Boris is unhappy

Until the arrival of Mihail in the Grand Duke’s family, Nikolai was the youngest son and monopolized the cuteness.

As the second Grand Duchess, Tatiana was initially unloved by her husband, but eventually the Grand Duke Yuri opened his heart to her sincerity and they were happily married.

The older siblings, Ruslan and Klavdia, born to his ex-wife Yevgenia, were Nikolai’s half-siblings, but he had a deep affection for the youngest, Nikolai, who was six or seven years younger.

As a child, Nikolai thought this happiness would last forever.

It was after Oksana entered the court as Tatiana’s handmaiden that a great storm blew through the peaceful Grand Duke’s household.

The daughter of Count Borodin, Oksana had been married off to Archetia, only to return shortly afterward, divorced, and with a son.

Tatiana met her at a party, befriended her, and soon made her her handmaiden.

She never suspected that it was all Oksana’s plan.

Little does Tatiana know that she was her husband’s first love.

Yuri, who had a secret affair with Oksana before marrying Yevgenia, decided to marry her, but was forced to break it off by his mother’s disapproval.

Yuri’s mother came from the new nobility and was extremely afraid that Oksana of House Borodin would become Grand Duchess and the old nobility would return to power.

Yuri’s mother had chosen Yevgenia and Tatiana to be her son’s companions, both of whom were from the new nobility like herself.

“Hello, my name is Nikolai. What’s yours?”

“Mi-Mihail. Your Highness.”

“When we’re alone, call me brother, not Your Highness.”

“What?”

“Because you don’t have a brother. I’ll be your big brother.”

Because of their mother’s closeness, Nikolai and Mihail became friends.

Nikolai had always wanted a brother, but Tatiana was unable to fulfill her son’s wish because she was too weak and had been told by a doctor that she could not have another pregnancy.

So instead, she introduced him to Oksana’s son.

The two children became like siblings and were always together.

Nikolai loved Mihail, and Mihail followed him so closely that Nikolai could find him whenever he opened his eyes.

“I envy my brother.”

“Of what?”

“The strongest man in our country is your father.”

“He’s the monarch, so he’s the most powerful, right?”

“Besides, all this big, fancy palace is yours, and everybody fidgets in front of you, and I envy the way you sound, and the clothes you wear.”

Mihail would sometimes whine to Nikolai like that.

The Borodin counts were wealthy boyanins, but none of them could compare to the Grand Duke.

Sometimes, Nikolai would swap clothes with Mihail without the adults realizing it.

“What do you think? Do you like it?”

“Yes! It looks so beautiful!”

“I wish you were really my brother.”

“Me too! I want to be a grand duke!”

It wasn’t until Nikolai learned Mihail’s true identity that their friendship began to crack.

It was a whirlwind of events that led to his discovery that Mihail was his father’s illegitimate son, and his mother, Tatiana, was framed, disowned, and removed from the palace.

With Oksana as the new Grand Duchess, the children’s fortunes changed in an instant.

The brothers grew apart. And even after Nikolai became Grand Duke, Mihail was always on the lookout for his brother at the palace, whether out of childhood guilt or wariness.

Even after graduating from the Hersian National Academy, he often traveled south to visit friends.

“Mihail?”

Nikolai asked Boris through narrowed eyes.

“I’m not sure if he’s directly involved in the crimes of the Despot Club, but given the way the Grand Duchess has gone out of her way to cover up the whereabouts of its members, it’s hard to say that Mihail isn’t involved at all.”

“So the friends Mihail was said to have been hanging out with until recently are all members of the Despot Club?”

“Yes.”

Nikolai ran a hand over his forehead.

They say you can tell a lot about a person by their friends.

In his memory, Mihail was a good kid, but so much had happened since then.

He didn’t expect him to be the same person he remembered, but the thought of him running around committing crimes made his heart sink.

“Is he in the south now?”

“He’s not in the capital, that’s for sure. We don’t know his exact whereabouts, but that’s likely. Whenever he leaves the palace, he always goes to visit his friends in the south.”

I had a bad feeling about this.

That I might end up taking my brother’s life into my own hands.

Of course, Oksana would intervene to keep him from being punished. But the prospect of seeing my long-lost brother in such an unsavory way was not a comfortable one.

Just then, the door burst open without a knock.

Nikolai and Boris turned to the door in unison, and Katya, who had jumped up and down and was huffing and puffing, poked her head out, her strawberry-blonde hair flowing.

“Tia, haven’t you left yet?”

Nikolai approached her with a worried look on his face and touched her arm.

“Is something wrong?”

“Just a minute, I’m out of breath…… it’s so cold.”

She was usually an athletic woman, but she had been running so fast that she hadn’t been paying attention to her breathing.

