CH 22

Nikolai caught Ivan’s slumped form as he slid down the window.

“If you fall from here in this position, your skull will crack open first, and there’s going to be blood everywhere and that dirt floor is going to be red.”

“…….”

“If your head doesn’t crack or your neck doesn’t break, you won’t die right away, so if you’re unlucky, you’ll live like that for a few more days, and people will try to save you at will, and you’ll slowly die in such pain that you might as well be dead. Isn’t that terrible?”

The raw description sent a shiver of terror down Ivan’s spine.

Just as Nikolai was about to release his grip, as if he might actually kill him this time, Katya, who had been standing in the hallway, came running up.

“Grand Duke, you have to let go!”

At the sound of her trembling voice, Nikolai finally came to his senses, picked Ivan up, and threw him to the floor.

Then she walked over to him, still shaking, and spoke in a harsh voice.

“You touch Katya one more time, it won’t end with your stupid head being smashed in.”

“…….”

“If you hear me, fuck off.”

It was a warning of sorts.

Nikolai was barely controlling his anger in front of Katya right now.

Ivan grabbed his throat that was strangled by Nikolai, growling as he lifted him up and tried to regain his balance.

Watching him struggling to stand upright, Katya reached out her hand towards him.

“Are you hurt?”

Overwhelmed by shame, Ivan brushed off her hand and stood up on his own. As he passed by Katya, he spoke softly, just loud enough for her to hear.

“See you later, Katya.”

Feeling sorry for him, she had shown a rare moment of kindness, only for him to take out his frustrations on her, the one person who didn’t deserve it.

Katya opened her lips to say something when she realized that he was being a little bitch to the end.

“I guess I didn’t tell you.”

Nikolai was quicker than her.

“I have better ears than you think.”

Ivan, realizing he was talking to him, stomped off.

With the interruption gone, it was finally just the two of them again.

No, three, including Laika.

Laika rubbed her tail against Nikolai’s leg like a cat, thanking him for protecting her master.

Nikolai suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

His mind flashed back to the scene earlier, when Katya had asked Ivan if he was all right.

“Grand Duke, are you all right?”

Katya asked, shaking her head as he stood stiffly.

When he didn’t answer or move, she walked over to Nikolai and took his hand in hers.

Because of the size difference between their hands, she couldn’t fit it in both of hers.

Katya breathed on his palm, blew on it, and rubbed it between her thumbs.

“Hey, hold on!”

“What?”

“You got dirty. From now on, even if Ivan goes wild, don’t touch him directly.”

“Why?”

“Why would the grand duke dirty his hands just to kill a fly?”

Her words melted the bitterness inside the man.

He should have said so from the beginning.

Katya was diligently wiping his hands with her tiny hands, as if she were polishing the surface of precious porcelain.

His palm was the size of a pot lid, but her fingers were curiously slender and straight.

He had been holding a sword since he was a child, so his hands were bloodied and calloused in places, but other than that, they were perfect.

‘I thought only your face was pretty, but your hands are also beautiful.’

Katya thought to herself.

Then she felt a gaze on her and looked up to meet Nikolai’s eyes.

“I was afraid, actually, that the Grand Duke would kill him.”

“Are you afraid of me?”

“No, I’m afraid that he’s going to tarnish your reputation.”

“He doesn’t have a great reputation already.”

“He can’t add to it.”

“I’m sorry, honestly. It’s not me but that bastard—”

It was not the right thing to say as a Grand Duke of a country, considering the Petrozky family was a contributor to the founding of the country.

“No, I thought you were taking his side.”

Nikolai quickly corrected.

“Of course I’m siding with the Grand Duke when the two of you are fighting!”

An impetuous Katya blurted out.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Nikolai’s clown face shot up into the sky.

As she watched the corners of his mouth turn up in real time, she realized what she had said.

“Well, that doesn’t mean I’m marrying the Grand Duke!”

“One moment you’re pushing, the next you’re pulling, one moment you’re giving me leeway, the next you’re relentless. You’re always so unexpected.”

“Doesn’t that annoy you?”

“No. On the contrary, I like it.”

“You seem to be constantly trying to find reasons to like me. Why don’t you find reasons not to like me as well?”

Katya made a timid attempt at defiance.

But Nikolai wasn’t the kind of person who would let that work.

“I tried that, but I can’t think of a single reason not to like you.”

“No way. I’m full of flaws, you weren’t looking too hard, were you?”

