14. Slept, Really Slept

Nikolai quietly looked down at the woman in his arms.

Now, instead of the scent of strawberries, she smelled like him.

It was natural since they used the same soap in the bathtub, but it was fascinating.

This woman, carrying his scent, kept drawing him in.

From the first meeting, she had captured his gaze, then his full attention, and now even his heart.

Nikolai impulsively caressed her luscious strawberry-colored blonde hair.

Somehow, even her fluffy curls were so cute that he couldn’t help but smile.

“You look well.”

“What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”

“Haven’t you been sleeping lightly or staying up all the time? You look like you’ve finally had a good rest now.”

Boris had said that to him as he was about to enter the room.

Nikolai had indeed fallen into a deep sleep for the first time in a long while until the assassin arrived.

It was a strange phenomenon.

What on earth was this woman?

She was the one who, despite trembling with fear, had faced the assassin with an empty gun to save him.

Then, he suddenly recalled what Katya had said a little while ago.

“I saved you, so there’s no debt between us now.”

Reflecting on it, he felt a bit disappointed.

He actually wished Katya owed him more.

He wanted to be entangled with her continuously.

Preferably, as deeply as possible.

***

That night, Katya had a strange dream.

In it, an ancient pyramid she had only seen in books was collapsing on her, burying her beneath it.

Even after waking up from the dream, she still felt a heavy weight pressing on her body, causing her to groan as she opened her eyes.

“Huh? What’s all this?”

On top of Katya’s body, a mountain of thick, heavy blankets was piled up, so many that she couldn’t count.

It was a dream that somewhat reflected reality.

“No wonder I had a nightmare!”

Just as she managed to push the blankets aside and sit up, the door opened, and Nikolai entered.

He was carrying a small table in his hands.

“What’s this? Niki, did you do this?”

Katya asked, pointing to the pile of blankets weighing down her lower body.

“Yeah. I saw you shivering early in the morning, looking cold. You had a slight fever too.”

Nikolai, who approached her, placed the table on the nightstand and sat at the edge of her bed.

He naturally placed his hand on Katya’s round forehead.

Her face was half-covered up to her eyes by his large palm.

“Fortunately, you don’t have a fever now.”

Thanks to Nikolai’s fussiness, who had paid extra to take out all the blankets stored in the warehouse and cover her, Katya unknowingly sweated it all out while sleeping.

Every time she stuck her leg out of the blankets from being too hot in her sleep, Nikolai would carefully tuck her leg back inside.

Even the cold germs that attempted to invade her body were amazed by Nikolai’s excessive care and flew away.

“Aren’t you grateful?”

“Well, I’m thankful, but…”

Katya replied, scratching her cheek at his question, which seemed to seek praise.

“Now, have breakfast.”

Nikolai placed the table in front of Katya, who was sitting on the bed.

From a distance, it seemed small in his hands, but up close, it was surprisingly spacious.

The table was laden with so many dishes that the legs seemed about to break.

Only then did the delicious smell waft through her slightly blocked nose.

“I didn’t know what you’d like.”

There was creamy potato soup, red lamb soup borscht colored with beets, and a slow-cooked fish soup ukha.

There were three kinds of soups, along with roasted lamb, goose, and trout.

It was a feast unimaginable to be provided by this small, shabby inn isolated from the village.

“Did you order all this?”

“Well, I had a little scuffle with the owner yesterday. I guess he felt guilty about it and wanted to show his sincerity.”

To an ordinary person, it would have been an unbelievable lie, but Katya, thinking Nikolai was a kind landowner, believed him without suspicion.

“Really? He must be a better person than I thought.”

“Eat before it gets cold.”

“……”

“What’s wrong? Is it not to your liking?”

Nikolai asked with a slightly tense face.

“It’s a bit much for breakfast…”

“I suppose so.”

As he looked dejected, trying to clear the table, his expression overlapped with Laika’s when she dropped her toy ball.

“But I like everything! I just don’t know where to start.”

Katya quickly grabbed the table and pulled it down.

She usually ate a simple breakfast.

But considering the effort Nikolai put into carrying the table here, she thought she should try to finish everything, even if it meant making room in her stomach.

“Then, since you have an empty stomach, start with this.”

Nikolai visibly brightened and handed her a spoon and pointed to the ukha.

Eventually, she took a spoonful of the clear broth and put it in her mouth, feeling like she was in heaven.

