"You’re cute," Maximilian murmured, walking toward her before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pressing a kiss against her cheek.
"Stop it! I’m serious!" Catherine protested, though she instinctively leaned into him anyway. "Why would she make him elope when he has such a big family?"
"You might actually be onto sothing here, Catherine," Maximilian said with grave seriousness, guiding her gently toward the couch.
"And Alexander..." Catherine huffed, sitting down with her wine still in hand. "He may be smart, but no man is smarter than a woman with intent. Look at her. She already separated him from us."
"Yeah..." Maximilian nodded solemnly as if discussing a national crisis. "You can really see through her, huh?"
Catherine completely missed the amusent hidden in his eyes.
"She didn’t even look nervous," Catherine continued suspiciously. "That’s the problem. A woman marrying into a family this huge should at least look overwheld. But she was calm. Too calm."
Maximilian bit the inside of his cheek.
God... he had missed this version of her.
This was the Katerina who could spot a harmless glance across a ballroom and construct an entire conspiracy from it before dessert arrived. The sa woman who once declared a duchess "dangerous" because she arranged flowers too neatly.
And strangely enough...
Seeing her like this eased sothing deep inside him.
Because it ant she was comfortable.
Comfortable enough to fuss over silly things. Comfortable enough to be jealous on behalf of her brother instead of carrying the crushing weight of survival on her shoulders.
For the first ti in a long while, she was acting her age instead of carrying the burden of two lifetis.
Maximilian sat beside her and pulled her effortlessly onto his lap.
Catherine blinked. "What are you doing?"
"Listening to your investigation report."
"I’m being serious!"
"I know." He kissed the side of her head. "Go on, Detective Preston."
Catherine narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously before continuing anyway.
"She definitely manipulated him emotionally. Alexander would never ignore like that normally."
"Mmm."
"And she’s a lawyer too," Catherine added dramatically. "That makes her even more dangerous."
"That’s true," Maximilian agreed imdiately. "Lawyers are terrifying."
Catherine pointed at him as if he had finally seen reason. "Exactly!"
He chuckled softly and rested his chin on her shoulder while she continued rambling about all the "suspicious" things Roxana had done in the five minutes they t.
And the entire ti...
Maximilian’s arms never loosened around her.
Because this—her warmth, her petty complaints, the way she felt safe enough to pout over nonsense—was precious to him beyond asure.
After a while of Catherine passionately reporting all her observations while Maximilian nodded along with suspicious sincerity—and occasionally added fuel to her theories—Catherine slowly began to realize sothing was wrong.
"You..." She narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger directly at him. "What are you doing?"
"I’m listening to you," Maximilian replied innocently, though internally he was already preparing his escape route. She had finally caught onto him.
"Really?" Catherine asked slowly.
Maximilian blinked once. "So... how are you planning to punish her? Na a horse after her? Or maybe an unruly hunting dog? Declare her favorite flower the royal flower so she can never wear it again? Spread rumors that she has terrible diseases because she slept around? Mispronounce her na for the rest of her life?"
Catherine, still seated sideways on his lap, slowly turned to stare at him.
Those examples...
Were oddly specific.
"Didn’t you do all of those to the won who tried getting close to in our past life?" he asked lazily, that dangerous smirk tugging at his lips.
Catherine’s cheeks imdiately ward.
So he noticed.
Not only noticed—he rembered.
"Maximulus..." she said coldly, glaring at him purely to suppress the blush threatening to expose her.
Was he seriously looking proud right now?
She absolutely refused to let him enjoy this.
Maximilian’s brows twitched.
Again.
Mispronouncing his na in the most childish way possible.
"Say my na properly, woman."
Before she could react, he flipped her over onto the couch. Catherine burst into startled laughter as he leaned over her, his chest pressing warmly against her back while his breath brushed the side of her face.
"Maximulus..." she giggled shalessly. "Maximus Minor..."
"Catherine," he growled warningly.
He caught both her wrists and pinned them lightly behind her back, lowering his head closer to hers.
"Say my na."
Catherine imdiately let out an exaggerated scream as though she were being tortured.
Maximilian loosened his grip at once.
And she kept screaming anyway.
His eyes narrowed.
"Max—" she whispered dramatically.
Maximilian leaned closer instinctively, listening.
"Maxelin."
"That’s it."
He caught her wrists again while Catherine dissolved into helpless giggles.
"Ouchie! Stop, Moosemilian!"
"You are doing this on purpose."
"Maybe."
The next mont, Maximilian lifted the edge of her skirt slightly, tugging teasingly at the fabric beneath it.
Catherine’s breath hitched.
"What—"
"You, young lady," he said in a deep voice, "need a proper spanking."
Catherine twisted around just enough to stare at him in disbelief before imdiately laughing again.
"What next? Are you going to ask to call you daddy too?"
The image was so absurd coming from him that she could barely breathe from laughing.
"Spank harder, Daddy!"
It felt less like them and more like he had accidentally wandered out of so badly written romance film.
Maximilian let out a long, suffering sigh.
"You’re not into this?" he asked honestly.
"Not really," Catherine admitted.
"Scared?"
"No." She shook her head softly. "It just... doesn’t feel like you."
For a mont, sothing gentler settled in his expression.
Then, without another word, he rolled her onto her side and stretched out behind her on the couch instead, one arm wrapping around her waist.
The warmth of him surrounded her instantly.
And then she heard the soft tallic sound of his belt unbuckling.
Catherine’s breath caught as she felt the hard length of him press against her through the thin fabric of her dress.
His lips brushed the shell of her ear.
"Does this feel like ?" he murmured, voice rough and low.
Catherine shivered.
Heat slowly unfurled through her body as she lted back against him.
"Maybe..." she whispered, suddenly no longer laughing quite as much.
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