and heavily on the one that Wilhelm had placed down on the table in protest.

Bruno’s eyes didn’t move until finally Wilhelm III relented, signing his name. Sighing heavily and shaking his head. Which of course prompted a response from Bruno as a smug smirk etched his face.

"Your defiance is admirable, and you would be wise to continue voicing your discomfort or discontent going forward. My working relationship with your father was based on mutual trust that we both had what was best in mind for our houses, and the Reich itself in mind with everything we signed into law. That level of trust doesn’t exist between us, nor should it. We do not have the same rapport, and when I am gone, another will fill my place, and you should question him, and use your better judgment wherever you see fit. You are the Kaiser after all, and that means more than you think."

Wilhelm III’s brow furrowed deeply when he heard these words, as he began to hold his ground in a way Bruno had not anticipated.

"And what if I think what you are doing is ill suited towards the future stability of the realm?"

Bruno scoffed when he heard this and signed his name to the next document ,handing it over without hesitation or aggression to Wilhelm III all while his eyes narrowed at the man.

"You are free to exercise your judgement, but I fear I am the exception, you do not hold the power over me that you will hold over my successor. You can dismiss me sure, if you truly are willing to stake your crown on this. But I never wanted this position to begin with, I did it because your father, a man I respect above all others, asked me to. So, in reality, you would be granting me happiness at the expense of the nation’s wellbeing."

Wilhelm III bristled in his seat, the sheer statement was challenging and provocative in ways few men had ever dared to speak to him, and he responded accordingly.

"You know I could have you arrested for such a treasonous statement, asserting you hold more power than the Kaiser, that’s a very dangerous thing to say, especially to his face."

Bruno, despite being just a few years older than the new Kaiser, treated the man as if he were still a child, once more reaching towards the next document without acknowledging the provocation beyond his response.

"You could certainly order my arrest, but I wonder if the police would actually try to fulfill it without a justifiable cause? You see, Wilhelm, a wise ruler knows the difference between having the power to do something, and when they are actually capable of using it."

Wilhelm III said nothing in response, because there was nothing he could say. Bruno was right, of course.

Hell, the modern law enforcement institutions were forged during a time of war under the emergency powers Bruno wielded as a Generalfeldmarschall during the Weltkrieg, and as the Reichsmarschall in the wars that came after.

Many of those men were once soldiers under Bruno’s command and revered him as a living saint of war. He would need to convince those men Bruno was actually guilty of a crime beyond repute before even issuing an arrest warrant.

Which was a standard nobody else in the Reich could hold to. Luckily for Wilhelm III, Bruno dismissed his growing resentment immediately with a wry smile.

"Relax, you won’t have to deal with me for much longer. I don’t have many years of service left to give to you and the Reich. Soon enough I’ll be gone, and with me ends the era of despots who were necessary to survive the time that died with us."

Wilhelm remained silent for a second, signing his signature onto the next document that Bruno had handed him before returning it along with his own thoughts on the matter.

"Then perhaps my reign begins by learning where your era should end."

Bruno didn’t recoil, he didn’t grow cold or contemptuous, he simply smiled and nodded.

"That it should...."

And those were the last words spoken between the two men that day as they carried on in silence.

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