The Serpent of Paradise - Chapter 48

Miss Anastasia?

The Sokolov servants turned their heads again in surprise. But the rain was so heavy that Anastasia’s figure quickly blurred after she ran into the garden.

“No! If you go out now….”

As Natasha hurriedly searched around for an umbrella, a rumbling sound like a massive boulder rolling across the sky came from above, followed by an enormous flash of light.

Boom!

At the same moment, a tremendous blast shook the mansion.

“Ah!”

“Eek!”

Screams rang out from all over the mansion, along with the sound of a window shattering somewhere. A strange smell drifted in with the cold air pouring through the broken window. It was the smell that came when lightning struck very close by.

“Miss Anastasia!”

Natasha, who had collapsed to the floor, scrambled to her feet and looked outside. A massive tree at the end of the garden had split in half and lay strewn across the ground. It had been struck by lightning. Natasha’s face turned white as she looked at the shattered pieces of the tree, then searched through the driving rain for her mistress. Beyond the middle of one of the garden paths, she saw a white figure lying on the ground.

“Miss….”

Could she have been struck by lightning? Just as Natasha’s mind went blank, she thankfully saw Anastasia struggling to rise.

‘I have to follow her quickly.’

But as Natasha was about to go outside, another rumble sounded.

‘Again!’

The flash came sooner than expected, and everyone instinctively closed their eyes, covered their ears, and hunched over. Natasha knew she needed to go outside, but she couldn’t move either.

“Anastasia!”

Someone ran outside, shouting her name.

***

“Ugh… ngh….”

Lying on the ground, Anastasia couldn’t gather her senses with her ears ringing. Sound echoed chaotically inside her head, and her vision, which went black the moment the light flashed, refused to recover.

After blinking several times, her surroundings gradually came into view. She saw pieces of wood scattered everywhere. Even amid the driving rain, smoke rose from them with a sizzling sound.

“Ugh….”

A sob escaped her at the surreal sight. Then the sky once again made the rumbling sound of a beast. Anastasia covered her ears, closed her eyes, and threw herself facedown on the ground.

‘I’m scared.’

Anastasia was deathly afraid of thunder and lightning. The vibrations and intense light always robbed her of reason in an instant. Even when she was in her room in the basement, she screamed into a blanket whenever she heard thunder. Once, when Catherine summoned her, she saw Anastasia in such a state and mocked her for a long time afterward.

“Have you committed some kind of sin?”

Anastasia struggled to open her eyes again and looked at the pieces of wood scattered before her. Hadn’t she been told that people burdened with sin died after being struck by lightning? If so, she was certain to end up like this too.

If she didn’t want to die, she needed to hurry back to the mansion and hide, even if it was only beneath her bed. But Anastasia felt along the puddled ground as she searched for the direction of the forest.

The rain poured so heavily she couldn’t see even an inch ahead, lashing her body like a whip. Her indoor dress, already completely soaked, clung tightly to her body and dripped with water.

“Cold….”

The rain was so cold it was impossible to believe it was summer rain. The water running down her body rapidly stole away Anastasia’s warmth.

For the past few days, Anastasia remained in bed. Igor said there was nothing seriously wrong with her body, but at night, she developed a fever and began to tremble. Moreover, she couldn’t eat properly, so her bedridden body only grew weaker.

Her teeth chattered rapidly. She knew very well that she needed to return to the mansion immediately, but….

Wiping her face with her hand, Anastasia searched for the direction of the forest.

‘I have to get them.’

Anastasia thought of the ruined chapel in the forest. More precisely, beneath the stone chair at its deepest point.

‘If it weren’t for the sleeping pills, I would have gone and gotten them earlier.’

She kept having nightmares whenever she fell asleep, so she tried to stay awake. As a result, her body weakened, and her nerves became raw and sensitive. She startled at even the smallest sounds, so Igor eventually prescribed sleeping pills for Anastasia again.

Before she fell asleep, the sky was only heavily overcast, but when she opened her eyes again, torrential rain was pouring down amid thunder and lightning. The moment she saw the water that rapidly filled the garden, Anastasia ran outside without thinking.

‘My shoes.’

The shoes Mikhail gave her were still inside the chapel.

It barely rained over the past few weeks. At this time of year, Edenhurst normally entered its dry season, which boasted the sunniest days of the year. So Anastasia kept postponing her visit to the chapel. In truth, she was busy reading books every moment she wasn’t with Mikhail.

Looking at the pile of books, she kept putting it off, telling herself she would go after reading just a little more, then a little more. She never imagined that such a tremendous summer storm would suddenly descend upon them.

The wind blew so fiercely that she couldn’t tell whether the rain was falling from the sky or surging up from the ground. It was unmistakably the familiar garden of Edenhurst, yet Anastasia couldn’t tell which direction led to the forest and which led to the mansion. Clinging to a long hedge, she struggled forward. Whichever way it led, she had to keep walking for now.

‘With this much rain, they’ll be completely soaked.’