“Slow down……. We can talk later. Just sit down.”

He pulled out a chair, sat her down, and poured water into a cup.

It was a hot spring city, and it was fortunate that clear mineral water was readily available.

Gulping down the clear water in one gulp instead of the cooled tea, Katya set the empty cup on the table.

Taking a deep breath, she wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and looked up at him.

“I’ve made up my mind.”

“On what?”

“I’m not going back home, I’m staying here.”

“Tia, what’s that suddenly…….”

“I’m going with the Grand Duke.”

Nikolai blinked in surprise at that.

He thought she was talking about keeping their honeymoon on schedule, but then his lovely bride made an unexpected request.

“Why so sudden?”

“The fact that the Grand Duke went undercover was all for the sake of the country. I’m doing my part as the Grand Duchess.”

“I know what you mean, Tia. But I’ve been of the opinion that for the next three days you’re in danger. And I’m not going to change that.”

“As you saw with your own two eyes last night at the hotel, I’m a very useful person.”

“I don’t see why I shouldn’t recognize how capable you are. But that’s not the point right now.”

“I’m sure I could be of help, especially if you’re looking into the Molniski Ladies’ Academy. I didn’t graduate, but I went there, didn’t I?”

Having already made up her mind, Katya was at a loss.

There was a strange tug-of-war going on between the normally stubborn woman and Nikolai, who would never compromise on his wife’s safety.

Boris wondered if he should leave the room first, as this situation could spark a fight at any moment.

That’s when Katya made her move.

“Have you already forgotten that you promised to always lose to me?”

“What?”

Nikolai quickly remembered what he had said in the past.

On the way home from the trial with Ivan, to be precise.

“If it’s most fights, does that mean there are some fights where you’re not confident?”

“A fight with you?”

“A fight with me?”

“In a fight between us, the winner and loser are always predetermined. I will lose to you every day. I will only listen to my wife’s words now. You’re the one in charge.”

My past self is holding me back today.

“At home, I’m the monarch, and you agreed to listen to me. I’ll make this an order. It’s an order, so listen to it.”

“Is that how you use me?”

“Lose, this time.”

Katya kept saying it was an order, and her pretty eyes sparkled like stars.

This is really cheating.

Logical, well-founded, and cute.

Nikolai realized now that he’d gotten himself into a fight he could never win.

“I shot myself in the foot.”

“So you’re giving me permission?”

“You don’t need my permission. You’re going to do what you want anyway.”

She pouted her lips unnecessarily and grumbled softly.

“It’s another thing I’m stubborn about, I’ve been a brat since I was a kid.”

“Promise me one thing.”

“Like what?”

Katya leaned toward him in a listening position, as if he could tell her anything.

“If you think you’re in danger, you’ll hide behind me. No, if it’s dangerous, don’t jump in alone in the first place. No matter what, you stay close to me, even if you go far, you stay in my line of sight.”

“That’s not one thing, though?”

“Can you promise me that?”

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

Nikolai breathed a sigh of relief, seemingly satisfied.

He wanted to make sure he got this promise from Katya, since he didn’t know where she’d go next.

Boris, sandwiched between the couple, suddenly made his presence known with a loud cough.

“AHEM.”

“What the hell, Boris. I thought you went out?”

“I feel disappointed when you say that. If you knew what I prepared, you would regret treating me like this.”

“Why don’t we just do one verse? Tia and I have been up all night and need to get some sleep.”

Nikolai, who had been looking at his yawning wife with warm eyes, turned to Boris with a sour expression.

Boris was chilled by the obvious temperature difference, but he wasn’t surprised. He’d seen enough of her temperament before they were married.

“There is a separate room for Your Highnesses.”

“Next door?”

Boris wiggled his eyebrows and shook his head.

“I’ve secured a room at a luxurious hotel in the city center, a top-of-the-line room.”

“……What, didn’t you say it was peak season and they’d be full?”

“Well, I had a sneaky little hint to the hotel manager that I wanted to make up for yesterday’s mishap with the reservation, putting us in room 404, and getting us caught up in a murder case. The hotel, realizing their responsibility, sent out a call to their partner hotels and finally found an empty room. It was a newlywed couple who were supposed to be coming in from the capital, but they canceled because they got divorced on their wedding day?”

The aide, proud of his performance, shrugged.

“You don’t have to be impressed, it’s the aide’s job to have a backup plan.”

“Why are you telling me that now?”

“I didn’t tell you because you said you were sending the Grand Duchess.”

“You should have told me that. Tia, let’s go.”

An excited Nikolai swept his wife into a quick hug and left the room without another word.

“Your Highness, you’re not going to say thank you……?”

Boris was unhappy despite having achieved success.