Nikolai is already pretty dramatic, but when he’s sick, he takes the opportunity to pull out all the stops. He still does his duties around court, but he will be mentioning how brave he is for fighting through his fever, and he will be expecting you to pamper him in private. You’ve been dating him long enough to know the routine.

You enter his chambers after dinner and find an especially tired Nikolai in bed, his shirt only half unbuttoned, as if he just gave up halfway through.