Five years had passed since Bruno's rebirth in this new world. And it became immediately apparent to him that he was no longer in the 21st century, which he had perished in prior to reincarnation.
Curiously enough, he had been born before the folly and wrath of a bygone era. One that would permanently change the fate of Germany from a mighty empire to yet another subordinate state of globalism.
The year of his rebirth was 1879, a full eight years after the unification of the German Empire. Though the German people were finally united, it was a time of economic downturn. One that would last until the 1890s.
Despite this, Bruno was fortunate insofar as he was born the 9th son of a minor noble house within the Kingdom of Prussia, one that possessed significant wealth due to their status as war industrialists.
This house, despite being forged less than a century ago during the Wars of Napoleon, had become quite wealthy as they had a talent for engineering machines of destruction which were purchased and employed by the German Army.
Bruno's father was a wealthy and busy man. He had connections to the military as a former officer himself, as well as the politicians in the Reichstag. Making him fairly important in the society that Bruno found himself in. This meant that he was seldom home, or capable of spending time with his newest son.
As for his brothers, the oldest was already midway through high school, where he would soon ship off to the Prussian Military Academy within the next few years, as was tradition in the von Zehntner family. After all, they were founded in the heat of battle, and so, too would their sons experience the same.
Whereas the youngest of Bruno's older brothers was only two years ahead of him in age. He had no sisters to speak of, and because of this, if he wished to one day become the head of the house, he would have a long and vicious battle ahead of him.
But Bruno had much larger ambitions. Rather than be the head of a minor German noble household. His goals were to prevent the fall of the German Reich in 1918, and instead ensure its dominance in the century to come.
And it was because of this that he decided to live out the early days of his childhood to the best of his ability. And that meant that Bruno spent the majority of his time studying everything he could within the Manor's library.
Very early on in his new life, Bruno had proven himself capable of walking, talking, reading, writing, and performing basic feats of arithmetic well before a young child should have the means to do so.
This was not necessarily because he was born with any greater degree of intelligence. But rather because he maintained the memories of his past life.
Still, it was shocking to the family. From their perspective, an unparalleled genius had been born into their house. And this was only further proven so, as Bruno's display of knowledge increased with each passing year. Especially as the young child began to read every book in the family's library.
But such exceptional feats at such an early age had its drawbacks. After all, his mother had a tendency to speak frequently and boastfully about her beloved youngest son's exceptional talents, which were multifaceted and continued to expand with age.
While this would create large expectations for his future by many powerful figures in German society. It also created many enemies for the boy. Not only among the scions of the other noble families within his own age group, but especially among his brothers.
Despite only being five years of age, Bruno frequently found himself the victim of bullying and harassment, of which the most common perpetrator was the youngest of his older brothers, Ludwig.
Ludwig was a normal child, perfectly average in every way aside from the position of his birth. And he was deeply envious of the special attention and praise that his younger brother, Bruno, received from both of their parents, as well as their instructors. Which commonly manifested itself in temper tantrums.
Today was no exception. Ludwig had tripped Bruno as he was walking out of the family manor's library, and towards his own personal quarters, while carrying a stack of books. The texts which contained knowledge that would be considered quite advanced for Bruno's current age scattered on the floor.
Meanwhile, Bruno himself received scratches on the top of his knees. The pain was mild to Bruno, who in his past life had been shot multiple times even before his death. But it was the disrespect that caused him to dust himself off, and walk past his brother with a cold look in his sky-blue eyes.
This act of complete and total indifference towards him only further enraged Ludwig. It wasn't just the way that Bruno was better than him at everything that so aggrieved the young child. But it was the way that the boy would brush off every attempt in which Ludwig would make to express his fury.
Because of this, Ludwig got in Bruno's way, and pushed him to the floor violently once more. Only for Bruno to rise to his feet for a second time without the slightest care. Once more dusting himself off, as he tried to walk past Ludwig and defuse the situation.
