Moscow is excited about the upcoming event — the betrothal of the Emperor and Catherine. Ekaterina and Millesimo try to escape from Russia, but their conspiracy is exposed. Millesimo is brutally beaten, the fugitive is put under lock and key. Seeing Millesimo at the engagement, the shocked Catherine drops the ring, and everyone sees this as a bad sign. And that's right: exhausted by endless hunting, drunkenness and nervous shocks, Peter II falls ill. Dolgoruky keep his illness a secret.