Wine and Poison

Author: Nikss

At his shameless teasing, Scylla’s face repeatedly flushed red and then turned pale.

The embarrassment was so overwhelming that she worried all the blood in her body might evaporate.

“What kind of disciple’s duty is that? Do other people say the same ridiculous things to you?”

“Other people…?”

“Yes.”

Langsion’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Why are you curious about that?”

“…?”

Scylla was so dumbfounded that she unconsciously tried to pull her foot away, but Langsion grabbed her ankle again.

Resigned, she shook her head.

“Don’t even think about taking in another disciple, Teacher.”

“…”

“I’m more than enough to serve you.”

Scylla simply fixed her gaze on the ceiling.

“I can’t tell if you’re joking or being serious.”

“What if I’m joking? What if I’m serious?”

“If it’s a joke, it’s ridiculous. If it’s serious, it’s scary.”

When Scylla shivered, Langsion smiled sweetly. He rubbed his cheek against the top of her foot.

Even though she wasn’t looking, he still smiled with his eyes, looking like a snake acting cute.

“Every word your disciple says is naturally for the teacher’s sake. No other disciples are allowed, Teacher.”

“…”

“Unlike me, they would only try to use you. Since Teacher has a soft heart, you’d be easy prey for wicked people to deceive and take advantage of.”

At Langsion’s brazen and sly words, Scylla let out a hollow laugh.

“Don’t worry. I’m scared another bastard like you might attach himself to me.”

Seeming pleased by her words, Langsion’s smile deepened.

“Teacher, I’ll wipe your body for you.”

Scylla glared at him with cold eyes. Faced with her deeply suspicious gaze, Langsion flashed his signature innocent-looking smile.

Even so, Scylla did not soften her sharp stare. Her cat-like upturned eyes only narrowed further.

“I’ll use the handkerchief.”

Langsion, who had secretly considered using his tongue, swallowed his greed at her wariness. When he genuinely began cleaning her with the handkerchief, Scylla’s tension finally eased. Her body, sticky with sweat and fluids, welcomed the feeling of becoming clean.

Even if she wanted to wash herself, she didn’t have the strength to move a single finger.

In the end, Scylla completely let down her guard and comfortably entrusted her body to Langsion’s hands.

As he leisurely wiped her body with the handkerchief, Langsion hummed a tune. His voice, sweet like melting hot chocolate, created a gentle melody.

There were no lyrics, but Scylla thought that if there were, it would surely be a love song.

A drowsy sensation as if sleep were creeping in.

The exhaustion pressing down on her drained body.

And the strange sense of relaxation that existed in between. As her thoughts followed the state of her body, her emptied mind felt surprisingly pleasant.

Ever since she had been cursed, her mind had never stopped racing.

Would she have to live the rest of her life like this?

Could she really create a poison comparable to that of the Hydra?

Could she take revenge for her parents? Or would she die in this body without achieving anything?

The thoughts that ruled her life had been so heavy that she had long forgotten what comfort felt like.

Though it was not by choice, the current state where no thoughts arose was secretly welcome to Scylla.

Perhaps she had wanted to escape, even a little, from the sense of duty that strangled her like a noose. Using her exhaustion as an excuse, she set down the whip she had constantly cracked against herself.

For this moment alone, she decided to let go.

Into her now peaceful heart flowed Langsion’s pleasant humming. That kid sings well, too.

Is there anything he can’t do?

He really is a strange one.

The more she learned about him, the more new things kept popping up, to the point where she was now even tired of being surprised.

The youngest prince of Thebes… His neat speech and elegant hands had suggested he wasn’t ordinary, given his appearance, but his identity far exceeded her expectations.

Although she had been curt with Langsion, she was genuinely grateful. He was helping her even though he was in a difficult situation himself.

That kindness meant a great deal to her.

After her parents passed away, no one had ever stepped forward for her sake.

Of course, the fact that he has a lot of money is also something to be thankful for.

Scylla gave a bitter smile.

Thanks to that, she was now enjoying the luxury of staying in such a precious room, one she had never used even when her parents were alive.

“You said we’re under the protection of the gods. What did you mean by that?”

“…”

When Langsion didn’t answer, Scylla turned her gaze toward him. The moment their eyes met, he smiled brightly as if he had been waiting.

“I’m happy.”

“…About what?”

“It seems you’re becoming more and more curious about me.”

Scylla frowned. She wished she could say It’s not like that, but it felt embarrassing that he had read her mind so accurately.

Of course, I’m curious. When I peel back one layer of someone like you, another keeps appearing. How could I not be curious?

She had already been surprised so many times that she wondered if there was anything left that could shock her, but if there was, she wanted to know it quickly.

“But are you really asking because you don’t know?”

“…”

“This is Thebes, Teacher.”

Scylla’s gaze shifted behind him.

This was the room she had been led into by Langsion’s hand. It was her first time properly looking around.

Paintings hung on the walls.

One depicted a handsome man buried among lush green grapevines. The man’s decadent face, wearing a languid smile as if drunk on pleasure, was extraordinarily beautiful.

Even the smile in the painting seemed capable of bewitching people.

Scylla murmured,

“Dionysus.”

“That’s right, Teacher.”

Langsion kissed her on the cheek.

Scylla’s eyes moved past the painting.

There were vases decorated with grapevines, and wall patterns engraved with vivid grapes. The god of wine, Dionysus.

Now that she looked closely, the entire room was decorated with his symbols.

The Theban royal family was one of the houses that worshipped Dionysus. Scylla recalled the fact she had momentarily forgotten.

“Langsion.”

“Yes, Teacher.”

