107. The Unfaithful Grand Duchess

“What did you say?”

Oksana snapped back in a sharp voice.

Her previously composed and polite tone disappeared.

Her stepson’s chosen marriage partner turned out to be bolder and more brazen than expected.

Her jaw tightened at her unexpected rudeness.

“You enjoyed becoming Grand Duchess, didn’t you? Isn’t it too much for Your Highness to tell me not to when you became Grand Duchess yourself? I want to be Grand Duchess too.”

“Nikolai has no power. Do you really think you can put the world at your feet by marrying a puppet ruler?”

“I have no greed for the world. While staying with the Grand Duke in the South, I noticed he never thought of putting the people beneath his feet either. Isn’t it fate that we think alike as a couple?”

“……”

Oksana clenched her hand under the table.

Her fist began trembling with rage.

Katya was neither naive nor a girl with her head full of flowers.

She knew exactly what she was saying and precisely predicted the impact her words would have.

“I just wanted to be his Grand Duchess. I don’t want to live as someone else’s puppet. I absolutely hate troublesome things.”

It wasn’t for nothing that Katya was nicknamed the Villainess of the South.

Oksana felt she would get caught up with this impudent girl if she stayed any longer.

“Nikolai is just keeping you around to fill the spot beside him. He found a replacement because he didn’t want to marry the woman I chose.”

You’re saying the same thing as the Grand Duke.

A faint smile appeared and quickly disappeared from Katya’s lips.

“As you said earlier, you worry a lot about your son. But it seems you should take better care of your other son first.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you already received the report? I saw His Highness Mikhail myself. At the Despot Clubhouse, and at an illegal gambling fighting ring.”

Oksana had also heard from the southern nobles who rushed in yesterday about what Nikolai had been doing in the South, along with Mikhail’s misconduct.

“Are you trying to threaten me?”

“And this morning he came to find me and asked me to become his mistress.”

“……What?”

“I wasn’t going to reveal it, but I thought you should know since it’s about your son. I don’t like talking about home education much, but with that kind of character, perhaps it’s fair to blame the parents?”

“How dare you try to lecture me, trusting in Nikolai alone!”

“It’s Grand Duke. Not Nikolai.”

Katya corrected her form of address with a stern face, not backing down from Oksana’s outburst.

“You love proper etiquette so much, but according to protocol, shouldn’t even the former Grand Duchess address him as Grand Duke ‘Your Highness’, no matter if he’s your son?”

Oksana had two ulterior motives for casually calling him Nikolai.

First was to pretend they were close like real mother and son in front of others, and second was to show she didn’t acknowledge him as Grand Duke.

Katya had long noticed her intentions.

Not just Duke Smirnov, but his daughter too would become a problem if she left them alone as Nikolai’s ally.

Oksana thought she needed to drive a wedge between these two without further delay.

“You seem to have considerable trust in Nikolai? I wonder if he feels the same?”

“I think he does.”

“Did he tell you about the prophecy given to him when he proposed?”

“What?”

“It was no coincidence that the former Grand Duke killed Ruslan. It was according to the prophecy that he would surely kill his own child.”

This was news to Katya.

Seeing her previously chattering lips fall silent, Oksana felt inner satisfaction.

“The prophecy didn’t end there. There was also a prediction that the son who inherited the tyrant’s blood would stain his hands with his own child’s blood.”

“……”

“Nikolai will surely kill the child you bear with his own hands. That is the gods’ will.”

To be precise, the prophecy hadn’t specifically named Nikolai.

It had mentioned Yuri’s son, and the nobles had interpreted it as referring to Nikolai when he gained the image of a tyrant upon ascending to power.

But Oksana deliberately concluded the prophecy’s subject was Nikolai, intending to sow discord.

Katya’s expression changed strangely upon hearing this thunderbolt of information.

Earlier, Nikolai had overlooked something.

The fact that his wife was skilled at scheming.

There was a reason Katya had deliberately provoked Oksana’s nerves after being summoned here.

She felt she could understand why Nikolai hesitated to become a real family if she prodded Oksana just a bit more.

Now she understood.

The reason Nikolai wouldn’t accept her proposal.

“I think a god who gives such irresponsible prophecies is no god at all.”

