The Snake's Confession
The exhausted Tezman collapsed into the back seat, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. The schedule had been murderous. In just two days, he had flown to Germany, stopped in France, and returned to Italy.
The journey would normally have taken a week, but after leaving Sua behind like that, he couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
He hadn’t wanted to go in the first place, but with both Mateo and Michele attending the large-scale meeting, Tezman couldn’t be absent. Michele had practically threatened him to attend.
Finally inside the car heading toward the estate, he let the name of the woman he had longed to see slip from his mouth.
“Sua.”
He wanted to see her as soon as possible. According to Cact, she had taken a liking to the chapel she had created by decorating the greenhouse. Nothing could have been more fortunate. Even if Sua hated everything about the estate, he had hoped there would be at least one thing she could like.
What he truly wanted was for that one thing to be him.
But since he had already earned her hatred, there was nothing he could do. All he could do was pour more of his heart into her until she drowned in it. He told himself that perhaps then her hatred would gradually fade.
“How long?”
At his question, the driver checked the time.
“We should arrive in about thirty minutes.”
Thirty minutes. If he had been with Sua, the time would have flown by, but today it felt agonizingly slow. He turned his gaze toward the car window, wishing desperately to reach the estate soon.
The area around the estate was bustling. The capos and soldiers had gathered to greet Tezman after hearing of his arrival. Sua, watching them lined up in the garden through the window, asked Cact with a puzzled expression.
“What is everyone doing out here so late at night?”
Cact smiled and replied.
“They are waiting to greet Tezman upon his arrival.”
“Tezman is coming?!”
The delighted cry slipped out before she could stop it, and Sua quickly changed the subject.
“I heard it would take a long time. Did it end early?”
“It seems Tezman returned ahead of schedule. I’m not sure why.”
As he spoke, a smile spread across Cact’s lips while he looked at her.
Sua already knew. She knew the reason he had pushed himself to return early was because of her.
“I think I overdid it today. I’m quite tired. I’ll head to bed first.”
“Tezman will be here soon. Won’t you wait to see him?”
Her heart had already softened. She had even decided to accept him. But that didn’t mean she could understand him all at once. After all, the fact that he was a mafia boss who killed people had not changed.
She needed time. She didn’t know what to say if she met him right now, and she didn’t want him to realize that her resentment had melted away in just a single day.
She had been taught that avoidance was wrong, but right now she had no choice. Pretending to be asleep and turning away from him seemed like the best option.
“I’m not feeling very well… I’ll see you tomorrow, Cact.”
Sua hurried into the bedroom, changed into her pajamas, and slipped quickly under the covers. She had to fall asleep before he arrived. She closed her eyes and tried hard to summon sleep, but her heart was racing. While her mind resisted, her heart was already waiting for him.
Just as she was desperately trying to ignore it and fall asleep, the quiet estate suddenly grew noisy. Sua cautiously sat up in bed, lifted the curtain, and peered out the window.
A line of black sedans came to a stop in front of the estate. Someone stepped out of the driver’s seat and quickly opened the rear door. Even from the long legs that emerged, she could tell exactly who it was.
“Welcome back, sir.”
Cact and Leroy greeted Tezman. The capos and soldiers standing behind them offered him respectful bows. Normally he would have acknowledged them with at least a glance, but not tonight.
“Where is Sua?”
At his question, Cact spoke with a troubled expression.
“She said she was tired and went to bed first.”
His gaze immediately shifted toward the bedroom window. At the same moment, the curtain snapped shut with a sharp flick.
“Ha…”
Startled, Sua clutched her chest and sank to the floor. Her heart felt like it would burst. Had their eyes really met, or was it just her imagination? She pressed a hand to her still-thundering heart and crawled back into bed.
She had to fall asleep before he came in. If sleep was impossible, she would at least pretend. But first, she needed to calm her violently pounding heart.
She took deep breaths, trying to steady herself. She even recalled the prayers she had read and memorized countless times at the monastery. But when the study door clicked open, all of Sua’s nerves snapped toward the hallway outside the bedroom.