Objectively, it couldn’t compare to what she usually ate at the Smirnov ducal residence, but as the saying goes, hunger is the best sauce.

To Katya, this ukha was the most delicious dish in the world.

In fact, at the Petrovsky villa, Ivan had nearly starved her to make her submit to him, so it had been a long time since she had such a proper meal.

Besides, all she had eaten yesterday was a piece of bread.

Even though she thought it wouldn’t go down on an empty stomach, it strangely went down smoothly.

Katya then began to eat hurriedly with her spoon.

“Eat slowly, or you’ll get indigestion.”

Nikolai said, handing her a glass of water.

“Did I eat too fast? I didn’t have much yesterday.”

At her words, one of his eyebrows rose in dissatisfaction.

What on earth was her so-called fiancé doing, letting her stay at his villa without properly feeding her?

Nikolai barely suppressed the anger rising within him and handed Katya a piece of black bread with cheese spread on it.

“Aren’t you eating?”

“I usually don’t eat breakfast.”

“Really?”

“So don’t worry about me and eat up.”

Of course, it was a lie.

But right now, nothing else mattered except feeding her to her heart’s content.

His hunger was insignificant, so it was naturally pushed down the priority list.

Moreover, just watching her eat happily with a bright smile satisfied his hunger.

“But how come there’s fish in such a remote place?”

Katya, who had been focused on eating, suddenly wondered aloud.

For commoners, fish dishes were rare unless they lived near the coast or a lake.

Except for the smoked fish from Hersen, commoners had no proper means to store it.

“Ahem. Well… there’s a lake nearby, and the owner seems to have caught it himself.”

“Really? That’s quite a dedication on his part.”

Though his acting was clumsy, Katya, who trusted Nikolai, was convinced again.

In fact, black bread, potato soup, and boiled potatoes were the original meals provided to guests staying at the inn.

The rest was a special meal hastily prepared by the inn for Katya alone since early this morning.

Three hours ago.

Unable to sleep, Nikolai went down to the lobby to pre-check the breakfast Katya would eat.

“Hey, innkeeper.”

The innkeeper, who had no staff working shifts and was dozing behind the counter, woke up with bleary eyes.

“What do you want?”

“What’s for breakfast here?”

The innkeeper recited the morning menu as asked.

“Is that all you have?”

“Got a problem with that?”

As he was about to get up angrily, Nikolai placed a bag on the counter.

“I’ll give you everything in this bag, so prepare what I request.”

The bag was filled with glistening gold coins, shining brightly. How much was all this?

The amount far exceeded the inn’s earnings for three months.

The innkeeper’s eyes widened, and his demeanor changed to a warm and friendly one.

“Just tell me what you need. As long as we have the ingredients…”

“Even if you don’t, you have to make it.”

Nikolai scribbled the necessary ingredients and desired menu on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

“I can try to get the other things, but fish will be difficult. Even if I go to the city, there probably won’t be any shops open at this hour.”

“Is there a lake nearby?”

“Not close by. You’d have to ride quite far.”

“Then draw me a map of where it is. I’ll go myself, so don’t worry about that and prepare the other dishes first.”

“What? All the way out there?”

“You have a fishing rod, right?”

“Yes, but…”

As soon as he received the map and fishing rod, Nikolai was about to set off, opening the door.

Then, as if he suddenly remembered something, he turned back and walked to the counter again.

“Is there anything else you need?”

“No, it’s just…”

Nikolai suddenly extended his hand to the innkeeper.

“Sorry about yesterday.”

“…Pardon?”

“I apologize for being rude.”

The innkeeper, caught off guard, ended up shaking hands in reconciliation.

In reality, Nikolai had done nothing wrong, as the innkeeper had indeed overcharged them for the room.

With the advance payment of gold coins, any resentment from yesterday had long since melted away.

“So, please take good care of breakfast today.”

“Of course. I’ll do my best, though I can’t guarantee it’ll suit your taste.”

“It’s not for me, but for the lady who came with me, so I’d appreciate it if you paid extra attention.”

A small smile appeared on Nikolai’s lips as he thought of her.

“She’s someone precious.”

It was the face of someone unmistakably in love.

There was a subtle difference from yesterday.

The innkeeper, having seen many such things in his business, recognized the look.

It was often seen in men among couples who had crossed the line overnight.

Although his intuition wasn’t completely accurate, it was largely correct.

To Nikolai, last night was a night of communion that went beyond the usual ‘relations’ between a man and a woman.