“No matter what I come up with, they all end up being reasons that I like you.”

A gaze sweeter than a sugary confection traveled from his eyes to their clasped hands.

Nikolai glanced down at her hand.

Katya, realizing she was still holding his hand, coughed and released it.

“Whenever the Grand Duke looks at me like that, I’m a little afraid.”

“Of what?”

“That no matter how I behave now, you’re always so nice to me. I wonder what the Grand Duke will be like when that invincibility cloak comes off.”

Like Nikolai, Katya had never been in love before.

Never before had she received such a sweet and poignant declaration of love from someone, or such affectionate glances.

But who doesn’t love to be loved?

It all felt so foreign and yet so exciting.

And scary.

Katya had never liked anyone before.

She had no idea how long love could last.

As if understanding her feelings, Nikolai spoke up.

“If you allow me to marry you, and I change before the promised year has passed, you may send me poisoned tea.”

“There is no such thing. It’s already sad enough for the Grand Duke to have unrequited love alone, and your feelings can change. If, by some chance, I end up in a contractual marriage with the Grand Duke, you’re free to cheat on me.”

“I would never do anything like my father.”

If there was one thing he would never do, even with a knife to his throat, it would be to cheat on his spouse.

The people most affected by his father’s affair were his mother and himself.

Nikolai was always afraid that he would one day become like the man he hated so much.

“So if I do such a thing, I deserve to die at your hands.”

“Death is the price of infidelity, and if I were to be distracted, I would be dead too.”

“How could I kill you, the one I love?”

Nikolai’s serious gaze suddenly turned mischievous.

“I would kill the man who dared to make your eyes turn away.”

“Duke, just because you say it with a pretty smile doesn’t make it all pretty words.”

“Whatever it takes, as long as I appear beautiful in your eyes, isn’t that enough?”

“At times, you asked me to control or tame you, but now that I’m by your side, it seems like I have even less control over you, doesn’t it?”

Suddenly, Nikolai’s eyebrows arched and he looked like an obedient puppy.

“No, it worked out fine, didn’t it? Just earlier, you intervened and avoided a killing.”

“I really can’t control you.”

“So, quickly take me away and raise me well.”

Nikolai smiled like a puppy waiting for a new owner.

Laika, the senior dog next to him, barked happily.

“The senior isn’t territorial, and it’s a perfect environment.”

Katya suddenly realized.

She had been chosen as a possession by this beast-like man.

She felt like she had an extra large dog.

As she sweated profusely, he reached out his hand to her again.

“Can’t you hold my hand a little longer?”

“I held it earlier, that must have been enough. What more do you want!”

“It seems like there’s still some dirt left. Should we clean it more?”

“Isn’t it enough already?”

Katya stepped back in annoyance and locked eyes with the Duchy maids coming their way from the opposite direction.

Nikolai followed her gaze and turned around, and Katya quickly ran to block his path.

More precisely, she threw her arms around him, hiding his abs, which were clearly visible beneath the hem of his torn robe.

“Your Highness and the Princess.”

The maids, noticing the two of them, bent their legs in a slight bow.

“Yes, hahaha……. Welcome!”

Katya smiled awkwardly and waved.

Only after the maids had passed by did Nikolai let out the laugh he’d been holding back.

“You don’t want other women to see that you’re already in a man’s body?”

“No? What sin is it that the innocent should see a man’s nakedness thry you don’t know anything about it yet? I’m just trying to protect the servants’ eyes to see only good things—”

Indignant, Katya turned and retorted.

“Regardless of what happens, I will think and do what I want. Do I really like women who are so clingy?”

“Seriously, I think so too. Grand Duke, you’re also completely peculiar, aren’t you?”

“So, shouldn’t the most peculiar people in the world marry each other?”

“How can you be so aggressive without even trying? Maybe I should limit you to one confession a day.”

She snorted in exasperation and rolled her eyes.

His persistent flirting made her realize she needed to take strong action.

“Isn’t that too much? How about one confession per day? No, wait, how about five confessions per day?”

“Look, Grand Duke. When we make a deal, we’re supposed to give each other more and more concessions, so you’re in the position of having to cut back now, okay?”

“It seems impossible to achieve, so I’m voluntarily paying taxes in advance. Even doing it for only five times is extremely difficult for me.”

Katya resolved to retract the description of him as a puppy.

He was not a puppy. He was a dangerous predator.