By the ti dawn rose, Bern was a ss. The attacks had left the capital of the Swiss Confederation isolated and vulnerable. But the culprits were nowhere to be found.
The police were mobilized as quickly as the bombs had gone off. And yet, as they assisted with securing the periter and allowing the other first responders to do their jobs. They did not find a single trace of who had coordinated the attack
Réveil de France claid credit imdiately after. The headlines of every paper posted their manifesto, which had been sent anonymously.
They called for a Switzerland "free from the yoke of German tyranny" and demanded the French-speaking minority be given equal representation in parliant.
There were various other demands, so of which seed almost contradictory in nature. But one thing was certain. The na Réveil de France was in the public mind once more.
Many had forgotten about them after their attack on the peace summit held at Geneva during the last days of the Second Weltkrieg.
Most had assud they were obliterated then and there during the standoff with the Swiss Federal Police.
Switzerland found itself rocked, and Parliant could do little about it, as the capital was effectively cut off from the rest of the country.
It wasn’t just ans of transportation that were targeted. Power substations, radio towers, and telephone lines were all cut off.
While the rest of the country reeled at the sudden attack and the impact it had on their own lives, Berlin was quiet.
It wasn’t quiet because it was unaware. But because Bruno had a day off....
Bruno was currently enjoying breakfast with his family. Drinking a cup of coffee while enjoying the cooking that his wife had helped prepare for him.
He was all too aware of what was happening in Switzerland, but he didn’t move a muscle to intervene. In fact, it wasn’t even in the back of his mind. Instead, he looked over at Maria, Theresa, and their friend Claire who had joined them for Sunday Mass.
But Claire’s attention was elsewhere. She was staring over at one of many scions that the von Zehntners had sired over the years.
He was a boy roughly the sa age as her, but just slightly younger. He was the younger brother of Maria and Theresa. Claire had known about the boy for over a year now. As her friends never ceased talking about him.
But she had rarely t the infamous Karl Franz von Zehntner. As he had been away at the Tyrolean Main Cadet Institute to finalize his education before joining the German Army as a Gebirgsjäger officer.
He inherited his mother’s dark hair and was currently dressed in his cadet uniform. To Claire, he was just about the most handso boy she had ever seen.
He paid her no attention. As he was currently being smothered by his elder sisters. Both of whom tried to feed him as if he were a child.
But he didn’t react or get embarrassed. Nor was there a sign of frustration on his face. He stoically resisted their attempts to spoon his food into his mouth, accurately and adeptly raising his hand and blocking his sister all while they complained.
Claire blushed every ti she snuck a glance at him. And ultimately Maria noticed what their friend was doing. She quickly pointed the sterling spoon that was filled with Tiroler Gröstl at Claire.
"Claire! Stop staring at my little brother! You’ll never get your hands on him!"
The comnt was loud and imdiately grabbed the attention of everyone at the table. Claire had never felt so embarrassed in her life and instinctively tried to protest.
"I wasn’t-"
But she could only cut herself off and shrink in her seat, wishing desperately she was a turtle.
Theresa was no better, gaining montum off of her twin-sister’s chaotic energy and doubling down on Maria’s shaless comnt.
"Who would have thought Claire was the type to purposely befriend us so she could snatch our precious little brother away from us!"
Heidi looked over at Bruno and cast him a glance. Silently suggesting he should interfere with the scene, as it was growing beyond a re joke between the younger generation. But luckily for him, Karl acted first.
"Enough, the two of you... Father may dote on you, but you are still princesses. This behavior is unbecoming."
It wasn’t Josef who could shut the girls up and get them to behave. Neither was it Bruno, hell even their mother struggled to contain them when they got like this.
But Karl had a way of getting the two twins most well known for being a couple of gremlins to beco silent, prim, and proper like nobody else could. The two young won instantly bowed their heads and apologized to their brother, and to Claire.
’We humbly apologize for our improper behavior.... And the insult we have caused you, Claire."
Since she had first gotten to know the two girls, Claire had never once seen them cowed into submission by anyone.
Sure, they knew how to bend strategically, but they seed to be genuinely sorrowful for the comnts they had made, causing Claire to suddenly feel like she had entered another tiline altogether.
But Karl simply nodded silently in her direction, causing her to blush once more before forcing herself to accept her friends’ apologies.
"It’s.... Fine... I know how you two get, I wasn’t offended."
Heidi looked over at her grandson and smirked with approval, she then whispered sothing in Bruno’s ear.
"It would appear the next generation will be in good hands. Between Erwin and Karl, I’d say our family has a bright future."
Even Bruno had to admit that the boy had done sothing he himself had found troubleso. And that was bringing those two troubleso sisters of his to heel.
The two girls were soft-spoken and well mannered for the rest of the al. As if to prove to Karl that they knew how to behave and were not a couple of mad won... and Bruno found this to be... amusing.
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