A bold statement burst from Katya’s lips.

“The Grand Duke is a good person. If I were a god, I don’t think I would give such an unfair and cruel prophecy to someone who knows how to embrace others’ pain and help them.”

She intended to stay by his side even if Nikolai told her to leave.

Nothing frightened her when it came to protecting her man.

Not even the greatest enemy before her eyes right now.

Who would meet their end?

Even if she stood on the losing side of this war, she didn’t mind as long as she was with Nikolai.

“Hey, you……!”

“I have no intention of backing down. So prepare to vacate this palace. Because I will surely become the mistress of this Summer Palace.”

Though it sounded like an ambitious declaration, what Katya wanted was just one thing.

To become Nikolai’s real wife.

She left the reception room, leaving Oksana behind.

Her chest tightened as she walked quickly through the corridor.

How must Nikolai have felt when he had to reject her proposal despite loving her so much?

Even if she said it was really fine, that she didn’t mind anything as long as she could be with him, he would keep trying to push her away until the end.

‘How can I convince the Grand Duke? What should I do……’

Not having children?

She didn’t feel ready to be a good mother yet.

It still seemed far off to become an adult.

But after meeting Nikolai, she wanted to build a happy family with him.

This wasn’t a conclusion drawn because others all married, had children, and raised them, because it was expected.

It was something she chose and wanted herself.

She wanted to have children who resembled both Nikolai and herself.

If Nikolai truly feared having children, she could give up on it.

However, producing an heir was also their duty as ruler and Grand Duchess.

If Nikolai died without children and Mikhail succeeded him, all the reforms he had worked for would turn to bubbles.

‘Think quickly, Katarina! You’re good at scheming. Is there really no other way?’

Lost in confusion, Katya stumbled while running down the stairs.

Someone caught and steadied her body as she pitched forward.

“Are you alright?”

“Boris, what brings you here?”

“I brought him. Since you said not to tell the Grand Duke, I brought Boris as the next best option.”

“What? Next best option?”

Boris glanced sideways at Brunhilde’s words, appearing offended.

Seeing the two bickering, Katya hid her anxiety and smiled slightly.

“Brunhilde, when I ask you not to do something, I’ll have to be very detailed to leave no alternatives. You’re good at finding loopholes.”

“Nothing happened inside?”

“No. Thank you both for worrying about me. Better than someone else.”

Better than her husband who didn’t even chase after her when she ran out.

But now she understood. Nikolai had done that to make her completely detach from him.

It would be a big problem if word spread that the Grand Duchess wasn’t properly faithful to the state religion, but Katya wasn’t particularly devout.

No, at least the gods she believed in weren’t like that.

She thought good and evil weren’t just found in novels—establishing justice was what gods should do.

Based on that belief, it made no sense for such a prophecy to be given to the innocent Nikolai.

Others must have fabricated it as a prophecy given to Nikolai, or something must be hidden.

If a curse prophecy was given to former Grand Duke Yuri de Vasily, it would have been because he drove his wife Tatiana to a monastery and took his mistress as the new Grand Duchess.

But it didn’t make sense for the gods’ anger to fall on Nikolai, Tatiana’s son, rather than Yuri and Oksana.

“I’ll escort you to the Spring Palace.”

“That’s not necessary. Isn’t there a nobles’ meeting today? Shouldn’t you attend too as the Grand Duke’s aide?”

“It’s already started. And it’s better I’m not there today.”

Major reform policies were to be implemented based on the problems identified in the South.

Today’s nobles’ meeting was not to ask for opinions, but to announce these changes.

The nobles’ meeting was just an advisory body—all real authority lay with the ruler, the Grand Duke.

The boyars could oppose, but they were at an absolute disadvantage as long as Hersen’s officers sided with Nikolai.

Just as Nikolai had seized power with support from new nobles and officers after the former Grand Duke’s death, Oksana’s forces had to follow his will unless they staged a coup.

Until now, Nikolai had carefully upheld the former Grand Duke’s will like a tiger hiding its claws, so today, the boyars would feel severely backstabbed.

“They’ll want to take out their anger on me, his aide, since they can’t say anything to the Grand Duke. It’s best to avoid the boyars for a while.”