Our contemporary, a plastic surgeon in the body of Duma nobleman Sergius Shchepotnev, has been the personal physician of Ivan the Terrible for the second year already. Besides treating the Tsar, he has established himself as a successful entrepreneur and a scientist: his manufactories produce paper and glass; his craftsmen have mastered the production of spyglasses and other optics; all of boyar Moscow drinks shchetan made from samovars of Shchepotnev. At his urging, the best minds of Europe begin to gather in Moscow. He tries to do everything so that the Russian realm will never face those ominous times again. Will it work? There are enemies everywhere—being rich, successful, and, on top of that, very close to the Tsar is extraordinarily dangerous.