Pov Tatiana

Walking through the beautiful gardens of the Kieva Palace and feeling the wind made me alive.

The Duchy of Kieva was surely the best territory in all of Russ, having the most fertile land, the best terrain for infrastructure and a significant amount of mines.

On the other hand it had its problems, the first of them being that it was part of the direct border with the Empire, which would make it one of the most devastated areas in case of war. Next was the fact that it was one of the most pro-independence territories in Russ and also full of anarchists. While Anarchy was an ideology that has only worked once in history, it happened in Kieva. They couldn't be underestimated.

Viktor has been very kind to me this week and has already taken me to many different places, from the beautiful Dnieper River, to a couple of illegal museums on Kieva. Even my father couldn't ban events commemorating the heroes of Kieva. Yet as enjoyable as these programmes had been, they were political, the symbolism of a Romanov being at such an event was to bring hope to the populace.

"Princess," said a servant girl, trying not to interrupt my walk, "The Heir of the Duke would like to see you."

Nodding slightly, I indicated for her to lead the way. Before following her to my destination.

"Tatiana! Are you enjoying your stay?" asked Viktor as he stood up from his chair.

"Yes, Kieva is a beautiful place, I would even say that it's better than Moskva. But don't tell my Father I said that," I answered, laughing.

"Of course, I don't want to be invaded by the Tsar because of envy."

Laughing at our little exchange of pleasantries he helped me into the chair before sitting down.

"Do you want coffee?"

I felt my eyes light up. The Nectar of the Gods?

"Are you sure it's okay?" I asked.

"It's fine, really! In fact, I recommend it!"

Having my worries waved away, I nodded as hard as I could, watching him order coffee for the two of us.

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked, remembering that he was the one who called me.

Viktor was silent for a second before answering me, "I believe that five years ago, the Tsar gave my father permission to increase the army in Kieva. I had tried to convince him to invest in the creation of some weapons back then. Now that preparations have finally been completed, we are going to have a military march in three days. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come and see the military parade with me."

Although Viktor is intelligent for his age, he still has some childish ideas. To believe that his father would listen to him on such important issues as the weapons to be used by the army.

Or perhaps his father did listen to him. Considering the fact that he asked me to try to legalize the native language of Kieva, it wasn't impossible that he had some pull over his father.

The petition I sent to my father with more than thirty pages describing the situation and the benefits, had taken me two days to write. I had done all I could, should father reject me I will have to find another way to improve my relationship with Kieva.

"I would be delighted to attend the military parade with you to see the new weapons you helped develop."

I'm sure the rifles would be lovely. Even if they weren't, I would praise them if only to improve our relations.

He was about to answer me when I saw the maids arrive with the coffee. However, my heart dropped to the floor when I realised that they put milk and sugar in the coffee. Viktor seemed to immediately notice my disappointment. He motioned for the maid to come closer and whispered something to her. I paid little mind as I drank this delicacy of the gods. Though corrupted by milk and sugar, it was still wonderful.

"I'm sorry for the disappointment. I've told the servants to bring you coffee without any additions in the future."

Viktor, Viktor, Viktor. You're such a sweetheart. I think you're the only reason I don't regret going to that party.

--

With the military march set to start in twenty minutes, the people were very lively. It's strange, although this army was raised by the Duke of Kieva, it's still under the rule of the Tsar, something I thought the citizens would hate.

"Aren't the people too lively? I thought the general population hated the Tsar, for them to celebrate the Tsar raising an army in Kieva..."

Viktor seemed to laugh, "These soldiers still serve Kieva, even though they are the Tsar's armies. In truth, they are the Duke's armies, the Tsar may claim to be an absolute ruler, but he doesn't have the power to remove Kieva's military autonomy. In the end, most of the prohibitions don't actually affect our day to day life much.

Wasn't that too dangerous? It was literally the recipe for a rebellion. This situation was an impossible balance, something that should usually lead to war.

"That wasn't in the history books," I said with some misgivings, it seems like I've lived deludedly all my life.

