Chapter 1- A Woman so Bold

Anna had patiently observed the man seated in front of her, Alexei Karenin. She marveled at his face. He always looked so serious whenever she saw him, but no less gorgeous at the same time.

His face appeared stone-cold, but his eyes held a different story. They were full of warmth, and kindness. She thought it to be unfair for such a man to have such beautiful eyes. She should’ve been frozen at the sight of those icy blue orbs, but instead, they brought her comfort.

His dull blond, almost brown, hair was combed neatly away from his face. Her eyes roamed his tall but slender figure. The tailored three-piece suit fit the official like a glove and she knew there would be no other clothes that fit him more. Even his occasional smile didn’t lead people to think that he was actually happy.

Thus, she should have thought the same, but she couldn’t help her smile when she saw him biting down his smirk. His eyes scanned Anna’s entire face before he schooled his expression and spoke in the sophisticated manner she had expected from him.

“If I remember correctly, Miss Oblonsky, this is the first time we’ve met.”

“Officially, yes.” She nodded as she played with the hair she had now. It was black now, noticeably different from the shiny blonde hair she had sported before. “However, I think I know you enough to get married to you.”

She very well knew that in this traditional era, an act of boldness from a woman could easily scare someone away. But she didn’t have it in herself to let him go, she wanted him, and she will take him for herself.

“Miss Oblonsky, marriage is a very sacred idea.” The man’s tone remained polite without rejecting her.

“Anna.”

“Pardon?”

His somewhat dazed expression made Anna laugh.

“Call me by my name, please. I know that marriage is very sacred, that is exactly why I am expressing my sincerity to you.”

When Karenin had heard the word ‘marriage’ come from the beautiful lady in front of him, it hadn’t registered with him until the second time that she had meant it for both of them. So he straightened his posture, the urge to suppress all his expressions emerging once more in case this was just a hoax.

But even if it did prove otherwise, the prospect of getting married was honestly still a bit scary for him to fathom.

“This is not conventional.” Karenin withdrew his gaze from her lovely face and decided to take on this issue with the most serious attitude. After all, there was a very obvious hurdle. “There is a fourteen-year age difference between us.”

“I don’t think that is a problem.” She laughed again, her dimples peeking out from her soft cheeks made her look more beautiful. Karenin captured a hidden memory in his heart. Her twinkling eyes appeared to shine like fireflies themselves when she was happy.

“I can accept this age difference, Sir. I hope you understand that I didn’t say this suddenly without any thought.” Anna blinked and smiled playfully at him, “And also, you don’t look old at all, if I do say so myself.”

“But apart from you being impulsive and mischievous, I can’t think of any other reason to explain this behavior for the time being.” Karenin ignored Anna’s compliment and tried to be the mature one.

“So, are you going to reject me?”

He didn’t respond for a few seconds, taken aback by her directness, making her seem a bit disappointed.

Karenin was neither evasive nor lying. It was that he genuinely didn’t understand. He came to Moscow from Petersburg on a business trip. At this ball, he witnessed the brilliance of Miss Oblonsky. In fact, it was not the first time he had heard of this young lady. He heard about her as early as half a month ago. Unlike now, at the time she was not known for her beauty, but for her accident of how she fell into the water and experienced amnesia.

All the bachelors felt sorry for Miss Oblonsky and regretted her accident. To be precise, they regretted the possibility of her losing her life, her dowry, or her pretty face. After all, there are not many women in Moscow who have their own dowry at this age along with timeless beauty. It would have been a big shame.

As for other things, there are not that many people who care. Now, the young lady looked at him with her beautiful face and told him earnestly that she wanted to marry him. It was so bold and yet so endearing.

If Karenin was a smart man, he would not ask any questions. He would immediately take her hand and say some affectionate words, and then happily prepare for the wedding ceremony. He would generously provide people in Moscow and even Petersburg with at least one month of salary.

Unfortunately, and also fortunately, he was not.