A Wedding in the Wake of Winter Part III

Having escaped the festivities and celebratory ambience, Bruno and the Tsar of Russia found themselves secluded in the former's office. The Tsar was surprised by the minimalistic decorations, a stark contrast to the grandeur of Bruno's baroque estate—a villa so vast and opulent it could be mistaken for a palace, were it not for the fact that in Germany, his home nation, he held the title of a mere count.

Regardless, the room was precisely as Bruno intended—no esteemed portraits of past ancestors, no self-aggrandizing paintings of his own exploits. Instead, only photographs from his time in war adorned the walls, framed in well-crafted but restrained trappings.