As Andrei left the operating room, he cast a sympathetic glance at Oleg. Despite their feud, he felt sorry for Gronin—he'd lost a ton of people recently, and he was probably grieving over it now. But he was wrong. Oleg didn't bother with such nonsense: the main thing was that he survived, and people... People would be different.
Vladov walked slowly down the street, his expression a mixture of rage and confusion. He knew something. If Andrei had been as good at reading faces as Gronin or Vladov himself, he would have easily guessed that the merchant had heard a similar story before. Perhaps more than once.
"What do you think?" he asked briefly when he and Andrey drew level.
"I'm shocked!" Andrey admitted honestly. "How can this be?"
Vladov gritted his teeth. He was barely holding back.
