57. Bloody Honeymoon at the Haunted Hotel (1)

“Even if you want to cancel this marriage now, I would have nothing to say.”

Nikolai caressed her cold cheek in the night wind while cupping Katya’s face with one hand.

“I was too complacent. I was just so happy about being with you that I overlooked how my misfortune would affect you.”

“……”

“Though it may sound irresponsible, you can abandon me like this. Since you’re legally my wife, as promised, the compensation and the Duke’s assets–”

“You’re right. I think I made a mistake marrying you.”

His blue eyes trembled uncontrollably when she finally uttered words of regret, despite him being the one who said she could leave.

While he sincerely meant she could leave him, it wasn’t entirely true either.

If even Katya left his side, would there be any reason left to live in this world?

“Honestly, I didn’t know my life would be in danger, but that’s fine. However, I didn’t know Your Highness was such a coward.”

“Tia…”

“Isn’t this a fraudulent marriage? I married Your Highness because I liked brave and strong men. I’m starting to regret it now.”

Nikolai, who had been extremely tense, finally smiled faintly upon seeing her grinning with a playful tone.

“It is a fraudulent marriage. I oversold myself trying to appeal to you.”

“Still, it’s fine. I’m stronger than you might think.”

“What?”

“From now on, I’ll hold tight to both your sanity and life. So Your Highness should also stay alert. I can’t live with debts, so I have no intention of taking compensation or anything for free. I’ll receive it after properly fulfilling the contract, okay?”

Grand Duchess Katarina spoke so bravely.

During her time in the South, she decided to protect him now just as he had fought for her.

“Won’t you regret it?”

Nikolai asked in a trembling voice, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“No, I won’t regret it.”

“…When I said you could abandon me like this, that was actually a lie.”

“I knew that.”

Katya answered with a satisfied expression as she watched him confess while clutching her sleeve tightly like a child.

Though she tried to smile to reassure her husband, she actually felt quite unsettled herself.

Perhaps Nikolai, who had faced so much hostility and interference, wanted at least his marriage to be with someone he chose.

He had chosen her, and Katya intended to fulfill her duties as Grand Duchess to the best of her ability.

Though the letter specifically targeted Nikolai, this assassin had deliberately targeted Katya.

It seemed Oksana hadn’t yet received reports about Katya.

If she had known, she would have tried to somehow invalidate the marriage by mobilizing the Senate, which served as the Grand Duchy’s advisory body.

Undoing the registration was impossible since more than a week had passed.

‘Yet they still tried to kill me.’

The assassin who tampered with the carriage was quite clever.

They aimed for the moment when Nikolai would be incapacitated by the loss of his lover.

If even an assassin who didn’t know him well thought this way, what would happen when Oksana’s forces directly saw Nikolai in love?

While those in love become stronger than anyone else, they also become more vulnerable than anyone else.

Though she knew he would be shocked seeing the accident, Katya received quite a shock herself when she directly witnessed Nikolai trying to jump off the cliff.

The man who had always seemed so strong crumbled in an instant like someone witnessing the destruction of his homeland.

She realized then.

‘I’ve become His Highness’s only weakness.’

Until now, Nikolai had charged straight ahead without hesitation, to the point of being called the ‘Bloody Grand Duke.’

Having a weakness meant having restrictions on his actions.

If enemies turned their arrows to target her instead of him—

‘I could become an obstacle to everything His Highness tries to do from now on.’

That day, Katya regretted accepting this marriage for the first time.

After safely crossing the mountains, Nikolai and Katya’s party arrived at a city called Vasnetsov several days later.

This city, with its beautiful natural scenery, architecture, and hot springs, was such a famous resort that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it led Hersen’s tourism industry.

It was especially popular as a honeymoon destination.

Due to its geographical location near the port, people from various regions gathered there, and as a city leading cultural and artistic trends, there was much to see.

Though prices were high, even commoners dreamed of visiting Vasnetsov for their honeymoon.

When Nikolai first suggested going on a short honeymoon after the ceremony, Katya had opposed.

“Can we go on a honeymoon during your covert mission?”

“We already had a marriage conducted without the proper procedures. We did the registration first and even simplified the main ceremony. I want at least a proper honeymoon, you know?”

“Still…”

“The knights I sent to scout the next city haven’t returned yet. It’ll take time to receive their preliminary report anyway.”

