With a sudden swing, Mikhail opened the door himself. Natasha, who was standing right in front of it, smiled brightly without showing any signs of surprise.
“Come in.”
Perhaps because her expression was different from what he expected, Mikhail felt a slight twinge of disappointment.
He sat back down in his chair. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting.
“Well, you’ve seen my face, so that should be enough, right? Now go play with Denis.”
“Aren’t you nostalgic for those days?”
Natasha echoed Denis’s words verbatim.
This was precisely why Mikhail and Jerome, despite raising their guard against her, couldn’t draw a clear line.
No matter how much of an enemy someone might seem, the bonds formed from growing up together since childhood are not easily severed.
And that was the gap Natasha exploited.
“I used to cry because I wanted to attend classes with you when I was little…”
“And we did take classes together in the end.”
“I bet I was better than you in some subjects.”
“In some, yes. But I recall you being terrible at dancing and social etiquette.”
Mentioning their childhood softened Mikhail’s expression slightly.
As the eldest of the three brothers, he had always found it difficult to deal with Natasha, who was like a new little sister. That didn’t mean he disliked her.
In fact, when they were very young, Mikhail had been extremely fond of Natasha.
Perhaps that’s why Mikhail felt so deeply betrayed by her.
If anyone knew, it would have been Natasha. She must have known how much Mikhail wanted to protect the Petrov duchy.
Yet Natasha shattered everything.
“You’ve always done whatever you wanted. You left without a word, didn’t even look back, and now you want to make amends?”
“You know I’m fickle by nature.”
Natasha casually picked up the documents on the table.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“It seemed like our dear brother doubted my sincerity. Are you struggling with this issue?”
Mikhail immediately snatched the papers from Natasha’s hand.
“Oh.”
With a slight tear, the paper cut through Natasha’s fingers, causing a thin stream of blood to ooze out.
“That hurts.”
“That’s what happens when you mess with someone else’s papers…”
“Do you want help?”
Mikhail raised an eyebrow.
It was as if she could read his mind. It felt like she had caught on to his thought, “If only Natasha were here at a time like this.”
“If you want, I can help. I heard you have a meeting with the merchants’ guild in a week.”
“What are you up to?”
“I told you.”
Natasha smiled lazily, her eyes narrowing as her pupils almost disappeared.
“I want to make amends. And helping with this… consider it a bribe?”
Mikhail hesitated for a moment.
‘A bribe? Is she serious? She must have some other ulterior motive. But what could Natasha gain by helping the duchy? It wouldn’t particularly boost her career as a divorce lawyer.’
His doubts spiraled further.
‘So why? Could she really… want to reconcile?’
Mikhail scrutinized Natasha carefully. She was the type to lie without changing her expression, so he always had to be vigilant.
‘That Natasha? No way. She must have an ulterior motive… but what could she gain by helping the duchy….?’
For a moment, the fact that she was a “divorce” lawyer and the image of Chloe crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed the thought.
Chloe and he had a distant, indifferent relationship. Divorce only happens when both parties care.
As Mikhail’s contemplation dragged on, Natasha leaned forward slightly and snapped her fingers.
“Hey? What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Ahem.”
Mikhail finally concluded, “I don’t know why Natasha is helping the duchy, but for now, it can’t hurt.”
“…But there’s a condition.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll assign another lawyer to work alongside you in case you try anything.”
“Whatever you want.”
“Noel will be joining you.”
Natasha’s face immediately crumpled.
“…Does it have to be Noel?”
“Noel is currently the Petrov duchy’s designated lawyer. If you have a problem with that, you’re welcome to quit.”
“Hmm…”
Natasha resisted the urge to bite down on a pipe. Her head was already starting to ache.
‘I just have to endure it. Yes, endure! It’s for the job!’
She struggled to suppress her desire to quit on the spot.
“…Fine, I’ll do it. It’s sad that you doubt me, but if that’s what you want.”
“And one more thing.”
“Now what?”
Natasha inwardly sneered, “Why don’t you just assign Jerome to keep an eye on me too?” but she kept it to herself.
“…Even though he rarely comes, our father is technically still the master of this house. He probably wouldn’t want to run into you here.”
Mikhail’s expression was as if he were chewing on coarse sand, but Natasha remained unperturbed.
She had already clashed with Nikolai Petrov enough during the divorce trial that she had nothing left to hold back.
“You can come and go freely from the duchy while helping with this matter, but if our father arrives, you must leave immediately. Regardless of the time or situation.”
Even if it were the middle of the night or during a meal, there would be no exceptions.
“That’s no problem.”
Natasha readily agreed.
Of course, she was somewhat disappointed to miss out on seeing what kind of sour expression Nikolai would make when they inevitably crossed paths.
‘It’s a shame to miss that fun.’
Natasha had no reason to avoid Nikolai.
If anything, he was the one who would avoid her.
“Alright. So, I just need to start with Noel tomorrow?”
