A Bloody Honeymoon in a Haunted Hotel (2)

The gentleman was speaking the language of Archetia, the neighboring land across the sea.

Katya, who was weak in foreign languages, rolled her eyes and glanced at Nikolai.

She could make out bits and pieces of what was being said, but she could only speak rudimentary conversation.

She only knew the simple grammar of greetings and subject verbs from the beginning of the First Steps to Archetia textbook.

Other than that, it was mostly a list of words, not sentences.

Although Archetia had long been spoken in the imperial court and social circles, in Hersen it was not necessary to know it to get by.

[Are you from Archetia?]

Nikolai asked the gentleman in fluent pronunciation.

The man’s face visibly brightened at the thought of being understood.

[Yes, that’s correct. My name is Mengano, and I work here as the manager. I hope you’ll pardon my imperfect proficiency in the language of Hersen.]

[Nice to meet you, Manager Mengano, but we’re here with a reservation. I think that’s all you need to know.]

[I see, under what name did you make the reservation?]

The manager walks over to the check-in desk and unfolds a list of reservations.

[I’m booked as Boris Tranov.]

After looking for a while, the desk clerk looked up again.

[Sorry, I don’t see that name on the list, there must have been a mix-up somewhere along the way.]

Nikolai’s eyes narrowed as he realized that when he got back to Padovangrad, he would not let this travel agent get away with this kind of behavior.

He breathed harshly, as if trying to control his anger, and Katya, next to him, caught his eye.

Is this the look you get when you’re thinking mean thoughts?

“What’s wrong? Did they say were not on the list?”

“What’s the procedure for closing down? I’ll have to go to the authorities, no, I’ll just order the closure myself.”

“Calm down. The travel agency didn’t do it because they wanted to make a mistake. No one would do something like that on purpose against the Grand Duke.”

Katya only lowered her voice when addressing the Grand Duke.

“It’s better to cut a company in two than to cut yourself into pieces.”

“Now you’re not even trying to stop yourself from having bad thoughts.”

“What can I do, Tia? Anger wells up inside me. I don’t think we’ll be going to be able to solve this without seeing blood.”

“So, shall we pray to the gods to ward off the evil mind-inspiring demons……?”

“It’s easier and quicker to retaliate than to forgive.”

Mr Mengano, unaware of the terrifying conversation going on in Hersen, simply stood there with a friendly smile on her face.

To calm her frantic husband’s nerves, Katya racked her brain and came up with a plan.

“Excuse me, are there really no rooms available?”

I should say it in Archetian, right?

How do you say ‘room’ in Archetian? How do they count numbers.

The best sentence that eventually emerged from her chaotic brain was this.

[Room, don’t you have a one?]

Again, it’s important to note that Katya wasn’t just being polite, but as a beginner learner, she wasn’t at the point where she could use honorifics.

[Sorry, it says we’re all booked up.]

[The rain beat us. I’m cold. I’m hungry. Please, give me a room.]

Looking like a rain-soaked mouse, Katya shivered pitifully and made exaggerated gestures to communicate her needs.

As she struggled to keep the conversation going with her short conversational skills, Mengano retrieved a key from a storage locker.

As Katya excitedly reached for the key, labeled ‘Room 404,’ he stopped her.

[Actually, there’s a note in Archetian that says this room is not available to guests, but I’m not sure why.]

[Then why don’t you ask another staff member?]

[Well, actually, tomorrow is my first day on the job, and I came out early to get a feel for things, but somehow none of the staff showed up today, so I’m kind of filling in for them.]

Mengano seems to be a very workaholic guy, because he started working for customers even before receiving the formal handover.

[By the way, I took a quick look inside earlier, and it looks like line 4 has only one bed, so I don’t think it’s going to be easy for all of you to fit in there.]

[Do you have any first aid supplies, I’ve got a bit of a cold.]

Mengano beamed, happy to be asked a question he knew the answer to.

After confirming the presence of the medicine, Nikolai turned around and grabbed Boris by the shoulders.

“I’m sorry to say that there’s only one room left. Yu guys will have to go elsewhere. I’m sorry that you won’t be able to join us.”

“Your mouth is smiling.”

“…….”

“Then you two have a good time.”

With that, the shrewd Boris was gone, taking the knights with him.

He felt a little uneasy about the temporary gap in security, but both of the couple were of unusual strength and skill, and he doubted anything would happen inside the hotel.

And in truth, they seemed more comfortable in their familiar inn than in this spooky place.