The sound of dress shoes approaching grew steadily louder, and her heart began to race again in time with each step. Finally, the footsteps stopped right in front of the bedroom door. Sua pulled the blanket she was clutching even tighter.
With a soft click, the bedroom door opened. At this hour, there was only one person who could open his bedroom door without permission.
Him. Tezman himself.
Sua squeezed her eyes shut. She had to pretend to be asleep. She tried to keep her breathing as calm as possible, but then Tezman called her name in a low, gentle voice.
“Sua.”
At the sound of her name drifting through the air, the heart she had barely calmed began to race again. Whether he knew about the internal battle she was fighting or not, his footsteps moved toward the bed.
As if checking whether she was truly sleeping, she felt his gaze on her closed eyes. Just when she thought she might suffocate under that long stare, he moved away. Tezman headed for the bathroom. Soon the sound of running water came from inside, and Sua finally let out the breath she had been holding.
“Ha…”
Sua glanced toward the bathroom. It seemed he was taking a shower. She pulled the blanket up again, telling herself she needed to fall asleep before he came out.
The water continued to pour. But why did her ears keep reacting so sensitively to every sound from the bathroom? She couldn’t fall asleep. After a long while, the sound of water suddenly stopped.
The bathroom door opened. The sound of his slippers approached the bed and then stopped.
She felt the mattress dip slightly. From that presence, Sua knew.
He had lain down beside her.
“Sua.”
Called again in that tender voice, she could no longer pretend to be asleep. Her heart was already pounding so fiercely that her mind felt hazy. It was easier to just be awake.
When she slowly turned her body, she met Tezman’s gaze. He was half-propped up on one elbow, looking down at her.
“I heard you were tired.”
“…I was tired.”
In truth, Tezman looked far more exhausted. Yet he was more worried about her than himself.
“Sua.”
Instead of answering, Sua simply looked up at him in silence.
“May I introduce myself again?”
Introduce himself? Sua’s expression turned puzzled.
“Tezman von Pavard.”
His full name left his lips.
“Son of Michele, the boss of the Pavard Family, and also known as the snake cub of the Pavard house.”
The snake cub of the Pavard house. She remembered him once saying his nickname was the snake.
“What I mainly do is invest in Europe and China, grow money, and occasionally launder it. I lend money to banks and receive bonds under the Pavard name. Oh, and sometimes…”
In the darkness, his golden eyes gleamed.
“I kill people.”
It would have been a lie to say she wasn’t shaken by his confession that he killed people. But the words that followed allowed Sua to remain calm.
“I don’t kill just anyone. Only those who have done wrong. Or those who point a gun or knife at me. Still, killing people is a bad thing.”
Even so, he had no choice. To survive, he had to kill.
“Even though I am this kind of person, I…”
His hand took hers and guided it to his cheek.
“…want you to pity me and stay by my side.”
It was a desperate confession. Though he hadn’t knelt, it sounded like a plea.
“Will you choose me?”
There was no longer any choice to be made. Sua had already thrown away her life as a nun for him.
“…You said I was your redemption.”
“Yes.”
“Then what can I do… Isn’t there no room for choice?”
For a moment his eyes widened, then softened into a gentle curve.
“Is that so.”
“Yes… it is…”
“Sua.”
“…Yes?”
“May I kiss you?”
Before she could answer, he slowly lowered his head. He stopped when their lips were close enough for their breaths to mingle, then spoke in a low voice.
“You must stay by my side for the rest of your life. I can’t let you go.”
The moment his husky voice faded, their lips met. His tongue slipped between her lips and slowly swept the inside of her mouth.
Slippery with sticky saliva, his tongue coiled gently around hers, then sucked hard before finally soothing and caressing the inside of her mouth with tender affection.
The wet, obscene sound of saliva between their lips echoed loudly, but neither cared. This was the bedroom—their own private space.
After what felt like an eternity of devouring her lips, he slowly pulled away. Sua blinked slowly, her face dazed. She would surely fall asleep now. Tezman pulled her into his arms and offered a faint smile.
“Sleep well, Sua.”