“I haven’t even told you what the job is yet.”
The documents Natasha had glanced at contained nothing more than “The Montchamps trading company is recklessly expanding and causing us trouble.”
“It’s fine. It’s not like it’s my first day as a lawyer.”
Natasha was a tailor-made lawyer groomed for the Petrov Dukedom.
She had excelled so much that just before she left, her achievements were so remarkable that she was even considered for the position of “partner lawyer,” surpassing her role as a dedicated legal counsel.
This meant she was well-acquainted with the ways of the Petrov Dukedom.
“All you need to do is bring down Célian Monchamp, the head of the Monchamp Trading Company.”
Natasha’s eyes gleamed like a lion eyeing its prey as she spoke.
***
His silver hair with a bluish tint shimmered under the sunlight. The curve at the corner of his mouth was smooth as if drawn, and his eyes seemed to be full of goodwill.
“Natasha, who would’ve thought we’d end up working together?”
Natasha felt a sudden surge of irritation, but as a person of refined intelligence, she decided to hold back.
“Indeed, Noel. It’s really amazing. Feels like we’re back in law school.”
Natasha also smiled brightly, not willing to be outdone. A business-like smile bloomed across her face.
Invisible static electricity crackled in the air.
‘What an annoying guy.’
Natasha knew very well why she couldn’t stand Noel.
It was a kind of self-loathing.
Both of them had clawed their way up from commoner backgrounds, learning to smile sweetly for the sake of survival.
It was basic for them to be different on the inside than they appeared, and they both shone the most in structures where they had to trample on others to climb higher.
Yet, despite their true feelings, they were both natural at saying things they didn’t mean.
“Come on, how long has it been since I left the Dukedom? It’s troublesome to be asked for favors like this, you know?”
In other words, ‘You still haven’t settled in the position I left behind, even though you eagerly snatched it up?’
“Haha. Oh, come on, I’ve heard that you, Natasha, offered to help out of goodwill. Anyway, it was a bit much to handle all the Petrov Dukedom’s affairs on my own, so I’m more grateful that you’re helping out.”
This, too, could be translated as ‘You’re the one who asked to work on this. Is your divorce law practice so slow?’
Denis, who was about to intervene in the covert battle, discreetly turned back.
“Alright, how about we do it this way?”
Natasha dropped her pretended kindness and got straight to the point.
“Neither of us is the cooperative type, right?”
Noel maintained his smile but nodded silently.
“Remember? Our second year, first semester, how we handled the midterm presentation replacement assignment in ‘Understanding Civil Procedure Law.'”
“Of course. Are you suggesting we use that method?”
“Exactly.”
Natascha solemnly declared.
“We’ll settle it at the merchants’ meeting in a week. Each of us will prepare, and the one who achieves the best results wins.”
Though this was not Mikhail’s intention at all, it was, in fact, the most efficient way to use the two of them.
Noel, already displeased by having his territory encroached upon, had no reason to refuse.
“Are you sure? You’ve probably been out of this field for a while. If you want, I can assign one of our lawyers to assist you.”
Noel made another dig at Natasha’s pride, essentially declaring a handicap.
“Ha!”
Natasha let out a sharp scoff.
“You’re the one who should be careful. Feel free to use any of the lawyers under your command, but don’t come crying later.”
She, too, attacked Noel by exposing his weak spot.
“As I recall, I got the higher score in that ‘Understanding Civil Procedure Law’ assignment. I think I was majoring in Commercial Law at the time, and Noël, you were… Oh, what was it again? I can’t quite remember.”
“…Litigation Law.”
The sound of Noel gritting his teeth could be heard.
Yet he still maintained his poker face, a remarkable feat.
This was precisely the aspect of Natasha that Noel despised.
Top graduate of law school, Natasha. And second in line, Noel.
Noel had always been the perennial runner-up to Natasha, constantly compared to her during their time in law school.
“You’re confident. Should we make a bet then?”
This time would be different from law school. Noel was truly confident that he would beat Natasha.
“Sure, what’s at stake? Money? How about a bet for a thousand gold?”
“That’s too trivial. A thousand gold can easily be earned back.”
It was a statement Natasha found difficult to understand.
“Let’s do this. The winner gets to boss the loser around like a servant for a week. How about that?”
“A servant? I don’t really need one…”
Natasha wasn’t particularly tempted, already having Ivan, an excellent assistant. But she suddenly remembered that Noel’s weekly salary was roughly a thousand gold and quickly nodded.
“Alright, and the winner also takes the income generated during that period?”
“…Fine, if you insist.”
Noel agreed somewhat reluctantly.
It was surprising that a lawyer of Natasha’s standing was still so hung up on money.
“Good, then see you in a week.”
“And no whining about it when you lose?”
“That goes for you too.”
The two exchanged smiles as they spoke.
Denis, who had cautiously approached, quickly retreated once more.
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
If you want to support the translation and the translator, you can buy a coffee~
