The Serpent of Paradise - Chapter 33

“Really? She’s been having breakfast with Lord Mikhail?”

At Catherine’s shrill voice, the elderly nanny nodded. “Yes, I saw it myself. Lately, the kitchen has been preparing a strangely large amount of food. And since two sets of tableware were being sent upstairs, I assumed he was dining with one of his secretaries… but while passing through the corridor, I saw Miss Anastasia leaving Lord Mikhail’s room.”

The nanny was someone the countess brought with her when she married, a loyal woman who remained by her side until the very end even when everyone else left Edenhurst.

“Who are you calling ‘Miss’? Just call her Anastasia!”

After snapping at the innocent nanny, Catherine dropped heavily onto the sofa.

“What… What’s going on? Why is she with Lord Mikhail?”

It had been nearly two weeks since Mikhail returned to Edenhurst. And during that entire time, Catherine hadn’t seen him even once.

Her mother sent someone to invite Mikhail to dine or have tea with them several times, but his secretary, Igor, declined the invitations, saying that Mikhail needed rest after the exhaustion of his journey through the Central Plains.

The countess appeared displeased that her invitations had been refused, but she couldn’t complain. Aside from refusing to meet them, Mikhail treated them perfectly.

The mansion was filled with expensive furniture that was supposedly the latest fashion in the capital, and new curtains and carpets were laid throughout it. Catherine saw the Ilenka logo and Ils lettering on the wooden crates from which the items were unpacked. That meant every item Mikhail furnished the mansion with this time was of the finest quality as well.

The weed-choked path in front of the mansion was neatly cleared, and the trees in the garden were straightened in no time. The meals became like those from her childhood, when the count was still alive. No, they became even finer.

When Catherine received her first dinner after the new head cook arrived, she couldn’t keep her mouth closed. From the plates to the presentation, the dishes arranged on the spotless tablecloth were utterly flawless, and the food tasted like the cuisine served at the fine restaurants in the capital she had visited when her father was alive. It made Catherine feel embarrassed.

‘Why did Mother do such a thing?’

Surrounded by luxuries she hadn’t enjoyed in years, Catherine remembered the dinner they served when Mikhail first arrived. The meal prepared by Emma, the head cook, might have been considered excellent within the Edenhurst estate, but compared to the food Catherine received now, it was terribly inferior. What had Mikhail thought at the time? He certainly couldn’t have thought well of the people of Edenhurst.

‘Still, judging by the fact that he returned to Edenhurst… he must have taken a liking to my sister.’

When Mikhail last visited Edenhurst, he spent every afternoon with Elizabeth. Of course, all they did was stroll around the Edenhurst estate accompanied by maids, but the atmosphere between them was pleasant nonetheless. He always treated Elizabeth with a smile, and Elizabeth’s initial reluctance disappeared entirely as she answered Mikhail’s words with a smile. Catherine had never seen her sister behave so warmly toward anyone in her life.

‘But he still hasn’t proposed.’

Catherine thought about how Elizabeth had been behaving lately. When Mikhail returned, Elizabeth welcomed his return more than anyone. But as time passed, a growing restlessness appeared on Elizabeth’s face. That was how Catherine knew. Mikhail still hadn’t proposed to her sister.

‘Why?’

At first, she found it strange. Hadn’t he returned to propose to her sister? Didn’t he need the title of count? Wasn’t that why he was taking care of Edenhurst, as well as Catherine and her mother? If not, why had he come to Edenhurst?

‘He has plenty of other villas, so there’s no reason for him to stay here in particular.’

Then he must want something he could obtain only at Edenhurst. Catherine was certain his objective was Elizabeth. But what if… it wasn’t?

At the news that Mikhail was spending time with Anastasia, Catherine rapidly grew anxious. This was something she hadn’t considered.

Of course, she knew that when Mikhail first came to Edenhurst, he caught Anastasia in the garden and ordered that her injuries be treated. But after that, he didn’t show any particular interest in Anastasia. He never summoned her again, either. Hadn’t the servants who looked after Anastasia at the time said that Mikhail never visited her again?

So Catherine assumed that he had shown a reasonable amount of concern and mercy toward the woman he mistook for prey, and that was the end of it.

But when he returned this time, Mikhail came carrying Anastasia in his arms. They said he rescued her when the food merchant who was supposed to take her away tried to force himself on her. Once again, Catherine assumed Mikhail had merely extended a compassionate hand and wouldn’t show her any further interest.

After all, who in the world would take an interest in Anastasia? In that wretched, grotesque-looking Anastasia?

Catherine imagined Anastasia together with Mikhail. Her face instantly turned deathly pale.

‘What if Anastasia runs her mouth about something she shouldn’t?’

It would have been better if she were truly an idiot, but Anastasia wasn’t.

Catherine knew that Anastasia had memorized all the prayers. When Catherine summoned her to her room and bestowed a pair of shoes she had worn for so long that she had grown tired of them as though they were a gift from the king, Anastasia said she was truly grateful and diligently recited a prayer of thanks.

Amazed that Anastasia could fluently recite the long prayer that even Catherine hadn’t fully memorized yet, Catherine ordered her to recite every prayer she knew. Anastasia then asked whether she could really recite them all, since she knew so many.

It was absurd. How many could someone like her possibly have memorized?

