[You later learn that Anastasia was not only permitted to accompany them but was also granted the right by Nicholas II to come alone—on the condition that you agree.]
[This was a permission that neither of her two older sisters received. You can understand her excitement, and you also know that your life from now on will be much livelier than before.]
[Sure enough, after this, Anastasia would run to the library to find you whenever she had free time. At first, she would pretend to be looking for books, but later she simply dropped the pretense.]
[As long as she saw you weren't busy, she would immediately run over to talk to you. She would ask you many questions, about the world outside, about the wonderful or sad stories in the many books she had read.]
[Every time this happened, you would deliberately bring up the time you first met, when she pretended to be looking for books on military strategy, and tease her: 'Didn't you say you don't read romance novels?' Each time, you would provoke the young girl into a state of embarrassed anger, trying to prank you, only to be pranked by you in return.]
[The young girl's little tricks were useless against you, but she also learned many new tricks from you. You heard from the palace servants that her two older sisters were complaining endlessly because of this.]
[She would also occasionally be sentimental and melancholic in front of you, occasionally showing the same shyness as when you first met.]
[You would always say she was having an episode.]
[And Anastasia would always become shy and annoyed again.]
[This is your first year at the Tsarist court.]
[This year, you thwarted the conspiracy of Rasputin and the Holy Church, cured the imperial heir Alexei with the power of mystery, and earned the approval of Nicholas II and his wife. This year, you went from acquaintance to familiar friend with Anastasia.]
[It was also this year that your research into magical lineage began to get on the right track.]
[You began to try to blend 'Magecraft' and 'Miracles'.]
[Combining 'Magecraft', which preserves past phenomena, with 'Miracles', which gather human faith, was the conclusion you reached after a year of thought. You believe that Magecraft represents the 'past', and Miracles represent the 'present'. You are trying to use the 'present' to preserve the 'past', and use the 'past' to create the 'present'.]
[On the 312th day of your arrival at the Kremlin court, you shut yourself in the library, refusing all visitors to concentrate on your research. Even a visit from Nicholas II was turned away.]
[Aside from your initial clash with Rasputin, you did not display any other mysteries to Nicholas II and his wife this year. But their admiration and respect for your 'wisdom' only grew. They dared not disturb you.]
[Anastasia came and went, her face filled with disappointment.]
[On the 313th day, you still refused all visitors.]
[Anastasia's mood continued to drop.]
[On the 314th day, you still refused all visitors.]
[Immersed in research.]
...
In 1913, autumn was drawing to a close. After the desolation of fallen leaves, the once-lush trees were left with only bare branches.
For the Tsarist empire, this was another year of deep trouble. Ever since the defeat in the foreign war eight years ago, the empire had been suffering from post-war trauma and had not yet recovered. The oppression of local nobles and the displacement of millions of peasants led to severe social unrest. Although a statesman named 'Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin' had gained the favor of Nicholas II by suppressing uprisings with an iron fist and had single-handedly led a land reform to divide and win over the populace to combat the uprisings, seemingly eliminating the internal crisis on the surface, that reform vanished with Stolypin's assassination. Because his reforms never touched the fundamental problems of the empire, the overall situation after his death became even worse than before he came to power.
So no matter how much Nicholas II slammed his desk at ministerial meetings, no matter how he wracked his brains to carry out new reforms and tried various means to cover up the increasingly serious problems, the country's decline continued unabated.
But this grim atmosphere did not affect the interior of the court. No matter how worried or angry he was, Nicholas II would always put on a calm and confident facade in front of his family, making them believe that it was no big deal, that he could handle everything.
In this Moscow Kremlin, which seemed isolated from the world, in the luxurious living quarters of the princess, Anastasia was sitting at a desk by the window, holding a dip pen. The tip of the pen hovered as she watched the birds perched on the bare branches outside. She was thinking, and also worrying. She was not worried about state affairs; the girl in her ivory tower did not understand the gravity of the situation. She was just embracing her tender feelings, sentimental in the face of a changing season...
"Is Anna daydreaming again?"
