January 11, 1923. St. Petersburg Port.

The chilly morning breeze passing by the colossal cruise ship of the RMS Queen Elizabeth blew a few strands of dark gray hair onto the young princess of the Britannia Empire as she sat beside her with a steaming cup of tea in hand.

Resting her arm on the railing and her chin upon her free hand, she watched the people moving about on the port as they went about their daily business. At first glance, she was surprised to see so many people wearing happy faces as they laughed and chatted with each other.

Diana expected the Ruthenian people to be miserable, pitiful, and suffering like any other backwater nation on Earth due to economic recessions and recent poor governance. But witnessing it for herself feels as though they are working for the future they hold dear as if they are trying to achieve something more than what they currently have and that gave her insights that things might not always be this dismal.

She glanced over her shoulder, looking at her chair. On it was a pile of documents about everything there is to know in the Ruthenia Empire when Alexander Romanoff, her cousin, took power. And she must admit, the Ruthenia Empire has drastically changed when Alexander took over as the head of state.

Starting from the government, Alexander abolished the aristocracy and turned it into a constitutional monarchy with the Emperor being the head of the executive branch and the supreme commander of chief of the armed forces. Implement radical and progressive reforms that changed the social fabric and way of life of the Ruthenia it held for over centuries.

Not only that, Ruthenia seemed to have a plethora of ambitious projects. One of which is, according to the ambassador of the Britannia Empire in the Ruthenia Empire, Alexander Romanoff passed a ten-year infrastructure bill that aims to modernize and improve the infrastructures of the Ruthenia Empire with an enormous price tag.

“Your Royal Highness, we’ll dock in five minutes,” a man wearing a butler suit informed Diana who was gazing down at the bustling port. She sighed softly before replying.

“Okay, thank you,” Diana said as she turned back and took one last sip before setting it down on a table.

A group of servants approached the Royal Princess who was pushing a wheelchair. Even though Diana looked healthy and oftentimes stood up on her own two feet, she can’t maintain so for long as she’s prone to exhaustion due to her disease ravaging her body.

Sitting in the wheelchair, the servants pushed and made their way to the exit.

Diana was briefed about the procedures that’ll take place once she arrives in St. Petersburg and understands what the Ruthenia Empire is doing to ensure her safety.-.

After a short journey out of the cruise ship, they were welcomed by the Imperial Guards dressed in black casual suits. One of them stood out from the rest, a tall blonde-haired man. He was handsome and appeared to be in his early thirties.

He bowed his head in respect, “Greetings, Your Majesty. I am Rolan Makarov, Chief of Staff of the Imperial Guards assigned as your escort for the trip to the Peterhof Palace,”

Diana returned the gesture with a polite smile and placed her hand on her ample chest.

“Princess Diana Rosemary Edinburgh of the Britannia Empire pleased to meet you,”

“Are they all your caretakers?” Rolan asked, glancing at the people behind Diana.

“Yes, they’ll be the ones who will attend me while I’m here in St. Petersburg,”

“I understand. In that case, we shall get going,” Rolan said as he waved his hand, gesturing to the Imperial Guards to prepare themselves to leave.Diana’s personal maid pushed the wheelchair towards their designated car, followed closely by Rolan and her attendants. As soon as everyone got in the car, they immediately left the port and made their way to the Peterhof Palace.

After a short journey from the port, they arrived at the palace. Rolan instructed them to wait inside before he exited the car. Seemingly as though, Rolan is doing another security sweep around the Palace.

Meanwhile, Diana’s mouth dropped slightly ajar at the breathtaking sight of Peterhof Palace.

“It’s beautiful…so this is where the Romanoff Family is living huh?”

“I believe it’s not, Your Royal Highness,” the butler chimed in, looking through the window with a disapproving expression. The Empress could sense something was off with him.

“What do you mean, Lancelot?” Diana cocked her head to the side.

“Although it is one of the many palaces in St. Petersburg, the Imperial Family of Ruthenia weren’t staying there. I believe right now they are in Winter Palace,” Lancelot said.

“Is that so, then we’re not staying alongside the Imperial Family?”

