99. No Matter How Hard They Try, They’re in Katya’s Palm
Nikolai placed the Grand Duchess’s seat not diagonally but right next to his position at the head of the table before seating Katya.
Though everyone in the dining hall was shocked, the person who had taken such a surprising action seemed genuinely unaware of what the problem was.
“I apologize for being late. Well, you must be hungry, let’s all sit down now.”
Nikolai spoke as he sat beside his wife.
At his gesture, the palace servants waiting outside began bringing the prepared dishes to the table one by one.
His stepsister Klavdia was about to say something but closed her mouth when Oksana shook her head to stop her.
Nikolai, completely unconcerned with the gazes directed at him, unfolded a napkin and placed it over Katya’s lap.
Though everyone seemed to have much to say, they soon sat down with sour expressions.
“I can do things like this myself, Your Highness.”
Katya whispered to her husband with a sulky voice.
“I know, but I just want to do it for you. Is that not allowed?”
“What will others think?”
“Why does what others think matter? I want to do this for you.”
“You’re treating me completely like a child.”
At those words, the Grand Duke smiled deeply and continued their conversation in a voice only they could hear.
As they whispered something sweet to each other and laughed, it seemed as if they were alone in the dining hall.
“As if I would think of you as a child. Would I want to do this and that with a child? Do I look like such a depraved person?”
“What exactly is ‘this and that’?”
“You know very well.”
Nikolai winked playfully with one eye.
Though Katya’s heart fluttered, she deliberately played innocent.
“I don’t know what you mean?”
“Well then, I’ll leave it to your imagination.”
“I’m not very imaginative.”
“You must be quite imaginative since you’ve read so many books?”
“I’m not sure. Perhaps because I haven’t read many romance books.”
“See, imagination needs to be based on experience, right? Shall we experience things one by one together?”
Katya ended up unconsciously slapping her husband’s arm with an audible smack.
For a moment, silence fell in the dining hall.
Feeling the sharp gazes, she finally realized that people had been watching them while having their own conversations.
She had carried over the playfulness she shared with Nikolai outside the palace right in front of the Grand Duke’s family.
A wife hitting her husband, especially the Grand Duchess hitting the Grand Duke, was not only against etiquette but completely contrary to the common sense of the Grand Duke’s family.
Just then, his sister-in-law, Lyudmila, opened her mouth with an awkward smile.
“The young lady from House Smirnov seems to have some bad habits with her hands.”
“It’s not something that should be called a bad habit.”
Nikolai answered on Katya’s behalf to his sister-in-law.
“For a proper noble lady to lay hands on her husband’s body is not appropriate behavior. It seems the Duchess Smirnov did not teach her well in this regard.”
Though spoken gently, it was ultimately an insult to her parents by bringing up her home education.
At those words, the women in the dining hall covered their faces with napkins and secretly laughed.
Noble ladies raised like flowers in a greenhouse would obviously feel ashamed and self-loathing if they heard such words, thinking they had brought shame to their parents and family.
Moreover, they already knew that Katya’s mother had passed away, having each investigated House Smirnov before dinner.
“My mother passed away when I was young.”
Katya answered quietly.
She tightly held Nikolai’s hand under the table, feeling her patience reaching its limit.
She could handle this level of provocation herself.
While Mikhail fidgeted uncomfortably thinking his sister-in-law had been too rude, the others watched the situation with interested expressions.
Who would stay quiet when their deceased mother was being insulted?
She would either get angry or run out crying—it had to be one of the two.
Noble ladies’ delicate hearts couldn’t quietly endure this situation.
“I’m sorry. I made a slip of the tongue not knowing. I apologize.”
Lyudmila lowered her eyebrows and put on a virtuous expression.
But they had overlooked something.
That their opponent was a little, no, very different from ordinary noble ladies.
“I understand your meaning well, Lady Lyudmila.”
Katya answered with a bright smile.
Having heard about the seating arrangement from Nikolai beforehand, she had memorized all their names.
“What do you……”
“You think I’m ill-mannered because I had no mother, right?”
“What did you say?”
Lyudmila asked in surprise at the unexpected response.
Katya neither got angry nor cried.
She just calmly smiled and spoke her piece steadily.
“It’s understandable that you would think that way. The lady of a noble house should have taught her daughter proper etiquette and manners before marriage, but she passed away before even seeing her daughter’s coming-of-age ceremony.”
