19. Free Return Policy

“Let’s say the Grand Duke and I get married.”

Katya, unable to be swayed any longer by the serial confessor, opened her mouth.

“But as we live together, we might find we’re incompatible, and if I ask for a divorce, you’d kill me, wouldn’t you?”

“And what would I gain from that?”

“Well… a sense of conquest?”

“I’d like you to conquer me a bit instead.”

Nikolai smoothly countered once again like a sly fox.

“Your Grace, people can’t be fixed.”

“That’s why I came to you, the only one who can.”

“No, I mean, you won’t be able to fix me.”

“Why should I fix you? What’s wrong with you?”

“Are you saying that because you really don’t know? A dutiful wife, a kind mother, those things are completely out of reach for me in this life.”

Katya had no intention of becoming the ideal wife and mother that others desired, even if she were to die and be reborn.

That was truly not suited to her nature.

However, for some reason, Nikolai seemed satisfied with her answer.

“If you don’t change, that would be rather thankful. I don’t need a submissive wife or a gentle mother. I fell for you as you are now.”

“Pardon?”

“I like you just the way you are. Does that answer your question?”

Nikolai took the teacup from her hand and drank it all in one go.

Katya stared at him with a dumbfounded expression.

He was showing her directly that there was no poison inside.

So she should rest assured.

“Even if there were poison in here, I would gladly drink it in your place.”

“……”

“How about it? Is this enough for you to permit me to be your vessel?”

At that moment, the conversation they had in the inn’s bathtub yesterday flashed quickly through Katya’s mind.

“If I were a noble, would you have married me?”

“Of course. I would have definitely married you.”

Such irresponsible words that couldn’t be kept should not have been said.

“Didn’t you declare that you would marry me if I were a noble?”

“I think that was a mistake on my part. The Grand Duke is too much of a vessel for me.”

“Why the sudden change in attitude? Are you the same person who said that liking me would hurt you? Just do as you were doing.”

“I’m the type who’s strong against the weak and weak against the strong…”

Katya said in a voice that was barely audible.

Now that she knew he was the Grand Duke, she couldn’t speak informally to him as she had yesterday.

There was nothing in this tea, but no one could guarantee that the next tea she drank would be safe.

“No, it’s actually the opposite.”

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t you sell the shamshir cheaply, thinking I was a commoner? You even worried about my wealth. Isn’t such a heart that thinks of the people first suitable for a Grand Duchess?”

“Then cancel it! Since the Grand Duke has a lot of money, please add a premium to the cost price!”

She was greatly flustered and spread her palms to demand money.

But instead, it only piqued Nikolai’s interest.

He opened his mouth, looking deeply enamored with Katya.

“To be so assertive. The more I see, the more charming you are.”

“No matter what I say, the answer was already decided, wasn’t it?”

“That can’t be. The choice is entirely yours.”

“Really, even if I refuse… is it okay?”

“It wouldn’t be okay to be rejected. If I return to the north, I might soak my pillow with tears every night thinking of you.”

“Not with blood?”

Katya inadvertently voiced her thoughts without filtering them.

Realizing her blunder too late, she covered her mouth.

But Nikolai didn’t seem offended.

No, rather, he seemed pleased.

“You speak in such an amusing way. It wouldn’t be boring to be with you.”

“Am I like a toy?”

“Can you really misunderstand my sincerity like that? Living with you would make every day exciting.”

“If the Grand Duke wishes, I’ll do my best to be your eternal rattle. Just not marriage.”

As soon as he heard the word ‘rattle,’ a toy for babies, Nikolai chuckled.

Her choice of words was indeed diverse.

When nothing else worked, Katya, who was desperately trying to find an excuse to refuse his proposal, seemed to have thought of something and spoke again.

“Critically, I have a disqualification for becoming a Grand Duchess.”

“A disqualification? What do you mean?”

Curious about what excuse she would come up with this time, Nikolai looked at her with interest.

“When you sent that letter, I shouldn’t have hastily allowed the cohabitation. I was short-sighted.”

“I’ve always had high standards and never intended to marry. As long as I’m confident, who cares what others say?”

“If anyone speaks ill of you, I’ll find them all and make them pay.”

She was confined to the Petrovsky family and forced to cohabit.

Although she had no sexual relationship with Ivan during that time, no one would believe it.

Nikolai probably wouldn’t either.

“I lived with a man.”

