Dmitri Mikhailov was a
fine gentleman in his early 35. Young but barely felt, his wealth expands from
the heart of middle land in West Siberian Plain to Nanjing, Shanghai, Hongkong,
Erdenet, and Irkutsk in the East, Toolonlahti, Amsterdam, Den Haag, and
Braunschweig in the West, which then would he use all of them as his milestones
to conquer the Lands of the South.
A prominent noble man
from Russian Empire himself, as one true Heir of The Great Braunsimov dynasty,
he was of course served with the best in almost every western country he
stepped on that Russia has good relationship with. One of the most progressive
lobby towards him came from the Netherlands' dynasty of Van Rijkmaar.
It was a warm summer
morning on the bank of the River of Ob, where he could see a pair of naughty
fox beneath his favourite hawthorns grown near the transparent white door of
his study. Seeing those foxes together disturbing the little squirrel before
they both chase and savour it, again, he knew, together-- reminded him of how
he once struggled to establish such a dream family of his own. A family
where... the wife and child would be so close to him. Yet so obligant.
Master, a knock on the
door across the hall sounded, and Dmitri sipped his tea. He pressed the button
beside his left hand, ringing the little toller above the knocked door
suggesting he was ready to receive whoever coming. It was Bogdan, his 54 years
old Head of Household.
There is a present for
you, said Bogdan, with a chuckle. From Lord Van Rijkmaar in Netherlands.
Apparently he still tries to offer you Lady Marianne Wilhelmina...
An African-European man
entered in, bringing a vast rectangle wrapped in brownish paper. He opened it
in front of Dmitri before then dismissed himself out of the room.
It was a portrayal of
two beautiful young ladies, daughters of Lord Van Rijkmaar himself. The Dutch
left a note saying that it was painted by the notable Raden Saleh, the great
artist from the Land of The South where Dmitri planned to invest. Marianne
Wilhelmina, was of course, the prettier. And the prettiest among the two. The Lord
had repeatedly asked him to marry her. What made him still so reluctant to deal
was that he knew the history of the old Lord. His family had long he knew to
have strangling debt resulting from his speculative deals in the wars for the
ownership around East-Indies. Thus to marry the daughter meant that he had such
a morale obligation to help the old Dutch with his debts.
However, my master...
doesn't she grow all this time? Bogdan said while preparing to hang the
portrait in the gallery. The Braunsimovs have long been known as Russia's most
notable collector.
Dmitri remained silent.
Indeed that he planned to travel to Netherlands imminently, to observe his
tobacco business there... but the present was as though adding him more
obligation to visit Van Rijkmaar family.
The face of the more
beautiful than before Marianne Wilhelmina lingered over his mind.
He could just make her
his concubine, he had more than enough power to do it. He doubted that the old
Dutch would mind it, but he had not too much idea of this girl Marianne. Once
they met five years ago, she was this timid 13 years old little blonde girl,
she barely even dared to steal a glance towards him.
He thought about his
son, Ricardovich, from his legitimate betraying wife, Duscha. Those little blue
eyes were each day being more and more overcasted than ever, one could hardly
believe that it belonged to the young face of the Heir of the mighty
Braunsimova dynasty. Ricardovich was only five but he never smiled, or laughed,
as other five years old did. Dmitri knew that the child missed his parents.
But Dmitri could not
look up to the little boy's face. It reminded him too much of Duscha, those
bright blue eyes... of the love they once shared, of the betrayal she did, with
that bastard. It reminded Dmitri too much of how sick his heart was to love
Duscha so much to receive her betrayal in return.
So Dmitri made up his
mind that indeed, Ricardovich would never be his successor. That boy would only
grow as lame, coward man just like his mother, and, ha ha ha... Dmitri chuckled
bitterly alone, it was indeed, maybe his unconscious mind driving him to create
such a disadvantageous, uncomfortable circumstances that Ricardovich grew up
in.
So The Readers saw the
aftermath, unfortunate condition could a boy like Ricardovich endure because of
the decision the mother once made.
The Father was at
present prepared his journey to the Netherlands to find himself a new wife, to
provide him a new son, a new Heir for what supposed to be Ricardovich's throne.
