#136. Deception (1)
When Pavel opened his eyes again, they were calm and steady. His mind had also cooled down.
“Grand Duke? Are you alright?”
Pavel looked down at Naina quietly.
“…You still want revenge, don’t you?”
Now that his murderous intent had faded, he began to notice the things he had missed earlier.
“If I were you, I’d feel the same. He killed your precious family, after all. Anyone would want to kill such a monster.”
There was something strange in her tone—something she couldn’t hide, like a faint trace of pleasure.
“I can help you,” she said softly, her voice dripping with temptation as she carefully watched his reaction.
“…How?”
“Does that mean you trust me?”
“I’ll decide after I see what you do.”
Unlike before, when he ignored her completely, Pavel now gave her a small opening.
Naina noticed the change immediately and spoke without hesitation.
“I’ll be the bait. I’ll make him reveal his true identity.”
“You’ll be the bait yourself… That’s dangerous.”
“Are you worried about me?”
“No, I’m worried that we might fail because of you.”
“Oh…”
Naina pouted, pretending to be hurt.
“You don’t have to worry. I saw a future where we win. That’s why I came to find you. And…”
Her hesitant glances annoyed Pavel.
“And?”
“Well, I’ll tell you next time. Once we finish the revenge and safely return to Bellicordo Castle.”
At the mention of Bellicordo Castle, Pavel’s eyes sharpened.
That word stood out. Did she plan to follow him there? Was that their true destination?
He didn’t yet know what she truly wanted, but the picture was slowly becoming clearer.
From her shy glances to her blushing face—he could sense the same warmth and vanity as the noblewomen he’d met at social gatherings.
‘Disgusting.’
Any touch from a woman who wasn’t Sasha only made him feel irritated. He even felt a curse rise to his lips.
But—
“…Alright. I understand.”
Instead of acting rashly, Pavel swallowed his disgust again.
He had no intention of falling into her trap. Instead, he wanted to use whatever she was hiding.
If he wanted results, he had to endure this much.
“Tell me more about that plan of yours.”
At his cooperative reply, a spark of triumph flickered in Naina’s eyes.
Pavel caught that subtle emotion and sneered inwardly.
“Just how long are we going to stay like this?”
Gregory, disguised as Chernomor, grumbled as he visited Naina—no, Raisa—again, completely aware of the watchful eyes around them.
The longer he stayed among the Black Wolf Knights pretending to be Chernomor, the more his irritation grew.
At first, deceiving his nephew and the soldiers had been amusing. But as time passed without action, only boredom remained.
“Enough wasting time. Let’s just wipe them all out already.”
While filing her nails, Raisa glanced at him lazily.
“I already told you. Once we earn full trust as part of the Volkovs and return to Bellicordo Castle, everything will be easier.”
“I know that! But it’s taking too long!”
“That’s why we have to be thorough. Once we seize power from within, no one from outside will dare challenge the new Volkov Duke. At most, they’ll gossip behind closed doors. None of them have the guts to start a war.”
“….”
“We’re not ending this in this cold, narrow north, remember? We planned to move south—keep expanding until we have it all. Did you forget your ambition already?”
Raisa’s calm persuasion made Gregory sigh in frustration.
“…This will be the last time I play along with your stupid games.”
Her brows twitched slightly.
‘Arrogant fool. Who’s playing along with whom?’
She hid her thoughts as Gregory growled again.
“I knew about your boring little stunt with Duke Titova. Don’t think I didn’t.”
“Oh? I didn’t realize you were so interested in my work.”
“Not you. I just keep my eyes on what’ll soon belong to me—the North.”
Gregory snarled, his tone threatening.
“No one, not even you, can ruin what’s mine.”
Raisa thought coldly:
‘What an idiot. He still thinks he’s a count. But fine…’
Remembering her conversation with Pavel from the night before, she glanced slyly at Gregory.
‘You’ve already served your purpose. Just one last step…’
Smiling sweetly, she said, “Alright. If that’s how you want it, we can move faster. I have a new plan.”
“What? If this is another one of your silly tricks, I’m not—”
“Don’t you want to see Pavel Volkov fall into despair?”
Gregory froze.
His eyes glimmered with excitement, urging her to continue.
“First, we’ll reveal your true identity.”
Gregory scoffed.
“What? You dressed me up like this, and now you want to expose me?”
“It’s not dressing up—it’s magic… never mind. That’s not important. What comes next is.”
She leaned in, lowering her voice.
“When people find out you’re Gregory Volkov, they’ll be shocked. And Pavel Volkov… he’ll be devastated.”
“Of course. He thought his uncle was dead.”
“Then we’ll reveal that you killed Dmitri Volkov.”
“He’ll be trembling with rage! Hah! He’ll want to kill me on the spot!”
“Exactly. And then—”
“You’ll tell me to kill him right then?”
“No. You’ll pretend to lose and escape.”
“What?”
Gregory blinked, confused.
“I’ll spread rumors about your ‘weakness.’ When you’re attacked, you’ll act like you’ve been fatally wounded and barely escape alive.”
“Why would I do that? Pretend to lose to those pathetic worms?”
“Because it’ll be more fun later,” Raisa said with a smile.
“Fun? What kind of fun?”
“The kind where they think they’ve won… only to have their hope shattered in the end. Don’t you want to see their despair?”
Gregory closed his eyes and imagined it—then shivered with excitement.
“…Well?”
“Good. Very good! That’s what I’ve been waiting for!”
Raisa hid her wicked grin as Gregory laughed gleefully, completely taken by her words.
“Then I’ll tell you the full plan.”
She explained in detail, smoothly, as she had already practiced this once with Pavel.
“Prepare well before we begin. And don’t cause any accidents.”
“Got it, got it.”
Chuckling darkly, Gregory walked away. As soon as he left, Raisa’s smiling face hardened.
But when she looked up again, her expression had softened perfectly once more.
She could feel the knights’ sharp gazes watching her every move.
Though she had just whispered vile plans in their midst, none of them reacted.
Because her charm magic blocked their hearing—what they heard was just light chatter, maybe about dinner.
‘Useless fools.’
She snorted quietly but gave them a sweet smile—the kind Naina Volkov, the noble lady, would give.
And then—
“Graaah!”
Raisa stared blankly at Gregory, who was writhing in pain.
“Huh?”
She couldn’t grasp what was happening. Blinking slowly, she wondered:
‘Am I dreaming?’
It felt unreal.
Gregory shouldn’t have been hurt—not yet.
According to the plan, he was only supposed to pretend to be in pain and escape unharmed.
‘But he’s actually hurt! He might die!’
This wasn’t part of her plan—absolutely not!
‘What the hell is going on!?’
She turned in shock toward Gregory, who was screaming in agony.
And when Pavel saw that, a faint smirk curved on his lips.