That was his judgment that they could go on a honeymoon in the meantime.

Katya soon agreed.

As they expected, once they went up to the capital, it wouldn’t be easy to take time off, so this might be their last chance to travel freely.

Until the Duchess’s illness worsened, the Smirnov family often traveled together.

One of those places was Vasnetsov, and young Katya fell in love with this city from the moment she first saw it.

Under the sky tinted pink by sunset, the harmony created by the Baroque-style buildings in watercolor paint hues was enchanting enough to make a child’s small heart race.

Her head, filled with anticipation at the thought of seeing that sight again, was soon covered with disappointment.

“What is this… Talk about bad timing!”

As they entered the city limits, dark clouds began gathering in the sky, which quickly turned ashen, like smoke rising from a chimney.

With drizzling rain falling as well, the sunset came earlier than scheduled, covering the entire city in darkness.

Soon after, they arrived in front of a hotel located in the outskirts.

The reason for choosing this place over hotels in the city center was precisely this geographical condition.

Being an isolated space surrounded by rivers on all sides, it could minimize contact with others compared to hotels in the city center.

Nikolai didn’t want their honeymoon to be disturbed as well.

“What… exactly is this place?”

Dismounting from his horse, he muttered with a shocked expression at the scene that was quite different from the picture in the promotional flyer.

Though they had chosen it with expectations after hearing it was the most historic hotel in Vasnetsov, the building before them could hardly be called a hotel.

Of course, it was presumed to have been a beautiful castle in Gothic style ‘form’ in the past.

But whatever had happened since then, ivy vines covered the entire exterior of the building, and paint had peeled off in places, leaving streaks like dirty water running down the walls.

While the groom was deciding to kill the flyer’s creator, the tactless Boris blurted out his impression.

“This is what they call ‘feeling like you’ve encountered the introduction of a horror novel when you thought it was romance genre,’ right?”

It was a scathing but accurate assessment. It had an eerie feeling like something that would appear in various ghost stories.

Nikolai now felt self-loathing.

He couldn’t let his beloved bride sleep in such a place on their long-awaited first night.

“Let’s go back, Tia. If we look for another place now…”

“It would be like finding a needle in a haystack to get rooms at other hotels during peak season. And you can’t spend your first night at an inn either.”

His loyal servant refuted in a measured tone.

Though the urge rose to sew shut those truthful lips that spoke nothing but facts, Nikolai soon decided to stop his evil thoughts.

Katya seemed to notice her husband’s inner thoughts as she tugged on his sleeve.

“The v-vintage style is romantic, isn’t it? Is there a law saying honeymoons must be at pretty hotels? Sometimes breaking stereotypes can be unique and good. I’m more excited about what’s inside?”

Seeing her desperately trying to find positive points, Nikolai felt too apologetic to raise his head.

“Just buy it then.”

“What? Buy what?”

“If there are no rooms available, we can just buy the entire hotel.”

“Calm down, Your Highness!”

Katya shouted to stop him as he looked ready to rush out and actually buy the hotel.

Looking at history books, most tyrants met their downfall through luxury and pleasure.

Though Nikolai’s case was different since he would be spending his own overflowing money rather than squeezing taxes from citizens, with so many enemies already, she didn’t want to give them unnecessary ammunition.

“Have I mentioned it before? I used to read quite a lot of detective novels. I’ve wanted to visit a place like this sometime. Doesn’t your heart race at the setting that seems like a locked-room murder might occur?”

She was half sincere.

While she did want to test her courage by experiencing a haunted house, that didn’t mean she wanted to spend her honeymoon in such a place.

But now they really had no other options, and Katya was exhausted from the long journey.

Moreover, they had taken the rain directly while riding horses without a carriage.

Even the nearest inn was more than 30 minutes away.

Her desire to quickly wash up, fill her stomach, and collapse into bed outweighed all the drawbacks.

“Achoo!”

Seeing his wife sneeze as if catching a cold, Nikolai finally entered the hotel with her while fidgeting anxiously.

Still, according to registered information, it belonged to the luxury hotel category, so they should have basic medicines in stock.

Just as they entered the lobby, a gentleman with a dignified mustache approached with a troubled expression and exclaimed while waving his hands.

[I’m sorry, but we have no vacant rooms at the moment!]