Chapter 604 - 398: Overlap (Part 2)

Chapter 604: Chapter 398: Overlap (Part 2)

...weaving a tangled rhythm through the quiet tavern.

The firewood in the hearth crackled and popped, casting their overlapping shadows to sway gently on the wall.

Natasha was wrapped in a blanket, only a pair of glistening eyes showing as she looked up at Feng Mountain’s sharp jawline.

"Why did you jump into the Ice River to save me? Weren’t you afraid?" Natasha’s voice was as faint as ash drifting over the flames.

Feng Mountain tightened his arms around her waist, feeling her body heat through the blanket against his palm.

"I was scared. Of course, I was scared."

Gazing at the leaping flames, Feng Mountain’s voice was low. "But if I hadn’t jumped in, you would have lost your life in the Melting Ice River."

Natasha fell silent at his words.

Biting her lip, she once again reached her hand, red from the cold, out from the blanket and wrapped it around Feng Mountain’s neck.

Her breath, warm like the lingering hearth fire, brushed past Feng Mountain’s ear. As Natasha looked up, the tips of her hair grazed his chin.

Feng Mountain instinctively wanted to pull away, but the moment he looked down, his gaze locked with her sapphire-blue eyes.

The memory of their suffocating kiss in the Ice River suddenly flooded his mind.

The bone-chilling cold, the frantic breaths, and the tremor brought on by her softness.

In that daze, Natasha had already moved closer, her warm breath brushing against Feng Mountain’s lips.

Feng Mountain’s Adam’s apple bobbed. In that instant, all his reason crumbled.

He lowered his head and met her lips.

Their figures gradually merged in the firelight, and it was impossible to tell whose thudding heartbeat was making their chest ache.

Outside the tavern, the blizzard howled. Aunt Natalia, wrapped tightly in a fur coat, led Frank, Andrei, and the others as they hurried toward the tavern.

The snow crunched under their feet, but Natalia’s palm, clutching a medicine box, was damp with sweat from worrying that Natasha was injured.

Just as the group stepped onto the tavern’s icy steps, Frank’s ears twitched. He quickly reached out and grabbed Natalia’s arm.

"Don’t go in yet."

"What’s wrong?" Aunt Natalia turned anxiously. The dim, yellow glow of the fireplace seeped through the crack in the door, casting fragmented shadows on the snow.

Frank leaned close to her ear, his voice as low as a mosquito’s buzz. "Listen... there’s... activity inside."

Natalia was stunned for a moment, then it dawned on her. The tips of her ears instantly flushed bright red.

She tiptoed to the wooden door and pressed her ear against the rough planks.

The crackling of firewood in the hearth, mixed with other faint sounds and the occasional rustle of fabric, slipped through the crack in the door.

Natalia’s face suddenly flushed crimson. She took two steps back and nearly missed the stairs.

She quickly cleared her throat twice and waved at the others, gesturing for them to back away.

Andrei stomped his feet in frustration, his leather boots slipping on the icy steps. "Aunt Natalia, why aren’t we going in? Her Highness is in danger right now!"

Aunt Natalia’s face was hotter than the coals in the fireplace. She stammered, "Her Highness is... indisposed. Let’s wait in the dining hall for a bit."

With that, she turned, medicine box in hand, and walked away. Her fur coat swept over the snow on the steps, kicking up fine ice crystals.

"But..." Andrei spun in place, his hat knocked askew. "What if Her Highness gets frostbite?"

He was about to rush through the door but was yanked back by the collar by Frank.

Frank threw an arm over Andrei’s shoulder and forcibly dragged him away, whispering in his ear, "Come on. Listening to your aunt is the right move."

He then gestured toward the closed wooden door with his chin, a knowing smile on his face. "If you barge in there now, Natasha will blow your head off with a heavy machine gun. She might even skewer the two of us like shish kebabs and hang us out on the ice plains to feed the wolves."

Only then did Andrei allow himself to be dragged away, still half-doubting, leaving two sets of uneven footprints in the snow.

Behind them, the tavern’s closed wooden door creaked in the cold wind, as if it were trying to stifle a laugh.

The flames in the hearth gradually died down to embers.

「Two hours passed.」

Natasha’s long golden hair was messily splayed across Feng Mountain’s chest, like a heap of crumpled silk.

