"Your Imperial Highness, please pay attention." The tutor's voice, tired from his constant, fruitless attempts to pull Alexander back from his daydreams, was strained. Vasily Andreyevich, a man of letters and a strict formalist, had little patience for an inattentive mind, even one belonging to the heir.
"Ah, sorry, sir." Alexander's voice was a soft, polite mumble, an apology probably uttered numerous times.
To be honest, Alexander would have preferred to sleep through the entire day. Literature, with its endless verses on a past he didn't care about, was more than just boring---it was a burden. It pulled him away from things that truly interested him, like the old maps and historical books. His eyes scanned the room, searching for something---anything---to ease the relentless tedium. The morning light, filtered through the thick panes of the palace windows, bathed the space in a soft glow. The scent of old paper and beeswax filled the air. Portraits of great men---Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, even Napoleon---stared down from the walls. But it was the large map of Europe that held his gaze. Ever since he first laid eyes on its intricate borders and shaded territories, a deep sense of familiarity clung to him. He rested his head on the sturdy oak desk and wondered when the lesson would finally end.
"Your Highness!" His teacher's shout woke Alexander right up. As if nothing had happened, he asked his teacher, "What's wrong, sir?"
"Tell me, who wrote this book?"
"I don't know."
His tutor, exasperated by Alexander's attitude, continued. "In all respects, Your Highness, you must pay more attention. Your father has assigned me to teach you for a reason. It would not hurt you to learn the subject in any way."
"Understood." He did indeed understand; he just didn't care.
"Good. This is it for today. You are free to go."
After getting permission to leave, it was as if Alexander's body was infused with energy. He immediately got off the chair and left the room.
Seeing him leave, Vasily sighed, wondering how he should inform the boy's father about his son's behavior.
As Alexander strolled through the hallways of the Winter Palace, he passed portraits of his ancestors, the gilded frames glinting in the light. The furniture, made from high-quality wood, and the decorative vases seemed to crowd the space, but he navigated the opulent halls with ease, passing servants and guards, like the one who stood watch outside the classroom. Finally, after a while, Alexander was standing in front of a door. He braced himself and opened it.
The moment he opened the door, a small figure launched herself at him. It was his five-year-old sister, Maria, and her powerful hug took his breath away. From behind them, he heard the soft, light laughter of his mother.
"Come on now, dear," Alexandra said gently. "Let your brother breathe. He isn't going to run anywhere." Maria's grip loosened just enough for Alexander to catch his breath. "But he did run away!" she pouted, her lower lip trembling. "He promised to play with me, but he didn't!" She let go reluctantly, her small hands still clutching the fabric of his tunic, as if afraid he'd vanish again without a word.
"It's not like I didn't want to play with you. Father said that from now on I must attend lessons every day except Saturday."
"You could've said something! I waited for you for over an hour!" Maria pouted, still upset. "Sorry, sorry, I accidentally overslept, alright? So I couldn't inform you, or else I would be late. This time, you can choose what game to play."
After hearing his words, the little girl suddenly lit up and flashed a beaming smile. "You promise?"
"I promise."
Their mother, seeing that her children had made up and were on good terms, was happy. It allowed her to take her mind off the unfortunate event that had taken place 5 years ago. Soon after, the children turned to their mother, activating their puppy eyes as much as they could. They asked if they were allowed to play in the courtyard. "Can we please go play outside? Pretty please?"
Seeing their eyes, shining with anticipation, the Mother couldn't resist them and agreed. "Fine, but a guard must follow you at all times so that nothing happens to you. Clear?" They both eagerly nodded their heads. The Empress hugged both of them and whispered in the ears between them, "I love both of you. Stay safe."
Having experienced a stillborn child, Alexandra was a bit overprotective of her children. No matter how safe it might be, a parent will always be worried, especially one who had already experienced the pain of losing a child. The children, hearing their mother's words, replied back.
"Love you too, mom."
Getting out of the hug, she rubbed their heads. "Now, go play outside before it's too late. You wouldn't want to stumble back home in the dark, would you?"
The children, hearing their mother's words, rushed out the door toward the courtyard. Their mother reminded them, "Don't run in the hallways, or else you might hurt yourself!" Seeing them still running, she sighed, reminiscing about her childhood and the difficult conditions she grew up in. Breaking her out of her thoughts was the sound of her two-year-old daughter.
"Mama look sad."
Smiling slightly, the woman started putting the toddler back to sleep. "Come on, let's get you back to sleep. Alex and Maria must have woken you up."
