Wine and Poison Chapter 43 - Warning

“Did you really release that punishment?”

 

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

 

“Then why are you carrying that wasp around with you? And why did it attack me?”

 

“I’m not carrying it around, I caught it. As for why it attacked you… well, you must have disturbed its nest or something.”

 

She was exactly right.

 

The old woman’s curt reply left Thekion flustered. At that moment, the ill-tempered ground wasp lunged straight for his eyes.

 

“Uwaaah!”

 

As he screamed in a most undignified manner, the old woman sprinkled white powder over him. 

 

In an instant, the wasp stopped flapping its wings and dropped to the ground like a lie.

 

Thekion, who had been covering his face with his arms, lowered them hesitantly and watched as the old woman picked up the fallen wasp and placed it inside a wooden cage.

 

‘She subdued the wasp by sprinkling some strange powder… So the title of ‘witch’ wasn’t just empty talk. Even though she speaks harshly, she still cares enough to help me…’

 

“Don’t move. This ground wasp is more valuable than you think.”

 

After a brief silence, Thekion ground his teeth.

 

“Do you not know who I am?”

 

The old woman scanned him up and down with her pale eyes. Her seemingly amused expression made his face flush red. 

 

His stung areas were already painfully itchy and irritating, and the old woman’s mocking attitude only fueled the fire in his chest.

 

“Even though your body must be unbearably itchy, do you still want a proper greeting, Prince?”

 

The old woman spread one hand and bent at the waist in an exaggerated bow, as if humoring a spoiled child who desperately wanted to be treated with respect.

 

Thekion, the eldest prince of proud Thebes, not some immature youngest sibling, had never been treated this way before. 

 

His face, which had turned bright red, quickly drained of all color and turned deathly pale. 

 

Yet his anger and humiliation could not overcome the physical torment. 

 

Just as the old woman had said, the stung areas itched unbearably. It felt as if an entire colony of ants was swarming over skin smeared thick with honey.

 

The more he scratched, the more it hurt. 

 

Thekion exercised superhuman patience, but he was soon overwhelmed by the urge to rake his nails fiercely across the reddened skin. 

 

The maddening sensation paralyzed his reason, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

 

Finally, digging his nails into his palm, Thekion asked Scylla for help.

 

“If you have a way, then do something about it.”

 

“…”

 

“If you fix this, I’ll grant you anything you want. Money, goods, whatever!”

 

Normally, when a prince spoke like this, people would bow their heads in gratitude and humility. 

 

But the old woman simply snorted, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

 

‘What a crazy old hag.’ 

 

Thekion was losing his mind. 

 

His body was itchy and stinging, he had just encountered one of Dionysus’s companions whom he was already extremely wary of, and this old woman was not only refusing to show him any respect but was actively mocking him. 

 

The combination made his head spin with rage.

 

“Royalty must be afraid that if they bow their heads, their heavy crowns will fall to the floor. Unlike that other one, you really have terrible luck.”

 

The old woman muttered under her breath.

 

‘Crafty old witch. She knows I’m Dionysus’s guest and still dares to act this way toward me. She must realize I can’t lay a hand on her!’

 

Thekion’s mind twisted into knots. 

 

Was the way Dionysus had been pretending to be Langsion and hiding his identity just some game or bet they were playing among themselves?

 

His reason was becoming increasingly tangled.

 

Sizzle…

 

The feeling that his brain was being cooked red-hot was an utterly unfamiliar pain for someone born and raised as the noble prince of Thebes. 

 

Now it felt as if the ants were actually biting and tearing at his flesh. 

 

In the end, Thekion could no longer endure it and began furiously scratching his forearm with his nails.

 

Slap!

 

A sharp sting landed on the back of his hand. 

 

Thekion’s eyes widened as he saw the old woman now standing right in front of him.

 

“If you scratch like that, the poison will spread further.”

 

“Poison?”

 

“These things’ stingers drive people insane.”

 

Even as she spoke, Thekion was still scratching at his skin. 

 

The old woman frowned and grabbed his hand. The dry, wrinkled texture of her hand, like an old piece of wood, felt so foreign that Thekion flinched.

 

The itching on his skin surged again. 

 

He tried to push her hand away, but the old woman looked him straight in the eyes and made a sharp warning sound.

 

“Tsk.”

 

In that instant, Thekion felt like a small child again. 

 

What was even more absurd was that his limbs had tensed up exactly the way they used to when his late grandmother scolded him.

