Oleg is a high school student who, together with his friends, engages in petty theft. Olga is the daughter of a military man who controls her every move.
The author's monologue addressed to his little son Alyosha.
By overthrowing Napoleon, the Russian army changed the world. The time has come to change Russia itself. But the winners were divided. The authorities are slow, and a conspiracy is brewing among the young officers of the military elite. The opportunity to negotiate is decreasing every day. Their own become enemies. There comes a time of anger.
The legitimate heir to the throne in exile and the son of a murdered rebel — what do they have in common? Everyone has their own goal: one dreams of taking the throne and restoring his family to its former glory, the other - to take revenge on the murderer of his father, who serves the usurpers. Young men enter into a large-scale struggle for power and honor, in which those who seemed to be friends can betray, and former enemies can turn into allies. In order to achieve the goal, both the prince and the rebel's son will have to risk the most valuable and make the main choice in their lives — to go the preordained way or to oppose fate itself.