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“Convincing a worthy woman to marry you is no easy task.”
“It is not,” Konstantin had to agree. “I am not at all sure I will convince her that marriage is the best solution for our future, even with Mishka on my side.”
“I have confidence in you, brother. Even if you were not a prince, you would be a catch.”
Konstantin was secretly pleased by his brother’s words, but only said gruffly, “So you will sign the custody agreement.”
“You are giving a great deal of power to her without any checks.”
“It is the same power she would have had if I had not run into her and my son by accident in that bank.”
“And some would deny the existence of miracles.”
“I would not have thought you believed in them. You have always been so practical.” A young king, Nikolai had not had room in his life for impracticality.
“Nataliya is my miracle,” Nikolai said, all sincerity, no humor. “She could have married you and I would have been stuck pining for the rest of my life.”
“So, I am forgiven for not fulfilling the contract earlier?”
“Forgiven? I will name my firstborn after you in gratitude.”
“Nataliya will have something to say about that.”
“Yes, she will.” Nikolai sounded very satisfied by the knowledge his wife was no pushover.
“Nataliya will like Emma.”
“Nataliya likes most people.”
“That’s a whopper of a lie. Your wife is charming and a fantastic princess, but you and I both know she barely tolerates most of our country’s nobility.”
“That is true. However, she’s an excellent judge of character, so I am sure she will like your Emma.”
Konstantin only wished Emma was his. “You must think I am a good judge of character to say so.” Since his brother had never met Emma.
“You were the one who recognized Nataliya carried a torch for me and that marrying her would be a travesty for both of you.”
“But despite that, I never backed out of the contract.”
“No, your sense of duty was too strong. And it cost you greatly. Don’t think both Father and I aren’t aware of that.”
“I thought Tiana was the one who cared about my personal happiness, not you,” Konstantin admitted.
“She was very good at pretending to be someone she was not.”
“Emma isn’t like that. What you see is what you get.”
“Now that we know her name and whereabouts for the last five years, I’ve had her investigated.” Nikolai spoke with an uncharacteristic caution.
“So, that is why you trust my opinion of her.”
“No. I trust you because you are trustworthy, Konstantin.”
“That is good to know.”
“You must have been satisfied by what the report on her activities told you.”
“You know she worked as a nanny for a family by the name of Jensen.”
