The Serpent of Paradise - Chapter 76

Is this what it feels like to swallow fire?

Mikhail knew very well that it wasn’t because of the alcohol. He felt this way since before he started drinking, from the moment he witnessed Anastasia and Ilya’s secret meeting.

Mikhail considered Ilya incompetent. Men from noble families who weren’t the eldest son and therefore couldn’t inherit usually became soldiers or clergymen. Wasn’t that why Novgod’s churches were even called a lower tier of society? Yet Ilya was neither a soldier nor a clergyman.

That meant he lacked the courage to become a soldier and couldn’t discipline himself enough to become a clergyman. Of course, he might have possessed academic curiosity and ability, but in Mikhail’s eyes, Ilya didn’t appear to have that sort of talent either.

The dregs of noble society. Mikhail already disliked the fact that a man who amounted to nothing more than that crawled into Edenhurst, yet he even dared to settle in and drool over what belonged to him.

At first, it was unpleasant, but he could laugh it off. Anastasia was curious about everything outside Edenhurst. She showed an even greater interest in the academy. So Ilya, who came from outside Edenhurst and even from the academy, must have been more interesting to her than a thick book. Mikhail didn’t like it, but if it amused Anastasia, he could tolerate keeping one toy he disliked in Edenhurst.

But the moment he saw Ilya enter the forest, Mikhail decided he would throw that toy away today. It was fine for her to play with a toy, but it wasn’t good for her to become too engrossed in it. Besides, hadn’t that thing been following Anastasia around as it pleased?

After entering the forest, Mikhail followed the traces Ilya left behind. When he realized the trail led toward the ruined chapel, his face twisted.

‘I clearly told him there was nothing more to investigate about that chapel.’

During that uncomfortable and awkward dinner, Ilya explained why he was staying at Edenhurst. He said he intended to investigate every remaining trace of the old religion in the surrounding area. He also said he was particularly interested in the ruined chapel in the forest of Edenhurst.

That chapel was important to Mikhail. Not because it held religious value, but because it was where Anastasia first gave herself to him.

Mikhail remembered every moment of it. The moment the woman who gazed upon God finally approached him and gave herself to him.

The sobs, moans, and cries of pleasure that overflowed through the forest, mingling with the warm sunlight, the breeze, and the occasional sound of birds.

On that beautiful day, Mikhail became Anastasia’s new god. The sensation of possessing not only another person’s body but her entire heart as well was something far greater than a mere word like pleasure could describe.

That was why Mikhail enjoyed playing the savior, though it didn’t suit him at all. Until then, nothing gave him pleasure except increasing the number of docks in Sokolov and making his immense wealth even greater. He always took pleasure in earning money. He never felt pleasure from anything that brought him no financial gain whatsoever.

Yet he couldn’t understand why giving Anastasia, who would never be of the slightest help to him, everything she wanted was so enjoyable. After pondering the reason, Mikhail ultimately concluded that whatever he spent on Anastasia, he was spending on himself. The happier she became, the greater the pleasure he felt. So ultimately, it was an expense for his own sake.

As Mikhail followed Ilya, the ruined chapel came into view between the trees. And then Mikhail saw it. Anastasia, who sat there, saw Ilya and approached him with delight.

“….”

Mikhail held his breath and listened to their conversation. At first, the two of them seemed to be watching their surroundings in their own way. But as their quiet conversation continued, Ilya’s voice gradually rose as though he were angry, and thanks to that, Mikhail learned what the two of them were planning.

Mikhail looked at Anastasia, who stood frozen in his grasp. In the forest, Ilya repeatedly warned Anastasia that Mikhail must never find out. Remembering that sight, Mikhail let out a derisive laugh.

‘When she can’t hide it at all.’

And yet she was making plans to run away.

As he listened to Anastasia and Ilya’s conversation, Mikhail learned what it felt like for one’s blood to run cold. It felt as though he were standing on frozen winter ground, yet somehow his insides were burning.

“Ugh….”

Had his grip on her wrist tightened? Anastasia’s startled face twisted as she looked at him, and a moan escaped her. But Mikhail didn’t release her. No, he tightened his grip even further.

Because Anastasia still hadn’t answered him.

It was an ordinary question. No, it could hardly even be called a question. Wasn’t asking where someone had been practically a greeting? Yet Anastasia couldn’t answer. Mikhail dragged Anastasia toward him and threw her onto the bed. He heard her startled cry, but paid it no mind as he climbed on top of her.

“Mikhail…?”

Her terrified eyes turned toward him.