He replied while still rubbing his lips against her cheek.

“Have you ever seen him?”

“…?”

“I’ve heard that members of the Theban royal family are close to Dionysus. Have you ever seen him?”

Langsion paused and pulled his lips away from her cheek. Scylla felt his gaze but did not meet his eyes. She realized her own voice had become unnecessarily cold. But she couldn’t help it.

How could she speak normally when mentioning her enemy?

Langsion was a Theban who worshipped Dionysus. If he realized the hatred she harbored toward Dionysus, even someone as clingy as Langsion would not be pleased.

Everyone knew how fanatical Dionysus’s worshippers could be.

Scylla forced herself to maintain a neutral expression.

However, Langsion was quick-witted; he might have already noticed.

“Why are you asking that?”

Could Langsion also be a worshipper of Dionysus?

Every Maenad she had met so far had been insane. Those unpleasant encounters had only deepened her ill feelings toward Dionysus.

Langsion was different from them.

Unlike the Maenads, he spoke coherently and, though somewhat frivolous in his behavior, showed depth in his thoughts. He seemed to like wine, but he didn’t indulge excessively.

Realizing her true hope that Langsion was not a Maenad, Scylla gave a bitter smile.

“Just…”

She trailed off vaguely. She couldn’t think of a good excuse. She could feel Langsion’s gaze on her. She forced her eyes forward.

He probably already thought it was strange, but she felt that if their eyes met, he would see through everything.

“The god Dionysus has been connected to the Theban royal palace since the time of our ancestors.”

“…”

“But I have never met him. As you saw earlier, I am not treated as a proper member of the family. I have never been invited to such glorious occasions.”

“Then you… the Maenads…”

“Maenads? You mean those crazy women? I am definitely not one, Teacher. Do I look crazy to you?”

Was the strange silence she had felt for a moment just her imagination?

Langsion laughed lightly as usual. Shaking his head as if it were absurd, he pulled her into his arms.

Scylla felt awkward.

“Not all Maenads look like lunatics on the outside.”

“Still, they’re lunatics all the same. Do I look crazy to you?”

It was the same question again. Feeling strangely persistent, Scylla shook her head.

“No. I didn’t mean that you are.”

“Then what?”

“As you said, the Theban royal palace has a deep connection with the god Dionysus. I wondered if you might be one of his worshippers.”

“It’s true that many people worship the god Dionysus.”

“…”

“But I am not.”

“You’re not?”

“No, Teacher.”

Langsion’s arms tightened around Scylla, pulling her closer. He rested his head on her shoulder and teased the nape of her neck with his lips.

“I told you before that there is a god I want to kill. My mother was sacrificed to a god’s cruel games.”

“…”

“Those who haven’t experienced it wouldn’t know. That the gods, who are supposed to hold fair scales in the heavens, would throw a single human life into hell for their own selfish desires.”

His cynical words, as if he had seen straight into her heart, shook Scylla deeply. She had thought he might have his own circumstances, but she had never imagined they would be so similar to hers.

Having never been able to unload the burden in her heart to anyone before, Scylla strangely felt tears welling up.

Because of that, when the snake-like question slipped through a crack in her defenses, she unconsciously answered.

“Is the god you want to take revenge on Dionysus, Teacher?”

“Yes.”

“…”

“He is my enemy.”

And then her mind snapped awake. It felt like being splashed with cold water.

The suspicion that Langsion had deliberately drawn this answer out of her crossed her mind. Even though he harbored ill feelings toward the gods, he was still a member of the Theban royal family.

The god who had harmed his mother couldn’t have been Dionysus. Even if he hated one god, that didn’t mean he hated all of them.

Hostility toward Dionysus might be interpreted by the Theban royal family as hostility toward Thebes itself.

Langsion pressed his lips deeply into the nape of her neck, which was twitching faintly.

“Why are you trembling like this?”

“…”

“I won’t tell anyone.”

“…”

“I didn’t particularly dislike the god Dionysus, but if Teacher hates him, then I will hate him too.”

At the childishly simple declaration, Scylla almost burst out laughing.

The fear of having been found out vanished in an instant.

Although Langsion often confused her with words that blurred the line between joke and sincerity, that was only on the surface.

Scylla trusted him. If she hadn’t trusted him from the beginning, she would never have come down from Mount Cithaeron with him.

“But Dionysus is practically the guardian deity of your Theban royal family.”

“Even so, a god living in the heavens is not more important to me than Teacher.”

“…”

“If he is the teacher’s enemy, then he is my enemy too.”

He would never know how violently her heart had shaken at those words.

“What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying you would even treat the god Dionysus as your enemy?”

“Of course.”

Something surged up inside her, and Scylla bit her lip.

New flesh was filling the vast hole in her heart. The name of that hole, which no one had ever touched and which she herself had never dared to touch, was emptiness.

It was also a loss.

It felt as if medicine had been applied to the wound she had to carry until the day she died.

All from a single phrase, I’ll be with you.

Tears filled her eyes. But she did not let them fall.

Whenever she wanted to cry, she always told herself she had no right to cry. But strangely, even though today was not particularly harder than usual, she found it unusually difficult to hold back her tears.

Langsion covered her eyes with the handkerchief.

Instead of falling, the tears were absorbed into the cloth.

“What happened, Teacher?”

Because her eyes were covered by the handkerchief, Scylla could not see his face.

All she could hear was his voice, filled with sympathy even though it wasn’t his own matter.

“Dionysus…”

It was unbearably painful to dig up the old wound herself.

“Not only did he ruin me…”

The end of her voice trembled faintly.

“He killed my parents.”

Thump.

Thump thump.