Chapter 1

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Anastasia lifted her head, holding in her hand, her red hair, which was fluttering madly in the wind.

A hill not far away could be seen through the old, crumbling wooden fences. In the middle of the hill was a small tombstone.

Anastasia tried to mumble the name of the one she missed. Indulge in the bitter cold of the frozen land.

The strong sound of the roaring wind took away Anastasia’s murmuring in an instant and threw it into the air.

Souls will vanish if they don’t have a body to possess. But she couldn’t even hear herself, let alone talk on the hill. Anastasia felt sorry and relieved at the same time.

I hope I only suffer 10 hits today.

Anastasia covered her frozen cheeks with her palms and spoke her unheard words into the sky again.

She wrapped her hands around her cheeks, but the cold didn’t change. Her hands were still cold from the wind.

Anastasia struggled to lower her hand and felt her calf under her skirt.

The place where her father hit her with a cane yesterday had not healed and continued to bleed.

My dad says I’m a lewd girl because I look like my mom. That’s why I have to pray to the Lord for my sin.

A mumbling voice mixed with crying.

Anastasia didn’t know what the word lewd meant.

However, she was so scared of my father hitting her with that word in his mouth that she could only guess it was a very bad word.

She just wanted to see the book Anthony had.

Anastasia remembered Anthony, the village chief’s son, who quietly called me to church yesterday.

Anthony was a boy the same age as Anastasia.

According to the village chief, Anthony was a very clever child and he already could read letters. Once he was older, he would send him to a school in a big city.

As if to prove the words true, Anthony received a thick book a week ago on his birthday, a dictionary that Chief bought from the city.

Anthony bragged about the book to the locals. They, both adults and children, looked curiously at the leather-covered book in Anthony’s hand.

This village was a rural one in the outskirts of the Novgorod Empire, where only potatoes and rye could be obtained in the short summers from farming .

Most of the villagers didn’t own as much as they had to work hard to survive.. Even now, the main foods were fish caught in the river, mushrooms, berries, and wild animals caught by hunting rather than farming.

Therefore, the people who knew the letters in this village were the village chief and Anthony, the inspiration of Victor who lived in a big city in the past. And only Anastasia’s father, Pastor Ivan.

In fact, if Anthony’s book was an ordinary book, Anastasia wouldn’t be very interested. There were many books in my father’s room.

From morning to evening Ivan read the Bible, which recorded the voice and miracles of God. Although he knew how to write, he did not teach Anastasia even a single word.

For those who are not faithful, knowledge is only a shortcut to evil. Like the knowledge that a snake stole from paradise.

(T/N: This is a reference from Christianity’s Garden of Eden, A reference of the snake sharing awareness and knowledge that would lead to the downfall of humanity.)

Ivan forbade Anastasia from reading books and even entering rooms with books. But Anastasia wanted to see the books.

But Anthony called Anastasia through the fence of the church and showed me the book he received. Anastasia couldn’t hide her admiration.

The book was a darker red than her father’s and even had flashy decorations. The cover was written in golden letters.

Anthony said that it was written as a dictionary for young people.

Anthony boasted by flipping through the dictionary page by page out of Anastasia’s reach. Anastasia looked at the book as if possessed.

Contrary to the Bible her father saw, Anthony’s book also had beautiful pictures painted in color. Then there was a picture that caught Anastasia’s eyes.

What was painted in the picture was a beautiful landscape. Under the bright sunlight, all the trees spread their green leaves and the ground was full of flowers. There, birds flew and wild animals stood with humans.

Behind them was a magnificent and splendid building that had never been imagined. Also, the green forest standing behind it.

What’s that?

When asked by Anastasia, Anthony looked at the page she opened and read one letter at a time, frowning.

Let’s see. Paradise?

Anthony stuttered and read the word.

Paradise. At that word, Anastasia clasped her hands. It was a word frequently used when her father knelt down and read the Bible to the villagers.

Paradise.

A warm and rich place with no suffering or sadness.

It really was.

Anastasia blinked and stared intently at the picture of Paradise. Then, suddenly, Anthony covered the dictionary.

Anastasia stretched out her arms in regret at the sight of paradise that had disappeared in an instant. At that moment, Anthony grabbed Anastasia’s outstretched hand.

No! Let go! Let go!

Anastasia shook him off like crazy. But she couldn’t beat Anthony’s grip, which was stronger than Anastasia’s.

Anthony grabbed Anastasia and pulled her back, thrusting his other hand through the broken fence and touching Anastasia’s face.

Green eyes filled with tears trembled in surprise on her white-washed face. Seeing that, Anthony felt that his lower half became heavy.

(T/N: eww gross…) P/N: Stop, don’t remind me..

As the boy was lost for a moment, Anastasia quickly bit Anthony’s hand, which was holding her wrist with her teeth.

