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king back to that
time when I had died.
Chapter 2: Remembrance
I was born in southern Russia during the reign of Ivan the
Terrible. My father was a minor noble in the court of the Tzar and my
mother was a village girl that happened to catch his attention one
afternoon. After my birth, my mother was set up as a maid in my father's
estate. We were lucky, many of his other bastards had been
systematically killed by my father's jealous wife, who was herself
barren.
Life at home was exciting to say the least. When I was five, my
father strangled his wife and buried Naomi's in the estate orchards. Soon
after, he wed my mother and declared me his legal heir. My education
started when I was twelve. My father imported a French tutor for me. I
was an excellent student, taking to reading and writing like a fish to
water. At the time I actually thought about joining a monastery to
pursue a life of scholarship. My father learned of my interest and
promptly put a stop to it. He was a man of action and no son of his was
going to be a book worm. Knowledge was fine, but he preferred the
physical studies. He took it upo
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