The farewell to the estate of the Duchy of Cassius took place the next morning.

The Duke himself came out to see us off, and I took advantage of this to thank him once again for his hospitality. Rachel just silently got into the carriage and did not even bother to say goodbye to her father before a long separation of six months.

The man only smiled bitterly at this, because he did not expect anything else. Instead, he turned to me:

— Take care of yourself.

I nodded.

"You too, Father.

After exchanging a mutual handshake, I also got into the salon and we set off. From the window I saw the snow-covered terrain and the black castle, which, most likely, I will not see for a long time. Or maybe never again.

It was a little sad to realize this, but at the same time I was glad that I was able to meet Rachel's father. This helped me dispel many improbable rumors and look at this family with different eyes. In the end, my short days in this place turned out to be quite pleasant.

This time, perhaps because we were traveling alone now, Rachel turned out to be more talkative and even kept up a conversation with me that I usually had alone.

I liked the changes in her character, even though they seemed a little strange. I couldn't believe that I could achieve such results in just six months. From Rachel's enemy, whom she didn't even take seriously, I became her friend. At least, I believed that this was the case now.

At this rate, it may not take me several years to re-educate her. Is it possible to say that I am already halfway to the successful completion of my mission?

This thought warmed my soul, and I was once again convinced that I had chosen the right path. After all, the saying learned from childhood "patience and work will grind everything" has proved its effectiveness in practice.

Despite the fact that I was returning to the academy again, where I didn't like spending time too much, my soul was filled with enthusiasm. I was completely ready for my new achievements.

Seeing how my eyes shone with ideas known only to me, Rachel sighed. Apparently, this was another time when she thought I was acting weird. However, I'm not used to it.

In general, most students came and went from vacation by train, and only Rachel and I were an exception. Because by definition the vehicle was supposed to be packed with people, which the girl hated, especially in such a small space. Based on this, we had to arrive a couple of days later than the others, since the carriage could not compete in speed with the train. Duke Cassius notified the academy's management about this delay in advance.

Perhaps it was even lucky, because I wasn't in too much of a hurry to get back to boring school days.

During this time, I either slept, or talked to Rachel, or looked out the window. Not noticing how the winter outside the window soon changed to summer, I slept for almost a day.

Eventually, Rachel herself woke me up when we drove up to the academy gates.

- what? Already? I asked sleepily, looking up from the uncomfortable position on the seat. While I was dozing like this, all my limbs were terribly numb.

- yes. Get up.

Having got off with such a terse answer, the girl waited until I came to my senses, and we got out of the carriage together. The servants of the Cassius family who accompanied us were the first to go to the building, dragging their luggage behind them.

I yawned again as the guards parted to let us through the gate. Being here again, it felt like we weren't going anywhere at all.

First of all, when I was going to put my things in the dorm, I wanted to head in that direction, but the strange situation around me made me stop.

Rachel and I froze in a stupor in front of the main building, not quite understanding what was happening now.

A huge crowd of students gathered on the street at the entrance, surrounding us from all sides. People occupied almost the entire space, which gave the impression that all the students were here.

The teenagers looked at each other in bewilderment and did not even immediately notice our arrival.

"Why did His Highness call us here?"

— Maybe this is some kind of prank?

— Is it really normal that we miss classes?

Obviously, all these people knew about what was happening as much as we did. No one understood anything.

Until the doors opened and Philippe Blanche came out to meet the audience. The guy saw us in all this crowd and smiled.

His classmates surrounded him, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Your Highness, why did you order us to go outside?"

A flurry of questions came at him, but the prince ignored it all. Instead, he grinned expectantly:

— I called you today to show an interesting show.

The general misunderstandings among the crowd only intensified, since no one could understand what the Crown Prince meant. It was only a couple of minutes later that they noticed Rachel and me, and many of them seriously flinched.

— Everyone back off!

After Philip's order, the people around hastily parted, eventually leaving us alone with the guy. It was like we had become participants in some kind of performance, which was watched by the stands of the audience.

I became nervous, while the Crown Prince continued to approach with a smile until he was exactly opposite us. The dead silence around only further intensified the disturbing atmosphere.

"Your Highness! — I breathed out indignantly, — What are you doing now?!

"Saving you, of course.

— What...?

Instead of answering, the guy pulled out a piece of paper from his breast pocket, which he defiantly unfolded in front of us. I recognized him immediately and was horrified.

During this process, Philippe Blanche did not entirely take his eyes off Rachel, who was looking at him with a cold expression.

"I already know everything,— he said with a triumphant grin, "so you don't have to pretend anymore.

— Really? — a bad smile appeared on the girl's face, — And what does the imperial worm know?

Despite the direct insult to him, Philip did not get angry at all. On the contrary, I began to look forward to its failure with even greater impatience.

And while these two were throwing invisible lightning bolts between themselves, I couldn't help but reproach myself for being frivolous. The last thing I expected upon my return was that our contract would fall into Philip's hands.

Initially, when I gave it to Rachel for safekeeping, I hoped that this way it would be safer, because even the servants did not dare to touch her things. But I could not imagine that besides the fact that Rachel would leave him at the academy, he would also catch the eye of the Crown Prince.

That's an unfortunate coincidence.

So much so that I now didn't know how to get out of it. I could only hope for Rachel: maybe she had some kind of plan?

— Rachel Cassius, you can't deny it anymore! "Or did you really think that blackmailing the Archduke's daughter would never reveal the truth?"

Rachel looked at him like he was an idiot. To be honest, I didn't quite understand what he meant either.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

— Don't deny it! The Crown Prince objected, "I'm giving you one last chance. Let Leriana go, or else… The whole academy will know about this contract.

I felt a chill when I finally realized what all this crowd was gathered for. Did Philip really plan this in advance?

— I don't know what you mean.

Rachel kept her cool, despite the fact that Philip tried his best to pin her to the wall. Not giving him the "right" reaction in the form of fear or excitement, she only provoked him more.

— Cassius, I want to say that you are really pathetic, — the guy laughed, — Even now you persistently pretend that it is not so. But in fact, I forced Leriana to sign this piece of paper, so that she wouldn't run away from you. How long do you think this will work?

Rachel arched an eyebrow, not taking his words seriously.

While I finally realized what Philip was driving at, and I was surprised that he took it that way.

— Your Highness, but it wasn't at all...!

I tried to say something, but the guy just looked at me angrily.

— Leriana, don't try to justify her. Even a fool would put two and two together. Therefore, I myself know perfectly well what is going on.

— But...!

— Let me deal with her first, — Philip smiled, — You'll see, everything will end soon, and she won't be able to hold you anymore.

Rachel also held my hand, which made it clear that they both didn't want me to interfere. As a result, I just had to silently watch what was happening.

"So you think our relationship isn't real?" Rachel asked reasonably.

— Of course! The Crown Prince chuckled, "And if you don't make the right decision, soon the academy and then the whole empire will know about it. Do you think they will forgive you for this lie?

The girl chuckled.

— You still don't understand anything.

— What?

— Do you want to be humiliated for the third time? Or maybe I should beat you up in front of all these people?

Philip was taken aback.

— How dare you...!

— Do you need proof that this is not a lie? Rachel smiled icily, "Well, I can arrange that.

In the next moment, under the shocked exclamations of the crowd, the girl did something that no one expected.

Rachel turned around and kissed me.