Wanda, Vol. 1 (of 3)

In the heat of a Russian summer, a carriage breaks down before a crumbling manor on the banks of the Volga. Prince Paul Ivanovitch Zabaroff, a Paris‑savvy aristocrat on his way to a wealthy bride in Crimea, is forced to confront the bleak village that surrounds the empty estate. The landscape stretches in endless green wheat, wind‑bent larches and a distant river that shimmers like a golden sea, while the manor itself lies shuttered and overgrown, a relic of a forgotten past.

Unaware that the deserted house actually belongs to him, Paul discovers a legacy of land and serfs that has lain dormant since the emancipation reforms. As he grapples with his sudden ownership, the remote setting awakens old memories and introduces the enigmatic Wanda, a woman whose presence promises to reshape his plans. Their meeting hints at a tangled web of duty, desire, and the stark realities of a country he barely understands.