100. The First Kiss in Front of Everyone

Only then did Katya truly realize it.

Just how dysfunctional the Grand Duke’s family she had married into was.

Everyone bearing the Vasily name was equally temperamental.

As expected, the rumors of Nikolai being a tyrant were essentially false.

If it had been true, he would have made everyone here drink black tea.

Having completed both her assessment and declaration of war, she thought it best to make her exit now.

Actually, her seat felt like she was sitting on thorns, and staying any longer would likely make her sick.

Though she had prepared herself for married life to be challenging, having everyone be hostile toward her husband made even sharing a meal uncomfortable.

Originally, sharing food meant sharing hearts.

In that sense, mealtimes at House Smirnov were always lively, joyful, and full of affection and love.

Her heart ached thinking of her husband, who couldn’t even eat comfortably in the Grand Duke’s family since the moment her mother Tatiana became the deposed Grand Duchess.

Things that had been so natural for her had been denied to Nikolai.

Katya held her pitiful husband’s hand tightly.

‘Though it’s a short time, I’ll be your family.’

Even if she was only a temporary Grand Duchess, she wanted to always be on his side.

Feeling her warmth on the back of his hand, Nikolai turned his head.

“I’ll be going now.”

“What about dinner?”

“I can’t eat with people who make me uncomfortable.”

Nikolai smirked at Katya’s whisper.

“Alright. I’ll have them send food up separately to your bedroom upstairs.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Is there anything specific you’d like to eat?”

“Hmm…… The food you cooked for me in the South?”

At those words, happiness and regret flashed across Nikolai’s face.

“I wish I could cook for you here like I did when we were traveling incognito. There are too many interruptions.”

“Your expression has turned scary. You’re thinking dangerous thoughts again, aren’t you?”

“It’s nothing. Just…… thinking it might be faster to kill all the annoying ones.”

Katya shook her head vigorously.

She couldn’t let the Grand Duke become a family killer after coming this far.

She had felt it while being with him.

He wasn’t a tyrant but a wise ruler who looked after his people’s lives and considered their needs as his own.

“No, Your Highness. From now on, I’ll make sure no one can find fault with your reputation, definitely.”

“That’s reassuring. Truly.”

Looking at his wife with honey-dripping eyes, Nikolai took her hand and stood up.

“My wife seems unwell, so I’ll escort her up first.”

“A servant will guide Miss Smirnov. You stay and eat comfortably.”

“She came all this way trusting only me. She knows no one and has no one to rely on in this palace except me, how could I send her alone?”

“You know well that men and women should stay apart before marriage.”

“Then I’ll escort her to the stairs. That much shouldn’t violate propriety.”

He casually ignored his stepmother’s opinion and walked past them with Katya.

As she left the dining hall following her husband, she felt the burning gazes on the back of her head.

Though this would intensify their hostility, that didn’t matter.

As long as they were Nikolai’s enemies, they were her enemies too.

His words about not being able to send her alone because she came trusting only him still seemed to ring in her ears.

Though the path to the stairs was extremely long due to the vast interior, it felt infinitely short to the couple.

“This hardly feels like we’re a married couple.”

Still holding Katya’s hand as she stood a few steps above him, Nikolai looked up at her and spoke.

His voice was full of regret.

“If I’d known it would be like this, we should have just stayed in the South. At least then I could have seen you freely whenever I wanted.”

“That day will come soon. Until then, let’s fully enjoy our current privacy. Don’t say you’re tired of seeing me when we have to see each other 24 hours a day later.”

“That’s absolutely impossible.”

“What?”

“Will there ever come a day when I tire of seeing you?”

Katya hesitated at her husband’s serious gaze.

People naturally grow tired of anything they get used to.

But Nikolai’s eyes showed certainty in his eternal love for her.

Could one person love another this much?

It must be rare in life to receive such love from someone other than family.

“I-I’ll go now. Sweet dreams.”

Katya turned away, not wanting to show him her reddened face.

At that moment, Nikolai didn’t let go of her hand but rather pulled her toward him, causing her to fall forward and end up in a position embracing his neck.

Thankfully, she didn’t fall completely thanks to Nikolai acting as a support in front and firmly holding her waist with one arm.

“We’re missing something.”

“What?”

“After saying sweet dreams. You need to do what comes after that.”

“What comes after?”

“A goodnight kiss.”

