Chapter 49. Breaking ties

Seeing how scared I was, the second prince sighed heavily.

— It's a good thing it worked,» he said, «otherwise, you definitely wouldn't have taken my word for it.»

But I barely heard him.

— What… What was that? The words barely escaped my lips while I was still trying to come to my senses.

Razor Blanche looked at me grimly.

— Our future with you.

I flinched, being in absolute shock.

— B-but… It's impossible! Rachel would never…

— It has become, — the guy objected, — And as you can see, we are already rapidly moving towards such a fate.

I stumbled, catching my breath for a while. It is too difficult to believe that this dream could be real. But at the same time… The way my heart was pounding furiously, as if I had just visited this imperial palace myself, did not give me any peace.

Razor silently waited for the wave of horror that covered me to subside, and I would be able to reason soberly.

It didn't happen too soon, but I was able to calm my trembling voice and hands.

She looked at the second prince carefully.

— You… how do you know it's all true?

«Because I saw it too,» he shrugged, — and, moreover, even a little more.»

— What do you mean? I asked, «Can you see the future?»

The guy sighed again.

— To be honest, I didn't want to tell anyone about it. But since there's no choice anyway, and we're almost dead, we'll have to do it.

I didn't understand what he was getting at.

«It happened a couple of days before I entered the academy,» Razor said, «Before that, everything was going as usual, but then I suddenly started seeing strange visions. They gave me no rest day or night. At first, I thought I was going crazy. Until one day… I was not convinced that it was all true.»

He paused for a moment before continuing heavily:

«I've seen a lot… too much… But I didn't fully believe it. Until all my visions began to come true one by one. In my dream I saw that I would fall into the lake, and an unknown girl with emerald hair would save me. And the next day you really pulled me out,» the guy faltered, «I tripped and fell into the water, although I didn't plan it at all. That's when I realized it wasn't nonsense. Besides, I also dreamed that you would become my brother's wife. Although you didn't even know each other before. And after I saw how you became friends with him. I was finally convinced that all this is not just a coincidence.»

I listened to Razor's revelations while being in absolute shock.

To believe that he really sees the future was not so difficult, compared to what I saw in my dream. After all, isn't it a hit girl like me, talking about unexplained things in this world?

The guy said that he had acquired this strange ability a couple of days before leaving for the academy. But… and I myself was reborn in this world around the same time period! What does it mean? Could we be somehow connected by this circumstance?

«Are you telling the truth?» — I was taken aback, — Is it really possible?

— You may not believe me, but right now we are in extreme danger, — the guy said seriously, — In fact, you yourself saw it in a dream. But this is not fiction at all, but our real reality.

I was even more scared.

— B-but how… Why Rachel…

«Kill you?» Razor finished for me and sighed, «But not only that. Philip and I, by the way, are also dead.»

Realizing from the expression on my face that I obviously needed further explanations, he continued:

— You saw only the very scene of your death. But not what led to it. It so happened that I know a little more, because I am not limited only to this prediction.

«Do you know the reason Rachel would kill me…?» I asked excitedly.

— It's a long story, — the prince rubbed his temples with fatigue, — I can only tell you briefly.

I stared at him intently.

— In general terms… It will happen because of my brother's obsession,» he said heavily, «You and Rachel Cassius will be dating for three years, and Philip will try in vain to stop you. By the time we graduate from the academy, our father will have already died of illness and Philip will ascend to the throne. The first thing he will do is… Make you marry him.

— What?!

«After becoming king, your brother will threaten you with the safety of the Ashford family so that you voluntarily agree to become his wife,» Razor sighed, «In such a situation, you had no other choice. To save your father, you agreed to this. But at the same time, she knew perfectly well that if Rachel found out about this, she would launch a war against the imperial family. At that time, Cassius will already inherit the title of duchess, so it will be quite real. And to avoid bloodshed, you lied that you did it on your own.»

With every word the guy uttered, my pupils dilated more and more.

— …You thought that since Rachel loves you, she would approve of your choice and let you go. But it wasn't there,» Razor frowned, «After so many years of relationships, she perceived your sudden departure as a betrayal, and decided to take revenge. And in the end, the civil war took place anyway. Philip, of course, was the first one she killed. And I'm next, because I'm also a member of the imperial family…

The guy's story was more like the plot of a historical melodrama in the genre of tragedy, which could be watched on TV, but not in real life. I could hardly digest his words.

But it's unlikely that the second prince would have called me to such a place in the middle of the night to make a joke.

Therefore, in theory, I should have taken it as the truth.

— But wait… — after a short time of reflection, I said, — How is this possible if we…

— …If you have a contractual relationship? — the guy summed it up for me again, and I was once again amazed that he even knows this, — Well, only you thought so. Rachel's is different.

— W-what…

«Haven't you noticed yet?» — Razor arched an eyebrow, — That for her it's more than just a piece of paper?

I shuddered.

«You mean…»

«Rachel loves you,» the prince stated this fact, «or she will love you in the future. In what period this will happen, I'm not sure yet.

My hands dropped. Have I really been so blind all this time?

Every time Rachel behaved unusually, I attributed it to her volatile nature. For the reason that in my life I could not imagine that she could feel something for me. It seemed to me that from someone like Rachel, this simply could not be expected. But… who knew it would go this far.

She'll even kill me so that I don't belong to anyone else.

If I had known about such consequences in advance, I would never have agreed to this.

Razor noticed the change in my expression and breathed a sigh of relief.

«It's good that you understand everything,» he remarked, «it always seemed to me that you were too naive towards Cassius.»

— Up to this point, I was really naive. Once I thought that Rachel would be able to forget about everything…

The guy and I were silent, thinking about each other. Eventually, he decided to ask:

— Do you know what is most incomprehensible to me in this situation?

— Hmm?