“What?”

“I was engaged to a man named Ivan Petrovsky and lived with him at his villa. Although I’ve broken off the engagement and left, would someone like me, with a broken engagement and cohabitation experience, qualify to be a Grand Duchess?”

“Why do you think you wouldn’t qualify?”

“Everyone thinks so. A woman who’s cohabited, broken off an engagement, or divorced must have some problem. They’re considered damaged.”

Even as she said it, Katya felt bitter.

She pretended not to care to avoid upsetting her father, but she couldn’t escape public scrutiny.

She could endure insults directed at her, but she was always tormented by the thought that her father, Bianca, and even the Smirnov family might be criticized.

Neither the engagement nor the cohabitation had been her choice, yet she had to take all the responsibility instead of Ivan, which felt unfair and infuriating.

“Who decides what counts as damage?”

“I’m talking about general perceptions.”

“Have you been living there hearing such things?”

Nikolai asked with a face filled with cold anger.

What on earth had Ivan Petrovsky done to this woman, who was so precious to him that he became cautious?

Seeing Katya, who was always bright and lovely, showing signs of low self-esteem, Nikolai felt intense rage and a murderous urge.

If Ivan were in front of him now, he would want to cut off his breath, whether by beheading or strangling.

Katya’s eyes widened at Nikolai’s words.

His words were spot on.

“Don’t even dream of annulling the marriage now.”

“Who would take a second-hand woman like you after breaking off the engagement?”

“Be grateful that I’m marrying a tomboy like you.”

During her stay at the villa, Ivan constantly fed her these words, fearing she would leave him.

Katya wasn’t weak enough to believe those words sincerely, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt at all.

She didn’t care what Ivan thought, but the public’s gaze made her feel small.

“If we’re talking about damage, I’m worse.”

“……Pardon?”

“As you know, my father took mother as his second Grand Duchess after his first wife passed away. It wasn’t a happy marriage. Father had been maintaining an affair even before the marriage. Eventually, Mother was deposed, and not long after Father expelled her from the palace, he held a national wedding with his mistress.”

Everyone in the Hersen Grand Duchy knew that was Oksana, the former Grand Duchess.

Katya was confused about how to react as Nikolai began to reveal his family’s disgrace.

“Um, Your Grace…”

“Father, gripped by paranoid madness, beat my older brother to death with his own hands. Adultery, paranoia, violence. If there’s a disqualification, it’s in being the son of such a man.”

“That’s not Your Grace’s fault.”

Katya consoled him with a trembling voice.

“Tia.”

For the first time, Nikolai softly called the name she had taught him.

“It’s the same for you.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s not your fault.”

Katya was moved to tears by those words.

Even though Nikolai didn’t know her circumstances intimately, his words were more comforting than any other.

Since discovering his true identity, the Nikolai standing before her seemed to transform back into the Niki she knew from yesterday.

Her intuition hadn’t been wrong.

He was truly a good person.

But even so, she couldn’t accept his proposal.

“Being a Grand Duchess is too big and burdensome for me, but before that, I think the institution of marriage itself doesn’t suit me.”

“How can you be so sure without having tried marriage?”

“What other family would accept an eccentric woman like me as their mistress? Even if there were, we’d clash at every turn. Just the thought of having to form relationships and interact with people besides the spouse is too cumbersome and bothersome.”

“Did you originally intend not to marry?”

“No. Until recently, I wanted to get married. If only I could meet a good person. But maybe because my standards are high, that person never appeared. But after going through all sorts of things, I’m completely sick of it before even trying.”

In that regard, Ivan had truly done a significant job.

He had made Katya so fed up with marriage that she was now averse to it.

As a latecomer, Nikolai had suffered considerable damage from Ivan’s misdeeds.

“I’m actually a little curious about what real married life would be like, but you can’t return a person like a product if you don’t like it.”

Seriously listening to her lament, Nikolai opened his mouth.

“Then it wouldn’t be bad to experience it once.”

“Pardon?”

“Let’s see if marriage really doesn’t suit you.”

“What do you mean by that…”

“How about living with me for just one year? After that, I’ll let you go without any regrets.”

Katya was dumbfounded by the novel proposal and just stared at him.

Many questions arose in her mind, but she was too shocked to voice them.

“I’m saying you can return me if you don’t like me after using me.”

Nikolai added, as if telling her to use him without burden.