Don’t Tame the Tomboy

“Dare to deceive me with such cheap tricks—”

Kind words, refined words.

Nikolai suppressed his anger and closed his eyes, then opened them again.

“Trying to deceive me with such a cheap perfume?”

“What? No, that’s not true. It must have been a mis—”

Luka sniffed the scent skeptically, then immediately started coughing.

Even though he didn’t know much about fragrances, he could sense it.

It was clearly a different fragrance from the one they had discovered with Bianca in the store.

“When I smelled it before, it wasn’t this perfume. Why is this one inside?”

“Why are you asking me that? Are you scamming me? How pathetic.”

“I didn’t think she had the face of a scammer…”

As Luka’s tone suddenly became arrogant and harsh, Nikolai felt his mood sour.

“Is it possible that you talk to Lady Katarina in the same manner as you do to me?”

“What kind of manner?”

“Like this. Something like ‘Did you do this? Did you do that?'”

“Do I do that to Tia too?”

Luka shook his head as if he had expected that.

As a first-time lover, the Duke didn’t understand what the problem was.

“What went wrong?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s proper etiquette for a monarch to speak like that at any given time, but I’m afraid Your Highness, the prospective Grand Duchess, might feel some distance.”

“Distance?”

“That’s what romance is all about, isn’t it?”

Nikolai thought back over what had happened.

“I apologize. I was unaware of your presence, Grand Duke, and I acted impolitely…”

“If I am to show proper respect to Your Grace…”

Until she learned that he was a Grand Duke, Katya had treated him comfortably. But now, she found him intimidating.

Seeing her use such extreme honorifics, it seemed as though she was addressing the ruler of the country rather than her husband.

Indeed, the way he spoke to the knights during training wasn’t much different from the way he addressed Katya.

Was that the reason?

As Katya, she could feel enough distance.

Nikolai wanted to treat her better.

He wanted to make her the happiest woman in the world.

And he wished to be closer to her than anyone else.

Now that she was his only family.

But it was difficult this way.

“Indeed, you are my most trusted friend.”

“All of a sudden?”

“Thank you for your advice.”

Nikolai, with an enlightened expression, stood up and quickly left the room.

“No, how can you just leave after calling me here?”

Left alone by the unexpected actions of the host, the guest belatedly exclaimed with a sense of defeat on their face.

***

“Your Grace, what brings you here so early in the morning?”

Katya entered the reception room while yawning.

Tears quickly formed under her green eyes.

A single strand of hair, left uncombed on the back of her head, stood up straight.

‘So adorable.’

Nikolai nearly said those words. But since they weren’t officially engaged yet, he quickly suppressed the urge. He didn’t want her to feel burdened from the morning.

Expressing affection could wait until after they set a wedding date.

“I didn’t realize it was your sleeping time. I’ll come back at lunchtime.”

“But you’ve come all the way here. How can I send you back? Please have a seat.”

Apologizing, Katya grabbed his shoulder as he tried to stand up and gently guided him back into the seat. She brought over a chair from the opposite side and sat next to him.

She wanted to listen to his voice up close, afraid she might doze off during their conversation.

For whatever reason, it felt natural for them to be sitting this close, and Nikolai’s mood became peculiar.

“Our family tends to be late risers. Usually, we wake up around mid-morning when the sun is high in the sky.”

“What time do you usually sleep until? I don’t want to make the same mistake again.”

“I don’t have a schedule, I just wake up when my eyes open. Oh, but the Grand Duchess shouldn’t oversleep, right?”

Katya, her mind wandering, asked with a momentarily distracted expression.

She had heard that the mistress of a noble house usually woke up early and engaged in activities, so the Grand Duchess wouldn’t be any different.

No, considering the number of visitors to the palace, shouldn’t she be even more diligent?

Worried, she yawned again and covered her mouth.

Her tear-filled eyes seemed as if they could overflow at any moment.

Watching her closely, Nikolai reached out his hand to her face and naturally wiped away the droplet hanging from her eyelash with his finger.

“I’ll let you sleep as much as you want.”

“Even if the Grand Duke allows it, won’t anyone try to wake me up?”

“In that case, I’ll send them some black tea to keep them quiet.”

“Then they’ll sleep forever, too.”

Katya, who was joking and laughing, unknowingly slumped forward.

In that instant, Nikolai instinctively displayed agility and caught her forehead before it hit the table.

“Did you doze off again just now?”

She mumbled as she rested her face on his large palm.

Nikolai cautiously placed her face on the table, and she immediately extended her arms and flopped down.

While still half-immersed in the realm of dreams, Katya closed her eyelids tightly and turned her head to the side, applying pressure to her eyelids.

Her determination to listen to Nikolai’s words could be seen on her face.

“Tia, are you sure you don’t need more sleep?”

