The second part of the “Speransky” cycle. At the center are Speransky and a man from the future, Nadezhdin. His name already echoed in the court of Catherine the Great, but she passed away… a year earlier than in another reality—so changes have already been set in motion. Ahead: major undertakings, relentless labor, risky plans, intrigues, and participation in epoch-defining events. Love seems not to be the priority—there are too many tasks—but the “personal” disagrees. The time of duels, honor and dishonor, hatred and feelings, loud triumphs and unnoticed defeats. And most of all—be able, stepping back by one pace, to move forward by two at once.