A voice suddenly sounding from the side startled Anastasia. She came back to her senses, flicked her beautiful silver-white hair, and glanced towards the doorway of her living quarters. She saw a girl's head peeking in and couldn't help but huff. She said, "I was just thinking. And His Eminence Lu Kang once told me that it is not good behavior to spy on others, Sister Maria."
The visitor was her sister, the third princess of the Tsarist empire, Maria Nikolaevna.
"Alright, alright, I know you were the first one who could meet His Eminence alone. You don't have to emphasize it every day, my ears are about to grow calluses, Anna!" The girl who had been peeking in couldn't help but puff out her cheeks. "Besides, I wasn't spying. I knocked just now, but a certain someone was too engrossed to hear." She walked in, her long, angelic goose-down dress trailing cleanly on the floor.
"Hmm... was I that engrossed?" Anastasia was taken aback.
"Of course you were. Ever since His Eminence announced he was closing his doors, you've been like this from time to time," Maria said. "Sometimes I worry you might just fall into a ditch on the side of the road while walking."
"You're the one who'll fall into a ditch," Anastasia retorted instantly. She turned in her chair to face her approaching sister. "My devout faith guides my path, and will not let me go astray!"
"Did His Eminence Lu Kang tell you that too?" Maria was curious.
"No, it's from the Bible." Anastasia answered seriously. She deliberately paused here, and seeing Maria seem to breathe a sigh of relief, the girl then continued, "But, this was a special annotation His Eminence Lu Kang made just for me."
Maria: "..."
She thought to herself that her little sister had become more and more fond of teasing her older sisters since she met His Eminence. But seeing her sister's happy look, she couldn't help but shake her head and laugh. "Do you know what you look like right now?" she couldn't help but ask.
"What do I look like?" Anastasia looked up at her sister.
"Like a little girl pining for her sweetheart, my dear sister," Maria couldn't resist tapping the girl's smooth forehead, peeking out from under her hair. "But it's no wonder..."
"I have seen His Eminence Lu Kang from afar. He is indeed an extremely handsome and charismatic youth. No wonder Father and Mother value him so much, they even canceled their trip to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and decided to settle in Moscow. Even though St. Petersburg is the imperial capital... but this is fine too, no need to run around!"
Anna was stunned again. She mulled over her sister's words, and a blush suddenly crept up her face, her voice even starting to stammer. "I-I'm not... And handsome or whatever... ooh..." The girl's voice grew smaller and smaller, and she bit her soft, moist, red lips.
Seeing her like this, Grand Duchess Maria couldn't help but smile even more broadly. It was rare to see her sister like this, but she also felt a pang of jealousy—jealous that Anna could be so close to that handsome and wise Eminence, jealous that she could show him such a pure and unfeigned smile. But Maria also knew that Anna was, in fact, the most outstanding among them... whether in looks, figure, or the sensitivity and intelligence of her mind, Anna was better than her older sisters. Anna had even had a wondrous encounter in her childhood with a snow spirit, a being that in this era existed only in myths and stories.
So... "If you deny it any longer, you might not be the first one there, you know?" Maria suddenly whispered.
"The first one for what?" Anna responded subconsciously. She looked up and saw her sister's slightly narrowed eyes, and as if suddenly understanding something—
"I heard Father discussing in the great hall just now that His Eminence Lu Kang will end his meditation practice today and open the library doors..." Maria hadn't even finished her sentence.
Anna shot up from her seat, grabbed her skirt, and dashed out.
Maria was left frozen. She looked at the pen and paper left on Anna's desk, then at the birds on the branches outside the window, and at the vast and majestic library building diagonally across. She forced a smile. She really wished she could be as decisive as her, but she clearly couldn't. Just like a year ago, when her sisters had all dared each other to defy their father's prohibition and break into the library, in the end, only Anna had actually gone...
It was precisely at the instigation of her older sisters that Anastasia Nikolaevna had had her first encounter with Lu Kang.
You can support me to read the story in advance at patreon.com/ImNova724
Type-Moon, is this really not the Reverse Side of the World? 50Chapter
In Type-Moon: Creating a Magecraft Family Lineage 100Chapter