The Serpent of Paradise - Chapter 31

Mikhail had suspected it from the beginning. That was why he deliberately ordered the underbutler to set out dinner cutlery that wasn’t used for breakfast. And the moment Anastasia’s face stiffened at the sight of the table, his suspicion became certainty.

Anyone with even the slightest knowledge of table etiquette would have pointed out that something was strange as soon as they saw it. But instead of saying anything, Anastasia avoided his gaze and began to pray.

Mikhail had memorized all the prayers as well. He didn’t possess even a fingernail’s worth of faith, but he memorized them to deal with those who were always trying to disparage him as uneducated.

In Novgod, specific prayers were prescribed for specific occasions. There were fifteen prayers for mealtimes in all. Mikhail waited leisurely until Anastasia had recited every last one. When Anastasia was about to repeat them to avoid the problem confronting her, Mikhail, tired of waiting, brought her prayers to an end. Then he asked, “Don’t you know how to use them?”

He blocked off her escape so she could no longer run away.

This was one of the methods Mikhail always used. He pushed the other person into an uncomfortable situation and slowly cornered them while pretending not to know anything. By the time they reached the end, he could see their true nature. Mikhail wondered how Anastasia would react.

‘Is that really the only reason?’

In truth, he couldn’t deny that there was a little spite behind it. The reason was Anastasia’s clothes. When she entered the room, Mikhail thought Natasha had brought in a rolled-up blanket. She wore a top far too thick for the season, along with a shawl wrapped several times around her neck. Had it suddenly begun snowing outside?

Of course, he knew Anastasia had asked Natasha to put more layers on her. Even so, he disliked how she had bundled herself up as if refusing to let him see anything, despite wearing the clothes he gave her. She had dressed so prettily in his hallucination….

Mikhail watched Anastasia, whose ignorance had been seen through in an instant, leaving her with no way out. Just as he thought her clear green eyes had turned cloudy, large tears began spilling from them. Mikhail was the one who became flustered.

It wasn’t as though he hadn’t anticipated this possibility. She was a fainthearted woman, so it was obvious that even a little pressure would bring tears to her eyes. But he hadn’t expected her to burst into tears as heavily as she had when the merchant frightened her into his arms.

‘What’s so sad about not knowing etiquette like this?’

He had cornered her because he wanted to see her troubled expression, not because he wanted to see her cry. Mikhail had never once thought he’d acted foolishly in his life, yet he could do nothing but stare at Anastasia as she shed tears without making a sound.

Only after a long while did Anastasia wipe her tears with the back of her hand. The fine tableware and food laid out before her came into view. Until moments ago, she felt as though she had become a real young lady, but that dream hadn’t lasted even an hour, much less a day.

In truth, Anastasia knew very well that she was ignorant. She still couldn’t read letters that even some of the maids knew, nor had she learned numbers. She didn’t know how to greet people or any other common conventions. Behind Anastasia’s back, the servants whispered that she might be an idiot.

On nights when she fell asleep after hearing that she was deficient, she would sometimes dream.

In those dreams, she dressed properly and spoke clearly without stammering. Dressed in beautiful clothes like Elizabeth or Catherine and groomed neatly, she moved with elegance. No one glared at her or mocked her in those dreams. They welcomed her with smiles and made room for her beside them.

And now, what she had always seen in her dreams had become reality, only to end like this after all.

“…I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“I know so little… I think I’ll disgrace myself at your table, Lord Mikhail.”

After voicing the very concern she feared, Anastasia tried to rise from her seat. At that moment, Mikhail suddenly reached out and swept all the cutlery in front of her aside.

“…?”

Startled by Mikhail’s abrupt action, Anastasia looked at him with wide eyes.

Mikhail reached into the basket and picked up a piece of freshly baked bread, dipped it directly into the soup, then brought it to his mouth. Next, he picked up a slice of ham from another plate with his hand and put it straight into his mouth. Even Anastasia, who knew little, understood. Everything Mikhail was doing violated proper etiquette.

As Anastasia stared at him, unable to understand why he had suddenly begun behaving this way, he said, “Anastasia, I grew up in the stables of an inn.”

“….”

“All I had to eat was the food waste from the inn’s kitchen. Sometimes… I even stole fodder meant for the horses.”

“….”

Anastasia knew from the servants’ gossip that Mikhail was a commoner. But she had never heard anything like this before.

“So naturally, I was more accustomed to using my fingers than a fork and knife. Even when I was quite grown.”

As if deliberately putting on a show, Mikhail sucked the butter from his fingertips. It was the sort of behavior that would earn even a servant a scolding from those nearby.

“But now, no one says a word even when I dine with nobles. Probably because my etiquette is more impeccable than theirs. Impeccable enough that even the fastidious Countess Lauderdale can’t find a single fault.”