Running through the halls, the two children were careful not to trip, bump, or hit anything, expertly navigating the overly decorated hallways. The servants and guards, already used to this sight, made sure not to disturb the the pair of siblings. Soon after, the siblings arrived at the entrance of the courtyard, looking tired. "I'M FIRST!" proclaimed Alexander, a smile etched on his face as he stepped outside. But Maria, tired from the run, her hands on her knees and with teary eyes, said, "No fair! You are older than me!" as she stood normally and stomped the ground, pouting.
Alexander simply disregarded it. "It's not my fault you are a slow poke."
Maria, not having the energy to argue anymore, suggested sitting on the bench outside. "Hmph, let's go sit on the bench. I'm tired." Alexander, feeling the same, agreed. "Yeah, same."
Sitting on the bench, Maria and Alexander took in the fresh air, the wind blowing, and enjoyed the warm rays of sunshine. As they relaxed, they looked around, noticing the tall trees, blooming flowers, bushes shaped by knives and scissors, sculptures made from marble by master sculptors, and the fountain in the distance. Maria, in a daze, muttered, "Beautiful."
Alexander, curious as to what she meant, asked, "What is?"
"Don't you think the sculptures and the sculpted bushes are beautiful?" Alexander shrugged. "Beautiful? Not in particular. It makes no difference to me. It's just a bush, or just stones in the shape of... things, I suppose." Maria stared at him, her solemn expression etched with surprise. "What about the paintings in the palace?" she asked, her voice quiet. "The ones in the Gallery? I think they are stunning."
"Meh, not really. I don't see the appeal. I like-" What do I like? Alexander thought to himself, a sudden emptiness in his mind. He liked things with a purpose. He found himself recalling the map on his classroom wall---its precise lines, especially the strategic borders. That was beautiful.
"I like maps."
But when he answered, he didn't get an answer back. Looking next to him, he saw that his sister was gone. He became a bit worried and looked around. Finally, in the distance, he saw his sister jumping on one leg, so he immediately rushed up to her. "Hey! Why did you leave me alone?"
"You stopped right before you were about to say what you like, and were staring at the floor," said Maria with a deadpan face.
"Well, I was thinking about what I liked. It's maps."
"Maps? You mean those papers with lines on them? You mean paintings?"
"No, not paintings---maps. There is a difference."
"Are maps painted?"
"Yes."
"So you like paintings," reasoned the five-year-old girl, leaving Alexander speechless.
"You know what, I give up. What are you doing anyway?"
"I was jumping from square to square on one leg."
"Just that?"
"Hey! It's not as easy as it looks. I've almost fallen twice now."
"How hard can it be?" said Alexander. He lifted up his left foot and jumped with his right foot onto the other square. When landing, he accidentally twisted his waist too much and almost hurt himself, but he was caught by his sister, preventing him from getting injured. "I knew that would happen," Maria said, giggling.
A bit embarrassed, Alexander suggested another game. "Let's play something else. What about hide and seek?"
"No, you promised you would let me choose," Maria countered. "Come on, I can't jump on one leg. What if I hurt myself?"
Hearing her brother's reasoning, Maria gave in, albeit with a condition. "Fine... but you will be the seeker and I will hide." "That's fine with me," said Alexander, glad that he wouldn't have to risk falling down and getting injured.
"Alright, look away and count to thirty."
After saying that, Maria went to go hide while Alexander counted. After finding her hiding spot, she started giggling, confident that her brother wouldn't find her. "Ready or not, here I come!"
Alexander first started looking around bushes, benches, sculptures, and the like. Before deciding to go in the direction he heard her footsteps while counting, he eventually arrived at a fountain. He looked around and inside the fountain but didn't see his sister. But he did hear faint giggling.
'I see...'
"Oh well, not here as well. I guess I will search somewhere else." He said loudly, so that his sister heard him.
He then started walking as silently as possible to the other side of the fountain, using the sound of rushing water to cover his footsteps. And then... "BOO!" he shouted in his sister's ear, scaring her into almost jumping into the fountain before barely managing to stop her from falling in. After which, he started laughing. "Pfft, hahahahh! You should have seen your face! You almost fell into the fountain! Hahahahah!"
His laughter embarrassed her. As her cheeks reddened and her eyes teared up, she almost started crying.
"You jerk! You meanie! That was unfair!" she said, as faint tears fell down from her eyes. Alexander, feeling sorry for what he had done, apologized and tried to comfort her. "I'm sorry. Truly sorry. I won't do that again, alright? I will secretly come play with you if you want, alright?"
His words managed to calm her down, and she stopped being teary-eyed.
"Really?"
"Really."
Her face showed joy as she hugged him.
"No takesies backsies, alright?"
"Alright."
Alexander and Maria were tired from playing all day. The sun had already set below the horizon, and the temperature had started to drop off rapidly. The guard accompanying them, noticing that darkness would soon be upon them, informed the children that it was time to head back inside.