In a way, Nikolai didn’t feel so bad about the fact that he was now alone with Katya.

In fact, it was rather nice.

“So……. shall we?”

He said to Katya in a low voice as he picked up the medicine and the key to room 404.

Then, out of nowhere, she threw her arms around Nikolai.

“What the hell, what’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”

“We’re supposed to act like a normal newlywed couple.”

“We are newlyweds, aren’t we?”

“Oh, right. Anyway, let’s be natural.”

At those words, Nikolai put his arm around his wife’s shoulders, straining the muscles in the corners of his mouth that kept trying to rise.

A contract marriage was actually a good thing.

He could use the excuse of acting to get to know her in a natural way.

The innocent maiden–no, the innocent married woman–who didn’t know what he was up to simply leaned her face gently against his strong forearm.

“What do you think? Do we look like a couple now?”

“I think it would be more natural if you came a little closer.”

“Like this?”

Katya rubbed her cheek against his arm and looked up at him, her hazel eyes shining.

The deadly adorableness stirred within Nikolai a strong urge to kiss her.

Dismissing the knights, Katya and Nikolai went up to their room together and unpacked.

Reason and instinct waged a bloody war inside him until the moment they stepped inside and closed the door.

“Grand Duke, look at this!”

Katya, who had darted into the bathroom as soon as he had dropped his luggage on the floor, exclaimed in wonder.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s a spell to heat the bath water!”

Unlike Archetia, which actively cultivated mages, Hersen had a mage population of less than ten percent of its people.

Conservative noble families were reluctant to use magic tools, fearing accidents due to inexperience.

The Dukes of Smirnov were no exception.

Prioritizing the safety of his daughters above all else, Pavtisky gave up the convenience of harnesses early on.

“Come to think of it, the duke didn’t have any of the common tools.”

“My father wouldn’t let have one in the house because he thought it was dangerous. He also thought that one tool could prevent many people from getting a job.”

“The palace is staffed with experts in safety, so feel free to use them there.”

“Are you sure I can do that?”

Katya said with childlike excitement.

She was already following the instructions to heat the water.

Seeing her so happy made Nikolai want to buy her a hundred, maybe even a thousand of them.

“If everything is fine, why was this room blocked off?”

“It might have been under renovation, so be careful.”

“Grand Duke, do you mind if I wash up first?”

Nikolai suddenly unbuttoned his wet chemise and stormed into the bathroom.

“Why? Why not wash together.”

“What?”

“Before, we got into the bathtub together and cleaned up nicely.”

“Excuse me, Grand Duke, but you’re too close…….”

As he continued to move closer, Katya held up both palms and took a step backward.

When her back finally touched the wall, she found herself trapped between Nikolai and the wall.

He stood with one hand on the wall, staring down at her like a rabbit caught in a trap.

“You washed my hair when we weren’t together. Now that we’re a couple, I guess I can trust you with my body.”

Nikolai said, taking her hand and placing it on his chest.

Through the rain-soaked fabric, Katya could feel the hard shape of his muscles in her palm.

His eyes burned with an emotion she’d never seen before, like the inside of a bathroom scalded by the heat of a machete.

Katya rolled her eyes, trying to avoid the sun-like intensity of his gaze.

“Well, strictly speaking, I don’t think we were completely unfamiliar back then.”

“Going straight to the bedroom on our second meeting, it feels like we were truly destined.”

“When you say that, it starts to sound really strange, right?”

“The sequence of events was the same back then. We showered together and slept in the same bed.”

“Today, I’d like to shower alone.”

Katya insisted, her voice trembling like a lost young goat.

“Why then and not now?”

“Because things are different now.”

“So you harassed me when you thought I was a commoner because I was easier to handle.”

“When did I ever harass you!”

“You dragged me into the bathtub when I refused. And you jumped on my bed when I was trying to sleep.”

“That’s because I was frightened with cockroaches coming out of the floor!”

“I guess I’ll have to get rid of the bugs to sleep with you. Thanks for the advice.”

No, is this person for real?

Seeing her husband that had become even more insidious after getting married, Katya was so stunned that she couldn’t even speak.

That’s when she heard the front door of 404 swing open outside, and someone stumbled in.

Humming a tune, the woman spontaneously sat down at her dressing table, grabbed a comb from the center drawer, and began to work on her hair.

In the middle of her makeover, she looked in the mirror and made eye contact with two people standing in the bathroom.

“Kyaaa!”

Screams erupted simultaneously from the mouths of Katya and the intruder.