To Anastasia, who had stopped crying at some point out of sheer surprise, Mikhail gave a playful wink. At his teasing gesture, the tension gradually drained from her rigid body.

“You can learn what you don’t know. So there’s no need to be ashamed or apologize. If you learn as I did, you’ll be perfectly capable of doing it too. Isn’t that right?”

At Mikhail’s words, Anastasia nodded. If someone taught her, she could do it too. She would surely be clumsy and inadequate, but as long as someone taught her, she would practice ten times. No, a hundred times. No, she would practice from morning until night, more times than she could count, until she mastered it.

“Yes, I can do it. I’ll learn from Natasha.”

“That would be difficult.”

“Ah… she must be very busy.”

Although Natasha spent much of the day with her, she sometimes left to attend to other duties while Anastasia remained in her room. So Anastasia couldn’t keep her with her all day.

“No, that isn’t what I mean.”

From among the cutlery he had pushed aside, Mikhail picked up one spoon, one fork, and one knife and arranged them beside Anastasia again. Then he set his own out in the same way and said, “It’s because I want to teach you myself.”

“But you must be busy, Lord Mikhail….”

“No. I’ve just finished the work I was doing, so I intend to take a long rest for the time being.”

Had Igor and Yuri been there, they would have foamed at the mouth upon hearing that. They had urged Mikhail to rest, but that didn’t mean his work was finished. They only meant he should refrain from working like a madman as he did in Sokolov. Even today, mountains of documents still awaited his attention.

“Do you happen to have any other plans today, Miss Anastasia?”

“…No.”

As if she could possibly have any. If Mikhail hadn’t summoned her today, she would have spent the entire day in her room again.

“That’s good. Then we can take our time.”

Take our time.

Mikhail couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of his own mouth. Fortunately, Anastasia, whose tear tracks were still clearly visible, seemed too dazed to notice. Otherwise, she might have seen the slight tremor in the fingers with which he held his knife.

‘Why am I….’

Mikhail couldn’t believe he had just spoken about his past of his own accord. There wasn’t a single person in Novgod who didn’t know his origins. But few knew exactly what kind of life he led as a child. Mikhail himself had never spoken of it. Even Igor and Yuri knew only that he had lived a difficult life, not what he had gone so far as to eat in order to survive.

Yet here he was, freely divulging a story he had never once told anyone, all to comfort one crying woman.

Mikhail looked down at his side, where a faint pain still lingered. He had clearly told Igor not to use any more medicine, so he couldn’t have consumed anything strange. He couldn’t understand why he was behaving this way. But now wasn’t the time to think deeply about it. When he turned to the side, Anastasia was staring intently at his hand.

‘How far will she be able to go?’

Novgod’s dining etiquette was needlessly complicated. There couldn’t possibly have been any proper dining etiquette in a nation founded by barbarians. But once the foundations of the empire were established, Yajinsky the Great, its founding emperor, must have grown tired of hearing it called a nation of barbarians. He brought in all the complicated dining customs of other countries and made them Novgod’s etiquette. As a result, the nobles had to memorize customs twice as complicated as those of any other nation.

‘Since this is Edenhurst, she must have used basic utensils….’

She had probably eaten like everyone else, simply picking up whatever was most comfortable to use. It would take quite some time for Anastasia to learn how to hold and use the cutlery properly.

Mikhail moved his long fingers and took hold of the knife. Where the thumb should rest, where the index finger should press, and even which part of the knife to hold. Although he thought it was truly pointless and tiresome etiquette, his hand grasped the knife with perfect precision.

Anastasia cautiously moved her hand to imitate him. He didn’t expect much. For now, her willingness to try was enough.

Just as expected. She may have roughly copied him, but her posture couldn’t have been clumsier. When Mikhail smiled as though troubled, Anastasia’s face immediately fell.

She truly is amusing.

Mikhail found Anastasia amusing, with the way she had changed expressions so quickly and revealed every emotion since entering this room. Anastasia deserved much of the credit for his continued ability to tolerate this tedious Edenhurst since arriving. From the moment he first met her in the forest until now, she had continued to arouse his interest.

Even now, her thoughts showed so plainly on her face that Mikhail didn’t have to make any effort to discern what lay within. An ignorance like that of a child. Someday, she might wear a false mask before him like everyone else.

He knew it was only natural, yet for some reason, the thought of that time put him in a foul mood.

“Lord Mikhail?”

Anastasia’s voice brought Mikhail back to his senses. Then he remembered what he had originally intended to do. Something to relieve his boredom while he remained here, just as his secretaries had suggested.

Before the summer ended, he would make this woman come into his arms of her own accord. After abandoning her god.

It wouldn’t take long. And once everything went as he intended, he would probably… grow bored of her.