After the incident with my father, I didn't seem to know what was going on at all. My mind was suddenly so empty.
When I was barely able to move on my wobbly legs, Razor helped to my room. We sat together on the bed and were silent for a while.
— Are you… Are you all right? — Razor asked.
I shook my head.
— To put it mildly… I've been better.
The other prince sighed darkly.
Maybe I haven't quite figured out what happened yet, either. My world was shattered in the blink of an eye. I didn't know what to do now.
It was likely that I would be hysterical when my emotions kicked in. But now… nothing but emptiness and disgust. Disgust for the man I thought I knew well.
— At first I didn't believe it either…» The guy in front of lowered his gaze, «That's why I wanted to be sure. But unfortunately I didn't have ti to tell you before.
I didn't say anything. More than anything else I wondered why the Archduke had beco such a man. Was he always like that? And then why-not a single ntion of his real personality in the original novel?
This world amazed more and more every day I was here. Finally, I really couldn't understand: why did my father hate Duke Cassius so much? What had happened between them?
My head was literally pounding with everything that was going on. I couldn't have imagined that my perfectly peaceful life would turn out this way in the beginning. When would this nightmare finally be over…?
Razor realized that I wasn't ready to listen to all his explanations right now. He accepted that and decided to postpone talking about the Archduke until later. And in the anti…
Sothing was still troubling him.
— As a matter of fact,» he said quietly, «that's not all I wanted to tell you.
— What?» she looked up in surprise for the first ti in a long ti.
The other prince cleared his throat.
— It's… It's about Rachel Cassius.
I don't know what he's talking about. What does this have to do with Rachel? I think we've already made up our minds about our relationship.
But the guy decided to be honest with about it. He felt a little uncomfortable looking at his hands instead of at while we were talking.
— Ahem… Not too long ago, a woman started coming into my dreams.
— «A woman?» — I asked him again.
He nodded.
— I don't know who that is… but apparently she knows a lot more about what's going on in this world than I do.
I was surprised at this unexpected revelation on Razor's part. anwhile, he continued:
— Thanks to her, I've learned a lot of things I didn't know before.
— And… What is it?
Razor sighed heavily. He imagined how I would react to what I had heard. But he told the truth about Rachel-what he'd seen with his own eyes anyway. I knew in advance that there was not a word of a lie in his visions.
My eyes grew larger with each word he spoke. Razor told absolutely everything.
About how Rachel's feelings for had been genuine from the beginning. About how much she had done for during my ti at the palace. And that she had personally made linda my maid so I wouldn't feel alone here…
But the most shocking thing for was hearing about the curse of the Bloody Callia. The first ti I heard of it was from Razor's lips. It was the thing that made Rachel suffer for almost every day.
What is this curse? Why is it called like the title of the original novel?
The second prince told everything he had seen for himself. As it turned out — the mark wasn't put on three years ago because of a chipmunk bite at all… Rachel had made a contract with to pass on her powers and keep from dying during the freeze.
That's when it all started. I suddenly felt a rush of energy and didn't understand what it had to do with. In fact, the whole ti, Rachel's life had been voluntarily surrendering to . And I… I didn't know anything about it.
The day I broke up with her, Rachel almost died from the pain. Whereas I thought she'd forget all about it quickly…
Six months later, Rachel pretended to be a different person and saw again. But she didn't do it for fun. It was to… To try to beat the curse. The girl wanted to get through to .
Even as the years passed: at first, Rachel's motives for making queen were purely selfish. She just wanted to keep close to her. But then, when she found out that the Archduke was not who he claid to be, it was her only way to protect .
That golden cage, in fact, had been my main refuge all along.
When I found out, I was dumbfounded.
What she had done to recently I will never forget. And yet… Compared to the rest of what she'd done for , even my hatred had subsided.
— Wait…» I spoke slowly, «How is that possible? Didn't… Didn't Rachel kill in your vision? Why does she care about so much now?
