Besztercze ostroma

by Kálmán Mikszáth

"Besztercze ostroma" by Kálmán Mikszáth is a novel first published in 1894. Count Pongrácz István lives as a medieval warlord in 19th-century Hungary, maintaining his own army and ruling by ancient customs. When his purchased "lady" Estella escapes with a former servant, the eccentric count prepares to besiege the city harboring them. Meanwhile, orphaned Apolka becomes entangled in family disputes and eventually arrives at Nedec Castle as a hostage, where her presence unexpectedly transforms the count's strange world and threatens his singular devotion to the past.