Damn the masters (1)

“This is bad.”

Nikolai muttered in awe as he looked at Katya, who was dressed for the party.

“What’s wrong? Does it not suit me?”

“The number of men who will lose their sight has increased.”

“Are you having bad thoughts again?”

“No, even if I don’t come out, as soon as everyone sees you, they’ll be blinded by your beauty.”

It seemed like he was falling for his wife all over again.

She elbowed him in the arm in frustration at his sarcastic response.

It was the equivalent of breaking a rock with an egg, and she was the only one who was hurt.

“Grand Duke, could you please check if the buttons are properly fastened at the back?”

Katya showed her back while rubbing her chilly elbow.

Since their honeymoon, only Aliona, as her lady maid, had helped her with her clothing, so she had been struggling alone with it ever since.

While commoner clothing was relatively easy to wear as there were not many layers, noble clothing, especially party dresses, was not easy to wear.

It involved wearing a corset and crinoline on top of the chemise and skirt, and then wearing a robe on top again.

Katy’s dress had a style where the buttons at the back were fastened last to accentuate her slim waistline.

It was the only thing left after everything else had been washed, so she had no choice.

“Isn’t everything pushed together tightly?”

“Really? What should I do…?”

Katya panicked and reached back to feel her back.

“I’ll do it for you.”

“Really? Would you do that?”

Nikolai stood behind her and carefully unfastened each tiny button, one by one.

As the fabric split into two strands, her creamy skin became more visible.

Due to the sweet scent of his wife, Nikolai held his breath for a moment.

It was a dizzying feeling.

“If I knew this would happen, I should have brought Alyona with us.”

She said without knowing his thoughts.

“No, it’s good that you didn’t bring her.”

“Why?”

“Thanks to that, the day when I take off your clothes with my own hands came earlier than expected.”

“Would you look at this ominous man?”

“Didn’t you know? My mind is always dark and sinister. I’m always looking for opportunities to devour innocent herbivores like you.”

Nikolai smiled lasciviously as he met the gaze of his wife on the other side of the mirror.

“Grand Duke, even herbivores can be surprisingly intelligent and quick-witted.”

“That’s a relief. Run away before you get eaten.”

“Actually, in the animal world, it was safer to stick close to the strongest animal.”

“So you want to stay close to me?”

“Of course. Like a cicada sitting on a tree, I want to stick to you without falling off while we’re married.”

It was a sentence that conveyed a deep sense of trust.

What does that mean? Nikolai’s heart pounded.

“When you’re in my shadow, no one can touch or harm you. Even though I’m sure of that, every big and small ‘what if’ in the world makes me uneasy.”

Nikolai took something out of his embrace and handed it to Katya.

It was a short sword and magic powder.

“If you scatter this along the path in an emergency, it will glow even at night, so you can find your way anywhere. “Although acting alone is strictly prohibited.”

“What about this? Wouldn’t a gun be better than a sword?”

“It could misfire, and there are more risks in responding quickly in close combat.”

“What if I really hurt someone?”

“If they bother you, you can cut their throat. I’ll take care of the aftermath.”

Katya grabbed the hilt of the sword and sprinkled the magic powder into her pocket after tucking it under her thigh.

As her bare legs were revealed, Nikolai instinctively looked away.

He had warned her that his heart was weak just a moment ago.

This was what it meant to have an inattentive and insensitive wife.

***

“Escort?”

The vice principal shouted in surprise in front of the ballroom.

“Yes. I’ve been instructed to introduce the children to the members. Haven’t you received this order yet?”

Katya smiled awkwardly.

It was as if she was asking if their friendship with Viscountess Borodin was so shallow that they could easily dismiss her like this.

The vice principal fell for her provocation.

When did she disappear without replying to her letters and even designate a successor?

Besides, she was the one who carefully selected and picked out the girls until now, so where is she trying to stick her spoon in?

Although she felt as if her hard work was being taken away by a relative of Baron Lanzkoi, she didn’t have the courage to properly object to Viscountess Borodin.

“Come to think of it, I heard that I keep spacing out more and more as I get older. Shall we go in?”

“You can go home first without worry.”

Katya blocked the vice principal who was trying to enter the party hall and smiled slyly.

“I’ll take care of the rest.”

“That… okay.”

The vice principal couldn’t even try any further and left dejectedly.

Her dream of impressing the Borodins and expanding her network by using young girls had been shattered like a bubble.

Of course, Katya knew this in advance, which is why she expelled her beforehand.

