Saving the Romanov family #13

ГА РФ. Ф. 683. Оп. 1. Д. 125. № 433

En route to Arkhangelsk, July 1918

The convoy didn't cover much distance today. Empress Alexandra was tired so we had to stop to let her rest. The four of us scouted the surrounding area and harassed a few Red Army patrols that strayed too close. Upon returning to the camp, we reviewed a map of the area. Anastasia took an interest in our meeting and silently watched us from behind.

Nicholas and his daughters were smoking cigarettes. I felt compelled to let them know that it was bad for their health, something that wasn't known during the Great War. People still smoke in the future, but the lives of the Romanovs are important to me and I hope I can encourage them to quit, especially OTMA. If the Bolsheviks don't kill them, smoking will. It was another vital piece of medical knowledge for Dr Botkin.

Anastasia later went for a walk with her pet dog Jimmy. I accompanied her in case she ventured too far from the camp. While we were walking along a river bank, she bent over to look into the water. She lost her balance and nearly fell forward, but I caught her with my hands. That was when I felt jewels hidden in her blouse, and there was a lot of them. Anastasia was embarrassed. She said the jewels are her family's valuables. Her sisters also have them sewn into their underclothes and they're carrying them for their mother. Not that they don't trust us, they just didn't think of another way to carry them. I promised to keep her secret.

The grand duchesses took the phonograph from their luggage and used it to play music in the evening. Ioann Konstantinovich danced with his wife Helena to lift the refugees' spirits. The couple later asked me if it was safe for them to go to Petrograd to pick up their two children, who are being looked after by Ioann's mother Elizabeth Mavrikievna. I advised against it as the Petrograd Soviet will recognize Ioann. Come to think of it, in preventing the murders at Ekaterinburg and Alapaevsk, we may have unwittingly endangered the lives of other Romanov relatives still in Petrograd. The Bolsheviks could unleash their anger on them.

Went behind a vehicle to run diagnostics on my cyberware optics. The program was almost done scanning when Maria appeared. She expressed her gratitude for the rescue. It's been a while since armed men treated her family with kindness and respect. She feels like a grand duchess again. Before Maria left, she could've sworn she saw my eyes glowing orange. Lines of code would appear in my optics during diagnostics, making the iris glow. Next time I'll be sure to keep my eyes closed.