1744. Russian empire. Being childless, but at the same time wanting to finally consolidate her «Peter's» line of the Romanov dynasty on the Russian throne, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna decides to marry her nephew Karl Peter Ulrich, brought from Prussia, called in Russia «Peter Fedorovich» to some noble, but with this is desirable for a not very rich and not very headstrong European «princess». The ubiquitous Vice-Chancellor Bestuzhev finds out about this. He summons Aleksey Korsak, a friend of Belov, who will keep Alexander company on a trip to Prussia, and instructs him to become a spy on Belov, threatening Korsak with a «link to the galleys» and «Siberia» in case of refusal - for his wife and little son for that that midshipman Aleksey Korsak married earlier than the naval charter of that time allowed. Belov and Korsak set off. Anastasia goes with them to avoid forced marriage in Belov's absence. The trinity arrives in Berlin.
