What does a master artificer need after eliminating a threat to the future empire? Nothing but a chance to finally pursue his craft in peace.

I cheated death itself and returned to the glorious city on the Neva, the one we built together with the Czar. Three hundred years have passed, and everything has changed. I've awakened in the body of a young count with a scandalous reputation.

But I am still an artificer. I am home. And I can become even stronger now—just as soon as I deal with a few lingering problems . . . and put a couple of particularly irritating nobles in their place.