Ouch! This!

(T/N: he was about to swear at her.)

Because of that, Anthony was surprised and let go of her hand. Why was the little girl who was usually quiet, acting crazy all of a sudden?

Anthony soon found out why. This is because Ivan jumped out of the church after hearing Anastasia’s scream.

Ivan, who was usually a decent pastor, came running while screaming. Anthony raised his arms to cover his face, startled by Ivan’s momentum, as if he was about to break through even though the fence was between him and him.

Slap!

He could hear a hard slap. However, he didn’t feel any pain. Instead Anastasia fell to the floor.

Lascivious girl, if you can’t open your eyes a little, you’ll attract men! Like your mother!

I’m sorry! Argh! Really, I’m sorry!

Anastasia covered her head and begged. Anthony, who looked at Ivan, who seemed very sinister, ran away screaming.

Ivan grabbed Anastasia’s fallen back without giving Anthony a single look. A body lighter than half a sack of barley was dragged in Ivan’s hands.

Ivan, who went into the church, constantly recited the Bible verses, put Anastasia on the altar, and continuously muttered his prayers and hit Anastasia’s calf with a whip, saying, “I must pray to God for your sins.” That was what happened yesterday.

Still groping her bleeding calves, Anastasia wiped away the tears with her sleeves.

Her father was so angry yesterday that she had to take care of herself for a while. Nevertheless, her mother…

She missed her so much that she sneaked out to the backyard to take a look at her grave.

Anastasia, who blew away all the sniffles in the wind, turned away.

She had to go inside. If she didn’t recite the prayer of repentance perfectly tonight, she’d get hit again, and she wouldn’t even get the meal that she only ate once a day.

She was afraid of his beating, but she was also afraid of starving. On days when she couldn’t eat, the coldness of the frozen land will penetrate her skin even more sharply.

It was time for Anastasia to go inside.

An unfamiliar sound was mixed in the wind. Anastasia realized that it was the sound of a carriage.

The village chief was the only one who owned a carriage in this village. Yes, it was an old carriage pulled by an old horse, but it was the most precious vehicle in the village.

But as Anastasia listened, she noticed that the sound of the carriage was different. She heard more horseshoes than usual.

It was a very rural village, and there was nothing special about it, so there usually were no passerbys.

Aside from the lord’s agent, who came once a year to collect taxes and a person who came to hunt a few years ago, there were only people who had lost their way.

The villagers still talked about him when they drank. It was as if those people were the only surprising things in this world.

Anastasia looked at the end of the road leading to the church. There was a carriage she had never seen before.

It was running in her direction. There were four majestic horses. And there was a beautiful golden carriage behind it.

Anastasia was briefly mesmerized by the first great thing she saw in her life. Then, she came to her senses when she heard a horse cry.

Anastasia quickly entered the church, hid herself under a long prayer chair nearby, closed her eyes, and closed her ears.

It’s passing by.

Father hated when Anastasia ran into people after her mother died. So he placed her in the room where her mother had died and prevented her from going out of the church anymore.

In addition to not being able to meet the children of the village, who she had always played with, and even if there were people who came to pray, Anastasia should not be seen, let alone greeted.

If there was an encounter, She would most definitely be hit. So when someone walked past the church, Anastasia hurriedly hid herself.

Anastasia covered her ears as if she wouldn’t listen to anything happening around her.

She remembered the appearance of the golden carriage approaching. At the same time, with her favorite verse of prayer.

Pray, the golden carriage that will take you to paradise will come to you.

Golden Carriage to paradise. Wouldn’t the carriage look like that?

Anastasia imagined that scene for a moment.

The carriage stops in front of the church, and a messenger sent by God reaches out to me.

It was the first time she had seen such a wonderful carriage, so Anastasia could not imagine what was inside. Presumably, it would be warm inside. It would be as soft as a grassy field in summer.

That was where her imagination ended.

It’d pass by like this.

The church was in the most eerie place in this sparsely populated town. If it weren’t for the path leading to the forest, even the villagers who were going hunting wouldn’t have passed by accident.

A church where believers who have faith in their elders on Sunday bring their own potato and barley bags and pray. So that carriage which was here for some unknown reason would pass by.

At that moment, she heard the sound of a carriage which she thought would pass by.

Anastasia covered her mouth with her hand. The carriage stopped. Why? What was the reason?

After a while, she heard the sound of an old wooden door opening. From under the chair, what Anastasia could see were shiny, polished shoes. A gentleman’s shoes that were cleaner and nicer than those worn by the lord’s agent. Then the one who came in shouted.

Chloe!

Flinch. Anastasia’s body trembled greatly at the strange gentleman’s cry. Chloe. That was her mother’s name.

Chloe, where are you?

The Gentleman knew her mother.

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