It was disgusting that there were educators who tried to take advantage of young girls.

“Teacher, have you already arrived?”

“You must have been waiting for a long time. It’s all because of this one!”

“Who was the one who made a fuss about changing into a different outfit at the last minute?”

“Kids, I’m fine, so calm down. Let’s go in quickly.”

As soon as the noble ladies who had brought the invitations arrived, Katya followed them into the ballroom while wearing a blue rose on her chest and awkwardly looking around.

Commoner female students who were awkwardly glancing around were seen inside the bustling ballroom.

The members of the Despot Club who recognized the emblem exchanged glances and laughed.

‘Those damn nobles.’

Katya had to resist the urge to hit the back of the heads of the men who were mocking the children with a hammer.

As she tried to calm down her anger by picking up any glass nearby, she met her eyes with Nikolai and stopped.

The original owner of the invitation was now drunk with Boris.

He had snatched the invitation by taking advantage of his drunkenness.

In addition to Nikolai, there were knights waiting outside the ballroom.

Just then, the music began to play.

“Teacher, aren’t you going to dance?”

“I’ll dance later. You guys go first.”

As the noble ladies who had requested the dance went to the center of the ballroom, Katya held her fan in her left hand.

Nikolai noticed her intentions and approached her while circling around people who were dancing.

“Fan language?”

“Yes. I learned it when I attended the Molniski Ladies’ Academy. How to communicate with a fan at parties.”

It was a common etiquette used when a man shows interest in a woman or vice versa without making it obvious to others.

Katya explained a few fan language gestures to Nikolai. For example, the gesture she just made meant ‘come closer.’

As a socialite, Nikolai already knew this, but he found it adorable how Katya, who was giving a passionate lecture, was diligently listening.

Nikolai stood a little away from her. Even if others were watching, Katya would appear to be enjoying the party, exchanging silent gestures with men approaching her like any other woman.

It was the most universal language, so it could be easily overlooked.

“It seems like everyone has found their partners.”

Nikolai muttered to himself as he watched the dancing couples. It meant that all the members of the Despot Club had found a student they liked and were engaging in conversations with them.

While counting the number of commoner children in her mind, Katya folded her fan, and then gently placed it on her right cheek.

That meant she agreed.

The people in the group who were laughing while looking at the blue roses were approaching the students they liked and having conversations with them.

Katya could roughly identify the members of the Despot Club who attended the party.

Just as Nikolai was about to say something to her, Katya drew a small circle with her folded fan in her left hand and twirled it around on her right cheek.

‘I’ll look at it this way.’

As the young ladies finished dancing and started going up the stairs with their partners, they gestured to Katya, urging her to come over.

Katya nodded her head as if to say it was okay with her students.

In the end, the noble ladies thanked their teacher and scattered on the second floor to enjoy their dates.

It was when Nikolai leaned towards Katya, who was his date for the secret meeting.

Katya suddenly tapped her left ear with the folded fan.

That gesture made Nikolai confused and stop talking.

‘Please leave.’

That was clearly the meaning of this gesture.

Thinking that he might have misunderstood, Nikolai tried to approach again, but at that moment, Katya tapped her left ear more forcefully.

‘Are you asking me to go away?’

He was bewildered.

‘Is this going too far?’

Hurt, Nikolai distanced himself from her.

‘Did I do something wrong to Tia today?’

Despite thinking it over and over again, there was nothing that came to mind.

Katya had ignited a flame in the heart of a man who was already upset about not being loved by his wife.

In fact, the person who had plunged her husband into great distress had no idea what she had done.

She had just flicked her fan in frustration because her ear was itching, but she couldn’t scratch it openly at the party.

Katya had often dozed off during etiquette classes, so she had not learned that this gesture was a strong rejection of someone’s advances.

As misunderstandings between the couple deepened, she sensed that something was wrong.

The children who were drinking the alcohol the members offered them were all clinging to their partners, unable to control their bodies properly.

The men who had succeeded in their plans were escorting the commoner students out of the party while pretending to be their lovers.

‘It’s clear that they’ve spiked the drinks.’

Katya watched them with her eyes, holding her fan in her right hand and bringing it close to her face, signaling Nikolai to follow her.

She quickly chased after the disappearing members, not even having a chance to look back at her husband due to their fast departure.

At that moment, a fight broke out between drunken men, completely unbeknownst to Katya and Nikolai.

As she was perfectly hidden behind the large men, Nikolai came out of the commotion only to find Katya had disappeared in an instant from his sight.