#kornich

Well, we are definitely not in Russia, but there's still a strong Slavic connection. Let's talk about each of these names.

Anna is a common name of Hebrew origin, meaning "grace", "favor", or "He (God) has favored me." It's odd that she has such low self esteem regarding her appearance and worthiness, with a name like that.

Kornich is a lot like Weizsäcker in that it has to do with grain crops.

Matyas is a variant of Matthew, basically meaning "gift of God." It can be a given name or, as used here, a surname.

Katalin is a Hungarian variant on Catherine, coming from the Greek word for "pure". It's often associated with St. Catherine of Alexandria.

Bethlenffi is an odd one, made up, loosely based on traditional naming conventions in Hungary. The "ffi" part denotes "son of" the name at the beginning.

So, when I tried Bethlen by itself:

Baron Bethlenffi is a bit of a mystery, but his surname must be intended to identify him as the "son of Bethlen", and to give him a long history within Hungarian nobility.

Then we have Transylvania, which is part of Romania now, but at the time it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This is at a time when the Habsburg dynasty is coming to an end. Their ruler, Franz Joseph I, was born at and died at Schönbrunn Palace, in Vienna. We've heard about Schönbrunn Palace before, since that's where Sebastian says -- all the way back in ch2 -- that he learned the Viennese waltz.

It makes sense that Modri would end up with a grain-farming family, since that was such a common occupation in the region. I find it a bit concerning that medical care was so scarce, making Anna's grandmother very lucky Dr. Matyas was making house calls. I'm also taking note of the high sui rate, making me curious how many reapers came from the region....

Young Lady Anna calls Modri over to show him an injured bird she has found.

Anna speaks of a Dr. Matyas coming to visit her grandmother, hoping he might also be able (and willing) to check out this poor bird during his visit. She says the doctor is kind, and she gets nervous when she realizes how soiled her outfit is; she wants to receive the doctor in something more presentable.

They do possibly have another servant, a woman named Katalin, though nothing else is mentioned of her here.

Modri thinks back to his life before he was welcomed to live with this family. He was orphaned after his father left for the military (never to return) and his mother died in an epidemic.

The Kornich family takes him in, even though they are not wealthy and lack any title. They do, however, still have a domain within Transylvania. In order to make sure the people on their land have food, they live thriftily and share what they have. Modri sees their charitable deeds as proof that man is made in God's image.

Modri makes the choice to serve this family, as a matter of religious devotion.

When Anna's father tells Modri about an arranged marriage between Anna and some baron, Modri gets defensive about it. I'm not sure if Modri is asking for clarification that the father means marriage... or if the father is still speaking and that question mark isn't the right punctuation.

Either way, Modri isn't happy with the arrangement, since Anna is so young while this Baron Bethlenffi is older than Anna's father. Mr. Kornich doesn't seem particularly happy about it, either, but he's accepted the proposal hoping their financial situation would improve, while Anna would gain a title and presumably have a higher quality of life. (Perhaps this baron knows their situation and is merely taking advantage of it.)

It sounds as if Modri has been released from his duty to serve Anna, at least once the marriage is finalized, and that would make sense.

Back to Anna and the injured bird. Modri shows it to Dr. Matyas and is told it is too late to save it, but they say a prayer... apparently more for Anna than for the bird? We see Anna burying it at the base of a tree.

Anna already knows about the marriage arrangements. First she says she's not attractive enough to be the baron's wife, then she says how the baron is not just accepting her as his wife but would also help support the people of that domain.

But then she fights her own acceptance and gratitude; she does not like this baron... and she seems to hold some sort of attraction or other attachment to this Dr. Matyas. She break down crying, and Modri comforts her.

Then we skip forward to the ball where Modri meets the demon.