Even Catherine, who had been taught by a private tutor since childhood, hadn’t memorized very many prayers. In truth, there was no need to memorize them all. Long prayers like those were for pastors and theologians to memorize. Wasn’t it enough for ordinary people like her to know a reasonable number for mealtimes?

‘As if she could possibly have memorized them all.’

Intending to mock her to her heart’s content, Catherine sat down on the sofa and told Anastasia to begin.

An hour later, Catherine bit her lip.

Throughout that entire hour, prayers flowed ceaselessly from Anastasia’s mouth without her faltering once. Catherine wondered whether she was reciting the same prayers over and over again, but she wasn’t. The maid who was in the room with them stared at Anastasia as though she were seeing a ghost. Even though Anastasia was clearly reciting sacred prayers, something about the sight was utterly chilling.

No longer wanting to listen or even look at her, Catherine ordered her to stop and then questioned her.

“Who in the mansion taught you those prayers?”

“It wasn’t anyone from the mansion. My father taught them to me when I was young.”

Catherine thought it was a lie. At the time, Anastasia had been living at the mansion for nearly nine years. She had even come to the mansion when she was twelve. How could she possibly still remember all of that?

But Anastasia truly had memorized them, and Catherine confirmed that no one else had taught her. More than anything… Anastasia knew more prayers than anyone else in the mansion.

But that was all. Anastasia was still an idiot who knew neither letters nor numbers.

‘Even so, she can still talk.’

While her father was alive, Anastasia lived confined to an aboveground room, and after his death, she was sent underground. Catherine knew perfectly well what kind of treatment she received. What would happen if Anastasia told Mikhail about it?

Catherine set the envelope she had been about to open down on the desk and rose from her seat.

“Lead the way.”

“Pardon? Where…?”

“Where else? Take me to Anastasia.”

She needed to find out whether Anastasia truly was meeting Mikhail and, if so, how close they had become.

The nanny led the way, and Catherine followed briskly. As she walked through the mansion’s corridors, Catherine felt a sense of alienation. This was clearly her home, yet everything had changed.

Where had all the portraits of the previous counts gone? In their places hung nothing but still lifes from Flanre that were supposedly in fashion lately. The cloudy glass vase that once stood on the old wooden table had disappeared, replaced by a differently shaped table in shades of gold and red, along with a small sculpture.

When in the world had Edenhurst changed so much?

Then Catherine realized that the nanny was heading toward the annex.

“Nanny, that leads to the annex.”

“Yes. I heard that Miss Anasta… No, that Anastasia is staying here.”

“That can’t be. They said the annex was being renovated.”

After Mikhail arrived, Catherine noticed that the servants from Sokolov were constantly coming and going from the annex. When she asked what they were doing, they said the entire annex was being refurbished on Mikhail’s orders. She tried to enter once, but the unfamiliar servants politely asked her to return later because work was underway. So Catherine paid no further attention to the annex after that, assuming they would show it to her once the renovations were complete.

But Anastasia had been using it?

Although it was called an annex, that was only because it had been built separately from the main house. Constructed later than the main house, it was actually more comfortable to live in. Her father and mother kept rooms in the main house for appearance’s sake, but hadn’t they spent much of their time in the annex?

‘Come to think of it, Mother has been staying only in the main house lately.’

Ever since Mikhail arrived, her mother had strangely shut herself in her room and spent all her time staring at thick documents. Her sister Elizabeth remained as aloof as ever.

When they drew near the corridor leading to the annex, the nanny suddenly tugged at Catherine’s clothes.

“Miss, over there.”

“…!”

Hiding herself beside the curtain, the nanny pointed through the window toward a corner of the garden. Anastasia and Mikhail were standing there.

***

Mikhail and Anastasia’s walk today hadn’t been planned. Watching Anastasia follow several steps behind him, Mikhail recalled what happened that morning.

At first, he offered to teach her table etiquette both to improve Anastasia’s stamina and to increase the amount of time they spent together.

‘Even most noble families spend several months teaching it.’

It wasn’t simply a matter of memorizing the order in which utensils were used and their different types. The way they were held changed depending on the food, and there were prescribed ways to eat each dish. Even the order in which foods were eaten was predetermined. As a result, quite a few nobles still failed to memorize everything properly and drew disapproving looks at the dining table. Mikhail thought it would take at least a month.

But today, one week later, he realized how greatly mistaken he had been.

‘I didn’t expect her to memorize it perfectly.’

On the second day, Anastasia perfectly replicated every movement she saw him make the day before. At first, he assumed she was merely good at imitating him for a short while. But from the beginning of the meal to the end, Anastasia was nearly flawless. Whenever she made a minor mistake, she carefully watched him eat and soon copied him with ease.

Intrigued, Mikhail gradually increased the difficulty of the foods. Instead of dishes eaten with the hands or requiring only simple cutting, he introduced foods that were considerably more troublesome to eat, such as fish dishes. Anastasia struggled at first, but once he taught her, she quickly began following his example as expected. And today, one week later, Mikhail had to admit it. There was nothing more he could teach her about dining etiquette.

It was quite troublesome. He thought this would allow him to keep her beside him throughout the mornings for an entire month, but he hadn’t expected it to end so quickly.

In the end, Mikhail had to turn his attention outside.

In two weeks, his loyal servants restored Edenhurst’s garden, which had fallen into disarray, to its former immaculate state. Thinking it worked out well, Mikhail invited Anastasia to take a walk through the garden.