The news that Leriana Ashford and Rachel Cassius are now dating quickly spread throughout the academy.

It became a sensation even more than the disclosure of the identities of the princes. Few people stayed on the sidelines when this topic came to the fore among all the discussions.

No one understood how such a noble person as the daughter of the Archduke of Ashford, who until recently enjoyed universal respect among students, got involved with someone like her.

And even more so, I even started dating her…

It was akin to an anomaly that occurred once in a thousand years.

Because of this, certain rumors began to circulate among the students that Rachel possessed dark magic and forcibly subdued the girl's will. That's just if they found out that everything was quite the opposite, they would be very surprised.

After all, it was I, Leriana Ashford, who proposed this fake relationship.

There were three main points in the contract I had drawn up, which Rachel willy-nilly agreed to when signing the paper.

First, in order to preserve the illusion of a harmonious relationship, we had to go out together at least twice a week. I decided that for a start it would be shared dinners in the dining room, which would perfectly show our affection for each other.

Second, and no less important, Rachel had to refuse any insults and humiliations in my direction. Otherwise, no one will believe that the girl really treats me differently.

And finally, the third. Premature breach of contract was punishable by punishment by another participant. In other words, if Rachel wanted to leave at one point, I had every right to demand damages. And what exactly was behind this refund is a completely different story…

In general, everything was clear.

I didn't know by what miracle I managed to achieve this, but Rachel really made a concession to me. After rereading the document I had written by hand and stopping at each point with her eyes, a dissatisfied sigh involuntarily escaped from her mouth. But then, she still agreed with all of the above.

Having no idea if this contract could be considered official, I put the Ashford family seal on it just in case. Therefore, starting from this moment, we were inextricably bound by these conditions.

Now Rachel was my girlfriend, and everyone knew about it. Although until now this thought hardly fit into my head, I thought that over time I would begin to take it for granted.

Most likely, rumors about our relationship will reach my father in the near future. I couldn't imagine his possible reaction, but I hoped he would be able to take it right. After all, I couldn't even tell him that this relationship was just a deal. Therefore, I could only hope for the whole parental love.

I had to endure only three years to finally find the long-awaited freedom. And I hoped that the result would be worth the effort I spent.

After all, dating Rachel turned out to be really difficult. And I realized this from the very first days of our contractual relationship.

— Come on, say a-a-a!

«If you keep doing that, I'm going to stick this fork in your eye.»

…Because Rachel managed to break the second rule of our contract on the second day.

We had lunch in the common dining room, and since I barely managed to drag the girl here, she also sat with a sullen expression on her face. All the students were looking at us, and to fix the situation, I decided to use a special trick.

I've often seen this in movies and books: couples fed each other from the same device, and it seemed cute. Thinking of repeating such a scene, I stuck a fork in the food and tried to feed Rachel like that.

But she began to resist.

— Open your mouth! — I repeated, — Don't you see that everyone is looking at us.

— I won't, — Rachel turned away, — Who do you take me for?

I exhaled noisily.

— We signed a contract! Why don't you do it?

— So I came here. What else do you need.

— What's the point if you're sitting with such a scary face! — I was indignant, — Everyone thinks that I'm forcing you.

— Well…

Rachel didn't finish, but apparently deep down she agreed with it.

I had to keep my composure with an effort of will not to start quarreling with her right now. Of course, I was too naive when I thought that everything would be so easy.

Signing the contract was only half the job, because it was much more difficult to establish a normal relationship with Rachel.

Despite the fact that she agreed to become my fake girlfriend, her behavior remained at the same level. It's good that she at least came here today. Obviously, I'm going to spend a lot of time before I can make our relationship look like a real one.

The students of the academy looked at us as an outlandish performance. However, none of them would dare to approach or say anything, so all this remained within the scope of observation from afar. It was the least I was worried about. After all, these people could not influence my future in any way.

Of all the crowd of aristocratic children sitting silently at the tables, my gaze caught only one of them. Razor Blanche. I wonder how long he's been here looking at this?

Our eyes met. I frowned and turned away. My resentment that he didn't tell me anything hasn't gone away yet.

Naively believing that I had my first friend at the academy, I received such an unexpected stab in the back. Now, I didn't want to have anything to do with this guy.

Since Rachel refused to play along with me in any way, I had to put up with it and finish the meal in silence.

Rachel hated being in public places, so she left almost as soon as she finished eating. I didn't hold her back, and decided to meet her later in the library.

Five minutes before the end of the lunch break, I left the dining room and thought about taking a walk down the corridor. There were too many thoughts in my head, which flowed in a stream and did not allow me to concentrate on what was happening.

My life was getting more complicated every day. I couldn't even imagine what might happen tomorrow. And who said that secondary heroes have fewer difficulties?

Sighing, I turned in the opposite direction, intending to return to the office where the class was taking place. But by sudden or no accident, I ran into Razor, who was standing behind me.

There was no surprise on my face.

— Good afternoon, Your Highness, — I greeted him primly, — Unfortunately, I don't have time to talk to you. I will go.

I was going to pass by, but the guy called me:

— Leriana.

I had to freeze. Ignoring the second heir to the throne was clearly not the best idea in my position.

«Did you want something, Your Highness?»

«You can address me as you used to, » he suggested, «just Blake.»

I grinned.

— Come on, » I said sarcastically, «how can I address the Empire moon so ignorantly?»

I specifically named Razor by the nickname he received within the walls of the palace. But his face didn't move a single muscle. Unlike Philip, he reacted much more calmly.

«Are you still mad at me?»

Angry? That was putting it mildly. The person I saved and thought was such an innocent and sweet guy turned out to be the one I should have avoided the most. After all, he also told me absolutely nothing about his origin. But he knew perfectly well who I was.

My dislike for Razor grew proportionally and against the background of the fact that he was the person who should kill me in the future. It is Razor who will stage a coup and plunge this empire into chaos. So how could I act like nothing had happened?

«I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore, » I said coldly, «and you can stop trying. I don't like you. And… I originally planned to refuse your offer.

Already at my second attempt to leave, Razor threw the phrase after me:

«I already know you're dating Rachel Cassius. Therefore, you don't have to worry. I'm not going to impose on you.

I frowned.

«Then what do you want from me?»

«I wanted to warn you, » Razor Blanche said, «be careful.»… With the daughter of Duke Cassius.

I couldn't even hide the irritation that appeared on my face. Is he really going to start telling me about the danger of the curse, like Philip? Do they have such a fraternal feature or something?

— If you're going to tell me about these rumors…

— I know that there is no curse, — the guy reacted quite calmly.

— What…?

— Even if it were, it would not be nearly as dangerous as its owner. You need to be afraid of a person, not a fictional legend.

I stared at the second prince in shock. In this world, he was the first person who openly said something like that to me. Someone besides me who believed Rachel wasn't a demon.

— What… What do you mean?

«I said what I had to say, » Razor replied simply, «and the choice is yours.»

— …

— If you ever want to know the truth, come to me.

With that, he just turned around and walked away.

I remained standing in a stupor, staring with shocked eyes at his retreating back.

For the first time I wondered: did I really know the Razor Blanche who was in the original novel?