The Fake Bride Offered to the Snake God - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

My first instinct was to run.

But the red wedding dress was too long. The moment I stood up, I stepped on the hem and pitched forward.

Semyre did not catch me.

A length of ice-cold snake tail coiled around my waist and hoisted me into the air.

I was so scared I nearly smashed the medicine vial.

He lowered his head and looked at me.

“You smell of Black Lotus.”

I didn’t dare move.

“The priest gave it to me.”

“Stolen.”

“Borrowed.”

“Tricked out of him.”

With every word he spoke, the snake tail tightened a little more.

Pain made me suck in a breath, but I still forced myself to say, “My little brother is dying.”

Semyre’s gaze faltered.

Only for an instant.

So brief I almost thought I had imagined it.

“So you lied to me?”

“I didn’t lie about my feelings.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I wanted to bite off my own tongue.

The Snake God fell silent.

The cave was terrifyingly quiet.

Suspended in midair, I stared back at him, so mortified I wanted to die on the spot.

Semyre suddenly reached out and tore away my red veil.

His fingers touched my forehead.

My vision went black, as if I had been dragged into an old dream.

In the dream, it was the Serpent Lair again.

A woman in a white dress stood at the cave entrance, holding a Silver Bell in her hands.

She said to the person in the darkness, “Semyre, wait three days for me.”

The young man’s voice came softly from the dark.

“You will come back?”

“I will.”

The woman smiled.

“I never lie to you.”

In the next instant, firelight surged in from outside the cave.

A silver arrow pierced the man’s shoulder.

The woman turned back, her face blurred in the flames.

But I saw a tiny red mole behind her ear.

Exactly like mine.

My eyes flew open.

Semyre’s hand was still pressed to my forehead.

He stared behind my ear, his gaze so cold it felt like he wanted to peel me open.

“Your name.”

My lips were dry.

“Ailia.”

The snake tail loosened.

I fell to the ground, the pain nearly bringing tears to my eyes.

Semyre bent down, the pad of his finger brushing over the red mole behind my ear.

The touch was very light. Too light for someone about to kill me.

“Ailia.”

He said it once.

Like hatred. Like confirmation.

“What are you trying to trick out of me this time?”

I sat on the ground, wretchedly clutching the medicine vial.

“Black Lotus.”

He looked at me.

I tried to hold it in. I failed.

“And my life.”

Semyre suddenly laughed.

“Honest awfully late, aren’t you?”

I thought his next words would be that I could go ahead and die.

But he turned and headed deeper into the Serpent Lair.

“Keep up.”

I froze.

“You’re not going to bite me?”

He paused, then looked back at me.

“I told you, I only bite liars.”

“You lied just now.”

“But you’re very bad at it.”