Nikolai softly caressed her strawberry blonde hair and asked.

“But I’m perfectly fine.”

“Are your eyes saying something different? Let’s talk about it again during the day.”

“You’ve come all the way here, how can I send you back? Please have a seat.”

“I’m already sitting, Tia.”

“We tend to be late risers… We usually wake up when… the sun is up.”

Katya repeated the same words, knowing she was thinking clearly, but found herself repeating them in her drowsiness.

“This way, we won’t be able to have a proper conversation.”

Her slowly blinking eyelids closed again.

She was completely asleep.

Her cheeks comfortably pressed against the table, and the sound of her steady breathing filled the room without discomfort.

“Tia, go upstairs and sleep comfortably on the bed.”

However, this little sleepyhead had no intention of getting up.

Nikolai, who was about to call a servant to take her to the bedroom, changed his mind.

He didn’t want to disturb her peaceful sleep.

He gently lifted her up and held her in his arms, walking towards the sofa.

He laid her down on the sofa, supporting her neck with a cushion as a makeshift pillow.

Finally feeling relieved, Nikolai crossed over to the opposite side of the sofa and sat down.

He took out the book he borrowed from the duke in advance from his bag, intending to wait until Katya woke up. As he did, her figure, precariously perched at the end of the sofa, came into view.

“Tia!”

Nikolai, startled, rushed towards her before her body hit the floor and gently laid her back down.

In fact, Katya had a strange habit of sleeping on the edge of the bed, even in her sleep. Remarkably, she had never fallen off the bed before.

On the day they stayed at the inn, Nikolai had piled heavy blankets on top of her, worried that she might feel cold, and as a result, her body remained fixed in a proper position throughout the night.

So Nikolai had no way of knowing about her sleeping habits.

“Ah, again? What’s the problem this time?”

Startled, like a moth diving into a flame, he panicked and returned to the sofa where she lay.

Finally, Nikolai sat on the sofa and placed his knee for Katya to rest on, finally finding some relief.

How much time had passed?

“Mmm.”

Katya woke up at the chirping sound of a sparrow.

‘Weird. It felt like the Duke was here. Was it a dream?’

The soft pillow felt unusually firm, like a rock.

She slowly opened her eyes and noticed a shadow above her.

And she saw the familiar, sharp jawline of someone.

Due to the height difference, she always looked up at him, but it was the first time she saw him from this angle.

“Wait… Your Grace?”

Finally, with discomfort, she turned her upper body to the side and saw Nikolai reading a book, supporting her sleeping self on his knee.

As his head moved towards her, Katya unknowingly closed her eyes tightly.

“Tia, awake?”

“…”

“I saw you open your eyes earlier.”

Katya, who had been pretending to sleep, finally opened her eyes.

Nikolai was smiling at her.

Feeling embarrassed, Katya rolled over to the side and landed gracefully on the floor.

No, she intended to land gracefully, but ended up hitting her head on the table.

“Tia! Are you okay?”

Nikolai hurriedly approached her, lying flat on the floor.

“Someone’s hurt…!”

As Nikolai tried to get up to call the servants, Katya held onto his hand while still lying on the floor.

“Your Grace, just…”

“What? I can’t hear you. Are you awake?”

“Just, can you leave it like this?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can’t get up.”

“Are you in a lot of pain? I’ll call a physician!”

“No, it’s not that! I just feel embarrassed… I’m fine, so please go.”

Confessing in a voice that sounded like a mischievous child.

Since she was young, she had been like a wild colt, running around and bumping into things, often getting hurt. But she didn’t want to show such a ridiculous sight to the man she was going to marry.

Nikolai, who momentarily groaned with a face that said he found her adorable, slowly helped her up, suppressing his laughter.

Covering her face with both hands, Katya stood up and sat down.

“Look at me. Are you really okay?”

Nikolai carefully removed her hands, revealing a flushed forehead.

“Does it hurt? What if something happens?”

“Then the marriage would be off.”

“Is there any need to worry about that? I’ll take care of you.”

“A Grand Duchess with a bald head1I think lump on the head would be more appropriate but based on the next lines I chose the term bald hear instead?”

“Whether it’s a bald head or a head full of hair, I love you just the same.”

“Have you just made a laughing stock of the entire country’s balding people? My father is going bald, too.”

“Sorry. I’ll take that back.”

Nikolai retracted his statement, looking serious.

The two people locked eyes and burst into laughter at the same time.

“But I’m serious. Even if you have a bald head, you’ll still be adorable.”

“But I still don’t like baldness. Sniff, what should I do…”

“I understand. If by any chance you do get bald, I will search every doctor in the country, no, in the whole world, to fix it for you, no matter what.”

The Grand Duke made a tender yet resolute vow to his soon-to-be bride, who was pouting.