Wrapped in the fur blanket, only her sparkling eyes were visible as her fingertips unconsciously traced circles on Feng Mountain’s collarbone.

"If we have a child, he or she must take the Romanov name," Natasha said, her voice laced with a lazy, nasal tone. Her warm breath puffed against Feng Mountain’s skin.

Feng Mountain’s arm stiffened. He looked down at the woman in his arms, his brow furrowed deeply.

"You’re that certain you’ll get pregnant?"

’An indescribable annoyance welled up inside me.’

’Back home, a child taking the mother’s name means the husband has married into her family.’

’Back then, Natasha had even talked about a deal—four fishing vessels in exchange for a child.’

’If I’d known it would come to this, I should’ve just agreed back then.’

’At least I wouldn’t be in this situation where I didn’t get the girl and ruined my reputation on top of it.’

Natasha suddenly tilted her head back and bit down on a piece of flesh on Feng Mountain’s arm, grinding her teeth viciously.

Feng Mountain hissed in pain and reached up to push Natasha away, but she only hugged his neck tighter.

"There will be. The women of the Romanov Family are very fertile."

Natasha released her bite and blew gently on the red mark on his skin, a provocative smile playing at the corners of her eyes. "If it doesn’t happen this time, it will next time."

HISS!!

’Are you a dog or something?!’

Feng Mountain yanked his arm back, staring at the shocking, bloody teeth marks.

Natasha tilted her head, a trace of blood still at the corner of her mouth, but her eyes sparkled. Her earlier Queen-like aura instantly transformed into that of a thorny wild rose—alluring and dangerous.

Then, Natasha licked the blood from the corner of her mouth and gave a radiant smile, her voice soft but firm.

"The women of the Romanov Family are fiercely loyal. You will be the only man in my life—the one and only. I don’t need you to take responsibility, but I hope you’ll remember me."

The flickering firelight danced across her flushed cheeks and the damp tips of her hair. The sight left Feng Mountain momentarily mesmerized.

"I..."

The words Feng Mountain wanted to say caught in his throat.

It felt as if something had slammed into his heart, and a thousand words were stuck on the tip of his tongue.

In the end, he simply pulled her back, hugging Natasha tightly. He crushed her against him, as if trying to meld her into his very bones.

However, Natasha grew restless. A trace of cunning and desire flickered in her eyes, like a small, sated beast that wasn’t quite finished yet.

Her fair, slender hand gently caressed Feng Mountain’s chest, and her voice held a hint of playful pouting.

"I still have some time. Hurry up!"

The warmth from the hearth was gradually replaced by the heat rising between them.

The very air around them seemed to grow thick.

Only the sound of their ragged breaths and pounding hearts echoed through the quiet tavern.

Warm yellow light spilled softly through the dining hall.

Frank used ingredients from the kitchen to make a sandwich, then carefully brewed a cup of coffee and brought them to Natalia.

Steam curled up from the coffee, adding a touch of warmth to the slightly chilly dining hall.

Natalia raised her eyes, her gaze falling upon the middle-aged man before her. In that daze, it was as if time had rewound twenty years.

The Frank of back then had been so handsome and dashing, exuding a gentleman’s charm.

She had met him on the vast beaches of Lengwan.

They went from being strangers to getting to know each other, and then, they fell hopelessly in love.

Those mornings had always been especially wonderful. She would always wake to find an exquisite sandwich and a cup of steaming coffee on her bedside table.

And that would be followed by a kiss full of deep affection and love.

But now, twenty years had passed in the blink of an eye.

White hairs had quietly appeared at the temples of the man before her, and time had etched its lines upon his face, but his innate elegance and gentlemanly demeanor had never changed.

A faint bitterness and regret welled up in Natalia’s heart.

’If only I hadn’t left that day,’ she thought to herself.

’Maybe they would have had a child by now, and they’d be living together as a happy family.’

"Stop thinking so hard, you’ll get crow’s feet," Frank’s familiar, warm voice said.

Then, a broad hand rested gently on Natalia’s brow, a soothing touch, as if trying to smooth away both the thoughts in her mind and the lines time had left on her face.

Natalia froze for a second, then a faint smile touched her lips.

In that instant, the complex emotions in her heart seemed to soften.

"Frank!"

Natalia gently buried her face in his broad palm.

The familiar scent surrounded her. A long-lost warmth.

She murmured softly, as if that single name...

...was being etched into the depths of her heart.

...