“That seems to be the case, Your Majesty,”

“What a shame, so I will not be able to meet Alexander huh?” Diana said with disappointment written all over her face.

Maybe, just maybe, Alexander will welcome them once they are inside the Peterhof Palace. In that case, there’s nothing to be sad about.

“So Lancelot, what do you say about their security?”

Unbeknownst to many, Lancelot was not just a simple butler, he is the head of security of Princess Diana and is often tasked by the Emperor himself to keep watch over her whenever she was on a trip.

“They seemed well-prepared, Your Majesty. And the fact that they are covering your visit here in Ruthenia impressed me. After all, Ruthenia still has unstable elements that the Ministry of Internal Affairs hadn’t taken care of. If this was in Britannia, I would the same as well,” Lancelot remarked

.

Hearing this, Diana nodded “That’s reassuring.”

Moments later, Rolan opened the door and offered a hand “It’s clear, Your Royal Highness, please.”

After accepting Rolan’s help, Diana exited the car. She looked back to see Lancelot closing the door and handing her a face mask.

A wheelchair was quickly brought to her and she sat on it while wearing the mask. Then they continued their journey into the palace.

Her eyes trailed along with the white scenery of the Peterhof Palace. It reminded her of Buckingham Palace. It’s hard to admit but in terms of design, Peterhof Palace is much nicer compared to Buckingham Palace.

Three minutes later, they arrived at the main entrance of the Peterhof Palace.

…In the luxurious palace, the hall was brightly lit. Imperial Guards stood at both sides of the red carpet neatly to welcome Princess Diana. They were holding up flags of both the Empire. On the left side was the flag of the Britannia Empire and on the right, the Ruthenian Empire.

As she passed by them, the Imperial Guards around her presence couldn’t help but follow her movement with their eyes while letting out a sigh of admiration.

The Imperial Guards were under the impression of her title “The Treasure of Edinburgh” thus making them picture a beautiful face underneath that mask.

At the far end of the grand hall was a golden-haired woman dressed in a simple but elegant blue dress standing next to a man in a black suit.

The moment Diana arrived in front of her, she immediately jumped out and embraced the woman she knew of since childhood.

“Sophie!” She exclaimed happily.

“Your Highness! It’s been too long since I’ve seen you!” Sophie exclaimed as she hugged her childhood friend.action

Both women broke away from their embrace and Diana smiled kindly at Sophie as she looked up at her.

She has grown up so much! In terms of height and figure, she’d beaten her.

“To think that I’ll meet you here in Ruthenia…out of all places,” Diana commented.

“Well, I’m the future Queen of Ruthenia Empire so there’s that,” Sophie responded jokingly. The two ladies giggled before Sophie spoke again. “This is Doctor Dmitri Semenov, the one that’ll be looking after your health,”

Dmitri bowed his head in greeting “Your Royal Highness,”

Diana nodded as she eyed him. So this is the doctor who published the paper about medicine and gives credit to her cousin, Alexander.

Speaking of Alexander, Diana asked.

“Where is His Majesty, Alexander?” Diana glanced around the hall, looking for him.

Sophie lowered her head as she answered “Unfortunately, Alexander is in a meeting right now. He told me that he’ll meet you as soon as his schedule is cleared up,”

Diana hummed in response while shaking her head in disappointment.

“Also, you know Her Imperial Highness, Christina right?”

“Yes…come to think of it, where is she?”

“Well, Christina is hosting a charity right now in Moskva, so she can’t be here,”

“That’s sad,” Diana said. “Well I guess the entire Imperial Family is busy these days…something’s off happening in Ruthenia right now.”

“Ehem…” Rolan cleared his throat, getting their attention. “Your Majesty, since I’ve escorted Her Royal Highness, I shall get going now,”

Sophie gave a nod “Okay, be careful,”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Rolan said and turned to his heel and exited the hall.

“What’s the matter,” Diana asked, curious about Rolan leaving them.

“Rolan Makarov is the Chief of Staff of the Imperial Guards and the personal guard of Alexander. He was tasked to pick you up and once it’s done, Rolan will have to return back to his side,”

“I see.”