"Of course it wasn't, the Tsar does his best to keep up appearances."

That was. Insulting. I'll have to get my revenge. Perhaps insinuating that his weapons were not as good as he thought would be enough.

"It should start in 9 minutes," he said, pulling out a pocket watch, "Though the real show will probably be here in 14 or 15 minutes."

This is going to take a while then. Time to make myself as comfortable as my dignity could afford.

"By the way, the Tsarina is planning to visit Kieva in 2 weeks. Your mother says she plans to take you on a tour of the Empire, as a family holiday for you to meet both her family and the Imperial family."

I was a bit annoyed that I would have to visit my extended family, but I realised that this was exactly what I needed, contacts abroad. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad for the contacts to come to me instead.

"Why do you always get letters addressed to me first?"

Viktor, if uncomfortable by the question, didn't show it, "Technically it's my father who reads them, I am but the messenger. The Tsar gave him permission so you have nothing to worry about."

That didn't stop me from worrying at all. But seeing as it would be improper to press the issue any further, I left it be. Perhaps it has something to do with my age?

"It's a pity that our time together is short, but if my mother wishes to travel to the Empire, I do not have a choice."

We continued our conversation up till the music began, the sound for a military parade. Focusing on the soldiers marching, I saw that the first troops were carrying the basic mosin-nagant rifle. Nothing special, even our army used those. Despite that, Viktor did not sound disappointed, it seems he expected his father was going to ignore his requests.

As the soldiers marched on, next came the Mages from the sky, not too differently equipped.

But what came next was a shock. More soldiers, yet different from before.

"Look Tatiana, those are the weapons I asked my father for."

In an instant, my mouth dropped. What they were carrying was a primitive version of the PPSH, rotator loader and all. But not only that, some carried shotguns while others were armed with flamethrowers.

"First shock regiment," Viktor began to applaud, referencing their regimental flag, "They are perfect for urban warfare, short to medium range combat, attacking fortified positions and crowd control. A Regiment that could punch well above its weight. Father was so impressed by my idea he had an experimental regiment made. If all goes well, we'll have 3 more soon enough."

This made no sense. If Russ had these soldiers, they wouldn't have fallen as easily. This was beyond expectations. Where were they in my previous life?

"That's not all of course. They even have superior defence, bulletproof vests that can withstand a standard round."

That was impossible. Technology of this level is twenty years ahead of its time. This was only something even the Empire of the future would have trouble providing to their elites.

Something was up. There was no way the Russ Empire could have beaten the Empire with technology. I couldn't believe that.

"How did you get all this technology developed?"

Viktor stopped fussing about how wonderful the shock regiments were to turn to me.

"Simply put, we used money. Father had an arms company founded. Donbass Arms. For the last two years we have thrown money at the engineers until they made things work.

POV Viktor

I managed to surprise Tanya. Through the use of money, I managed to get close to the Imperial Military Technology of my past life. If only I had more, there were so many advancements to the fields of Armour and Aerial technology to be made. It would take a while before I could convince father to go even further. Currently, even having camouflage technology developed is unlikely.

When I received my second life, I was very lost. I was born male this time, after all. However, I knew what I had to do, I had to prepare Russ to fight against communism. It was a goal that would make my future brighter. Saving Russ from the communist aiding the Empire and Tanya in turn.

I had promised Tanya to save her. Watching her die to the Commonwealth bitch once was bad enough. If the Federation never came to be, the two would never have met.

I had based all my plans on that. That if I did my best to strengthen the Russ empire, I would one day save her. From developing weapons, to improving relations between Kieva and Moskva. I had not expected to meet Tanya again, this time as the daughter of the Tsar.

From that moment on I promised to give her all the support she would need. After all, whatever plan she came up with would be much better than any of mine.

Despite not telling her about being her Adjutant in the previous life, I'm sure she had already figured it out. Oh, after all this is done, my life with her would be ever so blissful.

HEY Hello, this chapter has been rewriten by Dualwing , I hope u enjoy it more