[3] In November 1920, as the Russian Civil War draws to a close in the South, the Red Army presses into Crimea, causing widespread panic among those who had once thrived before the 1917 Revolution.

This massive upheaval sweeps away members of the former elite, who now find themselves forced to leave their homeland in a desperate exodus to escape the advancing Red Army.

To save her from this fate, Golubkov and Charnota embark on a desperate journey to Paris, hoping to find Serafima’s estranged husband, Korzukhin, who still holds the financial resources that could secure her future.

Back in Constantinople, Golubkov and Serafima, now deeply connected by love and shared hardship, decide to return to Soviet Russia, despite the dangers and uncertainties that await them there.

Charnota, embodying a mix of tragic defiance and dark humor, resumes his gambling and begins to call himself the "Flying Dutchman" or "Ahasuerus," casting himself as a wanderer doomed to roam forever.