Summer of 1914, the eve of the First World War. All participants in the coming massacre are confident that the war will be swift and victorious, and exclusively in their favor, and therefore joyfully dig a hole in which millions of dead will rest. But at the same time, without realizing it, they are building a scaffold for themselves. The warnings of individual smart people are drowned in the schizophrenic hubbub of politicians and the furious roar of the crowds. Now it’s just a matter of little things: shots will be fired in Sarajevo, and a bloody quadrille will begin in Europe. And at this critical moment, a force external to this world intervenes in local history. The autocratic Grand Duke of Artansky, a lover of swift crushing blows and final victories, throws his sword into the scales of world politics - he is the one who is answerable for his actions exclusively before the Almighty. A little time will pass and the world will understand that nothing will ever be the same as it was before...