CH 11

He didn’t know what to say.

For some reason, the words struck a chord with Nikolai.

“You’re right, I am a noble. And let me tell you, nobles are nothing special. There are so many nobles who are arrogant, rude, and have completely corrupted characters, flaunting all sorts of pretenses.”

Katya said, thinking of Ivan and Gregory and all the other suitors.

Of course, she was one herself.

“You’re much better, no, it’s rude of me to compare you.”

“If I were a nobleman, would you marry me?”

“Of course, I would have married you.”

Unable to look past what was to come in the near future, she had just achieved the number two spot on her list of most regrettable statements.

Satisfied with her answer, Nikolai gave her an odd smile.

“Judging by the way you said assassins or something earlier, when you were beating the crap out of those guys my suitor sent, I’m guessing your life hasn’t been easy either.”

“Debtors.”

He hastily made up an excuse.

Since succeeding his father as Grand Duke of Hersen, Nikolai had received countless assassination threats.

Never knowing who would take his life at any moment, he had developed a habit of sleeping lightly, waking at the slightest rustle in his sleep.

She suffered from insomnia every day, and when she finally fell asleep, she always had nightmares.

Katya quickly bought the excuse that he was in debt.

If he was in debt, it made sense why he was doing something as dangerous as mercenary work.

It broke her heart that he was being forced into battle for money.

“Money is good, but you should take care of yourself. Mercenaries make a lot of money, but it’s all for the risk.”

At that, Nikolai turned around and locked eyes with Katya.

“Are you worried about me now?”

“I am, too, but your mother would be devastated if you came home wounded here and there.”

Katya, who was kneeling with her legs propped up, said in a whisper.

Nikolai thought of his late mother.

She was right, she must be in heaven, breaking her heart over her son, who doubted everyone and couldn’t sleep at night.

“My mother died the year I turned ten.”

Katya confesses.

“She was so weak that her doctor advised against giving birth, and my father said she should stay childless because the dukedom could be passed on to a relative, but she insisted and gave birth to me and my little sister. The time I had with her wasn’t long, but it’s a precious memory.”

“…….”

“I’m the one my mother gave birth to after she spent ten months carrying that weak body in her belly and risking her life, so I don’t put up with people treating me badly because I know she’d be upset if she knew I was going somewhere and being treated like that.”

“…….”

“I heard somewhere that every mother gives birth to a child at their own risk, so we are all precious, regardless of our status.”

Katya slowly swept back the man’s hair as he watched her.

It was something she’d wanted to say to him since she’d been thinking about the many scars on his body.

She doesn’t know what kind of life he’s been living, but she hopes his future is a little smoother than before.

“You were born so beautifully, but if you just live without valuing your life, would that be okay?”

“I don’t think so.”

As soon as the desired answer came out of his mouth, Katya patted Nikolai on the head as if he’d done a good job.

It was a bit like giving a well-behaved puppy a pat on the head as praise, but he closed his eyes for a moment, loving her touch.

It wasn’t long before they were both out of the bath.

Katya had carelessly jumped out of the tub, causing the water inside to overflow and soak the floor.

The floor would have been fine if it hadn’t been soaked, but Nikolai’s top had somehow fallen out of his pajamas and was lying on the chair.

“No!”

Katya rushed to pick it up, but it was already soaked.

“Oh no, I’m sorry. I’ll have to ask the inn for a new nightgown. Put the cost of the pyjamas down as a debt you can charge me.”

“That…….”

Nikolai scratched his cheek, looking troubled.

“Probably not.”

“Why?”

“Because when I was paying the innkeeper for the nightgown earlier, he told me to be careful what I wore, because it was the last one left for the night, and it was full.”

“What?”

A towel was draped over Katya’s head as she shuffled her feet.

“Don’t worry, I’ll just have to sleep in my trousers. You’re going to catch a cold, so get cleaned up and changed.”

As Nikolai said this, he pulled off his wet trousers, exposing his hip bone, and Katya turned around coldly.

Having seen almost every inch of vulnerability, Nikolai couldn’t help but smirk at her sudden pretentiousness, even though he didn’t realize it himself.