That was the main reason I ran away in the first place. I didn't want to die at Rachel's hands. It seed to at the ti that her «love» for was just an attachnt that resulted from the fact that I had befriended her first. It was like a pet or a toy. And when she was taken away, the girl wanted to get back at in a radical way.
Because Rachel wasn't good at showing her emotions: it always seed to that she did. That she didn't love , but was just obsessed with as her property. Eventually Rachel even went so far as to kill so that no one else would own .
When I reminded Razor of all this, he looked even more guilty.
— That's… That's not exactly…
— What?» I asked him imdiately.
The guy sighed and stared at hard.
— Then I really thought it was true,» he said. «From the outside, it did look like Rachel killed you. But… That's because the vision was of you.
— What…» I choked out, «What are you talking about?
The other prince began to explain.
— When Rachel drew her sword, everything went black before your eyes. It was obvious you were dead. But… I got a slightly different perspective.
I held my breath as Razor took a long mont to gather his resolve for the last words.
— Anyway… Rachel never killed you. You just passed out from fear.
— What?!
— That day…» he hesitated, «That day Rachel killed and Phillip and my father's n. She knew from the beginning that you were forced to beco a mber of the Imperial family. And to free you, she slaughtered the entire palace.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
— After everything that happened… When you called her a «monster,» Rachel thought you hated her and would never forgive her. And so she willingly killed herself to leave you alone,» Razor slowly sumd up, «When she died, she left you freedom and a whole country.
When the boy said that, I froze in shock for a while.
— I'm sorry! — Razor apologized to again,» I wish I had known I was wrong…!
The guy continued to say sothing in the background, but I couldn't hear him.
The thought that Rachel had never really handed over hit like a bolt of lightning. All this ti… All this ti I had been so deeply mistaken!
Tears welled up in my eyes as I hated myself more than anything else in the world.
What a fool I had been…!
***
After I finally figured out the truth-I didn't even listen to the rest of Razor's story and ran after Rachel. The boy made an attempt to stop when he noticed sothing strange: the mark on my neck, which had always been with , was suddenly gone.
But I didn't pay attention, because I was in a hurry. I felt the need to talk to Rachel right now.
«Rachel really loves !»
When I realized this, I experienced an extraordinary thrill. All this ti she had been the only person-who had always been on my side. Rachel was even closer to than my own father. How could I have ignored that before?
Now… Now I really wanted to apologize to her properly.
When the guards passed by and told that the girl was in her chambers, I ran as fast as I could. All sorts of feelings overpowered at that mont.
When I opened the door without knocking, I was sure Rachel was really here. She was standing in the center of the room, buttoning her sleeve cuffs.
I moved closer and hugged her sharply from behind.
— I'm sorry! — I sobbed out loud. I'm sorry I was so stupid. But I really… I really didn't know anything!
Silence.
— Rachel, I love you. Let's start over. — I said, «Let's not fight anymore. And… I really want to marry you. Let's not wait a week and have the ceremony today!
I poured my feelings out to Rachel, hoping she would turn around and return the favor. After all the mistakes we had already made… I didn't want to make any more.
From that mont on, I really decided that I only wanted to be with her. These feelings that I realized so late, I couldn't stop myself.
And at first, everything seed to be going fine.
But as I continued to hug her and sob, the girl suddenly pulled my arms off of her. Then she slowly turned around, not believing: that soone had the nerve to do such a thing.
When Rachel saw , she was even angrier. And the next mont… What happened was sothing I hadn't expected.
She threw roughly to the floor, causing to hit the nightstand. But Rachel didn't pay any attention to that. She looked at like I was a piece of trash.
I was taken aback when I saw that look. Cold and full of contempt… The way Rachel usually looked at everyone but .
At least, that's how it had been until recently.
I had no idea what was going on.
Rachel gave a fierce, downward glance.
— How dare you touch , you pathetic brat,» she whispered.
— Wh-what…? — I was speechless in a second.
— I'm asking, who are you?
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