Showing such lack of care for his elder brother's petty and childish attempts to hurt him maybe the mark of a mature individual, which was something his mother would praise him for. But to Ludwig it was a simple act of contempt, and because of this he grabbed hold of Bruno's collar and began to scream at him while raising his fist.
"You little bastard! You think you're so great! Well, let me show you!"
However, before Ludwig could strike his younger brother, a servant came rushing towards the both of them from down the hall. She had not seen the two noble scions scuffle, but rather she was here for another purpose.
And the moment she entered the area, Ludwig backed off, not willing to get caught bullying the prodigal son. He acted as if he was friendly to Bruno the entire time. Rushing towards the woman who had been both of their wet nurse as if demanding a hug.
"Helga!"
The woman named Helga however ignored Ludwig, running past him, where she knelt down in front of Bruno. There was a serious look in her eyes. It wasn't anything grave, or concerning, but Bruno had by now long since memorized the expression the woman would make whenever the Master of the House would personally request her to come find him. And sure enough, those were the words she spoke.
"Young master Bruno, your father has tasked me to come fetch you. He has an important announcement to make to you. Come this way, quickly!"
Ludwig was pouting when he saw that Helga had ignored him once more for the sake of his little brother. Apparently, she noticed this as she was holding onto Bruno's hand and ushering him forward. She called out to the older of the two siblings and assured him he would make time for him later.
"I'm sorry young master Ludwig, but your father's orders are absolute. I will have to play with you some other time!"
And with that said, Ludwig's attempts to bully his younger brother were well and truly crushed. At least for the time being.
---
Bruno entered his father's study. And was surprised to find that the man was not alone. Rather, not only was his mother by the man's side. But there was another family standing across from them.
A middle-aged man dressed in a heavily embellished military uniform stood by his father's side. Along with him was a beautiful woman, no doubt in her early twenties, who was wearing a lavish dress. And in between the two of them stood a young girl who appeared a year or two younger than Bruno.
As someone who had been properly raised with noble etiquette. Bruno immediately bowed before his father and the Prussian General while announcing his presence.
"Noble father, General, I have come to find you as requested. If it pleases you both, may I know what this is about?"
The middle-aged man, dressed in a Prussian General's uniform twirled his finely groomed and waxed imperial mustache as he gazed upon Bruno, and his manners. The man was clearly giving an approving nod to Bruno.
Almost as if he was surprised by the boy's proper display of noble etiquette. As for Bruno, he kept his head bowed until he was given permission to return to a proper standing position. But before such a thing could be granted, the General shifted his attention back to the boy's father, where he spoke to the man who went by the same name as his youngest son.
"Lord Bruno, is this the child? The young prodigy I have heard so much about?"
The house which Bruno hailed from was one generally regarded as being junkers. Though they were full-fledged nobility. The gaze which the middle-aged man shot towards Bruno's father was filled with contempt.
No doubt this man was from the old nobility, and if Bruno had to guess he was from a family which earned their status during the medieval period, when grants of land were given in accordance with feudal responsibility.
This was in contrast to Bruno's family, which had earned their noble title less than a hundred years ago via merit in combat. To an ancient noble family, like the middle-aged general was from, Bruno's family were mere upstarts, ones whose power and influence in the Reich was unfitting of their lacking heritage.
As for the young girl standing in front of her father. She was a shy and skittish creature. The moment Bruno entered the room, she hid behind her mother and peered out from behind as if she had just seen something frightening.
She, like Bruno had fine golden blonde hair and light azure eyes. Her long and silky hair was tied into twin braids. If Bruno actually had the mind of five years old, he might have developed a crush on the young doll like a girl at first sight.
But Bruno had barely taken notice of the girl, or her unusual behavior. He had no interests in such things. After all, though his body was that of a five-year-old boy, it held the memories of a man well past his fifties. How could he possibly care about a young girl such as this?
It was because of this that Bruno would never have anticipated the words which the General would speak next.
"The boy's manners are quite good, considering his heritage, and I see no imperfections to speak of. You have raised this boy quite well. I have decided you will marry him to my youngest daughter."