"Your Imperial Highnesses, it is time to go back to your residence. Your mother has requested that I bring you back inside before nightfall." Though sad that their playtime had been cut short, the children didn't complain much, since they were beginning to shiver from the cold anyways.
While walking back, there were noticeably fewer people outside than when they first went out. It seemed like the people tending to the courtyard went back to their living quarters.
After finally heading back inside, they were greeted with warmth created by candles and the roaring fireplaces. After a servant took their coats off, both of them went into their separate rooms to get changed by their nannies. While separating, Maria looked like she remembered something and yelled, "Don't forget your promise!" Alexander, hearing her words, simply nodded in her direction and continued on his way to his room, deep in thought.
Recently, Alexander had been having an extremely strong sense of deja vu. With many things seeming familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, it was hard to put into words, making him confused. Wanting to go to sleep as soon as possible so that the uncomfortable feeling went away, though not before getting bathed. Not to mention, playing outside all day had made him exhausted... and dirty.
Inside the room, there was a basin filled with warm water, prepared by nannies who had toiled for hours. Getting inside, they then started washing him with a clean cloth and soap, making sure that he was clean before he went to sleep. He had been taking a sponge bath ever since he could communicate, constantly requesting to get cleaned. Even his family members were puzzled by this, asking him why he needed to bathe himself every day and why he was so obsessed with hygiene.
And honestly, Alexander himself didn't know. It was as if his gut was telling him that it was important. Not only that, every time he got injured, he constantly made sure to thoroughly have the wound cleaned, as if something bad would happen if he didn't do so. But that was basic common sense, even in the era that he lived in, so it's not that strange.
After he finished bathing and got dressed up, he was tucked in bed by a nanny, thanking and wishing her goodnight, before going to sleep. Not even asking for a bedtime story, as children his age usually would. The nanny, touched by the young prince's words, smiled and replied, "Good night to you too, Your Imperial Highness." The world went dark, and the a sense of familiarity returned.
***
"Listen class, I know it's early in the morning, but you must stay focused. History, just like any other lesson, is important, if not even more so. So make sure to pay close attention," said the middle-aged man.
Looking over the students sitting on the chairs, with some putting their heads on the table, sleeping, and many others dozing off. "Sigh. I told them not to schedule classes in the morning. Well, no use complaining now, I'll do what I can."
"Alright, in today's lesson, we will learn about the Decembrist revolt that took place on December 26th, 1825, in Imperial Russia. Does anyone here know what the cause of the revolt was?"
Asked the man, and surprisingly, he saw many students raise their hands. So he selected the one who raised his hand first. "You over there."
"Isn't it simple? The disgruntled officers that fought in the Napoleonic wars saw a very different style of life compared to Russia, getting exposed to the ideas of the Enlightenment. The right of law, freedom from serfdom, representative government, etc... Honestly, I would revolt too after seeing what a shithole my country is compared to the rest of the world."
The teacher, surprised by the student's accurate answer, was taken aback. 'Where did they learn this? After all' he didn't remember any classes that he taught about the topic, 'not these students, anyway.'
"First of all, mind your language. Second of all, where did you learn all that?" The student answered, "Everyone here who chose to come to this class is a fan of history. Thus, we constantly get recommended videos on the internet about various events that took place. No offense to you, Teach, but you should actually teach something we don't know about."
"Now, don't get cocky, your answer wasn't fully correct." Said the man, ready to flex his superior knowledge on these overconfident students. "Another reason for the Decembrist revolt is due to the confusing circumstances involving succession.
You see, Tsar Alexander I had no heirs, and after his death, according to the Russian laws of succession, the crown was to be passed to the second oldest brother, Konstantin. But Konstantin renounced his right to the throne in secret years ago. Now, do any of you see how that may cause some problems?"
"The rebels, or the Northern Society as they called themselves, led 3,000 soldiers into Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, to prevent the Senate from swearing allegiance to Nicholas I, whose claim to the throne only became widely known after Konstantin's renunciation had spread."
"And the governor general of Saint Petersburg at the time, as well as one of the most distinguished military commanders in Russia, Mikhail Miloradovich, rode into the rows of rebel troops and tried to talk them into obedience. And it went as well as you guys could probably guess. He was shot and killed."
The teacher then shaped his fingers into a pistol and pointed it at his chest, saying, "Just like that."
By this point, all the students were intently listening to their teacher, their focus drawn by his manner of speech and body language.
"And the funniest part? before the situation had gotten out of control and the rebels marched unto Senate Square he had plenty of evidence to intervene. but didn't take any action until the rebels marched onto Senate Square. Now, you may be wondering why? Why did he wait until the rebels marched onto Senate Square?"
"Well, that's bec-"
***
The surroundings were starting to become blurry, and the words said by the teacher were impossible to make out anymore.