«Why did you get involved with Rachel Cassius in the first place?» — he said doubtfully, — In my first dream that I saw, this was not even close. You didn't even cross paths with her during the training period. As I understand it, initially you were supposed to remain strangers at all. So why did everything suddenly change so suddenly?

I stumbled, while the prince stared at me intently, waiting for an answer. But what could I tell him…?

That this is a fictional universe of a novel, and I got here from the real world? And in order to prevent her tragic fate, she decided to go the other way on purpose? However, as it turned out, in the end it will turn out even worse for me…

At first glance, it looked like an implausible nonsense. But on the other hand, what the guy said today also went beyond the usual.

Since we were having an evening of revelations, could I confess my origin to him?

After all, now we seem to be in the same boat, and I decided not to hide it.

«Well… would you believe me if I said we were the heroes of a novel?»

— what?

— And it so happened that I'm not quite from here…

While the second prince was staring at me with his jaw hanging open, I was going to lay out all the cards in front of him. In the end, I have nothing to lose anyway.

I briefly told him the plot of the novel I was reading, without going into unnecessary details. He listened to all this with about the same expression that I had during his confession.

When I finished this fantastic story, Razor couldn't come to his senses for a long time. I expected that quite possibly he wouldn't believe me at all. After all, it really sounded pretty wild.

But rethinking my words, the prince suddenly smiled bitterly.

— So you're saying that in this book, your daughter and Philip will kill me?

— yes.

— And she's the main character?

— Sort of…

As I nodded back at him, it was clear from Razor that he was barely holding back hysterical laughter. But in the end, I restrained myself so as not to make noise.

In the end, he confessed:

— You know, it really looks like some kind of nonsense.

I sighed.

— It's not so crazy, compared to our future.

We fell silent again. After some thought, the guy suddenly said:

— If you look at it like that, then we two have the most unhappy fate in this world. As a result, we always die.

I was startled.

«So you believe me?»

«I'm not sure yet,» Razor shrugged, «but even if you told the truth, it won't change much. As I understand it, our world is already significantly different from the story in that book.»

I couldn't disagree more.

— Besides, I finally understood why my brother began to behave so strangely.

— What? — I was surprised.

— If you judge it like that, then we are all the heroes of the book, which means that our destinies are predetermined in advance, — the guy said thoughtfully, — We were able to change something only because we knew about it. But Philip… After all, it is exactly the same as it was originally created. In fact, meeting you was the only reason for his existence, because your main role is the birth of the main character. Without this goal, he will become just a nobody. And for that reason, when you started acting differently, he decided to do everything to get you.

Razor looked at it all from an angle I hadn't thought of before. The thought that Philippe Blanche could only be a puppet of the original plot made me rethink his recent actions. Perhaps this was the reason why he began to lose himself.

My heart felt heavy.

Now that this whole lump was piling on top of me, I had no idea what to do next. All my previous attempts to survive eventually came to nothing, and I was left with the same death flag. The only difference is that another person will end me this time.

Noticing my oppressive state, Razor said:

— Well, in my opinion, we have only two options left.

— what? — I raised my head, — Do we still have options?!

«Of course,» he said, «I admit our situation is not too optimistic, but there are still ideas.»

— And what…?!

«First,» the prince began, «We accept our fate and just wait for the moment when all this is over. Or the second… Let's get out of here. And soon.»

I stared at him in surprise.

— what? Where to?

— Away from this academy. Or better yet, to dump to another country altogether.

After listening to Razor's plan, at first it seemed completely insane to me. How could we just disappear right now?

«Is that really all we have left?» I was taken aback.

— Do you have any other suggestions? The second prince snorted, «As you can see, there is already a feud between Rachel and my brother. It happened even earlier than I thought. At this rate, we won't have to wait three years.

— B-but…!

— You shouldn't hesitate in such a situation,» Razor snapped, «Or do you want to bring it to a civil war, where besides us, a bunch of innocent people will die?»

I stumbled.

— But will it be all right if we just run away?

«It must be,» he said, «as I understand it, you and Cassius have only known each other for a couple of months?»

— Well, sort of…

«Then it's quite possible that she hasn't had time to get so attached to you yet,» the prince remarked, «If you disappear right now, a couple of months will pass and she will forget.» My brother is the same case. No one will wait so long for a person they know only recently.

Razor's words sounded reasonable, and it's even possible that this is really our only option. But still…

— Why should we run together? I decided to ask.

— As for me, this is more than logical, — the second prince shrugged his shoulders, — In this world we are the only ones who are able to somehow influence what is happening. It will be better if we act as a team.

— B-but… You're a prince…

— And what? — the guy grinned, — Without a coup, as you said, I won't see the throne anyway. Therefore, it is unlikely that I will lose a lot if I leave here.

«But what about His Majesty?» And my father? What are we going to tell them…?

— Well… I've been in poor health since childhood, so probably my father will let me go if I say I'm going to a neighboring empire for treatment,» he concluded, «and as for the Archduke… Just tell him you want to see the world.»

— To see the world?!

— What's the big deal? After all, not all children of aristocrats study at the academy. The fact that we will miss these three years will not affect our future too much.

To avoid our fate, Razor Blanche offered me not only to leave the academy and home, but also the country… It was a very risky move. After all, we were still, in fact, children.

I had no idea what could have happened to us during this dangerous journey, but on the other hand… did I have any alternative?

The unknown, in any case, sounded better than death. It would be better if we just wait out the most dangerous period, and then continue to live a normal life. Even if it lasts for three whole years.

But… one question still bothered me.

«What am I going to tell Rachel?» I asked, «I can't just leave her without warning.

— You're right, — the guy agreed gloomily, — Now is the right time to break all ties between you.

I swallowed.

«You have to make sure she never wants to see you again.»