the old brag of my heart

Feliciano Vargas is well on his way to fame as a recent hire at a respectable opera house in Rome. His older brother, Lovino, is a rising journalist and his grandfather is a deeply honoured war hero peacefully living out his retirement with his grandsons. They have everything they could ask for, and more.

And then Germany invades Poland, sparking a trail of events that turn Feliciano's life upside down as he's drafted into Italy's army to fight in Europe alongside the Nazis. He's never held a gun before--let alone killed a man. But he has no choice, and as he faces the terrifying days ahead, he meets the serious but kind German soldier, Ludwig Beilschmidt, who is as confusing as he is enchanting. They become close in the volatile environment of war, and as Feliciano suddenly finds himself navigating a romance that was never meant to exist, he begins to wonder what is right and what is wrong--and why it is so difficult to figure it out.

Feliciano yearns to return home, to foster the unexpected love he found, to bite into a fresh tomato again--but first, he has to survive.

Part 1 of As Time Goes By

(ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO HIDEKAZ HIMARUYA I'M ONLY PLAYING WITH THEM)