Failed fashion model student Ilona Shcherbatova was rescued from her offenders in the evening on the beach of a southern Russian city... by a rider on a huge black horse in full combat gear - a sword, a spear, a dagger, a shield, a cloak with a cross. The knight's hair shone with gold, his eyes shone with dignity and, from the point of view of the saved, naivety. Thus, into the world of the 21st century - the world of computers, miniskirts, televisions, refrigerators, cars, telephones and movies - the Knight of the Holy Cross Ned Hamilton Jr. appeared from the Middle Ages .Time displacement occurs more than once, not only in time, but also in space. The heroes of the novel Ned, Ilona and her unconventional neighbor Valera Lustritsky find themselves in Ancient Egypt, in the trenches of the Great Patriotic War, in England during the time of King Richard... and in the black world of the formidable Maldoror Castle, the inhabitants of which in time immemorial signed a Treaty with the Devil...