N. Severin is the literary pseudonym of the Russian writer Nadezhda Ivanovna Merd(er), née Svechina (1839–1906). She authored many novels, novellas, stories, and comedies. “The Tsar’s Decree” is the time of the reign of Paul I. Construction of the Engineering Castle. The Russian nobleman Maximov and Kethen, the daughter of a German tailor—by what decree did Paul I link their fates…