Wine and Poison Chapter 17 - Between Mentor and Apprentice

But, ‘Nothing has happened between us yet.’ 

 

A cold fire flared within his eyes.

 

‘Who dies at will.’

 

Hades could never take her from me. It’s like tending to a seed that you don’t know how it might blossom. 

 

Until he sees how this seed unfolds, she could not die.

 

With a force of will, Lancion gripped Scylla’s shoulders. He tilted her chin back and opened her lips. 

 

The lips, paralyzed and stiff, opened only a fraction of an inch. The water from the bucket overflowed around her mouth.

 

Without hesitation, Lancion cupped the water in his mouth and kissed Scylla’s puckered lips, moving up and down her throat to make her swallow, then cupped the water in his mouth again and handed it back to her.

 

I was shocked that Scylla, who I thought was so intelligent, could be so stupid. Lancion, who had told her many times that it was dangerous to experiment with poisons on her own body, was annoyed at her refusal to do as he commanded. 

 

His irritation grew as large as his growing impatience as he watched her tightly closed eyes.

 

Her tongue curled inward. Fearing she might choke, he stuck his tongue out long and wrapped it around hers, their tongues tangling, water and saliva mixing. 

 

Lancion bit the tip of his tongue as the water flowed back in. 

 

When it bled, he kissed her again.

 

Thyrsus’s venom was an extreme poison with no antidote in the world. 

 

If there was one thing that could antidote it, it was the blood of its master, himself. 

 

Lancion squeezed out enough blood to make his tongue hurt. Drip, vivid crimson droplets wet Scylla’s tongue.

 

Squirm. With one convulsive movement, Scylla swallowed his bleeding lips. With a softer tongue, this time she enveloped him. 

 

As if she knew instinctively what she had to do to survive, she sucked his tongue in and out. 

 

Saliva and blood were sucked out. The sensation was strangely exhilarating, sending shivers down Lancion’s spine.

 

He wrapped his hands around the back of Scylla’s head and tilted his head, their lips locked together, not an inch apart. 

 

Lancion synchronized his movements to the rhythm of Scylla’s aggressive sucking on him. 

 

Before I knew it, the first aid of detoxification had become a passionate kiss.

 

How long had it been, when Scylla’s lips were swollen with saliva and water, and her eyelids fluttered open. 

 

Satisfied that her paralysis was nearly complete, Lancion took a deep breath and parted her lips. 

 

The puckered lips were soft with moisture. Lancion clasped her face in his wet hands and stared down at her. 

 

A thin breath leaked from Scylla’s nose. Little by little, her breathing stabilized.

 

Thump, thump, thump—

 

Lancion’s hand tightened as he recognized the frantic beating as his own. 

 

Soon enough, her lips parted, and she coughed violently. 

 

Lancion’s legs buckled as he realized that Thyrsus’ poison was safely detoxified. He hugged Scylla hard, almost losing her.

 

“…Lancion?”

 

Her wrinkled eyelids lifted, and her hazel eyes looked up at him. 

 

Lancion stared at his reflection in her jewel-clear eyes. Her face, white with loss of composure, was terribly unfamiliar.

 

“What happened?”

 

The words were so calm, so carefree, that instead of relief, Lancion felt anger.

 

“You almost died.”

 

“What?”

 

“What the hell were you thinking, did you really think you wouldn’t die, how could you be so stupid…!”

 

“Haha~”

 

Lancion, who had been pouring out his anger with no time to spare, was left speechless by a sudden burst of laughter. 

 

Scylla, who covered her mouth with one hand, coughed in disbelief at his gaze.

 

What’s so funny?

 

At this point, Lancion wondered if perhaps Scylla was the one who had lost her mind. 

 

She’d come back from the dead, and now she was laughing?

 

“I apologize for laughing,” said Scylla.

 

“…”

 

“But…”

 

Scylla hesitated, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. 

 

Lancion doubted his eyes, his face drenched with the water from the bucket he’d scooped up, barely able to recover and pale, and then Scylla laughed. 

 

It wasn’t a mocking laugh, not even a hollow one. It was a genuine, happy laughter.

 

At the sight of that face, Lancion felt the anger that had been boiling to the tips of his toes cool at once. 

 

The hot emotion evaporated like smoke, as if it had never been there. 

 

He felt lighter in an instant, as if it hadn’t been there. Lancion’s dazed face reflected in Scylla’s beautiful amber eyes.

 

“Why…”

 

“This may sound crazy to you.”

 

Scylla pushed him away with a weak hand. Lancion absentmindedly tried to brace himself. 

 

When she sat up on her own, he looked down at his arm, which had lost its warmth. His gaze returned to her. Scylla wiped the water from her face with a dry, calloused hand.

 

“I’m glad I almost died.”

 

It was absurd. She had just been dragged into the underworld of Hades. 

 

Even if he was the god of Olympus, he couldn’t save her from that. 

 

Not even Zeus would. Hades would never give up its inhabitants, and the thought of it still made his heart sink.

 

‘But I’m glad. ‘

 

Despite his anger, Lancion listened to her words in silence. 

 

Anything he might have said falls away when he sees Scylla burst into laughter. Her wrinkled lips parted wide, the lines around her eyes deepening, and her golden pupils sparkled as brightly as if they had shards of sunlight in them.

 

Her laugh cooled his anger and stole his gaze. Lancion asked, dumbfounded.

 

“What are you happy about?”

 

“You were right, I almost died. I’ve never felt anything like it. This is the most powerful poison I’ve ever created!”

 

For that reason alone…

 

Lancion was dumbfounded. At the same time, he realized: 

 

Scylla would repeat this dangerous act again and time again in the future.

 

‘Foolish human. She would lose her life before she could fulfill her purpose.’

 

A poison that could easily dissolve human flesh would not be fatal to a god, so even if she were to concoct a powerful poison with human power, it would serve no purpose.

 

He could easily imagine opening the door to the dilapidated hut and finding Scylla bleeding to death in the doorway.

 

‘I’d rather have her turned into Maenades.’

 

Lancion’s eyes grew cold.

 

Then Scylla turned her head toward him. Lancion stiffened as she flashed him a wry smile.

 

“Thank you for saving my life, Lancion.”

 

“…I thought you said you were glad.”

 

“Not that I want to die.”

 

Scylla chuckled. An old, ugly hag. 

 

Her face hadn’t changed a bit from the first time he’d seen her, but he couldn’t say she was ugly, not with her twinkling eyes and confident smile. He couldn’t anymore.

 

“I’m glad to be alive, to see your face.”

 

“…”

 

He caught a glimpse of Scylla’s swollen lips, their tongues clashing for a long moment, though it was only to save her life.

 

 Would she know? How long and how fiercely they’d kissed, trying to detoxify the spreading poison.

 

“Master…”

 

“This is all thanks to you, Nero!”

 

Rising to her feet, Scylla lifted the lid of Thyrsus’s basket. Deeply asleep, Thyrsus cried out fiercely, kyah, at the unexpected outburst.

 

Without a care in the world, Scylla picked him up and fed him dried venison. 

 

It was the venison Lancion had saved for Scylla.

 

Lancion’s eyes grew cold. Thyrsus was munching on the venison, mesmerized by the savory smell.