Nikolai turned his head and presented his right cheek as he spoke.

“When did we ever do something like that?”

“That’s why we should start doing it diligently from now on.”

“All of a sudden?”

“If you don’t like the cheek, you can do it on the lips.”

He shamelessly raised the level of skinship while pretending to back down.

“A kiss on the cheek seems a bit childish, don’t you think? Adults should at least meet lips to show the difference.”

Oh my, look at this man?

His words flowed like a stream.

She had always thought he was eloquent, but he seemed especially skilled at seducing his wife.

Katya shook her head vigorously with a face red as a radish.

“No, thank you?”

“Just once, please?”

Nikolai begged cutely while making his blue eyes sparkle.

For some reason, he was being particularly persistent today.

With his huge build acting this way, she found her husband unbearably adorable.

Feeling like her face might explode if she resisted any longer, Katya decided to just do it.

It was also necessary practice for acting like a natural couple in front of the Grand Duke’s family.

She silently grabbed both his cheeks and turned his head so his right cheek was visible.

“Stay still like that for a moment. I’ll do it.”

“You’ll really do it?”

His voice showed surprise when his wife responded this way.

“I was just joking. I didn’t mean to force you……”

“No. I was thinking we needed practice anyway. Since we’re supposed to be playing the role of a couple who married after falling madly in love.”

Katya squeezed her eyes shut and puckered her lips.

‘Well, they say even a dead person’s wish should be granted, so what’s the big deal about a kiss on the cheek?’

Actually, practice was just an excuse.

It would be a lie to say she had no ulterior motives.

As those red, plump lips that he had always wanted to taste drew closer, Nikolai blinked and swallowed hard.

When the woman he loved made up her mind to do this, it would be inhuman to maintain formality or play coy any longer.

As the couple’s hearts beat at the same speed and rhythm, just as her lips were about to touch his cheek—

Sensing a small presence nearby, Nikolai unconsciously turned his head to the right.

Because of this, the lips aiming for his cheek collided with his lips instead.

In short, an unintended collision of lips had occurred.

Katya found the sensation oddly softer than a cheek and opened her eyes wide.

‘Why can I see Your Highness’s eyes straight on?’

She realized a few seconds later,

That she had just had her first kiss with Nikolai.

Completely misunderstanding that her husband had deliberately induced the kiss, she grabbed his collar as soon as their lips parted.

‘This wasn’t how I imagined my first kiss!’

Just then, their surroundings began to grow noisy.

Only then did Katya turn her head toward where Nikolai had been looking.

Though they had definitely been alone on the stairs until moments ago, boyars had gathered on both sides of the second floor railings and on the first floor.

They were nobles who had arrived early at the Spring Palace for the upcoming ball at Hersen Palace.

The only fortunate thing was that her father, Baptiski, and Bianca were still on their way, so the embarrassment belonged solely to the Grand Ducal couple.

Seeing his wife wanting to hide in a mouse hole and covering her face with a handful of her strawberry blonde hair, Nikolai climbed up a few steps to stand beside her.

Then he opened his mouth while looking at the boyars.

“I was planning to formally introduce her to you soon, but this opportunity has presented itself. This woman is Katarina de Vasily, my consort whom I married in the South.”

The boyars were greatly shaken by the Grand Duke’s shocking announcement.

Oksana, who was just leaving the dining hall with her daughter-in-law, stepdaughter, and son, bit her lower lip with her teeth.

She hadn’t expected Nikolai to make such a preemptive move.

Meanwhile, her stepson met her eyes and continued speaking while staring directly at her from afar.

“Though the Grand Duke family’s final approval is still pending, I would like everyone to show proper respect to my consort even before the official national ceremony.”

The boyars lowered their bodies in their respective positions, taking stances showing they would obey his order disguised as a request.

Nikolai kissed Katya’s hand in front of everyone.

“Tia, go up first.”

He whispered quietly as he raised his head.

It meant he would handle the aftermath himself.

She nodded slightly and climbed the stairs with shoulders straight, trying to appear as dignified as possible.

Though she was dying of embarrassment inside, she had to act confident in front of everyone watching.

Because she was the Grand Duchess.

The weight of her position felt especially heavy today.

Though she had thought that when she had her first kiss, Nikolai would be the one…

‘I didn’t know it would become a kiss in front of the whole nation.’

Grand Duchess Katarina still had a long way to go.