The roof remained intact over that part, and since they were beneath the stone chair, it could keep out the rain to some extent. Anastasia herself used to lie beneath that chair to shelter from the rain on rainy days. But with a downpour this heavy, water might pool there. The leather shoes, kept inside a velvet-lined paper box, couldn’t possibly withstand it.

She hadn’t even worn the shoes once because they were too precious. She couldn’t leave them there like this. If someone knew what she was trying to retrieve, they might find it ridiculous. Everything she owned, beginning with her room in the annex, was given to her by Mikhail. Yet here she was, leaving all those things behind and running into the forest to retrieve a single item.

But those shoes were different from the other things. They were the very first thing she received. Something he gave her because he was worried about her. Anastasia intended to treasure them for the rest of her life. As long as she kept them, she could remember the happiest time of her life forever.

Boom!

“Ah!”

At that moment, lightning struck without warning. Anastasia collapsed to the ground and finally burst into loud sobs. Her rain-soaked body, hands, and feet rapidly grew cold. Although it was summer, they stiffened as though she plunged them into midwinter snow, making it increasingly difficult to move.

“Cough!”

Anastasia coughed out a cold breath. The sound, light, and cold rapidly robbed Anastasia of her senses. Unable to rise, she tried to curl up instead, but another peal of thunder came from the sky. Just as she thought she would truly lose consciousness this time….

Boom!

Something wrapped around her before the thunder struck her ears.

“What the hell are you doing?”

A roar louder than the thunder rang out.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed? Why are you running into the forest when there’s lightning?”

“Ah….”

The face she hadn’t seen in the past few days hovered above her. Bright blue eyes that seemed to flash more fiercely than the lightning glared at Anastasia. It was Mikhail.

His bright platinum-blond hair was soaked by the rain, making it darker than usual, and drops of water ran down his smooth, sculpted jawline. Feeling the droplets fall onto her, Anastasia realized she was no longer being rained on because he shielded her with his entire body.

Perhaps he ran out in a hurry. Mikhail was also without an umbrella or coat, still dressed in his indoor clothes. She could clearly feel his body heat through the thin, rain-soaked fabric.

“The shoes….”

“What?”

“In the forest… in the chapel… the shoes you gave me back then are there. I have to go get them….”

Her tears mixed with the rainwater, and warm drops fell from her eyes. Mikhail was about to berate her for saying something so foolish, but he fell silent at her pleading expression. He collected himself for a moment, then asked Anastasia a question.

“Why are you going to retrieve them?”

“….”

“You returned everything else, so why are you going to retrieve those? Do you want to return them too? If so, forget it. I’ll consider them returned.”

When Mikhail lifted Anastasia into his arms and turned around, she struggled, trying to escape his embrace.

“N-no!”

“Why not?”

“They’re precious to me!”

“Then why are they precious to you?”

Faced with Mikhail’s apparent determination to return to the mansion like this, Anastasia couldn’t think of anything else and spoke from her heart.

“Because I like you!”

“….”

“Because I like you, Lord Mikhail! That’s why I wanted to treasure… the first thing you gave me….”

After pouring out her emotions so fiercely, Anastasia sobbed and panted before going limp. Mikhail pulled the weeping Anastasia tightly against him, then immediately turned toward the mansion and ran. When Mikhail carried Anastasia inside, the servants standing in the mansion hurriedly brought towels and dried them both.

“Prepare a bath with warm water! Hurry!”

“It’s ready!”

Natasha hurriedly shouted in response to Mikhail’s command. When she saw Mikhail go to retrieve Anastasia, she asked another maid to bring towels, then went straight to the kitchen and ordered them to bring up the boiling water they always kept ready.

Mikhail followed Natasha inside. Not to the annex, but to Mikhail’s room in the main house. The bathtub in its adjoining bathroom was filled with water the servants hastily prepared.

“Bring Miss Anastasia over here…. We’ll take care of her.”

“No. It’s fine. Everyone out.”

When the maids held out their hands, Mikhail shook his head. Realizing his decision was firm, the maids stacked plenty of towels beside him, then closed the door and withdrew. Mikhail checked the temperature of the bathwater with one hand before lowering Anastasia straight into the tub.

“Ah….”

Even after entering the warm water, Anastasia didn’t stop trembling. Seeing that her red lips had turned blue, Mikhail frantically rubbed her hands and arms.

A short while later, Anastasia released a long breath and opened her eyes. She managed to grasp her flickering consciousness. Seeing that she regained consciousness, Mikhail tried to release the hand he held. But when he attempted to pull away, Anastasia clutched him as though telling him not to let go.

She returned the books and pens and stopped coming to see him, yet now she clung to him. Looking at the small hand desperately holding on to him, Mikhail spoke, “Anastasia, answer me honestly.”

“….”

“Did you mean it when you said you liked me?”

At the direct question, Anastasia nodded. She already confessed her feelings. There was nothing left to hide now. She wished for only one thing. That he wouldn’t laugh at her. Afraid of the answer she would receive, she lowered her head. Then Mikhail gripped her chin. And….

“Mmph!”

Their lips crashed together, and he entered her mouth without hesitation.