“Miss Smirnov, I think there’s some misunderstanding……”
“It’s natural for you all to be dissatisfied with our family. How dare someone without even a mother sit here claiming to be Grand Duchess.”
“That’s not what I meant—”
As Katya pushed the situation to a point where anyone would say it was too much, Lyudmila broke into a cold sweat trying to explain herself after being backed into a corner.
“Well, it’s all true so you don’t need to worry about it.”
“I, I—”
Now she looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.
Just then, Oksana, who had been quietly drinking her pre-dinner tea, set her teacup down with a clink.
The sound of the cup’s bottom meeting its saucer echoed through the dining hall.
As everyone watched, she, who appeared as her daughter-in-law’s savior, opened her lips.
“My eldest has committed a discourtesy. Miss Smirnov, please forgive her with a generous heart.”
“What is there to forgive? She must have spoken out of concern for the Grand Duke’s family.”
“Miss Smirnov is truly a thoughtful young lady.”
Oksana said with a gentle smile.
At those words, Nikolai joined the conversation.
“Mother, I believe I told you. Her surname is now Vasily, not Smirnov. We have officially registered our marriage.”
He personally corrected the wrong expression in his stepmother’s words.
“Marriage registration alone constitutes marriage for commoners. It doesn’t apply to the Grand Duke’s family, as you know.”
“You also registered your marriage with Father before holding the national ceremony. That became a major foundation leading to the national ceremony, and proof of your love and will to marry.”
Tension ran high between the stepmother and son.
Oksana acknowledged that Nikolai had used his head quite well.
After all, denying this would mean arguing that her own marriage was invalid.
But there was still another hurdle before the national ceremony.
“I understand your intention. However, you must also know that since you haven’t properly held the Grand Duchess selection, you need to go through an alternative method?”
Oksana turned her gaze from the Grand Duke to Katya.
“Miss Smirnov probably doesn’t know, so I’ll explain. To enter the Grand Duke’s family, you need approval from three members of the Grand Duke’s family. It becomes a sort of letter of recommendation.”
Katya knew this as well, having heard it from Nikolai.
The Grand Duke’s immediate family gathered here today totaled 3 people: Oksana, Klavdia, and Mikhail.
Including Lyudmila who was not in the immediate family but a sister-in-law, there were 4 people.
There were also relatives governing their territories outside the palace.
But most of them stood on Oksana’s side.
Before coming up to the capital, Nikolai had already obtained two letters of recommendation after persuading relatives who supported him in the South.
The remaining relatives who supported the Grand Duke had shown him affection and sympathy since he was young, but many had already passed away.
Though their children who inherited their titles supported the Grand Duke in their hearts following their predecessors’ will, they were reluctant to step forward for fear of retaliation from Oksana.
“Your Highness, I’m truly sorry I cannot be of help.”
Though they refused, they were genuinely apologetic and Nikolai, knowing Oksana’s viciousness well, couldn’t force them.
Now, when Oksana and Duke Oblonsky belatedly learned of this fact, they would try to stop it even if it meant threatening the relatives in the North.
No, perhaps there wasn’t even a need for that.
The North essentially consisted only of relatives supporting Oksana and Mikhail.
One letter. A battle between the Grand Duke couple and Oksana’s forces would unfold over this one letter.
The people sitting here would obviously not give that one vote to Katya and Nikolai.
“Since those are the laws of the Grand Duke’s family, we must follow them. Is there no one here who would write me a letter of recommendation?”
Though she already knew the answer, Katya asked cheerfully.
“I’m really confident I’d make a good Grand Duchess if you let me?”
Nikolai lowered his head to hide his smile, finding his wife adorable as she openly appealed to their enemies.
This was quite dangerous, as he had always maintained an expressionless face when with his family at Hersen Palace.
He struggled to keep his expression firm while trying hard to hold back his smile.
“I guess not. Then I’ll work hard so you can come to trust me. Please take good care of me!”
Katya, who had been declaring with both fists raised after jumping up, curtsied slightly while holding her skirts with both hands.
People stared with wide eyes, wondering what kind of woman this was.
Katya looked around and recalled what Nikolai had said on their way here.
“During meal times, don’t step forward first and observe the people.”
“What if they provoke first?”
“Trust me, I’ll block everything until then.”
Though Nikolai tried to keep his promise, Katya was faster.
She also wanted to protect her husband.
She had completed both showing them she was not an easy opponent and observing the Grand Duke’s family members.
No matter how hard they tried, they were all in Katya’s palm.