 

While he stood there stunned by his own reaction, the old woman firmly held his hand with one of hers and pulled out a dark, grimy leather pouch from her bosom.

 

“Stay still.”

 

Her golden eyes gleamed fiercely, so Thekion nodded before he even realized it. 

 

The old woman took out a black ring-shaped object from the pouch. It smelled awful like something rolled out of dung. 

 

Thekion was horrified, but the old woman crushed it between her palms and began smearing the even fouler-smelling “dung” thickly onto his forearm.

 

“Where are you putting that filthy thing…!”

 

“It’s medicine for your condition.”

 

Thekion, who greatly preferred cleanliness, recoiled in disgust and tried to shake off her hand. But the old woman glared at him with those eerie eyes again and made the warning sound.

 

“Tsk.”

 

He wasn’t a puppy, yet Thekion found himself completely unable to move.

 

“It should feel a bit better now.”

 

“There’s no way something this dirty could possibly—”

 

Thekion, who had been about to snap at her, suddenly froze. 

 

The pain that had felt like every insect on the mountain was swarming over and gnawing at his body had miraculously faded. 

 

It was still a little itchy, but compared to the torment from moments ago, it was now bearable.

 

“How…?”

 

“Sit down. I haven’t finished applying it yet.”

 

Thekion hesitated for a moment, but soon obediently sat on a tree stump as instructed. 

 

The old woman applied the crushed ring to the back of his neck. Her fingertips were rough, but her movements were surprisingly delicate.

 

A quiet silence settled between them. 

 

Thekion felt slightly awkward. He recalled how he had desperately shouted that he would give her anything, and embarrassment washed over him. 

 

He cleared his throat and deliberately put strength into his voice.

 

“You’re quite skilled, more than you look. When I return to the palace, I’ll reward you.”

 

It was both an attempt to break the awkward silence and a subtle reminder of his authority.

 

When the itching had driven him mad, he had thought the old woman was toying with him by borrowing Dionysus’s name. But now that his reason had returned, looking at her again made that possibility seem extremely unlikely. 

 

Which meant the old woman genuinely believed Dionysus was Langsion.

 

‘Then shouldn’t she be showing me respect?’

 

I am Langsion’s older brother.

 

Even though his words carried that implication, the old woman remained utterly blunt.

 

“Feeling a little better now?”

 

“…”

 

Thekion felt anger rising again, but this time he did not show it openly. 

 

In a calm, subdued voice, he asked quietly,

 

“I don’t understand why you’re so sarcastic. Do you have some grudge against me?”

 

The old woman’s gaze silently touched him and then fell away.

 

“It’s not just you in particular.”

 

“…”

 

“I never really liked the Theban royal family that much. And…”

 

The old woman trailed off. Thekion’s ears perked up. 

 

Why was she suddenly hesitating? 

 

She didn’t seem like the type of person who would suddenly start watching her words out of consideration for him. 

 

Although she was clearly full of prejudice, it was strange that she, who had spoken so freely even after learning he was a prince of Thebes, would now hold back.

 

“And?”

 

Even when he pressed her, the old woman stayed silent until she had almost finished applying the mysterious substance, whether it was medicine or dung. 

 

Only then did she speak.

 

“Don’t hate your younger brother too much.”

 

“…”

 

“A reward isn’t necessary. It is rather amusing for an outsider to meddle in someone else’s family affairs, though.”

 

Thekion’s eyes widened in disbelief.

 

…Who hates whom?

 

Wait, was that the story he was told?

 

Imagining Dionysus the one who was actually doing the tormenting claiming to be the victim made Thekion’s insides boil with frustration. 

 

Because of Dionysus’s ridiculous prank, his real youngest sibling was now wandering far from home.

 

Having realized he had been cast as the villain who bullied his half-brother, Thekion stared at the ignorant old woman with heavy eyes. 

 

Why on earth had the god told such a lie?

 

He didn’t need to think long; several possible reasons quickly came to mind. 

 

Usually, people fabricated weaknesses to lower others’ guard, to gain sympathy by pretending to be weak, or in the case of women to evoke maternal instincts. 

 

The last one was a trick often used by womanizers.

 

Thekion’s lips parted slightly. He couldn’t say anything, but his insides were exploding with frustration.

 

The old woman’s golden eyes were looking at him seriously. Seeing those eyes made words catch in his throat.

 

‘Foolish witch.’

 

He could only mutter it inwardly.

 

‘She doesn’t seem like a truly evil person… even if she’s called a witch.’

 

After all, how could someone who had such caring feelings for another person be evil?