When this was all she was capable of. When she couldn’t even answer a simple question and couldn’t conceal a lie. How dare she? The anger that solidified into a hard mass exploded in an instant and overwhelmed Mikhail’s reason. And the angrier Mikhail became, the more calmly cruel he could be.

Mikhail gave up on hearing an answer from Anastasia. He was a witness himself, so what did her answer matter anyway? Abandoning the attempt to hear her testimony, Mikhail decided to move on to what came next.

Of course, Mikhail had no intention whatsoever of allowing Anastasia to leave Edenhurst or his side.

‘How should I keep her here?’

There were many ways. In truth, it would be enough simply to lock the door and assign Natasha and several other servants to guard her. But even then, she wouldn’t abandon her desire to run away. In that case, he would have to watch Anastasia constantly.

That wasn’t the method Mikhail wanted.

He looked at the woman who brought him pleasure for the past several months. Mikhail wanted her entire world to consist of him. He wanted everything her gaze touched to belong to him, and everything she wore, ate, and felt to come from him.

For every part of her to become saturated with him. For both her body and mind to become subject to him. That was the manner of possession Mikhail wanted.

How could he make her remain here of her own accord? His gaze swept over the woman lying terrified beneath him. Then his eyes fell on her still-slender waist and abdomen. Mikhail placed a hand over her belly.

There was an unspoken agreement between them that they wouldn’t have a child for the time being. In truth, rather than an agreement, it was Anastasia following Mikhail’s decision.

Mikhail had no desire for a child. No, he considered children bothersome. There already wasn’t enough time each night for him to enjoy himself with Anastasia. If they had a child, wouldn’t it become difficult even to touch her? Of course, there were many ways to experience pleasure even during pregnancy, but he didn’t particularly want to go that far.

As he stroked her flat belly, Mikhail remembered that he hadn’t taken his medicine for the past several days. He was troubled and hadn’t sought Anastasia out, so he saw no need to take it. He remembered what Igor said when giving him the medicine. That unless he took it every day without fail, its effectiveness as contraception would drop considerably.

‘In that case.’

Still pinning Anastasia down, Mikhail began removing his clothes with his other hand. He felt Anastasia flinch when she realized what he intended to do.

“Mikhail, I-I can’t right now….”

Anastasia shook her head as she struggled to pull her captured wrist free. It was a faint expression of refusal. But Mikhail didn’t stop.

“I want to do it.”

Her opinion wasn’t necessary for his actions.

Mikhail moved skillfully. After stripping off and tossing aside his own clothes, he began removing Anastasia’s. His touch grew rougher. The sounds of buttons being torn off and fabric ripping repeatedly filled the room. Once Anastasia was reduced to the state in which she was born, Mikhail’s hand roamed over her belly again.

Feeling an ominous sense of foreboding, Anastasia twisted her body and tried to escape, but he pressed a hand against her abdomen as though ordering her not to move.

“Mikhail….”

A chill ran down her spine. Although Mikhail hadn’t said anything, Anastasia realized what he wanted now.

Mikhail intended to make a child.

“I-I don’t want to….”

The words of refusal escaped her instinctively.

Anastasia remembered Ilya telling her it was fortunate that she didn’t have a child yet. Anastasia knew too. She knew how a mistress’s child was treated. Hadn’t she experienced it herself? Even now, she didn’t know whether she was the Count’s child or the child of her father, who was a pastor, but everyone at Edenhurst believed Anastasia was the Count’s child and treated her accordingly.

Hunger, cold, darkness, contempt, neglect.

The moment she recalled all she endured, Anastasia pushed Mikhail away with all her strength. At her sudden action, Mikhail’s body was forced backward. Anastasia turned over.

She had to run away.

If this continued… if she let him take her like this….

Her body, crushed by terror, desperately crawled across the bed and out of his grasp. What should she do? Where should she go? Frantically trying to find a way to escape through her confused thoughts, she was just about to step off the bed.

Thud.

A large hand clamped firmly around her ankle. The next moment, Anastasia was dragged backward across the bed while lying facedown. Her desperate escape was rendered meaningless by a single gesture of Mikhail’s hand. His body, filled with all his rage, pressed against hers.

“Ah….”

Anastasia moaned as she trembled in fear. In the darkness, a cold smile appeared on Mikhail’s beautiful face beneath the moonlight. He held Anastasia’s ankles firmly and spread her legs.

Looking at her completely exposed body, he commanded, “Anastasia, conceive my child.”

To Mikhail, a child wasn’t the fruit of love. It was a very heavy and secure shackle that would bind her to him.