He was inwardly annoyed that she was treating him like a puppy, not a man, and bathing him so casually.

His mischievous side kicked in and he quickly dried himself off, changed into his pyjama bottoms, and sprawled out on the bed.

Unaware, Katya changed into her pyjamas and crawled into bed.

“Come on.”

Nikolai, lying on his side with one hand cupping his chin, patted the seat beside him with the other.

Katya blinked in surprise at his cheerful smile.

“What are you doing?”

“If the rain doesn’t stop, let’s spend the night together and leave tomorrow. It doesn’t seem like it will let up easily. If we want to leave early tomorrow, we should get some rest, shouldn’t we?”

“I’ll sleep on the floor, you can make yourself comfortable there.”

Katya said, slipping away.

They’d shared a room and even a bath, but to her, a bed was strictly private.

Even if she didn’t know anything about it, she knew what it meant for a man and a woman to share a bed.

Besides, the inn bed was very cramped compared to her bed at the ducal residence, and Nikolai was of extraordinary size.

Even lying upright, their shoulders had to touch to avoid falling out of bed.

“How is a noble lady supposed to sleep on the hard floor, with only one quilt?”

“Soldiers sleep on the ground during field operations, so why would it be impossible for me?”

“Whatever you say, then.”

When he left without another word, Katya breathed a sigh of relief and laid a rough pile of clothes on the floor.

She was just about to lay down when Nikolai, who was on the bed, suddenly spoke up.

“I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

“The wooden floors of an old building like this are prone to rats.”

“Rats?”

Katya swallowed hard at the mention of rats.

She had never seen a rat in her life.

She’d heard that the the servants’ quarters were notoriously infested with rats, but thanks to their diligent extermination, they never made it into Katya’s family’s quarters.

When Ladymaid Alyona had difficulty putting the Smirnov sisters, who were not easy sleepers, to bed, she used rats as a trick.

At night, she would frighten them by telling them that a rat the size of an adult woman’s forearm roamed the corridors.

Bianca would freak out, but Katya would shrug it off, saying she wasn’t afraid of rats because she’d been hunting with her father since she was a little girl.

But that was only in the corridors. Invading an enclosed space, even a bedroom, was another story.

“Oh, it’s okay, I’m sure they have mousetraps at the inn.”

“There must be bugs crawling through the cracks in the planks, too. Is that okay?”

“……what?”

Katya, who could tolerate rats, looked up at Nikolai with a pensive expression at the mention of bugs.

“Bugs, what kind of bugs?”

“Well, centipedes, I guess, and cockroach…….”

Before he could finish his sentence, Katya turned into a frog and hopped onto the bed, as if by some sort of teleportation spell.

She hated all bugs, but bugs that started with a ‘cock’ were her worst nightmare.

Once, on holiday in a log cabin, she had been confronted by one and had screamed and shot at the floor.

The only thing more frightening than the shattered floor was the fact that there was no sign of the creature’s body anywhere.

That night, Katya stayed awake.

“I thought you slept on the floor.”

Nikolai stifled a laugh.

“I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to bunk with you, since this is how it happened.”

“As you wish.”

Katya eventually lay down next to him, side by side.

When their shoulders touched, Nikolai rolled over to the other side, away from her, to create more space.

Katya noticed his consideration.

“Sweet dreams, Nikki.”

She whispered, looking at his back.

“You too.”

Nikolai sat up briefly and blew out the candle on the nightstand, then laid his head back on the pillow.

Strangely, his eyelids closed of their own accord, unlike his usual insomnia-ridden state.

He soon fell into a deep sleep.

The wheezing breathing of the two sleeping people drifted through the room.

After a long time of wandering in dreamland, Katya woke up thirsty.

Careful not to wake Nikolai, she slipped under the bed, lit the lamp, and left the room, her footsteps muffled.

Despite her carefulness, the worn floor creaked with each step.

Katya went downstairs to the kitchen, where she slurped tea from the kettle into a cup.

Slurp.

It was hard to hear over the pounding rain, but it was definitely footsteps.

And somehow, it felt wrong.