Nikolai regretted it.
Looking back, it was cowardly to have drawn Franz in.
It was for watching Douglas, but the child was too young to be used as a spy.
“Leave it to me!”
Franz wanted to prove anything.
He was desperately affectionate.
Always telling his halfsibling that it was alright, hoping they would be comfortable.
Perhaps that attitude had fueled Franz’s sense of inadequacy, not fitting for the Crown Prince.
‘Elizabeth told me to observe carefully and think from the child’s position.’
As per her advice, he looked deeply into Franz’s pale green eyes.
When he met those eyes, sparkling with passion, he realized he had been yearning for that sparkle.
“Take care, Finch. You are the only one I can trust… I have no one else but you.”
To have no one to trust but you!
It was something Nikolai would normally never have said.
“Just trust me, Your Majesty!”
Was it because he was called by a nickname after so long?
Was it because he was happy to be trusted?
Franz’s bright smile only triggered Nikolai’s guilt.
The child wanted something so trivial, and it made him feel once again how inadequate a protector he was.
‘Appointing Elizabeth as the education officer was the best choice.’
Nikolai felt pride in his decision.
It was an idea from Cales, and even if Elizabeth herself wanted it, it was a success.
He revised the contract and reached a satisfactory agreement.
She even accepted the requirement not to associate with others.
She seemed to know nothing about Nikolai’s excitement.
‘Douglas and I have nothing to do with each other. It was sincere. But I have to be careful. In the temptation game, I must not even reveal trivial habits.’
Since that day, Nikolai carried the contract stamped with a small seal wherever he went.
A faint cherry blossom scent flowed from the slightly worn paper, folded at the corners.
It wasn’t as much as when he was with Elizabeth, but it was enough to soothe his weary sense of smell.
It must be a delusion, of course.
Just as there’s no eternal bloom, the fragrance on the paper’s surface should have disappeared long ago.
Yet Nikolai kept her name, written next to his, close to his heart.
It might seem like a ridiculous obsession, but it didn’t matter.
As long as he wasn’t caught.
‘It was a meal after a long time. I couldn’t taste it, but it didn’t feel like scooping up gruel and chewing rotten bark.’
To Nikolai, a meal was nothing more than the tedious process of shoving nutrients into his body.
It was the first time since his coronation that he enjoyed a meal with someone.
But Elizabeth barely ate.
It bothered him.
It would have been a bigger problem if Nikolai had enjoyed it alone.
It would mean that Elizabeth was one step closer to victory.
‘This won’t do. I need to win Elizabeth’s heart as soon as possible.’
Nikolai didn’t know that the desire to own someone’s heart and the desire to seduce them were fundamentally different.
He was just anxious.
None of the tactics the wolf pushed had worked.
It was a relief if he didn’t earn contempt.
Even an onslaught of gifts didn’t work.
Elizabeth was as wealthy as the high nobility.
She did not seem to be enthusiastic about luxury items as before.
You could tell just by looking at her clothing, only a little better than the commoners’ everyday wear.
“Empress Rose Brenden requests an audience.”
Cales reported.
It was time to return to reality.
“Refuse. It’s probably about my Ohrabi issue.”
“Is it alright not to appoint a new swordsmanship instructor?”
“Leave it to the education commissioner for a while.”
“Duke Brendan will not sit still. I don’t distrust Elizabeth, but…….”
Cales, who had returned as Elizabeth’s follower, trailed off.
“It’s better than the Crown Prince harming his health. If the Duke’s house rebels, tell them I’ll hold Simon responsible for not properly taking care of the Crown Prince.”
“I will obey.”
“Elizabeth will do well. I personally guided her.”
He couldn’t hide his confusion when Elizabeth asked for a beginner’s swordsmanship training method.
It wasn’t because her question was oddly suggestive.
‘Pinch is inherently incompatible with the sword. No matter how hard you sweat and try, you won’t achieve what you want.’
He knew, but he remained silent.
He thought it shouldn’t break Franz’s passion.
He believed it was the best thing he could do for Franz.
“Ugh! Do you think a 10yearold has great ambitions to train as if to live or die? Everyone is doing that because they must. To be praised, not to disappoint, not to be abandoned.”
Elizabeth’s words made sense.
So the pain gnawed at him even more.
In just a few days, Elizabeth saw through everything about Franz.
Nikolai himself had never succeeded in doing so.
“Your Majesty, did you have to appoint Duke Nettleton as the literature teacher?”
“What’s the problem?”
“People’s attention is directed at Elizabeth. I’m afraid she may be involved in needless rumors because of her former fiancé.”
“She’s not a woman to be swayed by rumors.”
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
