“I need someone who can manage my time,” he said, his tone both commanding and sincere. “Someone who can oversee special projects, who understands the balance between pragmatism and artistry. Someone who sees the beauty and the possibilities I sometimes overlook.”

His words struck a chord. Manage his time? It was a curious request, almost intimate in its vulnerability. Time, after all, is the one resource no empire can expand.

“I’m surrounded by cold, calculating minds,” he continued. “Wolves, if you will. They help me build my fortress, but they lack the essence of life – the taste of it. I need someone who can bring balance. Someone who can remind me of what it means to truly live.”

For a moment, I was silent, caught between the weight of his request and the gravity of my own ambitions. Konstantin was offering me a leap forward – a chance to step into a role far beyond anything I had imagined for myself. Yet, I couldn’t ignore the complexity of what lay ahead.

“As a lawyer, you’ll do more than you think possible,” he added, sensing my hesitation. “Tomorrow, we meet with representatives from English and Dutch foundations, along with my personal legal team. This project… it’s important to me. And I believe you are the person I’ve been searching for.”

THE LEAP INTO THE UNKNOWN

I didn’t say yes immediately. Konstantin’s words lingered in my mind, echoing long after our conversation had ended. There was an undeniable pull toward him, a magnetic force that both intrigued and unsettled me. He was a lion – majestic, commanding, and at times overwhelming. But I was no prey. If I stepped into his world, it would be as an equal, not a captive.

By the time I finally gave my answer, I had already made peace with the risks. “When do we start?” I asked, my voice steady despite the storm of emotions within me.

Konstantin’s gaze softened, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of something deeper – respect, perhaps even admiration. “We start now,” he said simply.

REFLECTIONS AND RESOLVE

That night, as I sat alone in my room, I opened my journal and began to write. The pen felt heavy in my hand, as though it carried the weight of all that was to come. I thought of my grandfather, rebuilding a shattered factory after the war. I thought of my father, whose dreams had been cut short too soon. And I thought of Konstantin, standing on the precipice of something extraordinary, inviting me to join him.

To dream is to risk, and to risk is to live, I wrote. Perhaps this is the legacy we leave behind – not in the empires we build, but in the courage we summon to chase the impossible.

The path ahead was uncertain, but it was mine to walk. With every step, I would honour the past while forging a future entirely my own.

I have long since refrained from public verse,

Yet lacking words, I do not suffer.

Each day unfolds as a tale, diverse,

A chronicle spun with dreams that buffer.

Prejudices sway my heart anew,

Their weight too great, their pull too stern.

“Too much”—a mantra I oft pursue,

Yet in its shadow, truths I discern.

With honour I abandon this creed,

To embrace a truth more liberating.

I err, yet time remains to heed,

That life is joy in dreams pulsating.

Once, as I sifted through journals past,

I unearthed words from days of sorrow.

“In a city, where river and sky are cast,

A flaxen-haired girl was born of tomorrow.

She cherished the world with radiant delight,

Her joy a beacon, her essence so pure.

Strangers would marvel at her eyes, deep and bright,

As though oceans dwelled there, vast and sure.